Disneyland 102 - Of Life and Energy

Disneyland 102 - Of Life and Energy

In my down time I like to explore the topic of free energy. I’m not talking about wind or solar power, but more so the fringe topics of perpetual motion, ether, magnetism etc. I definitely limit these explorations to my downtime because, to tell the truth, they are a great way to waste time. There is no free lunch and no free energy. One example I always fall back upon to prove this is the example of life on earth.

Every living being uses energy of one type or another – none of it comes from the ether or perpetual motion or magnets. I don’t think God is part of the conspiracy to keep us in the dark about such “technologies”. No, I think God would choose the best most efficient means of energy utilization. What did he choose? Solar. Solar results in the storage of energy in the form of Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats which the rest of us non-vegetative life forms consume. That’s it. Our green friends convert sunlight into food and we eat it. No hocus pocus about it.

Thinking about it that way, in it’s most primitive form, the earth can support about 1.5 billion people. That’s because you need lots of land and lots of time to produce the energy to support such a population organically. Now this begs the question: “How have we managed to support 6.5 billion people?” The simple answer is “synthetically”.
Our current food infrastructure relies heavily on providing synthetic nutrients and mechanical irrigation to cultured plants in order to produce abnormally large crop yields. Without these crop yields, life on earth would be very different from what it is today.

Now there is nothing wrong with using technology to better life on earth as we have done. There is a risk however of becoming a bit too comfortable with it. To give you an example of what I mean, let’s take deer populations. When rains are steady and forests grow lush and green, the deer population explodes. Deer become comfortable and well fed and when they are in good health, reproduce and do so with vigor. Soon the exploding deer population outpaces the forest’s ability to supply nutrients and the results are disastrous. Starvation takes hold and the deer population is decimated. By now, I’m sure that I don’t have to continue this analogy. You can easily connect the dots and see where we’re headed. It’s no wonder that the earth has gone from 4 to 6.5 billion people in little over 30 years. We have it too good.

But that’s not the only point to be made here. Let’s take a look at where the synthetic support system for our food supply comes from. Almost everything supporting modern farming is based on fossil fuels. Combines and tractors run on diesel fuel. Irrigation equipment is powered by diesel, gas, or electric, which is usually produced by natural gas or coal. Almost all fertilizer is produced from natural gas, with the exception of manure, which is surely derived from animals fed grain, which was fertilized with natural gas derivatives. But what are fossil fuels? As you learned in grammar school, they are the earth-processed remains of plant material. This plant material received its energy from – you guessed it – the sun. And it did so a long time ago. Essentially, the fossil fuels we use are a “savings bank” for energy.

Connect the dots again, and you’ll see that we’re making huge withdrawals from this savings bank and using it to live well beyond our means. Imagine a man who receives an inheritance. He’s come into more money than he ever imagined. Being a good fellow, he not only buys a larger house, and new car, but invites his 12 cousins to move in with him. Thinking the account is limitless, he continues to withdraw and support his extended family in high style, the result of Granddad’s labor.

Sadly, the party is almost over. Our withdrawals are becoming harder and harder to make. They’re also becoming more and more costly. The relatives will soon have to settle for Ramen Noodles and the Mercedes will remain parked in the driveway with grass growing high around it. In real terms, life is soon going to be very difficult for about 5 billion people. If you think you’re not one of them think again. The fellow in Vietnam with an ox and an acre rice paddy is better prepared than you are. As you sit there reading this from a backlit LCD screen powered by electricity made by natural gas, the result of some plant giving its life 10,000 years ago, you have a lot to ponder. Your meal card has been punched, the account is dry, now what will you do?

Breathing Room

If there’s one survival value I’d like to instill in my kids, it’s simply this: Live with Breathing Room.

Leave space in your living habits to accommodate emergencies.

In our “just in time” society most people live with absolutely no breathing room.
I never lived like that, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it came from my dad who grew up very poor. I don’t know, but I always live with a bit of margin in my life and never above my means.

I remember a long time ago I left a job to take another and took a couple of weeks off between jobs. A coworker looked at me incredulously. “What are you going to do for money?” “For two weeks?” I felt like asking, “you don’t have enough money to carry you for two weeks?” I don’t mean to criticize those in tough financial situations who simply don’t have that amount of breathing room. But regardless of your situation, you should know that not having a few weeks of savings in the bank makes your situation dire. Strive to put away a bit.

I do mean to criticize those who live right at or above their means while having the ability to save. This is true of most Americans regardless of income level. There are plenty of doctors married to lawyers who simply cannot afford to miss a week or two of work because they’ve moved into McMansions and must make payments on the McYacht.

When you get into the habit of putting a little aside, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your wealth AND preparations will build up.

How do you do it? Move into a smaller house. Sell a car or vacation property. That motorcycle that scares the hell out of you should go too. Ride a bike or carpool instead of driving everywhere. Consolidate your trips. Take a cheap vacation in the mountains instead of the islands. Quit those hobbies that you don’t have time for anyway.

Eat at home. Food is a huge waste of money for most folks. Think about what you spend each week on food. Now think about what you would eat if you were flat broke. Ramen noodles? Rice and beans? Calculate the cost of that and try to set a goal somewhere between your current budget and the flat broke one.

Once you have some breathing room, there will be some temptation to spend money on toys. A new gun? Some firearm accessories? A DVD player? Don’t do it! Spend your money on a few extra bags of rice each week and some canned soup. Put it away.

Fill up a gas can when you top off your tank. Buy a couple of flashlights.
Make these things your toys.
Take pictures of these things and gloat over them.
Life can be a whole lot more fulfilling when you forget about “keeping up with the Joneses” and focus on “outlasting the Joneses.”

Live with breathing room.