The Power Down Blog - Because the American Lifestyle is VERY negotiable!

This is a blog to provide ideas and support to Americans who see "powering down" as the most effective route to peace and justice in our time.

Powering Down is NOT about being ineffective or weak. Quite the opposite.

Powering Down will make you healthier, wealthier, and more effective at influencing others to follow your example.

The term "power down" comes from Richard Heinberg, to give credit where credit is due. His web site is http://www.richardheinberg.com/

Vice President Dick Cheney said, "The American Lifestyle is not negotiable." What he meant by that is the the high energy use per capita of the American people is something that is worth maintaining even at the cost of war, even at the cost of 3,000 American soldiers and 655,000 Iraqis (as of December 31st, 2006).

WHAT? The right of Americans to drive gas guzzlers is worth mass killing, and the millions of grieving family and friends of Iraqis and Americans? It's worth the poisoning of the earth with Depleted Uranium? It's worth trillions of dollars of debt for our grandchildren?

NO FRIGGIN' WAY! If that's the price of the American Lifestyle, my answer is NO FRIGGIN' WAY!

I am in my late 30's, and I registered as a Republican on my 18th birthday, but when the Republicans became about committing MASS SCALE ARMED ROBBERY AND GENOCIDE just to keep driving SUV's and muscle cars, I went permanently into opposition.

Since my 20's I have always resented how it's so necessary to own a car just to live in America. For about a year I lived in Boston with no car, on 210 dollars a week and loved it. My transportation bill was exactly 72 dollars a month (in 1995) for a Boston "T-pass." This covered buses and trains, and I loved it! I budgeted my life down to the penny.

Eventually Boston became too expensive even for me. I couldn't afford the rent, and had to move back to the burbs and start feeding the automobile parasite once again.

Now you might say, "See, that proves the automobile suburbs are MORE affordable."

Actually, what happened is that real estate that is accessible to mass transportation in Boston became so much more valuable than the Car-burbs. So many people decided to kill their car and live the mass transit lifestyle, that it drove the price of rent and real estate in the mass transit accessible areas through the roof.

Moral of the story -- access to mass transit increases property values compared to Automobile suburbs.

I got married, and when it was time to buy a house, I insisted on one with a little extra property so I could do a large enough home garden to (as much as possible) feed my family without the supermarket. My other blog, http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com is about this topic in particular. The short summary is that, in Industrial Farming like they do in Iowa, it requires 10 calories of oil to make one calorie of food, and that's before you truck the food to the supermarket, before you power the supermarkets with electricity, and before the consumers and supermarket workers drive their cars to the supermarket. After all that, it's got to be more like 20 calories of oil per calorie of food.

I always loved long distance bicycle riding and dreamed of commuting the 19 miles to work and back on a bicycle, but I could never keep it up because conventional upright bicycles left me with a chafed, sore butt and thighs (too much information, I know). I commuted 19 miles to work a few times on my upright touring bicycle, but it was too painful.

I always wanted a recumbent bicycle, but could never afford it. How silly! I spend thousands of dollars a year to own and maintain a truck, but I couldn't afford a 600 dollar bicycle.

I finally got one. It's a BikeE, which is a company that was bought out by www.easyracers.com, and it looks something like this:



Getting this bicycle inspired me to start this Power Down Blog. I cover the 19 miles to work and back in perfect comfort, if not perfect safety. The ride takes about an hour and 20 minutes, and it's a spiritually uplifting experience every time. My mind clears of worry and stress, and of course there's the "runners high" of endorphins. I don't really exert myself too hard, except when I have to get up the hills, but it still comes out to be quite a vigorous workout all the same.

The bike is quite a conversation piece on the road and anywhere I stop. Working class folk who are falling out of love with their SUV's and muscle cars ask me about it, and take a surprisingly sympathetic view of the power down philosophy, and an equally surprisingly unsympathetic view of Dick Cheney's "American Lifestyle is not negotiable" quote.

Really, how can they not? They've been feeding their gas guzzling 666 Beast Mobiles throughout their working life, they aren't happy about the expanding waist line or their contracting finances,and they have a gnawing sense that something is horribly wrong about the American Lifestyle. The moment someone DEMONSTRATES an alternative, a light goes on.

So, to summarize.

1. The Power Down Blog is based on the known psychological phenomenon that people become politically active not when they are down and out, but when their life begins to improve and they begin to feel empowered. Therefore, it all starts with helping people improve their immediate situation. It begins with changing how people make money and spend money -- to be thriftier, to save money through sharing and through re-localizing their economic life. This will change their cultural life, and this will change their political outlook. I don't care about conservative or liberal, I only care about being against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and being against the Slave-Consumerist System. Outside of this, I don't care at all about your politics or lack thereof.

2. Carpooling/Car sharing because it's unlikely that we'll be able to completely eliminate cars at this point.

3. Get recumbent bicycles and use them whenever possible. Bicycling will create better physical health, which will make people feel more powerful and capable, thereby igniting a spirit of revolt against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.

4. Gardening and relocalized Community Supported Farming (see my blog http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com ) -- this will give people something to do during the spring, summer and fall that gets them outdoors and away from the television, this will save them a few thousand dollars a year on their food bill, this will employ more local hobby farmers and provide badly needed side income, and increase their health and feeling of empowerment against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.