Wise Use Movement?

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Posted to gonzobeats 3/4/04:
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Walker posted: "one thing i've never understood about the "wise use
movement" is that it advocates selling off big chunks of BLM and
other lands to private (rich, usually)parties who then can put up
fences and deny access to regular people who have been going there
for years. a few people benefit and everyone else loses."
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There's more to that story -- at least here in Idaho -- where logging
not so long ago was a major industry for this state and the lifeblood
of every small mountain town here. Now our logs get hauled (at great
and increasing expense) to Oregon -- the closest sawmill. Because
the Forest Service sells their trees well below cost of production,
it's a glaring example of corporate welfare . . . always has
been . . . and I predict . . . always will be. Once roads are
created, the Forest Service has a legal obligation to maintain those
roads because recreational access is supposed to be one of their
mandates -- admittedly a low-priority one. Due to rising labor
costs, this is expensive -- especially when one considers how long it
takes for tree farms to bear fruit again -- AND when one
factors in that those new trees -- too -- will be sold for a tiny
fraction of their value (production cost).
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So their grand solution -- aka the "wise use movement" -- is to sell
those "liabilities" (thousands of acres of recently logged and
replanted real estate) cheap to whomever can buy them. Of course,
there are restrictions to make sure these vast holdings remain in one
piece and aren't simply subdivided by some greedy glutton and sold
off to the highest bidder. This ensures that only individuals who
already have more money than humans should be allowed are able to buy
them. Curiously enough, the new private owner has NO obligation to
maintain any roads OR to allow any public recreational access. 20
years later -- when the trees are big enough to log again -- he can
sell the logging rights back to the Forest Service and they can sell
them again for much less to whichever logging outfit they're looking
to prop up at that time.
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These shell games are becoming more elaborate all the time but the
moral implications of their crime do not change. These are public
lands -- owned by each and every one of us -- roads already built
should be maintained -- regardless of cost. Those who make money
from these lands -- primarily loggers and lumber companies -- should
pay enough to cover the ACTUAL cost of producing the resource they
harvest. Otherwise, it's a false economy -- unable to EVER sustain
itself without a constant influx of cash from Uncle Sammy -- welfare
for corporations which already have way too much money and power and
control.
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States like Idaho are s-l-o-w-l-y learning that tourism is the
cleanest game in town and folks aren't coming here to gaze into our
mining tunnels or slosh through our feed lots or get sunburned in our
clear-cuts. They're coming here to float white water rushing down un-
damned rivers (typo intended) and to bike or hike or ride horses into
the Frank Church wilderness areas (where no motorized anything is
allowed). It costs relatively nothing to preserve these natural and
scenic resources which can earn this state monumental chunks of money
from now on -- indefinitely. We only have to exercise enough self-
restraint to keep from plundering what precious few native areas
remain.
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It's been said we can judge a civilization by how it treats the least
of its citizens. I think we'll also be judged on our ability -- or
the lack thereof -- to show restraint and NOT rape and plunder every
last stinkin' living thing for our own VERY short-term greed! Why
are so many of us so unforgiveably selfish that we just don't
friggin' care what life will be like on this earth for the children
of our children's children . . . 1,000 years from now . . . 10,000
years from now?
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sail4free
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Invincible -- How Microsoft and Wal-Mart Can Lose, but Can't Be Beaten

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Loved this article by Robert X. Cringely and I'll be a regular reader of his stuff from now on. It details why these giants no longer fear competition and the only viable threat to their prosperous futures is within their own organizations.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20020905.html
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Why Build It Yourself?

I am travelling around the U.S. by bike and I have realized that getting back to the basics really opens your eyes to just how scared we've become...I've met some wonderful people and discovered what we say we are all about FREEDOM

To be truly free is to follow your own path and see your world completely without the restrictions of what society deems normal...

We must ask ourselves the next time we stress about anything...Does it really matter...

Experience Life without restrictions and you will begin to understand why we are here...

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http://www.geocities.com/xistencenext/

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Why should I build one when I can buy it?



Not too long ago I was talking to a teenager who wanted a chess set made from military figures. It was very expensive and I told him that since he already had a collection of military figures, we could make a chess set from them. I went on to explain how we could make the board from some nice wood squares and maybe even make it into a table with a drawer underneath to keep the figures in. He looked at me and said, “Why should I build one when I can buy it?” Well, I guess that is a good question to ask when a person is looking at boat plans.



