Resilience: Wendell Berry On How To Replace An Older Technology
Hi folks, from a glorious Victoria Day long weekend in SE Ontario. This is our traditional National Gardening weekend. Our family is all out in the garden this weekend. The old man just came in for a snack and to rest my back. My word, people are out in force with gas-powered polluting tools. You can't hear yourself think!
We quit using gas-powered outside tools (mostly, except for a big chipper - the little one is electric, and a big chainsaw - the little one runs on an 18-volt bttery) run our powered garden tools on batteries (hopefully learn enough solar to create a DC battery-powering station).
Anyway, I had wanted to write up something from Wendell Berry on replacing older technology with a new one. Sadly, there's no time today, but I can at least post his list of requirements. More below.
(By Guy Mendes, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29726407)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry
http://www.wendellberrybooks.com/index.html
I have lost the source for his list. Perhaps you know? I had wanted to take photos of some of my tool replacements and look for other people's examples for an essay. Perhaps you have some examples? I would love to hear them :=)
Wendel Berry's list of requirements for replacing an older technology with a new one
1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
2. It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces.
3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces.
4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces.
5. If possible, it should use some form of solar energy, such as that of the body.
6. It should be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence, provided that he or she has the necessary tools.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to home as possible.8. It should come from a small, privately owned shop or store that will take it back for maintenance and repair.
9. It should not replace or disrupt anything good that already exists, and this includes family and community relationships.
The man is a national treasure. His wisdom would feed a nation's body and mind, if it would quit being distracted and focus on the common good for a minute. Comments welcome! I'll be in and out on a gorgeous May day.
Peace be with us, if we adopt a low-tech philosophy,
gerrit
Comments
(No subject)
I did it again! Sorry, meaningless bubble this :=)
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
Hey, Gerrit--
Just wanted to let you know--I think the work you're doing here is invaluable, and I will be responding more as time goes on. This sort of thing requires deeper thought and commitment than my ordinary blogging/soc media presence, but what you're doing is not disappearing into nothingness--it's on my radar.
Just wanted to let you know that. Don't stop!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
A big Ty for this, CSS. I would like to get organized some time
soon :=) So far, all I do is just reach into my mac and grab whatever strikes my fancy. I figured it would take 3-4 months or so to set the habit in place and the get folks to notice the permanent presence of resilience as a c99 theme. I hope at some point after the Dem convention to see where we are at and get people's input on most needed topics and work from there.
So no worries, we're still finding our feet, no hurry :=) I appreciate your interest very much and look forward to us working together on resilience topics when the time is right. TY and best wishes, my friend,
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
Thanks, Gerrit
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning, EL. Have a great day today :=)
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.