We pay our federal income taxes every year as a “price of civilization” and then we sit back and watch our government spend our tax dollars like an irresponsible teenager with a credit card.
Furthermore I sit back and observe this massive machine of civilization that we have created and wonder how it is that we got so far off track. After all focusing on a sustainability does not seem difficult to me.
But this possibility of a sustainable future is too often clouded by the mighty powers that still insist on building walls and weapons. But I am of the opinion it is time to change our conventional wisdom on such matters.
If you want to enjoy one of the few times that I will make a political statement, then listen to this episode on Walls, Weapons and Wisdom.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is episode 82 which is called Walls, Weapons, and Wisdom.
But before we get started I want to take a moment and remind everyone that if you have any questions, comments, or even suggestions about content please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
So, let’s get right down to this weeks topic.
Now this episode is going to be a bit different from most other things I have produced in the past. But my purpose in the end is to get my listeners to thinking about your personal priorities as related to sustainability. In order to encourage you to think about that I am going to use two examples, that being Walls and Weapons, to show just how far off course our modern society really is these days. And the purpose of revealing these two extreme examples is to make you examine your personal choices about a sustainable life which is some you can control.
First off I have to say that I am not a very politically oriented person. I do have friends with strong political views and I always find it entertaining when they foam at the mouth over one candidate or another, or about some obtuse issue that makes no difference in regards to the future of this planet. In fact, I make it a habit to distance myself from political organizations.
However, I have to say that I strongly disagree with many ways in which our country is operated. We pay a heavy price for our civilization in the form of income taxes, sales taxes, estate taxes, capital gains, gasoline taxes, food prices, etc. And these of course are things over which we have absolutely no control. If you think you have a choice then try not paying your taxes and see what happens.
But in the interest of fairness, there are advantages to the taxes we pay because the government does provide services that are very valuable. Disaster relief, financial assistance during the pandemic, food security, national security, vital infrastructure as well as many other things. So I don’t want to make light of such services.But it is hard to watch sometimes when the government spends our tax dollars like an irresponsible teenager with a credit card.
That said, there are many reasons I live the way I do, a lifestyle that is off the grid, conservative, minimal living, as sustainable as I can be, and living totally off of renewable energy sources. But another less obvious reason I live the way I do is that it is my subtle way of protest. I provide as much for myself as I can and I legally limit my tax liability by being in business for myself and working closely with an accountant to make sure that every thing I do with my business is perfectly legal.
The bottom line for me as far as politics is concerned is that I rarely make a strong political statement. Yet sometimes I feel compelled to do so. So up front I am not going to apologize if I offend anyone by what I state in this episode simply because the focus here is not on politics but to point out just how far we have gotten off track from a sustainable future and just how ridiculous we are sometimes.
Our government spend massive amounts of money on meaningless projects instead of improving social reform, decreasing the incidence of poverty, increasing the employment rate, building an infrastructure of renewable energy, engaging in land reclamation, greening of the economy, and even massive public education projects to bring sustainability into our everyday lives.
I think it is valuable to point out that the three pillars of sustainability are environment, economic, and social, often referred to less formally as people, planet, and profits. I have previously stated that the environment would be just fine without people. But without people there is no economy and certainly no society. Consequently, a vital part of managing our sustainable future is good relationships, internationally, domestically, and even with your next door neighbors.
This is the basis of why I fail to understand why the United States government does not make every effort possible to garner good relationships with other countries and especially with Mexico and Canada when it comes to immigration and border issues.
Now I don’t want to get off point here but it is useful to know a few facts. In the early 20th century it wasn’t a crime to enter the United States without authorization. Authorities could deport individuals who entered illegally but they could not detain or prosecute them. That changed in 1929 when the Senate passed a law that criminalized illegal entry into the US. The primary aim of the law was illegal entry across the US Mexican border.
Now it is easy to focus on illegal immigrants who are Mexican nationals because it is so often in the news.But what most people do not know is that in 2017 there were 4.9 million illegal immigrants from Mexico while 5.5 million were from other countries. Yet our big focus has been on building a border wall between the US and Mexico.
Since 1993 the cost of concentrated efforts to control the US/Mexican border has increased from $363 million to $4.9 billion. The current budget of Homeland Security is $97.3 billion. The US/Mexican border is 3,145 kilometers which is equal to 1,954 miles. As of January 2020, the cost of the border wall is averaging $20 million per mile.
