Category: low-footprint living

People in various groups are worried about their 401(k)s. Mostly this is fellow Boomers and older; most younger people don’t have 401(k)s. 

I don’t have a 401(k) because I cashed it out a long time ago and deployed it locally. (For me, climate and the environment has always been a very large part of this choice. And now the political situation gives additional motive.)

And I recognize that not everyone will have the stomach for this but … Everyone who feels able to divest from Wall Street – the more the better. I realize many people don’t feel they can risk doing that.

Many people have huge portfolios and won’t want to cut them loose. Other people don’t have huge portfolios but are hoping they will grow and don’t want to cut them loose.

Hence I point out that many people don’t feel they can do that. Funny thing about prosperity, it makes us very risk-averse.

But, it would be a big bold step and it would have an impact. Imagine if everyone pulled their money out of their 401(k)s and invested in their local areas instead.

As I have often said, it’s a bold move and not everyone will be ready for it. But if you think about it, it’s only for a very very tiny moment in human history that we have had this attitude that we cannot live our life without amassing and hoarding a giant pile of money.

Fascism is a fusion of extreme corporate power and extreme authoritarian government.

Over the past few decades, we ourselves have fed the corporations more and more power, not only in our capacity as consumers, but also in our capacity as shareholders.

Note, I’m not saying grab the money and burn it, or spend it all on frivolities. I’m saying localize it. Pay off your mortgage. Pay off your kids’ mortgage.

If you still have money left after that, buy a commercial building in your town. Have a business there, or allow some young person to have a business there. Become a part investor in a local farm or other local business. Pay off your kids’ college debt. If you don’t have kids, help someone else pay off their college debt.

Invest in your continuing education too: classes and other training that will help you be more resilient all the way into old-old age. And will help your community be more resilient.

I’m suggesting invest locally and invest in the younger generations and future generations. And help loosen the grip of fascism.

(***The suggestion in this post is really for my fellow Boomers and older. Younger ppl, and Black people, it’s not my place to impose advice on you. I just want us to make a better world for you guys.)

And, response to a comment from a friend who doesn’t feel able to let go of her fund because she only has a small amount of savings and her body can’t handle doing landscaping work 40 hours a year the rest of her life:

I hear you. I am in the same boat as far as savings and all that. I am currently in the midst of applying for Social Security. To be honest, when I was in my 40s I was assuming this wouldn’t even be an option, I wasn’t even thinking it would be available once I hit Social Security age. If this is any comfort.

And one of my housemates, who is also in early 60s, just got approved.

But also, although both you and I do physical work, we also have work that we can do that isn’t physical body labor. Writing, teaching, art, etc., those things are lifelong. And, also an option might be continuing to do the gardening but taking on apprentices. Another friend of mine, my age-ish, is an arborist and he’s only happy when he’s actually climbing the trees himself, so for him the apprentice thing doesn’t feel like an option, but it might be for a lot of us.

Photo: one section of my bookshelf for the algorithm. And for your enjoyment.

Update March 11:

My friend, colleague, and co-author Laura Oldanie, of Rich Resilient Living, made this incredibly information-rich comment just now in the Socially Conscious FIRE group. I thought some of you might find this info extremely helpful:

I don’t know if this is the best way, but here’s a bit about what I’m doing instead of propping up and relying on Wall Street. I moved my money out of the stock market about 8 years ago. Because I no longer worked for my previous employers, I was able to move those employer based retirement accounts into a self-directed IRA. Similarly, self employed people can open Solo 401ks. SDIRAs & Solo 401ks allow you to invest in a much wider array of assets. A Roth SDIRA is actually the vehicle Peter Thiel used to jumpstart his massive fortune, but they can also be vehicles for making tax advantaged investments in the growing number of truly socially conscious investing opportunities that are percolating outside the stock market. I wrote about some of those in this blog post How I’m Investing to Save the Planet (https://www.richandresilientliving.com/how-im-investing-my-money-to-save-the-planet/) and this one on Social Justice Investing (https://www.richandresilientliving.com/a-crowdsourced-guide-to-social-justice-investing/).

