Ask Not What Your Past Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Future.

Chris Martenson is not economist. He is not an energy specialist. He is not an environmental expert. He’s just an average guy who happens to know something about the “Three E’s.”

Economy, Energy, Environment. These are the big issues that are plaguing our nation, and they are issues we have to come to understand before we can fix anything. Here’s a brief overview of “Crash Course” (don’t want to give it all away for those of you who haven’t watched it yet).

Our economy and money is in “exponential growth,” or simply, speeding up. He used an example of how fast it would take Fenway Park to fill with water- 49 minutes. For it to be only 3% full where people could recognize a problem- 45 minutes. There is only a 4-minute period where a problem could be recognized and acted upon. This is the concept of exponential growth and speeding up. (When I heard those figures, all I could imagine was Madonna and JT singing “only got 4 minutes to save the world.”)

Martenson said that we are always in debt no matter what. We have a national failure to save and the government is trying to bail out companies with money they don’t have, to help other companies with inexistent money they are being loaned. It’s a cycle that never ends. He spoke about the difference between problems and predicaments where predicaments have outcomes. Our money predicament is that we did not save. It is terrible to think that we’ve gotten ourselves into this trouble because we live the lavish lifestyles we want with a failure to plan for the future.

Our energy predicament is one that we have been faced with for the past few years: oil. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. It is the same with our environmental predicament. Once our natural resources are gone, there is nothing left. It was an interesting figure to see how our copper supply has depleted over the years from a prius-sized chunk to a 2mile deep canyon filled with 0.2% copper. We are stuck in the cycle of money that must grow, oil that can’t grow because of shrinking surplus and depleting resources. In my mind, it is sad to think that we know about the trouble we are in with our resources, yet we don’t seem to be making an attempt to change.

Martenson’s most impactful statement was that “the next twenty years will be nothing like the last.” This is true. The predicaments we are facing currently, such as housing crisis, retirement, etc, is a completely different situation than the failure to save and massive debt we will face in the coming years.

I completely agree with his path, that we cannot fix anything until we understand the predicament. It is not enough to be aware, but once we understand, it will be easier to find an outcome. If we follow Martenson’s lead in “tuning out the experts” we may find that we can live a great quality of life with a lower standard of living. Who needs that giant 5-bathroom house and the latest iPad when you can surround yourself with the people you love in an environment where you have what you need to get by.

To learn more about Chris Martenson and his philosophy, visit:

http://www.chrismartenson.com/

This real life example is somewhat like the family in “A Year Without Stuff.” The man said he became much closer with his wife and daughter, became a better husband, father, and friend, all while saving the earth. They found that it is not their things that make them happy, although it pained his wife to give up so much, such as lights and certain foods, but the time spent with their family and friends.

In my effort to become more environmentally conscious, I would like to attempt something like this. Of course, not to the extreme that they did, but only using what I need to get by is a concept I would like to start.

--j.a.