Revolutionary Ideas Part 7 - Let's All Raise Our Expectations

Well this is timely, after posting this post I went on twitter and saw a link for this video (posted by @AwesomeHalifax which looks like an awesome project).  So I'll insert the video here.  Makes a nice introduction to today's idea I think.




 

In my opinion the world needs more people like Gordon Tsai.  Gordon is this visionary real estate investor/developer whom I had the good fortune to meet when I participated in the Dream Community parade, in Shijr City Taiwan, in 2005.  

The Dream Community is something else, I see they have a website now, check it out:
http://www.dccep.org/page1/page1.html
That's Gordon, in the center of the photo covered in green body paint. 

Gordon is what I was talking about yesterday, about self-made rich people who are benevolent and kind.  Despite being born into a poor family, Gordon has been able to use his savvy real estate investing skills to literally make his dream come true.  Gordon is a true philanthropist and has used his wealth to try to enrich the lives of people not only in his community, from other countries.  As you'll see in his site, his real estate development includes a puppet theatre, and a cafe which hosts a performance space, and he puts on an annual community art parade inspired from his own travels to the USA.  Sustainable living is part of it, despite being in an urban area the development has milking goats, free run chickens and a windmill.

Because of the people I got to know working on community art projects in BC and Washington state, in 2005 I was one of over 30 artists from around the world who traveled to Shijr City to make puppets, give workshops, and help create that year's parade.  Thanks to Gordon I had my travel paid for, a weekly stipend, and accommodation from a very kind host family.  Unfortunately I lost all my pics of this experience in my house fire in 2007.

Oh wait, but I found this article online, the 3rd photo in it is of me wearing a papier mache octopus on my head! Thanks, internet, thanks, Taipei Times:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/10/14/2003275786 

I made a giant squid as well, which Gordon ended up using as a headdress for the parade, wearing only black speedos and blue body paint as he ran all around the parade like a nut.  Wouldn't it be fun if some of the big real estate developers in Halifax were more like Gordon?

Anyhow the importance of community art and music and festivals will the the topic of future posts, today's idea "Let's All Raise Our Expectations" is meant to be another big picture thinking one.

So I'll point at the example of Gordon and say, hmm, look at all the fun you can have if you have a pile of money.  Linking back to yesterday's topic, I'd postulate that folks with big piles of money have the ability to convert it into wealth, and help others increase their wealth.  

So my point today is maybe everybody, if only for a short time, needs to remember what their big dream is, and we can all raise our expectations.

I'll admit that I bought into that whole "uh oh, Mayan Calendar, end of world, everyone to the basement with your bushels of supplies and tin foil hats".  Not that I really did much at all to prep, so I wouldn't have lasted long.  I just wondered if maybe this would be it.  But look, we're all still here.  So now I'm thinking well maybe this is a beginning of better days.  Because this is a more relaxing thought than the alternative "the end is still nigh" thought.

And I've realized that I'm pretty much living my ideal life; which I dreamed up back in 2003, when after 6 weeks of working what I thought was my full time "dream job" there had to be a better way to live than spending 40 hours of my week in a room with windows that don't open.  It took 9 years of planning, and what is ideal for me sure won't be for others, but I really feel like I realized a dream. 

The other thing I've realized, is the more people who live their dreams (like Gordon) and accumulate wealth doing it, the more people they can help realize their dreams (look at all the artistic types Gordon is subsidizing on his own, look at all the people he's providing with affordable  housing) by sharing this wealth, and so on and so on, like that shampoo commercial from the 70's where you're supposed to tell 2 friends how great your shampoo is.   Hmmm. Young people reading this blog won't have any idea what I'm talking about, so look, here's the commercial:



So today's idea which might be uncomfortable, is, let's all dream the impossible dream and figure out exactly how we'd want our lives to look and how we'd want the province to look, and go for it.  I'm guessing most people would want things that are easy on the planet and good for the community, um, at least I hope so.

Anyways it would beat everyone sulking around thinking must extract resources, must make money, must pay bills... life is hard... what does everyone really want to be? or do? Not what would be a good job or what would make money, but what do you really want?  Because I think each person has something inside of them that longs for some perfect way to express themselves and/or live. You might have to use a 'good job that makes money' for a period of time to get there, but it is all part of the process.

There's a tonne of 'self help new age' type stuff out there but I'm really taken by these readings of two books by Wallace Wattles.  These are books written in the early 1900's that formed the inspiration for "The Secret".  I'm not saying that anything I'm posting on my blog is perfect or the gospel, but the links I've been collecting are all interesting food for thought.

I think it's possible to get rich and not only not be a jerk about it, but to actually help others.  Look at Oprah, or the example I gave of Gordon Tsai.   I think the key to creating sustainable societies is to help those who have figured out how to get rich, see the value in helping others (who may have skills or dreams that are less likely to generate money) get wealthy, rather than focusing on exploiting people and the environment for the sake of accumulating more money, and then hoarding that money for the sake of having a pile of money. 

 By helping others get wealthy, I'm not referring just to charity (I have a concept of "uncharity" I'll explain in a future post), but to the act of setting up sustainable systems that would permit others to follow their dreams.  In Gordon's case it was having this real estate empire where part of his wealth was allocated to hosting international artists, providing them with an incredible experience.  In return the artists added to the cultural fabric he was building around his development.  Because he values and loves community art, even though the artists took his money rather than gave him money, they contributed to his wealth and quality of life (because he LOVES running around in body paint in a big community arts parade).  Another "symbiotic relationship".  

Maybe more environmentally and socially conscious people should consider becoming rich...(in socially responsible ways).