But what most people do not realize is that border walls are not unique to the United States. In fact, the beginning of the 21st century has been defined by the global reinforcement and fortification of border walls. Presently, 74 border walls exist around the globe, most of which were constructed in the last 15 years. Greece erected a 25 mile wall on its border with Turkey. Israel completed an underground iron wall equipped with sensors on its border with Gaza, and there are many other examples.
A large portion of these walls are designed to prevent illegal immigration, reducing smuggling, and prevent terrorist attacks. And if you speak with US Border Patrol agents most of them would agree that our own border wall has been largely successful. And the effectiveness of a border wall is more or less a universal claim. But is this really true?
To answer that question, we have to take a look at things from a global perspective. What I found is that the universal claim regarding the effectiveness of border walls could not be further from the truth. Most research shows that the direct and indirect costs of building and maintaining a border wall exceeds the benefits. Ladders, ramps, tunnels, drones, document forgery and corruption are all ways to circumvent a border wall. Migrants end up taking other routes. They resort to paying smugglers even more money to get across the border.
What has been well documented is that with increased border enforcement there is a corresponding increase in organized crime and smugglers profit even more. And from a recent report I viewed, the new border wall has been breached 3,272 times costing millions of dollars in repairs.
My point being with all this discussion is that we presently live in a global community that is still very busy building walls instead of embracing our global community, improving international relationships and focusing on the pillars of sustainability. We spend a tremendous amount of time, money and effort policing and guarding our borders.
But if you look at this from the perspective of sustainability you will see just how ridiculous we really are. Our planet is truly on the verge of a climate disaster and we focus our time and attention on the wrong things. Now, just to give a few examples:
For example,
-Roughly 4% of homes in the United States are powered by solar energy despite the fact that the price of solar has dropped by 70% since 2014.
-Only 3% of the electricity in the United States comes from solar energy
-Solar panel efficiency was only 6% in 1954 but is now over 40%
-Solar panels on the rooftops of homes alone would be enough to supply 40% of our nations electricity needs
-One year of solar saves 122 trees, 8,000 pounds of coal, 12,500 pounds of carbon emissions, and 18,000 miles of driving.
-The United States has enough natural resources to provide 6 times more electricity than would be needed to run the entire country
-21,250 square miles of solar panels would power the entire United States. While that may sound like a lot, that is only one half of 1% of the total land in the United States.
-The US produces approximately 4.85 billion barrels of oil annually and we consume 7.92 billion barrels. So we have to import a little over 3 billion barrels annually.
-Approximately 80% to 85% of our energy demands could be supplied by solar, wind, and hydro as early as 2030.
-With present oil reserves, the world is going to run out of oil in another 47 years.
As I have stated before, we live in such an interconnect global community that if one country suffers some sort of financial crises, and environmental crisis, a disaster, or even foreign invasion, it is entirely possible for that to set off a chain of events that results in a global crisis. At the time of this writing, the war in Ukraine is a perfect example. The ripple affect of that war has managed to affect almost every country around the globe.
So instead of focusing so much time, energy, and money on things that truly make no difference, why not loosen our immigration laws and embrace the potential enormous supply of laborers that would be more than willing to work on farms and perform labor intensive jobs that most Americans don’t want to do anyway. Why not divert billions of dollars of unnecessary spending and funnel that into making our country completely independent from the perspective of energy.
We truly have so much potential to cushion ourselves from fluctuations in the energy market instead of allowing someone else to have almost total control over our price of gas. Many years ago the country of Iceland set a goal to be energy independent because they could not deal with the volatility of the world energy market. The United States has the ability to do the same thing. Yet instead of doing that, our current president is visiting oil rich countries and asking them to produce more.
Obviously I cannot save the world nor can I control many of the things that go on in the world or influence the priorities of global leaders. But what I can do is make better choices on how I live day to day. The price of electricity makes no difference to me because most of my life is run off of solar. The price of gas spikes because of a global crisis so I get creative and reduce my commuting by 75%. The price of food goes up so I start producing more of my own. What I am trying to point out here is that by making sustainable choices you are also cushioning yourself from things that are out of your control.
But once again, instead of focusing on a sustainable future most of us are still slaves to the world energy market. We are truly going in the wrong direction yet again. And the only thing worse than going in the wrong direction is going in the wrong direction enthusiastically. And we are still busy building walls.
So, this bring me to my next point, which is about the weapons we produce. What really got me to thinking about this is the present war in Ukraine and idol threats that are being made about the use of nuclear weapons.
