today, while listening to some people at work talk about their gardens, dead tress, and rain clouds (amongst many other nonsensical things), the topic of drought came up. that word got me to thinking...what are my thoughts about drought, both in the physical lack of rain sense, and other forms, such as being in a spiritual drought. i decided to pose the idea and my thoughts to kyle. below is part I of our emailed banter. enjoy!jeff - 10:36 am: drought changes climates...it changes people’s way of thinking. just as when gas prices rose incredibly last year, it changed peoples mindset on suv's, mass transit, etc. i think that a couple year drought would be good for a mindshift, from low flow toilets, the re-thinking of chopping down acres of trees for urban sprawl, to xerioscaping. it will get people out of their comfort zone, which is typically a good thing.
kyle – 10:52 am: hardships are great drivers of efficiencies.
jeff – 11:11 am: first off, can i just say that i love the vagueness of your statements!
so, we are inefficient because we have no stimulant to realize the inefficiency? or we are aware of the inefficiency, but as long as there's a surpus of something, why bother to make a change?
i would say that drought brings about better awareness. we are without, we are lacking that which we need, desire, etc. to steal a song title line from the 80's hair metal band cinderalla, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
when does the risk outweigh the reward? or does it? just as some (we know who you are, matt) take joy in seeing the collapse of the global economy, stock market, housing and banking industry, etc., when does the joy end and fear begin? When does it becomes personal? when it finally takes a hold of you? when it comes to drought (of any kind: rain, spiritual, etc.), when does the risk outweigh anything else? what about the poor planners?
kyle – 11:42 am: we are inefficient because we can get away with it. we are aware, but unaffected by it.
let me use an example from my time living in south africa. most homes (including ALL new homes by government mandate) featured solar powered water heaters.
why? because in a country with frequent power shortages (and outages) people wanted to at least be able to take a warm shower or bathe their kids. so, in addition to complaining about the power problems (which is generally where americans stop), south africans began to take matters into their own hands to circumvent the power grid. they installed solar panels on their rooftops so that their bathwater would be warm. light a candle, add some bubbles, and enjoy the latest round of blackouts. the government then noticed and saw what a huge power savings and grid-relief that the solar panels provided and made the installation of such panels mandatory.
it is precisely because of the lack of dependable electricity that the south african people decided to become more efficient. they were affected. so they made change. they could care less about being green. they just wanted a hot shower.
to put it another way, paraphrasing a well-known saying: “necessity is the mother of all invention.”
the curious thing to me is why we (americans) tend to revert to old habits as soon as the bottleneck subsides. in san antonio, why don’t we have water rationing all the time. we live in a drought-sensitive area with blistering summers and a limited and somewhat mysterious water source. so, about every other year we have mandatory water rationing when the rains fail. why not just conserve all the time so we don’t have to freak out every july? this is one of the few places where government can help to regulate our stupidity and greed.
with gas prices back under $2, the same argument could play out over hybrid car sales (down), aversion to public transportation (up), sprawl (growing), and urban infrastructure (decaying).
so why do we revert? what in us abhors efficiency? is it our western-determinism? is it our abundance blinding us?
kyle – 10:52 am: hardships are great drivers of efficiencies.
jeff – 11:11 am: first off, can i just say that i love the vagueness of your statements!
so, we are inefficient because we have no stimulant to realize the inefficiency? or we are aware of the inefficiency, but as long as there's a surpus of something, why bother to make a change?
i would say that drought brings about better awareness. we are without, we are lacking that which we need, desire, etc. to steal a song title line from the 80's hair metal band cinderalla, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
when does the risk outweigh the reward? or does it? just as some (we know who you are, matt) take joy in seeing the collapse of the global economy, stock market, housing and banking industry, etc., when does the joy end and fear begin? When does it becomes personal? when it finally takes a hold of you? when it comes to drought (of any kind: rain, spiritual, etc.), when does the risk outweigh anything else? what about the poor planners?
kyle – 11:42 am: we are inefficient because we can get away with it. we are aware, but unaffected by it.
let me use an example from my time living in south africa. most homes (including ALL new homes by government mandate) featured solar powered water heaters.
why? because in a country with frequent power shortages (and outages) people wanted to at least be able to take a warm shower or bathe their kids. so, in addition to complaining about the power problems (which is generally where americans stop), south africans began to take matters into their own hands to circumvent the power grid. they installed solar panels on their rooftops so that their bathwater would be warm. light a candle, add some bubbles, and enjoy the latest round of blackouts. the government then noticed and saw what a huge power savings and grid-relief that the solar panels provided and made the installation of such panels mandatory.
it is precisely because of the lack of dependable electricity that the south african people decided to become more efficient. they were affected. so they made change. they could care less about being green. they just wanted a hot shower.
to put it another way, paraphrasing a well-known saying: “necessity is the mother of all invention.”
the curious thing to me is why we (americans) tend to revert to old habits as soon as the bottleneck subsides. in san antonio, why don’t we have water rationing all the time. we live in a drought-sensitive area with blistering summers and a limited and somewhat mysterious water source. so, about every other year we have mandatory water rationing when the rains fail. why not just conserve all the time so we don’t have to freak out every july? this is one of the few places where government can help to regulate our stupidity and greed.
with gas prices back under $2, the same argument could play out over hybrid car sales (down), aversion to public transportation (up), sprawl (growing), and urban infrastructure (decaying).
so why do we revert? what in us abhors efficiency? is it our western-determinism? is it our abundance blinding us?
part II coming soon
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