So now some videos:

1. The Science of Getting Rich - Wallace Wattles, 1910




2. The Science of Being Great - Wallace Wattles, 1910




There a few motivational speaker types I've stumbled across whom I enjoy watching.  Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar are my two favourites; I just love their voices.  They both seem to share that 'anything is possible' attitude, with good advice on how to become successful. 

Jim Rohn - walk away from the 97%



Jim Rohn - Best Life Ever

 



Zig Ziglar - prime the pump





And I'll end this post with one of my very favourite quotes:

"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want" - Zig Ziglar


Oh wait, there's more, may as well throw in the classic "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill:
 and this super great quote: 

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” - Napolean Hill

Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill (written 1937)
 

Revolutionary Ideas Part 6 - Let's All Learn What Money Really Is

Today's idea is more of a big picture concept kind of idea.  Right now it seems to me that most people have their noses to the grindstones just trying to get their bills paid, maybe send kids to university, and think about how they're going to retire.  Maybe in order to think about how to create sustainable growth in Nova Scotia, and/or where ever else,  folks need to sit back and do some big picture thinking.

I only recently started looking in to what money really is and where it comes from, and I can see that we humans have a few problems.  

Somewhere along the way we've all been brainwashed to believe that money = wealth.  Does it?  What we as individuals need to survive is food, shelter, water, and, being social creatures, I'd include community and culture.  

 In 2001 I had the good fortune of being able to trek the Annapurna circuit in Nepal, as well as do the Everest Base Camp trek (in and out of the lowlands, starting in Jiri).  Despite having a very low per capita incomes, I was struck by how peaceful, healthy and happy the folks in the Nepali valley villages seemed.  I thought it was funny that here were all these foreign travelers lugging around these backpacks full of stuff that probably exceeded any one of these people's annual income, and I'd keep seeing rich foreign people throw snits over this and that "oh, there's not enough hot water for my shower" or whatever blah blah blah.  

I also have a family member who was married for a period of time to the son of a very rich banking family in the states (keeping details very vague here to prevent getting crapped on by my family). One Christmas we all went to this family's mansion; there was an orange grove, inground pool, several luxury cars, staff, huge fancy house, but I'd have to say that family was the most miserable bunch of people I ever met.  The rich banker guy took us out for supper at a fancy restaurant and it was just one complaint after another.  Zero gratitude for anything they had, it seemed.  And the kids all hated themselves, and had drug addiction issues and several plastic surgeries.  I'm not saying all money-rich families are like this; I've met some super happy generous rich people (the happiest ones tended to be the 'self-made' type - though I admit I haven't met all that many money-rich people) but it got me thinking, does money really equal "wealth"? 

Image I found on facebook - not sure who made it

Maybe if we could brainwash ourselves into believing that wealth = health.  Environmental health, community health, clean water, healthy food, a healthy family, healthy mind, healthy body, healthy spirit.  Instead of accumulation of money an end to itself, either out of circulation, or into the 'profit' line of a global corporation's ledger, money could be seen just as a tool for creating more of this good stuff for more people.

Because guess what, it turns out that money may not be what we thought anyways.

On to the problems with money and why the world is in this economic death-spiral that a fracking epidemic isn't going to fix.

Since Nixon completely got rid of the gold standard in 1971, money isn't really backed by anything.  It's a fiat currency (fiat = latin for "it shall be") so its up to the country to decide its value.  The fact that money is arbitrary, coupled with our fractional reserve banking system, means that money is actually debt.  And for every dollar that is created, the bank will need it paid back with the principal, plus interest.  

I think this is why the gap between the rich and poor has been widening so quickly all over the world, there are more people struggling to make money to make a few people wealthy (bankers, investors, owners of global corporations).  And look, some of these people I've met (the family I describe above) accumulating all that money don't even seem to appreciate it.   We're like a giant snake eating itself: people invest in corporations, thinking, woo - mutual funds! retirement! and then these corporations need to make money by trimming their bottom line, which results in the workers having to work harder for less, and/or cutting corners in how they treat the environment.  Or we try to save money by buying cheap imported stuff from big box stores and inadvertently screw all of our selves out of good jobs with good wages when companies find ways to get things done for cheaper overseas.  Or we extract and wholesale our raw resources for a quick buck, leaving a messy cleanup job and sacrificing environmental health.

Corporations and money don't care about any of the "health" things I listed above.  That's why families get busted up in this province because people need to leave to find work, or join the military.  Does anyone REALLY want to go overseas and fight a war? seriously? Risk getting themselves killed or killing innocent people?  I think people go into these careers because they need money.   Back to the fracking thing, I'm all for a relatively clean burning fossil fuel, if it is easily gotten at, but if means draining a watershed to extract it and being left with an insane amount of frack-fluid-contaminated water to try and figure out what to do with, was it really worth it?  Because that's how our current economic system is rigged: destruction of all of Nova Scotia's water and soil for some gas to sell would be seen as a profitable, money making investment.  But then what? What will we have left when that gas runs out? And once we have to pay to clean up the mess and find that we're missing an insane amount of freshwater, will it have really been worth it?  

I'm not an economist but I'm a concerned human who wants other humans to be healthy and happy.  So for today's idea I say let's all do some research and learn about what money really is.  Then we can all put our thinking caps on and come up creative ways to get out of the mess we're in and have more "wealthy" people in this province. I have a few ideas that'll be the subject of future posts.