There’s a bit of a learning curve to getting started investing through SDIRA’s and the whole process can be a lot more hands on than simply clicking a few buttons in your online brokerage profile. I’m not an expert in them either, but I did write this blog post about SDIRAs several years ago https://www.richandresilientliving.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=725&action=edit.

We can also expand how we think about investing and building wealth beyond directing our money into financial instruments. For example we can invest in useful skills or assets that can generate income for us. In particular, we need lots more people to be building the skills and cultivating the assets that will help us address our major social and environmental challenges instead of perpetuating them. And that’s just what Mike Hoag, Jenny Nazak, Eric Brown – Author, and I wrote about in our book Growing FREE (Financially Resilient & Economically Empowered) Building the Life of Your Dreams Without Losing Your Soul or Destroying the Planet. You can read more about our book here and find a free sample chapter to download – https://www.richandresilientliving.com/growingfree/

I believe there’s tremendous value in developing a much more holistic view of wealth and investing because money and financial capital are so volatile and fragile. As I think about designing my life to thrive now and in my later years on a climate challenged planet, I think about a lot more than money.

The last thing I’ll share is my recent blog post on Climate Change & Retirement Planning because whether it’s global warming, political uncertainties, or the whims of capitalism, there’s a lot going on that makes our conventional pursuit of wealth a lot less reliable and a lot less desirable (not that it was ever a good thing) – https://www.richandresilientliving.com/retirement-planning-and-climate-change/

Getting closer to ripeness!

With Bike Week being early this year, it’s not concurrent with the fruiting of our neighborhood loquats as it has been generally. I always associate bike week with yummy ripe loquats!

Because one of the mama trees is on a neighboring street and I would always go out during bike week and get a cup of those sweet little orange oval stone-fruit for breakfast.

That was when I had permission from the owner of that house. Then the house changed owners, and I never connected with the new owner — I just know they installed a ring camera after I was out picking fruit one time. D’OH!

Fortunately, this year my loquat trees that are babies of that big mama are fruiting for the first time ever! It’s such a cool mile stone and I’m excited about sharing with you! By the way, the leaves make a nice healthy tea. And loquats are always great for shade and privacy.

In the Permaculture world we joke that the landscaping industry popularized a useful tree by mistake. 😉

This is a question and thread I saw on Reddit. And my answer is:

Yes. I got to travel a lot when I was younger. Growing up in a military family and so on. We drove cross country multiple times and camped out in the national parks etc.

And I got to live in Japan for five years while in my 20s-early 30s.

I haven’t been to that many countries, but I’ve had many many rich experiences and a little goes a long way. I just don’t have the big travel urges like I used to.

Also I have read about in-depth, and observed firsthand, the devastating effect of tourism on cultures, ecosystems, and economies. It seems good for economies but all too often hollows them out.

If I did travel again (other than my annual train or bus trip to see family), it would have to be by train or bus, foot or bicycle etc.

I love the comment in the second screenshot, I do this kind of thing also. Armchair tourism with technology enhancements! I actually really have a blast just looking at maps. Either on paper or online. Also thoroughly enjoy googling the name of a town or city or region, and clicking on the “images” tab.

And, I really just love being in my home and my neighborhood and my city. Loving those places and working to help make them the best they can be. Can feel like every bit as much of a drama and adventure as navigating the high seas.

Comment in response to someone (comfortably-off liberal Boomer demographic) on my personal FB circle who posted that the boycott was a wasted effort. And said that it “didn’t work.” And encouraged people to go travel and spend money in Canada (No offense Canada):

Failed? Who says? It never was about a quick result anyway.

And no, I’m not going to vastly increase my consumption, or ecological footprint, by visiting Canada or any other faraway place, just to go there. Leisure tourism is problematic consumption as well. Feeding the oligarchs and distracting us from weaving connections in our own home communities.

By the way there are many many more long-term boycotts planned. This is only a warm-up. Sort of an initial thing to get people started.

Personally, it’s not a wasted effort because I don’t buy from any of those companies that we are supposed to boycott anyway. I basically only buy from local people, and mainly essentials.

