Image: Acrylic Painting Turtle Prayer by Martha Greenwald
"Nobody is Controlling What You Do Here": Bob Neuwirth's 2005 TED talk summarizes and expands on his book Shadow Cities. About 1.5 billion people, 20% of humanity, now lives in squatter communities
in the world's cities, mostly in struggling nations. By 2050, 3-4
billion people, a third of humanity, will do so. They are growing at a
rate of 250,000 per day. Their homes are not recognized as legal, they
have no political rights, and no legal services, though they beg,
borrow and steal electricity and water. Their main products are garbage
and sewage, which accumulate in massive nearby piles and cesspools.
What they are are self-managed
communities, probably as close as we have to large-scale intentional
communities, though their intentions are not ambitious. Despite the
squalour and disease, many residents say living there is addictive --
you owe no homage to The Man, pay no taxes, don't have to fight in
unjust wars or kowtow to the boss or the customer. They are probably
not in the census: Even the Canadian census authorities admit that they
undercount by at least 3% because of incomplete surveys and forms. The
numbers of those in the Shadow Cities might be much higher than the
unofficial numbers -- the global population may have already exceeded 7
billion, and the number of uncounted (as we try to assure ourselves
that the population explosion is moderating) is soaring. Neuwirth wants
them to be granted security from eviction (not property
rights, which only make things worse) and the right to political
self-management. They are, as Neuwirth says, the real cities of the
future. Thanks to David Gurteen for the link.
Replacing the Desktop Metaphor with...You!:
A prototype $99 computer called the XO puts you, not your desktop, as
the icon of its user interface, and instead of showing the architecture
and connections of documents, it shows the architecture of your
person-to-person networks. The project is controversial and unproven
(both the technology and user acceptance) but its holy grail --
affordably bringing a vast array of self-paced learning resources to
communities that have none -- is a worthy one. Thanks to Innovation Weekly for the link.
Is Ethanol Fuel an Environmentally Devastating Corporatist Scam?...: Artist Martha Greenwald (that's her painting above) writes: "In
Heron Lake, Minnesota, they are constructing a 50 million gallon
coal-fired corn ethanol plant, funded by farmer-investors. They are
doing this because the price of natural gas is going up, and coal is
cheaper in the Upper Midwest. Federal government subsidies support
this expansion of agricultural production. These include a 51 cent
tax credit for each gallon of ethanol sold in the U.S. Also, ethanol
producers receive a 10 cent per gallon production income tax credit
for the first 15 million gallons. There are so many things wrong
with this picture.
- First, the energy economics of ethanol
production: Robert Rapier, who writes for the Oil Drum, says for
every 1 unit of energy expended on producing corn ethanol, we get
1.3 units of energy.
- Second, the greenhouse gases burned by using
coal to heat the ethanol mash.
- Third, the enormous water usage of
ethanol plants, depleting groundwater sources.
- Fourth, the increase
in acreage devoted to corn production created by higher prices,
which is reducing acreage put into conservation programs.
- Fifth, the
soil erosion, fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide costs on the
environment associated with corn production, including the "dead
zone" in the Mississippi River.
- Sixth, the rising costs of corn
driving up the costs of everything from tortillas to meat, not to
mention driving down the Mexican peso. This is the wisdom of the
markets, folded, spindled, and mutilated. All in the name of energy
independence. Incredible."
... and Is a Prius Bad for the Environment?: Some of the assumptions and math are suspect, but a recent study suggests that, due
to the environmental cost of extracting some of its materials, and the
huge distances some of these materials and components are transported,
the Prius is hardly green. After learning that long-haul 'organic'
foods may be worse for the environment than locally-grown products, I
guess we shouldn't be surprised. Thanks to Scott Cale for the link.
The Horrors of Factory Farming: In the NYT, a cattle rancher describes the unimaginable animal cruelty that personifies the US factory farming oligopoly, and calls for an end to it.
Thought for the Week: From Amy Hempel again:
I
think of the chimp, the one with the talking hands [taught sign
language]. In the course of the experiment, that chimp had a baby.
Imagine how her trainers must have thrilled when the mother, without
prompting, began to sign to her newborn: "Baby, Drink, Milk." "Baby,
Play, Ball". And when the baby died, the mother stood over the body,
her wrinkled hands moving with animal grace, forming again and again
the words: Baby, Come Hug, Baby, Come Hug, fluent now in the language
of grief.
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