For a while there I was starting to think like a conspiracy theorist, like the current state of the world is a clever plot by a few super rich people to enslave everyone else. But life is depressing if you go around thinking anyone could really be THAT evil, and I question if anyone is really that smart.  I may be wrong about that and end up beheaded in a FEMA camp or something for speaking out but I've narrowly escaped (accidental) death twice now, so I say bring it on, evil people, if you really exist...dancing around your Owl in your Bohemian grove or whatever you people do...  Meanwhile, I prefer to believe that we've just been a pile of ignorant, greedy, shortsighted humans - after all, we are animals, we do share the bulk of our DNA with apes - so let's all just wake the frack up, address the problem and start fixing it before we all pollute ourselves to death.
So now I'm just going to post a bunch of videos on the subject that I've found interesting:

This first one is a fun-to-watch cartoon, which explains $$ and also gives a compelling argument why Americans should fire their US Federal Reserve:




This next one is a bit drier but so good! "Money as Debt"



Money as Debt Part 11 




I'm posting this video here by Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".  It is the first of a 7 part series and it completely changed the way I look at money and debt.  This is just part one but you can find the other 6 parts on youtube quite easily; part 2 will probably pop up after part 1 ends.

Watching this series made me realize that I wasn't taught any of this in school, what money is, etc.  Learning more about money on my own has given me some ideas on how to use our current economic system to build wealth that can be spread around a bit more evenly... more will be revealed...

Revolutionary Ideas Part 5 - Look at Holland, up with Greenhouses!

I've already been thinking about what I've been posting and questioning whether my ideas make sense or not.  But it was timely to see that today's Herald contains concern over both the mink farming issue (in the letters section) and a letter from a BC biologist raising concern over the open pen salmon farms.  Which got $9 million from the NS government in the form of a forgiveable loan!! plus an additional $16million dollar loan.  Holy Crap. I would love to have that kind of dough to try to invest in creating sustainable jobs for people.

Interestingly Michael Schellenberger was on the The Colbert Report (where I get my news) talking about his book "The Breakthrough".  It was timely to see an environmentalist in favour of nuclear, fracking and all these things that I question.  His point seemed to be he used to be pro-renewable but we need A LOT of energy so they won't be enough.  Really? A lot of this energy we need is to support a food system of factory farms, petrochemical fertilizing and trucking, not to mention fueling an addiction to cheap, manufactured imported stuff.  What if we starting sticking closer to home (less cars) or invested in infrasctructure of clean mass transit, and were able to grow our food locally and go back to making our own stuff.  And maybe using less stuff.  But higher quality stuff that doesn't fall apart so easily.  It is a very complex issue; though I think most people want the same thing, a healthy economy and a healthy planet.
Here is the link to their site which I will check out.  He did seem more level headed than the Irish person who is flying around promoting "Frack Nation".
http://www.thebreakthrough.org/ 


On to today's idea.  Looking at Holland.  

I love the internet because suddenly as soon as I have a question I can type it into google and get some sort of answer.  So I decided, hey, Nova Scotia has this challenge of needing more jobs as its young people move away for work, let's look at what's going on in other places.

Let's see.... do we want to be more like the Beijing area of China...



wow! No wonder the Chinese government is all "wooot! bring it!" with respect to the Canadian tar sands fuel... This I think illustrates what can happen when countries seek economic growth and profit without considering the importance of sustaining a healthy environment.

Yesterday I wondered if there might be a small European country that might serve as a better model.  My friend from Holland (in The Netherlands) came to mind; I've never been to mainland Europe, just England, but have known a couple people who did post-docs in the Netherlands and it sounds like a neat place.

I didn't know much about Holland,  I just figured like Nova Scotia it is small. So I wondered what people there did for jobs, food and energy.


Turns out they do a lot.  Let's compare some stats:
Holland (comprised of North and South Holland, a portion of the Netherlands) is: 5,488 square km in size, with a population of 6,045,459 (2006 estimate) and a density of 1105 people per square kilometer.  I can't even imagine living like that.

In comparison:
Nova Scotia (a portion of Canada) is: 55,283 square km (including land and 2,599 square km of water) with a population of 921,727 square kilometers and a density of 17.28 per square km.  Which is actually a high population density for a Canadian province, second only to Prince Edward Island. 

I spent a lot of time looking at this website:
http://www.hollandtrade.com/index.asp

and there's too much good stuff going on there to list.

I'll admit right here that I initially posted this post earlier today, and I got so excited about the greenhouse thing that I hadn't yet read up on the fact that the
Netherlands had made a lot of their money from natural gas, with the discovery of the Groningen Natural Gas Field in 1959: http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2274261.ece/The_Dutch_curse_how_billions_from_natural_gas_went_up_in_smoke

According to wikipedia, this is the largest natural gas field in Europe and the 10th largest in the world.

http://www.government.nl/issues/energy/gas

ah, and looking at the Holland site more carefully, I found this:

• Almost 30 percent of the European natural gas reserves are in the Netherlands. 15 to 20 percent of the gas consumed in Europe comes from the Netherlands. Total gas exports totalled 25.3 billion cubic meters in 2010.  

Well that's ironic given that I thought to look at Holland in looking for alternates to fracking.  Although as I mentioned previously, I agree natural gas itself is cheap and relatively clean, and wouldn't a large gas field like this be a nice thing to have -  the issue I have is with using massive amounts of fresh water and carcinogens to frack for what may be a small supply.

However, by 2025 it appears that the Netherlands are forecasted to go from being an exporter to an importer of natural gas, so its valuable to check out all the great innovations they've made in agriculture, technology and renewable energy.

according to their import/export page:
As the fifth largest exporter of goods in the world, the Netherlands occupies a prominent position when it comes to world trade. In 2010, the Netherlands exported goods worth a total of more than 574 billion US dollars.

Whaaaa?? The entire country of the Netherlands is still smaller than Nova Scotia, at 41,534 square kilometers (popn 11+ million).  To be honest I'm a bit confused whether this website is just about Holland or the entire Netherlands.  In any case, how did they become the fifth largest exporter of goods in the world? 