But allow me to take a step back in order to set the stage for this part of the discussion. But first I want to pose a question the answer to which most of us do not know.
Why did we make the atomic bomb in the first place? Why do we have weapons that serve only to ensure mutual and complete destruction? Okay, that is an important questions. In order to understand this you have to first understand past events and the perspective of the period of time in which the atomic bomb was created.
What most people do not know is that nuclear fission was accidentally discovered in December 1938 in Nazi Germany nine months before the beginning of WWII. This discovery was a complete surprise and it forever changed international relationships. Physicists had known for forty years that there was tremendous energy locked up in the atom and now there was a way to release it. But even then the men who made this discovery worried deeply about the military application. But they were scientist. There was no underlying evil plan. They had accidentally made a tremendous discovery to further understand how the world worked. If this discover had not been made in Germany someone else would have soon enough.
Within weeks of this discovery, numerous high level physicists were already imagining atomic bombs. This was the beginning ofnuclear proliferation. So why would physicists from a peaceful international community of scientists want to build weapons of mass destruction? Well the usual rationale prevailed: having such a weapon appeared to be the only defense against a nation that was similarly armed. People were afraid that Nazi Germany would build and possess such weapons and it was therefore vital to produce our own.
Consequently, during the course of WWII every major industrial nation began a program to develop atomic weapons. For one reason or another, many of those programs stalled or failed partly because of funding and partly because no one was fully convinced that the tremendous financial investment would actually produce such a bomb that actually worked. But the United States proceeded with research and development and we all know the end result of that. It was the production of the first viable nuclear weapon that was used against Japan.
From that point on, nuclear development has continued. But again I would ask why? Why keep weapons around that only assure mutual complete destruction of both nations involved. What most people do not know is that this thought process started during WWI with the widespread use of chemical weapons. It was a quick and less costly way of killing a large number of the enemy.
The rationale at the time was that the use of chemical weapons shortened the war and saved lives. The same thought process was part of why the United States used nuclear weapons against Japan. Staging a protracted offense against Japan would have cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. Instead of that, the use of two nuclear weapons brought about the surrender of Japan within days. By comparison, the death toll during WWII was approximately 50 million. Additionally hundreds of millions of lives where changed and entire cities were wiped off the map from carpet bombing.
So where do we stand on this issue today? Is the same rationale about nuclear weapons still valid? Is the possession of such weapons truly a deterrent to other nations as we are lead to believe?
To answer that let’s consider for a moment the war in Ukraine. The presence of nuclear weapons in the hands of Russia is the very thing that is preventing NATO from a head to head confrontation with Russia and bringing about an end to the war. Instead of nuclear weapons being a deterrent from invasion of another country the nuclear threat is being used as a means to continue the war in Ukraine and to assure the complete take over of a peaceful nation. So, I would ask what is the point in having such weapons in the first place?
And if these weapons no longer serve as a deterrent against invasion then why does our government plan on spending 1.2 trillion dollars over a 30 year period for “upgrading” our weapons systems. Why not join the rest of the world in signing the U.N. Treaty for the prohibition of Nuclear Weapons?
Instead we are told to leave such business to those “who know best”.
To answer that question of why we continue in this mode of thinking all you have to do is follow the money. The Big Five Nuclear Contractors of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics, are laughing all the way to the bank. They are raking in billions in annual profits. Furthermore they are protecting their money machine by making large contributions to the campaigns of key congressional members who continue to persuade us that such weapons are inevitable and indispensable, and maybe even desirable in our modern world.
Despite all the defense and security rhetoric, we still sit on top of the reality that no one has a chance of surviving a nuclear war. If such a war started, our entire planet would be destroyed in less that two hours. After WWI the international community banned the use of chemical weapons. Why not do the same with nuclear weapons?
So, let’s take the time now to circle back and look at the cost of modern civilization. Now that you know the cost and effectiveness of walls and weapons, let’s look at things from a sustainability prospective. Now remember the three pillars of sustainability are people, planet, and profits. You also have to remember that the success of our effects are directly connected to the health and well being of even the most marginalized nations in our global community.
-I stated earlier that solar panels on every US home would provide us with 40% of our national electrical needs. If the government stepped in and made that happen, it would cost about $1.7 trillion dollars.
-According to the United Nations, just $160 per year for each person living in extreme poverty would end world hunger by 2030. On average, people spend between $1,200 and $1,460 on Starbucks coffee annually.
-In order to eliminate hunger, those in extreme poverty must be brought up the what the World Bank considers the poverty line, with is $1.25 per day. The average income in the US is $141 per day.