When I was a boy we had food and shelter – and a good family life – but not a lot of money. My Dad didn’t hesitate to tell us he couldn’t afford something we wanted – not needed – but wanted. So my younger days were filled with building things. I had friends who would come to my house and we would plan out and build soapbox racers, forts, clubhouses and anything else we saw on the “Little Rascals” TV show. When I became a teenager my father had a list that he kept by the kitchen door of projects for me. I would finish one and scratch it off the list, and start another. But these items were not chores like taking out the trash! They were jobs like dig out a basement under the house or convert the pantry into a bathroom! To this day I tolerate lists, but I hate them!



So what has all this got to do with why a person should build a boat (or anything else for that matter)? Because in a lot of us, there is still a need to create with our hands something wonderful. Also – like the Dad of my youth – we could not afford to buy the boat of our dreams. I am convinced that if cost is the only consideration, and you want an 18-ft. bow rider type of boat, you would be better off buying a used one than building it. They are numerous and they are reasonably priced. But put a cabin on your boat, and the cost starts to climb considerably.



So why not buy a used boat and fix it up? That is a very good option if you can find a sound boat. The used boats we looked at were very expensive for their condition. I also found that sometimes it was harder to rebuild something than to start fresh and build from scratch. One gain is that when you are finished, you will know the boat inside and out. You know the value and quality of your own labor – and also – you can fix anything on it without paying some over-priced mechanic to do the work for you. You can’t use the boat while it’s being worked on anyway, so why not spend that time doing the work yourself?

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Peak Oil

Even the Saudis are aware of the situation. They have a saying that goes, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet airplane. His son will ride a camel."

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http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PageOne.html

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Matthew Simmons, Energy Advisor to George W. Bush



In a recent interview, Matthew Simmons largely echoed Dr. Goodstein's sentiments. When asked if it was time for Peak Oil to become part of the public policy debate, Simmons responded:



It is past time. As I have said, the experts and politicians have no Plan B to fall back on. If energy peaks, particularly while 5 of the world’s 6.5 billion people have little or no use of modern energy, it will be a tremendous jolt to our economic well-being and to our health — greater than anyone could ever imagine.

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http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PageOne.html

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When the Oil Crash comes, our civilization is going to get knocked back to 1765. We will not recover, as there is no economically available oil left to discover that would help us recover.

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http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PageOne.html

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Envious of the Rich?

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In response to my remark about someone paying $1,800 dollars for a single set of plumbing fixtures for one shower and that they must have "more dollars than sense," David (a fellow member of our cheap-shelter group on Yahoo) posted: "Envy is a sin, sounds to me like they have enough sense to know how to make lot's of money."
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David -- please don't take this personal -- it's really not meant to be. I had actually responded to the larger part of your post (defending the virtues of log construction) but it slipped into cyberspace when the library computer turned on me -- frustrating. (I'll try again "later.") You mentioned "envy" and it stuck in my frustrated craw triggering the following rant -- for what it's worth:
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When I was 17 or 18 -- and a fresh convert of "Think and Grow Rich" and "The Very, Very Rich and How They Got That Way" -- I believed personal wealth was a proportional yardstick -- a measure of one's contribution to the greater good of all mankind. If I've ever experienced any evidence in support of that belief -- and I doubt it -- it's been so long ago, I've forgotten what it might have been. It's been said that if the population of the world were reduced to 100 people -- with all our prevailing inequities intact -- the 6 wealthiest among them would all be white and all 6 of them would live in the U.S. Yet the average annual cash income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans is $5,226 dollars. That's an incredible disparity of wealth within our own borders and it's a problem. It grows into an even greater disparity of wealth internationally which will continue to cause us tidal waves of grief.
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Before I forget to ask: Will someone PLEASE summarize for me the cosmic levels of genius which our corporate CEOs must have stuffed in their shiny bald heads to earn or somehow justify the obscene amounts of money these clowns make every year? Every shareholder who allows their money to be leveraged to inflate these prima donna egos is a criminal accomplice to the ongoing crimes of these CEOs who lie and cheat and steal and do whatever it takes to prop up the value of their morally bankrupt stock.
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All indications are this shameful disparity will only continue to increase as our government mechanisms at all levels are increasingly owned and operated by the very profit-seeking business interests they are SUPPOSED to govern. Does this mean I'm envious of these gluttonous self-serving leaches while they build their heavens here on earth? Hardly.
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There was a time when I truly believed the wealthy were richly blessed because of their measurable contribution to the improvement in quality of life for all of us. Thanks to their insatiable appetites for MORE -- of everything -- I can no longer afford the intellectual laxative of such mealy-mouthed hogwash.
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sail4free
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