From the "experience Holland" page of the above website:

It is not an easy task to combine high population density with an above average level of tolerance and respect throughout society, however, the Dutch have managed, over centuries of growth and development, to find a balance herein. As a result, they constantly strive to create this balance in all aspects of daily life: from transport and housing; to work and leisure activities. The Dutch take pride in their rich cultural heritage but also have one of the most progressive and liberal societies in the world. The typical Dutch mindset can best be summed up as: open, creative/innovative, entrepreneurial, resourceful, and international. 


Plus I found this statement on their website; incredible I think.  Almost unbelievable.  With all the land and water in Canada, maybe we could get a piece of this...

The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products, after the USA. Together with the USA and France, the Netherlands is one of the world's three leading producers of vegetables and fruit. It supplies a quarter of the vegetables that are exported from Europe. The agri-business is one of the driving forces behind the Dutch economy. At the same time, it poses challenges to the environment. In recent decades, farms became larger in scale and production became more intensive. As a result, fertilizers and manure made more impact on the countryside. Farming had to become more sustainable, the Dutch government said. Today, the Dutch agricultural sector is strongly focused on sustainability: it is a source of healthy, safe food that is produced with respect for the landscape and the environment.

I'll end this blog post with one aspect of agri-business  in Holland that I think would make a nice alternative to mink farms and open pen salmon farms.  The microgreens described in this video look nutritious and delicious; and super energy efficient LED greenhouse lights they are using look intriguing.



And here is more about greenhouses from this horticulture page on that website.  I'm truly intrigued...

Holland is world's leading supplier of flowers, plants and trees

The Dutch horticulture sector is a global trendsetter and the undisputed international market leader in flowers, plants, bulbs and reproductive material and the number three exporter in nutritional horticulture products. It forms the heart of an international network for floriculture, bulbs, and decorative trees as well as fruit and vegetables. The country’s important logistical hubs – such as the Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – its proximity to Europe’s 500 million consumers, plus the development of high-quality production methods have enabled the Dutch horticulture cluster to become this strong. The Dutch have created efficient supply chains that are able to deliver flowers in New York that have been cut the very same day in the Netherlands. And, true to the Dutch entrepreneurial character, nurseries have been set up in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, France and Portugal.
Dutch horticulture is concentrated in six clusters, called Greenports, where businesses and research institutes work closely together on production, R&D, logistics, infrastructure, and exports. Horticulture makes a significant contribution to the country’s prosperity, through the considerable volumes and sheer quality of production, as well as via technological innovations. The Dutch approach to innovation and R&D is rather unique: companies, research institutes and governments work together on innovation projects and programmes in the so-called Golden triangle. Prime examples of innovations include intelligent greenhouses that can float on water, moving platforms, robots, innovative lighting, water- and waste-recycling, and greenhouses that generate more energy than they consume and thus contribute to a reduction in CO2. The current generation of greenhouses already generates approximately 10 percent of Holland’s power needs by using combined heat and power (CHP).


What?! Greenhouses that net-meter AND grow delicious, nutritious food! LOL I want one! Premier Dexter, why didn't you give $9 million to these people to set up shop?
 

Revolutionary Ideas Part 4 - Up With Seniors & Senior Co-housing

So I couldn't wait until tomorrow to pitch another idea, I think this one makes sense on many levels.

I'm also realizing that a lot of the ideas I have are already happening, if only in small ways for now. 

The Golden Girls (tv series 1985 - 1992)

 How about revitalizing rural Nova Scotian towns with a vision of providing housing for retirees and seniors.  I'm not just referring to senior homes run by a third party, but also to a concept called 'co-housing' that was pointed out to me by my friend Helen who is 79.5 and practicing to be a very old lady.

The thing is, all across Canada there are a slew of baby boomers reaching retirement age.  This is an article I found on the forecasted consequences.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/retiring-boomers-slowing-labour-force-growth-statscan/article595878/

There are two main reasons why I think rural towns in NS stand a good chance of attracting seniors. First, the climate here is relatively mild, second only to the climate of the lower mainland of BC.  Second, property taxes in many parts of rural NS are also low, with affordable land and buildings available within walking distance of small town centres.  After living in Mahone Bay, Helen chose to move to Annapolis Royal due in part to the presence of a transit system there, anticipating the day would come when she would no longer drive.  The town also offers retirees an abundance of culture within walking distance, and, it is very pretty.

Helen has discussed with me her concept of co-housing, where we've talked about a need for alternative housing for people for that period of time when a single family home may feel like too much to maintain, but a person may be too fit to want to go to a seniors home.  Her idea was to buy an existing structure such as a hotel and modify it so that seniors would have their own suites but also common areas, and that residents could pool resources to afford housekeeping and cooking services.

It seems to me that there is economic opportunity here for a good-hearted investor that would create alternative living arrangements for seniors, with the anticipation that there will soon be many more pensioners across Canada who either can't afford or don't want to maintain their own homes.     With the costs of buildings and land so affordable, it may be smart to build communities of bungalows or single level apartments.  In order to be truly attractive to seniors I think the finishes would have to be high quality, with senior-friendly bathrooms, and the location within walking distance to a town or with transit access.  Common areas would also be key.  Unlike suburban sprawl which has its own environmental drawbacks, tailoring these types of dwelling lends itself well to higher density villages.  Aside from Annapolis Royal surely there are other towns in Nova Scotia that would lend themselves to this type of development.  What would be ideal would be a reliable transit or even rail system linking these towns to larger city centers within the province.  The presence of clusters of seniors would lend itself to the creation of associated jobs to maintain these properties and provide health care and personal care.