And it’s not wasted because I personally see the benefit of not having all these big holes in my wallet from unnecessary consumerism and supporting distant entities who have no stake in my community.

The way we deploy our money matters. Period.

That said, please don’t assume that we are not doing ALSO all of the other actions including what you mentioned. It’s not an either-or, it’s a both-and. Most everyone in my activist circles is doing ALL of the things to the best of their ability.

But unnecessary consumption (which we have been led to believe is necessary) sucks up our time and brain space, so yes it will always continue to matter what we do with our money.

The real priceless commodity is our attention. By taking back our attention, we take back our agency. And our wallets are absolutely one aspect of our attention.

PS. There’s a reason why fuel was rationed during World War II. Burning fuel unnecessarily is like opening a vein for fascist regimes.

In permaculture class, we learned that out of every dollar spent on gasoline, something like 80 or 90 cents of that dollar goes right out of our communities.

Further exploration:

• “Behind the boycott: Integrity matters (or, don’t get played in the name of resistance)”; https://blackgirlinmaine.com/current-events/behind-the-boycott-integrity-matters-or-dont-get-played-in-the-name-of-resistance/blackgirlinmaine.com “Let today’s boycott be the start of reducing your consumption and let’s plan to do more –because our futures depend on it — but understand that the integrity of anyone leading also matters. Otherwise, you’re just getting played.”

The following is a comment I wrote in response to some friends who commented on a post I shared. The friends were expressing concerns about crime and illegal immigration. (The OP I shared was by a youth shelter manager standing up to ICE.)

We are living in times where we everyday people are encountering huge amounts of information and opinion from diverse sources, and we are tasked with assessing what the worst threats are. It’s not an easy task. And there are many real threats out there.

No one would argue that human trafficking is a good thing.

No one wants more crime.

And people will differ in their assessments of the relative severity of various threats.

As just one example. I’ve heard people at neighborhood meetings go on about apartment complexes being taken over by immigrant gangs.

I’m not saying this doesn’t exist, I really don’t know; just because I’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

But from where I sit, the bigger and more imminent threat is the housing crisis. The difficulty that people are having with finding a place to live and keeping a roof over their heads. So I am involved in various efforts to increase the supply of accessible housing, and fight vacancy blight, in my neighborhood and community.

But my feeling for a long time has been that the human trafficking and other crime stuff has been emphasized in order to whip up xenophobic / anti-immigrant sentiment. It started after 911 but in recent years has picked up speed in a big way.

I think our own xenophobia, which is getting whipped up by politicians and the media, is a far greater threat to us than whatever crimes are being committed by immigrants. It does something to one’s brain, one’s critical thinking. Everyone who looks different starts to get labeled a potential terrorist. It’s no way to live.

We’ve gotten really classist as well. Our society has always had classism under the surface but now it’s becoming a lot more out in the open. So every poor person starts to get labeled undesirable etc.

Letting our minds get hijacked by fear is never a good recipe for creating the world we want to see.

Human trafficking is a serious problem worldwide. This particular issue isn’t one that I feel called to work on (Not that I don’t care, but we each only have so much time and energy for what we are called to work on). But if I did, I’d be looking to get involved with organizations that are helping people get out of those situations, and shutting down the traffickers.

As far as people being here illegally, I just haven’t seen them as being more likely to commit crimes than people who are here legally and / or those of us who are born here. Not saying it’s not a problem, but I think we are being encouraged to think of it as a bigger problem than it is.

Who benefits from xenophobia? (And who benefits from classism?) That’s a question we should ask. Generally the list seems to include, for example: sensationalist media, advertisers, manufacturers of home security systems and porch cameras (unbelievable how we everyday people have been so easily persuaded to spy on each other), law enforcement / big government institutions with big guns.

We have devolved to a low-trust society, and there is big bucks in that for certain people and companies and institutions.

In my lifetime, we have come to a place where the norm is you don’t answer your door to any stranger. Period. A default that we don’t answer our doors. If I hadn’t been born in this country, and have family here, and feel responsibility for helping to make things better and help redeem the bad things we’ve done in the world, I would not be living here. It’s just too harsh a place. (Our brutal landscaping and urban-planning defaults just add to the environment of harshness.)