-Our country spends $97 billion annually on Homeland Security and $72 billion annually on our nuclear weapons program.
-Approximately 14% of our national population lives in poverty
Considering all of this, don’t you think it is time to change our conventional wisdom regarding walls and weapons? Is it not time to look at alternative security systems that will not result in the mutual destruction of everyone involved? Our planet sits on the verge of climate disaster and we are still insistent on building walls and weapons that truly serve no purpose.
The whole point of this episode is simply to serve up a couple of sour dishes of ridiculous behavior in our culture. It is to give you just two examples of the cost of modern civilization. As along as there are people there is going to be conflict. As long as there are nations and boundaries, there is going to have to be someone to keep watch over those boundaries. I get that. But sometimes I think we take it too far. It would be so much easier if all the world powers would sit down and agree to behave like rational adults, be a good country, work together, and focus on saving this planet.
There are other things that threaten the well being of our planet besides nuclear weapons. It is called climate change. The long-term solution to that problem is going to require global cooperation between governments, big business, non-governmental organizations, civil society, and each and every person on this planet. I find it difficult to imagine a deep commitment backed with the cooperative effort needed to solve such a tremendous problem when we sit behind our walls, guard our territory with nuclear weapons and our security and comfort is based on the premise of mutually assured destruction.
When you look at the expense of modern civilization you have to start asking why can’t some of that money be redirected into sustainable projects, the greening of the economy and bringing our country to the point of energy independence. After all we have the technology to provide 80% of our energy needs with renewables by the year 2030.
Imagine the kind of world we would have if the entire global community competed to see who could come up with the most creative way to solve our climate crisis? Who could be the first one to run their entire country with renewables? Who could be the first to reach zero emissions? Who could be the first to reach zero waste? Who could come up with the best solution to solve world hunger? Who could be the first to get their national unemployment rate to the lowest level? Who could be the first to export sunshine and happiness instead of oil? After all, whenever you have a massive solar spill it just simply means you are having a good day.
On one hand I completely understand that it is difficult to feel some sense of security in our world these days. So many things that directly influence our peace and security are completely out of our control. That said there are numerous things you can do to provide yourself with some sense of personal security. It is called sustainable living.
Instead of spending your time worrying about what is going on in the world ask yourself if you are really doing everything possible to live a sustainable life? Are you really doing everything possible to reduce your impact on the planet? Are you really doing everything possible to manage your own resources.
Instead of worrying about whether or not the lights are going to go out, find a way to run your entire home off of solar energy. Instead of allowing the price of gas to take an even bigger bite out of your budget, be creative and reduce your commuting, work from home if possible, car pool, use public transportation. Instead of complaining about the rising price of food, produce some of your own food at home, have a garden, learn to can and preserve your own food. Reduce your expenses, live a minimalistic lifestyle, reduce, reuse, recycle, and teach others to do the same.
As I have said before, I do not expect everyone to live the way I do. But it is the lifestyle that I’ve created that cushions me from the effects of so many things in the world that I cannot control. With so much uncertainty there is always one thing you can control and that is your personal choices. And your personal choices should focus on sustainability. That is how you secure you own future.
Truly it is time we change our conventional wisdom on how we run the world and how we manage our daily lives. Truly it is time to change our priorities to something more sustainable. As uncertain and concerning as it may be, the future has not yet been decided. There is still a lot of time left for you to cast your vote for a sustainable future.
As I am wrapping up this episodeI would like to ask my listeners that if you enjoy my content then please take the time to leave me with a review and please subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News. And if you would like to contact me with questions, comments, or even suggestions of topics you would like to hear about then feel free to contact me at [email protected].
In closing for this episode I would like to leave you with a quote from Socrates. He once said that “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
So don’t you think it is time we wised up and accepted the fact the we truly know nothing about running a prosperous and sustainable world. We know nothing about being a good country. We know nothing about how to put the brakes on our unsustainable culture. That is quite obvious by simply observing our present state of affairs in addition to the fact that we make no effort to change the behavior that got us where we are today. We have known about climate change for 125 years and we have done nothing.
If the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing then we are in serious trouble because we don’t even know that we don’t know what we are doing.We do nothing except focus on the wrong things.Our walls and our weapons accomplish nothing except to show we have no wisdom at all.
It is time to step it up folks and start living sustainably even if you are on the only one. Because before you know it the power of one becomes the power of the collective. And never underestimate the power of a small group of committed citizens to change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