Making Nova Scotia attractive to seniors goes hand in hand with making Nova Scotia a center for organic farming and organic food products, as many older people develop an interest in nutrition and healthy living. By having affordable access to local organic food, and decreased stress from a social life and the security of affordable long term housing, I'd assume that these things would decrease the burden on a health care system that might be seen in bigger city centres where seniors are more likely to be isolated.

In researching the idea more, I stumbled across this website called "Canadian Senior Co-housing" based out of Sooke, BC.  Here is the link to an interesting article on their website, which was published in June 2012 in the Globe and Mail:

"Better Aging With (Social) Chemistry"

If you scroll down to the bottom of the article, I find it interesting that the first comment is:

"Great ideas but is sounds like another type of living that’s reserved for the wealthy. Is anyone doing it in a way that can be approached by average or below average finances? If people want to share, there must be a way or ways. Certainly we each don’t need more than a large bed-sitting room if there is respect and a good amount of shared space and resources."

I think in rural Nova Scotia someone could come up with something that would be affordable for those living on a modest pension, perhaps this would involve privately operated rental buildings designed specifically for seniors, where seniors are given a great deal of autonomy, privacy and respect, and provided with good common areas, in order that they wouldn't have to invest the bulk of their personal funds in their accommodation.  By finding efficient ways to house seniors affordably, more of their income would be free to spend in the local economy (eg, going out for meals, participating in activities, travel, purchasing locally grown food).  Maybe one model would be for a senior with adequate resources to acquire and renovate a multifamily building and rent out the other units to other seniors; maybe leaving one unit vacant to serve as a common area.  This model could potentially lead to the restoration of an existing historic structure, creating work in the trades and real estate sector, and maintaining the character and tourism value of town.  Alternatively, a new structure could be built.

The other sad truth is that women do tend to outlive men, so as the ratio of seniors in society increases, this will mean more elderly ladies living alone.  With humans being social creatures, the concept of co-housing sounds like a compelling way to create some level of security and provide a social life for older folks.  That Nova Scotia already has attractive small towns in scenic locations waiting to be revitalized makes the province seem like a great fit. 

from the website, http://canadianseniorcohousing.com/?page_id=13

Cohousing Movement
Senior cohousing grows out of the broader cohousing movement. The Danes invented these “living communities” in the 1960s. There are hundreds in Denmark and across northern Europe. These are intentionally cooperative neighbourhoods where common facilities are creatively shared yet where each household owns their home and controls how involved they want to be with the community
 

 It seems to me that someone did try to develop a community like this near New Germany, but it never really took off.  In order to deal with the issue of energy, the units were to be off grid using solar.  My suspicion is that anyone desiring that sort of home was wary about buying into a community that hadn't seen completed construction, and that maybe the location wasn't quite right (not a big enough town, not walking distance to amenities).  perhaps if the project was completed in full and the units were rented at first, people would have caught on. 

This is another great link I found on the canadian senior cohousing site: Sharon Rempel, grass roots solutions.  I'm eager to look into this more! being of Slavic descent I love the word "Baba Yaga" and its folklore which my mom tried to scare me with.  "Baba Yaga" housing seems like a great idea to me,

http://www.grassrootsolutions.com/ 

http://www.babahousing.ca/index.html

Super awesome CBC radio interview about Baba Yaga Housing:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/The+Sunday+Edition/ID/2290287979/


I'll end this post with the following analysis in reference to the current boom of mink farms in the province. I love seniors so I'm just being a jackass writing this up, but there is some truth in it:

Mink-Farming versus Senior-Housing

While mink are generally furrier, many senior citizens are also quite cute and have the advantage of bringing their pension cheques with them to this province.  Unlike mink, seniors can communicate with other humans using language and have an abundance of stories and wisdom to share.   Unlike mink, seniors are willing to pay rent or property taxes, and contribute in other ways to the local economy.  While the profitability of mink farming is dependent on the fashion tastes of people in other countries, and could end abruptly at any time due to social factors, the abundance of seniors needing housing is a more stable economic factor to depend on.   In terms of branding Nova Scotia to the rest of this planet, making seniors welcome and cared-for in this province has more of a  "feel good" aspect to it than raising small animals in cages to be slaughtered for their pelts.  Unlike farmed mink, seniors are welcome to roam around freely throughout the landscape.  Unlike Mink, seniors are likely to have family members travel to Nova Scotia to visit them, which has economic benefits to travel and tourism industries in the province.

Revolutionary Ideas - Part 3, A New Slogan, A New Brand

This is just a short one because part 2 was long.  But in watching the videos about fracking elsewhere and GMOs elsewhere, and thinking of the tarsands in Alberta, and recognizing that many people are waking up to the negative environmental impacts of these industries despite the jobs and money they create, I've been thinking about how maybe the government of Nova Scotia could come up with some attractive branding for this province.  Maybe a catchy slogan would help.

how about:

"Come back to Nova Scotia, bring the money you made extracting resources elsewhere or flipping your property to foreign investors, and live the life you've always dreamed of. We promise there will be no fracking or GMOs, and we'll keep this province healthy and safe as can be."

Okay, that might be a bit long to stick on a license plate, but, can you imagine? If the province became a safe haven for jaded environmentalists and other refugees/ex-pats from the rest of Canada? The Nova Scotia Nature Trust could meet everyone at the border with suggestions of land that concerned citizens could purchase to conserve.  The gobs of cash that people could bring by selling their Vancouver or Toronto homes could be invested in new creative small businesses that would add to an increasingly diversified economy.  It's already happening, I've met several "come from aways" who have also chased their dreams to Nova Scotia and stand a chance of creating jobs.   Maybe instead of jealously looking at Alberta and their oil/gas extraction money would could look at other countries that seem to have it together.  Maybe some small European country exists that would be a better model for Nova Scotia's best possibility.  Just a thought.

More revolutionary ideas tomorrow!