After 9/11, we really started down a road of trading liberty for what we perceived as security. I don’t think the results have been good. We have more surveillance and more big guys in the government running around with big guns. I don’t particularly feel safer.

Regarding ICE and the OP that started this thread: what business does ICE have walking into a children’s shelter (and schools etc) and engaging directly with children. I would say none but that’s just my opinion.

I’m really sad to have to miss the 14th annual FRESH Book Festival this weekend, because of a respiratory flu. But my symptoms are not that terrible, and I’m taking the opportunity to enjoy my garage studio she-shed, psychedelic-60s-inspired GlampPartment space. (See pix here.)

It’s a sensory paradise. Outside are lots of homemade wind chimes made out of old junk. It’s a breezy day today so I’m getting quite the concert. And the “shadow art” on the floor and walls never fails to disappoint.

My landscaping business vehicle, Ms. Carty Cartwell, doubles as a vehicle for carrying my stuff to the book fair, Earth Day, or other events. So usually I would be getting her all decorated with her little green-flowered ruffle valance and loading her up with books and tablecloth and stuff and heading on over to the festival.

But instead, I am doing some little cosmetic touches to my studio backdrop and other things around here. Which is enjoyable as well!

BTW although I’m not physically at the festival, I am offering a Festival special on the 12 remaining print copies of my book DEEP GREEN.

Not only is my book a practical, concise manual for radically reducing one’s eco-footprint while still living richly; it’s also a guide to slashing household expenses so we can take back our time & energy, and become more physically and emotionally resilient, less vulnerable to whatever life throws at us.

The usual price of the book is $15 plus tax. This weekend the last remaining copies are $10, sales tax included. Locals you can pick up your copy at my house; non-locals I will mail it to you, postage and handling is $5.

For various reasons, including cost and eco-footprint, I am transitioning to exclusively e-books, so this really is a limited offer!

CashApp $jennynazak to claim your signed copy with individually hand-colored lettering on the cover!

The announcement of a buy nothing day on February 28 has been very widely distributed, is appearing in various places.

(A lot of people are very very much on board, but some of us make an exception for buying essentials from local businesses.)

Most of us in these circles are already taking this approach to our spending, 365-24-7 (with only very occasional exceptions*), and have been for years, whether out of necessity or because we love the lifestyle or both. But for what it’s worth! #Solidarity

•  One of my rare exceptions used to be going to McDonald’s. Once a month or every two months. I would get two filet o fish, my favorite sandwich since childhood. And an m&m flurry. But something a little while back, I don’t remember what it was, made me decide that I could do without going there again and not feel too deprived.

I’m really glad to not have a car and not need to buy gas, although, if I ride the bus (which I do on occasion instead of walking or cycling to my destinations), that will count as gas so I can refrain from riding the bus on the 28th.

And, with regard to my landscaping work, I’m glad to have chosen an area of landscaping that is conducive to only using handtools.

BTW regarding gasoline in particular — we learned in one of my Permaculture classes that when we buy gasoline, almost immediately 85 or $.90 of our dollar goes right out of the community.

Then again, our local taxi drivers perform an essential service, as do the neighborhood guys with the push-mower who makes their livelihood mowing yards. So it’s not like our gasoline boycotts are going to be perfect. Which is OK. Even just a sharp drop in consumption is a drop!

Electricity use is a great thing to minimize also, as part of a boycott. Energy goes into everything. As we learned in Permaculture class — we learned the phrase embodied energy. Everything we buy or do, energy goes into. It is possible to use very localized energy. Such as dried deadwood for cooking and lighting if one has access to an outdoor space for such.

**Disclaimer from Heather Cox Richardson, whose name has appeared on some of these posters.
https://www.facebook.com/share/19ap4hdX6K/?mibextid=WC7FNe
“Hi Folks: Just a reminder that I am not involved with the protests that are appearing with my name on them. I don’t know the people involved, and have not taken a position either for or against the protests. This is the only page that represents me. When I support events, you will hear it directly from me, and I will never ask for money or try to sell you anything.”