Revolutionary Ideas - Part 2 - Up With Net Metering

So I'm feeling a lot more optimistic today.  First off, back to the fracking thing I found a couple more videos that show that it might not be all that its cooked up to be, if anyone involved can watch these and still be pro-frack-Nova Scotia I'd like to know why.



This one is about coal seam gas development in Queensland, but appropriate I thought.


 

Moving along to today's idea, net metering for solar and micro hydro.  First off I'd like to point out that these revolutionary ideas are definitely not just mine I got them from somewhere. So I was pleased to find this report today by the NS government once I started looking into it:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/energy/resources/EM/renewable/renewable-electricity-plan.pdf

So I don't need to go on about the potential benefits of net metering, it is in the above report. 

Also, luckily my copy of the Herald Magazine fell on the floor upside down so I saw the back cover, which has an ad with with the link from Nova Scotia Power, indicating they are working on the net metering thing.
http://www.tomorrowspower.ca/
 
 Back in 1995 I had the opportunity to volunteer at a research station in Cape Tribulation Australia.  It was completely off grid (easier to do in the tropics of course) and powered by a combination of solar and microhydro.  I had never seen a microhydro system before and remember being amazed that this small white capsule, maybe less than a foot long, contained a turbine which was placed in just a trickle of a stream.  There were a lot of hoses involved and I wasn't that interested in technology at the time so I don't remember much more, but remember thinking, wow, it really doesn't take much water movement to create electricity.  Obviously they'd draw more power from it in the rainy season, when the solar panels would be less effective.

Part of why I bought land where I did was because I thought by being by a river, maybe some day it would be possible to have a microhydro system provide at least part of my power, if not all sorts of power for me and my neighbours.  Ironically enough one day while I was away, my husband noticed a couple of fellows at the foot of our property doing something in the river.  One was an electrician who was testing out a microhydro system he'd just invented, for a client with a cabin that was located far from the grid.

I wasn't around to see it but asked him later about solar and micro hydro and he pointed out that unlike Ontario, where private landowners can receive payment for selling power back to the grid, this option doesn't exist in Nova Scotia; or it does but it isn't lucrative for small systems.  He figured that the ability to sell power back to the grid would offset the cost of purchasing and installing solar panels, and more people would be inclined to do this.  So it makes me glad to see the government report above, although writing up a plan and actually implementing it are two very different things. I'm still confused about the whole thing though so maybe I'll send him the "tomorrowspower" link.

As for microhydro, it seems to me that where river water creates energy consistently (unlike the sun or wind) and if someone where to give someone like this electrician a small bag of money to go away and invent something efficient, I think there's a good chance they would.

I find it funny that there's money for the oil and gas industry to come up with all sorts of crazy technology but you don't hear much about that sort of investment in research for solar and microhydro.  Or even look at how far they've gotten with drone technology; someone put the resources into developing drones and now they've become quite sophisticated in their uses for surveillance and attacking people.   I would think that if more investment was made in soft technology, more solutions would be found. Or maybe more creative people will just come up with solutions on their own.  Check out this video by a Newfoundland guy who figured out a way to use cans to make solar powered heating units:



I think about computers, and all the advancement that has been made since my first 286 which ran on DOS.  It makes me feel optimistic for the future of renewables.

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist: maybe the problem is that the oil and gas industries are so powerful that the thought of decentralizing power by putting renewable into the hands of the masses would be a threat to their ability to make profit.  On that level I could see why a certain someone would say that "solar and microhydro are not economically viable" - unlike the oil and gas industry maybe they're not as set up to offer jobs and profits for shareholders. I just don't know.  I do think that with cheaper energy people and business owners would have money freed up for more things, such as creating jobs for others and having time to invent and create new interesting things.  Where the energy would be cleaner there wouldn't be the worry of cleaning up air or water pollution made from burning oil and gas.  

Now I'll admit that natural gas is a much cleaner burning fuel source and I've greatly enjoyed low heating costs in Regina from using it.  In fact it was cheaper to heat a 3 storey 1912 character house in Regina through a winter where the temperature would get down to -50 with natural gas than it was to heat a small house in Halifax. I couldn't believe it.  I just think the risk of water and soil contamination from trying to extract it from Nova Scotia could outweigh the benefits, so it is a big gamble to make.  If all these other places are pumping out natural gas for cheap can't we just import some of theirs? I love bananas but that doesn't mean I would try to grow them here.

I'll post the following video eventhough it is pretty "out there" and if you do some googling you'll see it is controversial and not without its critics.  Some of it I like and I think it is interesting food for thought.  I'm also open to reviewing evidence that reliance on oil and gas is great for people and so plan on watching "Frack Nation" - a pro fracking documentary that just came out, to see another point of view.  I'm trying to keep my mind open.

Revolutionary Ideas Part 1 - Up With Organic Farms

Welcome to Part One of my series I call "Revolutionary Ideas for Nova Scotia".

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a loudmouth from away, and what the hell do I know what is best for this province.  I don't know what is best.  These are just ideas.  Maybe there will be something good in here though, you never know.

The first idea I have is more organic farms.  More permaculture.  In today's Halifax Chronicle Herald, which I read every day, I noticed two interesting things:

1. Ian Thompson, the Herald's Associate Publisher, in his preamble for the Herald Magazine says that "We have more food today, and it's cheaper."
I would like to know where Ian shops, as I've noticed some inflation with food prices (though as we grow more of our own food I'm not too worried about that).  The other thing I would point out is that our food supply right now is heavily dependent on petrochemicals for fertilizer and trucking.  Is this more abundant, cheaper food nutritious? If it isn't, doesn't that mean it incurs an expense with it in terms of future medical care?  In terms of freshwater supply and availability of petrochemicals for trucking and fertilizer, is it sustainable?  Won't costs increase as resources are depleted and become more expensive?  and what of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) which have snuck into our food system in increasing amounts, there doesn't exist long term proof that this technology isn't harmful for humans.  Many conscious consumers are choosing to avoid GMOs.

2. in the Letters to the editor there is one titled "More Farm Jobs Lost" where a reader points out concerns about the closure of a slaughterhouse in Kingston, and the fear of losing prime farmland to residential and commercial development as it is subdivided and sold off.
Great letter.  My hometown, Richmond BC was nicknamed "Garden City" with the blackest, richest soil you've ever seen.  My parents, who were farmers in Poland, delighted in their productive vegetable gardens and by freezing and canning we'd eat homegrown produce year round.  Despite the presence of the Agricultural Land Reserve, much of Richmond has since been busted up for condo developments, forcing a heavier reliance on imported food, especially as the population increases.  In a sad twist of irony the fertile 1/2 acre my folks bought in the 60's is now poised to become part of a Wal-Mart site.  Big money, yes, but you can't eat money.

So I can't help but look at the mls map of Nova Scotia and suck my teeth.  Anyone can see an abundance of farmland for sale.  In a previous Herald article someone pointed out that Nova Scotia is actually one province where farmland has been increasing, I think that's great and maybe this is a resource that the NS government can turn into economic growth and jobs.

How about instead of encouraging fracking on that farmland, which would result in more tailing ponds that might contaminate both the soil and water, we promote the province as a mecca for organic farming and permaculture?  I can't believe I'm the only former yuppie from another province that flocked here thrilled for the opportunity to own land and grown my own food (a goal that was out of reach for me in BC). 
In fact I know I am not.  There is a couple from BC who bought a farm in Petite Riviere to do just that.  They have a farm as well as a B&B. I met them, they're nice:

Petite Riviere B&B and Heritage Farm 



Maybe better still, there could be a way for the government to help its own young people create jobs for themselves in this sector, before more people from away like me show up and snap up all the land.  The payoff would be a restoration of beautiful pastoral scenes, abundant local healthy food, increased tourism, decreased health care costs from more Nova Scotians having access to nutritious local food.

Aside from just growing food, there is opportunity here for value added food products. Wine, haskap berry products, sausage, all kinds of things.  The seaport market in Halifax is full of great local products.  Couldn't the province help promote and enhance this industry in some way, by helping food producers distribute their products to Toronto or other large urban centres.  I don't know much about this sort of business. 

Maybe instead of being just another place to frack, Nova Scotia could gain an international reputation as a centre of permaculture, organic farming, sustainable living and healthy food products.

How to make this idea economically viable?  I'm not sure.  I have a couple suggestions though.  As a member of the 'private sector' in 2003 when I made up my mind that I really wanted some land, I found an acreage in NS with a house on it.  A lot of people in Vancouver thought I was nuts to fly to the other side of the country to buy land, but my argument was I could never own anything like it in BC.  I didn't have enough capital to realize my rural dream though, so I rented the house out to a family for cheap.  This is how I accidentally found out about the tax benefits of real estate investing.  The family got a new wood stove, I got a tax write off, they maintained the house, did some repairs in exchange for rent, and were able to save a downpayment for a place of their own when I was ready to move here 9 years later.  In the field of ecology we would call this a "Symbiotic Relationship" - a relationship where both parties involved benefit.    Maybe a sustainable future for Nova Scotia will require creating more of these sorts of relationships.

The following may be a terrible idea, I don't know, but maybe the provincial government could step in and buy up some of this available farmland thus creating its own Agricultural Reserve and create lease to own programs for its young people, using vendor take back mortgages.  The mortgage interest income from these loans could be used to create programs to promote organic farming, permaculture, and maybe even government run slaughterhouses and other infrastructure.  It is just an idea.  

Or (sarcasm alert) maybe we could let Mosanto buy up all the farm land, plant monocultures of genetically modified crops sprayed with their pesticides and continue to try to monopolize our food supply.

I'll end this first of my revolutionary ideas with links to some interesting videos:

The first is actually a Hellman's commercial explaining how much of our food in Canada is imported



This one is great, it starts off showing how reliant on petrochemicals our current agricultural systems are and ends with positive, sustainable solutions using permaculture:
  
A Farm for the Future



For anyone not familiar with what Monsanto and GMOs are all about, here is "The World According to Monsanto"


And last but not least, "Food Matters" a very excellent documentary on how we are what we eat.  Learn more about these folks and how to find their video here:

http://www.foodmatters.tv/ 

I've seen many other great movies, but these are a few of my top picks.

Revolutionary Ideas - preamble

Well well well I started the day in a bit of a funk but then got to journaling, and decided, hey, I've got some ideas that might be good alternatives for sustainable economic development in Nova Scotia.  Maybe I'll start a blog series listing them off.  Maybe they are crap, but, they're just ideas conjured up from my 40 years of living in this world. I've traveled a lot and lived in various Canadian cities.  Maybe instead of staring out the window feeling depressed at the thought of fracking coming to NS I will post these ideas on line.  People are free to love them or hate them or suggest alternatives.  My intention is finding solutions for better lifestyles for more people, I think everyone could get on board with that, even Bill Black!  Unless they are greedy overlords I guess, who depend on humans to exploit.

I did hear back from Bill Black (referring to my post yesterday) who doesn't think we'd find common ground, doesn't think solar or microhydro are economically viable (though farmed mink and salmon are).  Maybe he's right.  But maybe what is fundamentally flawed is our model of the economy in the first place.  I'll refer back to my post on Sacred Economics.

In thinking about a preamble, and thinking more about oil and gas, I came up with this: 
What child, when asked what he/she wants to be when they grow up says, "oooo, I'd like to have a job for a multinational petrochemical company, draining a watershed to pump carcinogens into the earth to make natural gas"? I think kids want to help others and animals, create, invent, make things, perform, play, communicate ... and somehow along the way they all get drafted into a school system that doesn't help them listen to and realize their hearts desires.  Instead, for the most part, it grooms them to be good employees and good followers.  Not so much freethinkers or creators, as this TED talk by Ken Robinson describes: (fyi I've watched a lot of documentaries while working on art and lying around waiting for my back to heal after breaking it in 2007.  Some are fantastic so I'll be linking to them)



   



So all this thinking about solutions has prompted me to symbolically dig my biology degrees out of the trash. I think the biggest issue human beings have is that we've somehow forgotten that we're also animals and are subjected to environmental constraints.

One concept from ecology I can share is the notion of "carrying capacity".  Carrying Capacity is the maximum population of a given species that can survive indefinitely in a given environment.

The term was taught to me to describe things like how many deer can live in an area etc etc, but if we're going to keep increasing the population, or even hold it steady as we deplete and pollute our current resources,  we need to come up with more creative, sustainable ways to use resources to meet our needs.  
  The following is an excellent lecture I've watched many times, on resources, arithmetic and the exponential function.  I wish everyone in the world would watch this.

"Arithmetic, Population and Energy" by Dr. Albert Bartlett

here is a link to it on Documentary Heaven

http://documentaryheaven.com/arithmetic-population-and-energy/

and I found it on youtube too so I could embed it here:

Silent Auction

Well I've got an idea now for a series of blog posts (soon to follow) but before I get started I wanted to post this cartoon I drew this week.

No offense intended to anyone I've donated work to for fundraisers, I like other artists are pleased to have the opportunity to contribute in this way for worthy causes,and yes, most moms who have asked for school fundraisers aren't like the one in the pic.  The drawing is meant to poke fun at the fact that artists get hit up for donations a lot, and many artists aren't all that well off.    It makes me wonder if it'd be better to seek donations from people like lawyers and accountants. anyways.

The Future of Fracking In Nova Scotia

Well this is better, two blog posts in two days. 

I just drew this cartoon:

Big thanks to Bill Black for making me mad and sad with this article the Halifax Chronicle Herald published today

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/530204-black-when-it-comes-to-fracking-enough-study-consultation 

 Yes, yes, Bill, enough with the study and consultation already lets get to work pumping those carcinogens into the ground to extract some gas.  Never mind the fact that relative to other provinces Nova Scotia has a tiny land mass and a population density second only to PEI.  Natural gas all the way! Forget about any sort of development that might be sustainable and earth friendly, um, like organic farming, ecoforestry, value added forestry products, help for landowners wishing to construct solar arrays or microhydro projects to sell power back to the grid (uh oh, Emera wouldn't like that at all!)*, IT, other technology, marketing the province as a haven for retiring baby boomers, tourism, finding ways to promote and develop the province's creative class... bah... forget all that and let's frack! and fill the province with mink farms and salmon pens while we're at it! Yes! 

from Bill's article:
"Although there have been isolated problems, as occur with any resource industry, fracking has been largely safe and is responsible for revitalizing many parts of rural North America. "

ah, so Bill says it is largely safe.  Good maybe we can start by fracking in his yard then.  I hope someone will give Bill a copy of "GasLand" (the documentary) as well as a map of Canada so he can notice how small Nova Scotia is, and how full of fresh waterways.

Maybe he has a point about not studying it too much. I quit my career as a biologist in BC when I realized I was a 'biostitute' and that corporations will pay people fat contracts in order to say they spent x amount on the environment.  And then they'll put the report on a shelf and go ahead and do whatever they were going to do in the first place.  So I decided to give up trying to be a 'conservation biologist' and I moved to rural NS to try and live off my ecological footprint, and protect my own bit of land.  So far so good, but  I really hope nobody fracks with my delicious well water!  

since writing this post I've emailed both Bill Black and the editor of the Herald, here's the note I sent with my post.

*****

Dear Bill Black and Herald editors,

I was greatly disturbed by Bill's pro-fracking article in today's paper.  I've published my response with a cartoon I drew here on my blog and will copy/paste below in case any part of it is suitable for the letters section. In fact I'll add this letter to my blog post.

Bill, I'd encourage to do some more google searching about fracking, its impacts, and the enormous volumes of freshwater it uses and pollutes, and watch some documentaries. I believe this is a terribly shortsighted thing to wish on this province. I have lived through 2 economic booms, one in Vancouver and one in Regina before moving to Nova Scotia, and I'd be pleased to meet with you in person to share with you further some of my own ideas for sustainable development for this province.  I think Nova Scotia has the potential for a much brighter future than what mere resource extraction and depletion would provide.  I think if you could see this and understand the problems with fracking you might change your mind.

Sincerely,
Susan Paczek.
BSc McGill - Biology, MSc University of British Columbia - conservation biology, former registered professional biologist (RPBio)

 
Wait, it gets better, I've decided to include some links on this blog to compelling resources that point out issues with fracking:

 http://www.watershedsentinel.ca/content/fracking-natural-gas-affects-water-quality

 http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

I could go on and on but you get the point...

* maybe Nova Scotia Power is more on the ball than I thought,  see
http://www.tomorrowspower.ca/

Sacred Economics

Ulp... thought I'd be posting more this year.  I've taken a wee break from sculpting and have been doing a lot of thinking.... about potential solutions to the state of the world, my life purpose, etc.  I've been a big fan of the Idle No More movement.  I also watched this video, which I like very much.   There are a pile of other lectures by this guy on youtube, really interesting stuff.
 

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein.