WildernessPunk – Page 6 – WildernessPunk

WildernessPunk: The Use of Juice

A few weeks ago, I reviewed six of the easier techniques we can use to save money, strengthen our economy, and help preserve the environment. The third of these techniques which helps minimize our Negative Environmental Impact (NEI) is:

Use Energy Wisely such as high efficiency devices and keeping them unplugged.

Makes sense right? But let’s be careful to be realistic here, because I think some of these concepts are not thought through completely and some people are getting more credit than they are due, while others have a smaller NEI and they aren’t getting the accolades they deserve.

I’ve often heard the praises of what I called Privileged Purchasers. Here was the definition I tossed out 4/17/17

Privileged Purchasers: These people feel they are ahead of the pack because their new custom made home has an energy efficient dishwasher and since they have solar power, the average person could never hope to be as cool to the environment as they are.

As I have pointed out more than once, does having an energy efficient home cancel out the larger NEI a person with a high income produces, because let’s be clear, in general the more income one has the higher their general impact. And before we consider how true this is, let’s also think about this world-wide. An individual living in a low income rural village has a very different life than say a middle class man in the USA, so let’s try to take a global perspective here.

Mount Gram

So let’s imagine two people. One is Brian Whitney, who is worth a hundred thousand dollars and just bought a new home with energy savings devices. Good for you Bri, at least you’re trying, but when we consider his life overall, is this lessening of his NEI even worth mentioning, compared to Ari Bhaat, who lives in an agricultural community near the base of the Himalayas, NEI? Could Ari be kicking Bri up and down the street just by being poor?

Let’s consider each lifestyles pros and cons.

Brian Whitney’s Negative Environmental Impact

Drives an average of 150 miles a week.
Heats or cools his home throughout the year
Uses electricity, natural gas, and water daily
Buys food transported long distances
Eats luxury food items with a higher NEI, like meat
Buys complex devices and manufactured items
Wears more intricate clothes and personal items

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Ari Baat’s Negative Environmental Impact

Eats local food, but more plants than meat
Does not drive, uses bus for long trips on rare occasions
Does not use electric heating and cooling
Uses some electric power
Wears simple clothing
Buys manufactured tools

Ari would have a household carbon imprint 0f around 200kg. https://bit.ly/2XL6A0w

The average American’s carbon footprint per person in 2014 was 21.5 metric tons CO2 or 21500 kg, so Brian creates 107.5% as much as Ari https://bit.ly/2xAdeer

Per-Capita-CO2

But wait, what about the dishwasher Brian bought?

An energy effect dishwasher saves 40$ a year over washing dishes by hand, and reduces 50% of washing dishes NEI, but since washing dishes is roughly 1% of a home’s energy output, which is 14% of Brian Whitney’s carbon footprint, this is reducing his Carbon Footprint by 15.05kg (.5 of 14% of 21500kg = 15.05kg) or about 7% of Ari total NEI. But also keep in mind this only lowered Brian from 21500 to 21,484.05 kg. Wow, those energy efficient dishwashers are so not amazing.

average-american-footprint

540g CO2e: by hand, using water sparingly and not too hot
770g CO2e: in a dishwasher at 55°C
990g CO2e: in a dishwasher at 65°C
8000g CO2e: by hand, with extravagant use of water

https://bit.ly/2XNEsKi

Let’s give Brian one more chance. Solar panels. And look, I’m a hundred percent in favor of solar panels. I wish we all had them. I’d love to flip the bird to the electric company and help withdraw our country from dependence on fascist theocracies. Electric cars, running my laptop like an anarchist, let me at it.

Utah Action

Still if roughly 14% of our NEI comes from an individual’s use of electricity, even if we fueled 100% of our home with solar, that would leave 18,490 kg a year for the average USA adult. We saved 3,100 kg or a little over 15 times what Ari produces in a year.

Look I’m not saying don’t try to do everything you can to reduce your NEI and increase your freedom against the Bills. I just want to spin the chair until we are seeing the reality of what we’re facing if we wish to lower our NEI and wish to point out again, in general, the poorer a person is, the better they treat the planet. So the next time you see a homeless guy, suck it up and admit then it comes to being an environmentalist, he’s kicking your ass.

Bone hat

You can check out some of my fiction here, where they power everything with nuclear, who knew?

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WildernessPunk: Park then Bark

A few weeks ago, yeah yeah, I got distracted, I spoke on various ways we can limit our Negative Environmental Impact (NEI). I’ve already tackled the first one on the list, (The Number One Thing https://bit.ly/2S6p8IB) where I discuss the serious cons wasting food creates. Today, I’m going to leap into number 2 on the list, non-vehicular transportation.

Whether it is on foot, rolling with the bicycle, or to a lesser degree, public transportation, there are many ways we can leave the car parked and perform tasks, both fun and obligatory, without turning the key in our automobiles. But before we dive into wildernesspunking this issue, let’s just review all the upsides of non-driving, but still getting to where you need to go.

Bike Back.jpg

The Positives of Non-car Travel

You lower your NEI
You save money by not using as much gasoline
You stay in better shape with more exercise
Reduce wear on your vehicle prolonging its life
You reduce traffic congestion
No need to find or pay for parking
Less driving means less accidents

Bonus WildernessPunk Values

Less laws which you can be accused of violating
You can be more relaxed if you’ve had a few drinks
You don’t risk giving your money to a fascist dictator or to a company owned by the wealthiest .1%
You are more likely to observe nature
As the hippies would say, there is always the chance of finding a ‘Ground Score’
No one can ask you for a ride home
With enough change, parking lots could be converted into more useful spaces

These lists could continue, but I think you get the point. This is good for you, the country, and the world. But what should we call this style of improving? I hate the use of Alternative Transportation. Cars are alternative transportation. Walking is our normal mode, although we tend to forget such things. So how about we use:

Smart Travel

Bike wet.jpg

I would be surprised to find too many people who are against all the positive gains listed above. Although, of course, there will always be those who hate bikers and feel pedestrians just get in the way of smooth flowing traffic. They should keep in mind though, each of these people they see are one less car slowing them down when they are trying to make the light before it turns red.

More realistic objections would be things such as health restrictions, which could keep some people from being able to walk or bike to the store. No, grandma please don’t get on a bike, but it does bring to mind how far we’re removed from the natural, when people can’t live without the help of dead dinosaurs. Also in a strange reverse of fates, we unnatural city dwellers can perform many tasks without driving. For instance, I can do all my shopping, hit a restaurant, drop by the bank, and visit half my friends without getting behind the wheel.

bike lilly

In contrast, those who enjoy and live closer to nature, have the drawback of not being able to do the majority of our modern tasks without a long drive into town. If they can get wifi, many of these errands can now be done over the internet, such as paying bills. However don’t get trapped thinking you’re helping lower your NEI by ordering from Amazon, because that truck had to drive to your house.

Let’s review one man’s savings, er mine. I’m a bike commuter, who has obviously had the miles I ride fluctuate over the years. The most I ever pulled off was 4100 miles in a single year. But let’s lower the bar a few degrees below my crazy. I’ve had several years where I estimate I saved about 800$ a year. I minus the price of new tubes, but also keep in mind less oil changes and car maintenance.

walking

Sure 800$ might not be a lion’s sum, but then again, I didn’t need to sign up for a gym or take blood pressure medications either. But at the end of each month, when I walked down to a local pub with my extra 75$, I didn’t waste, and grabbed a pint and some chicken wings, it didn’t feel too bad.

So WildernessPunk it to the oil man and Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Keep yourself out of the hospital and enjoy the extra cash in your pocket. Smart Travel is Punk, and every time you drive, a little of you has sold out. Little is more radical than Doing It Yourself and each time you take a stroll that’s exactly what’s happening.

Never underestimate yourself and be sure to look both ways.

bone shadow

Grab some of my ‘Does Dak dream of electric cars’ fiction here

skinjumpers

WildernessPunk: Solves the Immigration Issue

Since this is such a hot issue in the USA, as well as many other countries, I figured I go ahead an offer a quick solution. You might not agree with it, but you can’t argue it wouldn’t work.

So please accept this tongue in both cheeks approach to using facts and logic to solve things in a manner few would accept. But if you don’t, you can’t blame me when you keep getting into debates over the subject later…

My idea is as simple as it is effective.

The USA will only allow Atheists to immigrate to this country.

Okay, before I start to get some people’s blood up while others are finishing an incredulous chuckle, let’s just look at this logically and consider the abundance of pros and the absence of cons.

Results which appeal to the Right

Will drastically slow immigration

Since only 7% of the world’s population are atheists this would cut out 93% of immigrants, this would be way better than a wall.

Only 16% of Latin Americans are Atheists

Again, this would all but solve the issue the Republicans are so worked up over. https://bit.ly/2XciCQd

It would greatly reduce the chance of any religious extremist entering the country.

atheist-1024x682

Results which appeal to the Left

Immigrants will be more Progressive

Open minded, science oriented immigrants will only strengthen the Democratic party and help develop progressive policies which will advance the green agendas, support science programs, and help foster technological developments.

More Atheists are Democrats

Since Republicans are 18% more likely to believe in Gods and 8% less likely to be Atheist, this policy would be help boost the Democratic Party. https://pewrsr.ch/2T4Spnt

Results which appeal to the Wildernesspunks

New Immigrants will be nearly Crime Free

Currently .07% of the US prison population identifies themselves as atheist. So this is roughly 7 in 10,000. So every immigrant who enters the country increases the overall safety of the USA. https://bit.ly/2RUidCX

Facts Help

When someone believes in facts and knows this is the only life we get, they are more inclined to care about our planet and think about ways to preserve it, instead of thinking it is just a magical tool given to us to use until we live a cozy eternity in a sweet special happy place.

religion-statista

So why am I going here?

Let’s start backwards.

Trump is hurting the USA, some other countries, and the earth itself.
Trump is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem.
What is the problem?
Roughly 1 in 3 Voting USA citizens still support his evil man and he wouldn’t have been elected and be our problem without their support.
The majority of his supporters have been raised to believe bronze aged myths are true, should control our ethics, laws, and political policies.
People who partake in Magical Thinking, swallow impossible lies, and easy answers, will be much more likely to swallow nearly impossible lies and easier answers.

Tucson trail

Conclusion:

Religions sets people up to be easily tricked and controlled and are being used by evil men to further their own aims, which include, much more often than not, putting their own acquisition of wealth and power over the needs of humanity and the health of our planet.

So let’s try to move away from misguided advocates of the few myths we haven’t put behind us. Even the most pious follower of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism…etc is 99% atheist since there are far many more deities they think are false (Zeus, Odin, Hermes, Inanna etc) So they just need to add one more to the list to catch up to the heroes working to save this planet.

The USA could lead the world in so many powerful and wonderful ways. Yet, instead, we are being dragged down by people seeking to move backwards rather than forward. Truth is, we can’t go backwards. The world is different. There are more people than ever before and we are more industrialized than ever before. In most places we are more interrogated than ever before. These things won’t change barring, complete collapse or genocide, which if we were to stay on this course, could be looming in our future.

Or we can shed the heavy chaffing belt of ancient myths written for the technology and morality of another time and look toward the type of innovations in science and technology which will allow our economy, race, and earth to thrive and… with a little luck survive.

Thanks for listening.

Bone with box i

You can grab some much less opinionated fiction here

little-camp

WildernessPunk: Lessening Our Negative Environmental Impact

I’m hoping most of the folks reading this also read my last WP post, The Number One Thing, where I discussed how the easiest thing we can do in this country to combat Climate Change is insuring we minimize food waste which causes huge amounts of methane to enter our atmosphere. This limits our personal contribution to climate change while helping our country, and also our personal finances along the way.

Josh

But how do you top a concept which can be embraced by everyone cross culturally which also has a huge positive affect on everything from environmental health to blue collar worker’s wallets?

The answer would be to find something even better.

But first I wanted to toss out a Mission Statement of sorts for WildernessPunk, you know because we’re so professional and all:

WildernessPunk is the concept of moving past accepted norms in the pursuit of engineering a life which minimizes our environmental impact on our planet.

Valley of the Goda

A little more WP Housekeeping. For the Hell’s of lit, I went ahead and started a WildernessPunk Blog and FB page. I’ll start posting an old posts on both of these every day. I’ll still post new WP posts here on my main page, but in the future there will probably be a benefit having them all in the same place.

So back to this find something better concept.

Chocise

There are many different lists and suggestions to be found on the internet and within the reports written by environmental scientists. However, many of these lists involve legislation and making huge sweeping changes in our technology or culture. But what about things which rely on the individual? What could you do tomorrow to help without needing to call your congressperson, collecting signatures, or investing a few thousand dollars?

Let’s compile a list of the top contenders. I know we talked about minimizing our food wastage, so I’ll just place this at the top of the list.

Ways an Individual can Lower their Negative Environmental Impact (NEI)

Minimizing Food Waste
Commuting by Bicycle, Walking, Buses
Use Energy Wisely such as high efficiency devices and keeping them unplugged
Consume less
Eating for a Climate Stable Planet
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse
And Eating Bugs

Bike wet rain

After a review of the current literature, this is the list of top things we can each do on our own which were mentioned in the most of the various articles. Of course there are dozens of things we could do as a party or a country or a world, but most experts agree individuals should be doing as much of the above list as possible.

I might blow off the eating bugs idea. I mean it’s just so simple why outline it, unless you want to discuss how to build ant farms for fun and dinner. However, since I already started with the first one, I might take a WildernessPunk crack at the others. Perhaps we all might learn something.

Old Faithful

You can grab some of my fiction here, check it out.

bone empty lecture

WildernessPunk: The Number One Thing

After my last adventure, I feel refreshed and ready to change the direction of WildernessPunk down a different one of its Arrows. This time diving into the issue of Climate Change. You know, the whole thing about keeping our planet alive.

Often, in this stage in human existence, we’re informed of and confronted with the ills which infect our world. Usually it becomes overwhelming and we feel powerless to have any serious impact on the situation. Yet, if it is an issue, such as Climate Change, which is caused by each one of us, couldn’t each one of us to do something to help?

a shot

It makes sense. If I contribute to a certain percent of an issue, let’s say X percent. Then my behavior should then affect X of this issue. If we all change our X percent, then we have changed the whole situation for the better.

Sure, I understand each of our contributions to Climate Change in theory runs about .000000013%, however if you multiply this number by digits which end in a lot of zeroes this can change quickly.

So, as mentioned in the title, what is the Number One Thing we can each do to reduce our contribution to global warming? The answer changes from country to country. In less industrialized countries the answer is to educate the population on reproductive options. I’m also going to mention another huge factor which would help underdeveloped nations, since it will relate to the #1Thing in the more industrialized countries.

global-warming-emissions-by-sector

The other big issue in underdeveloped countries is food waste. But unlike how food gets wasted in countries like the USA, in less developed countries a huge percentage of food goes bad before it can reach the consumer. So better preservation, along with transportation and reproductive education, are key components to lowering how underdeveloped countries contribute to Climate Change.

But things are different in the more industrialized countries such as the USA. Here, more food is wasted after purchase and is sent to rot in the landfills. This rotting food is one of the primary causes of methane which our NASA lists as the third leading greenhouse emissions on the planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/ Whether it rots on the way to the store or after you toss it, the results are the same. Our titanic production and wasting of food are one of the leading causes of Climate Change.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yes, there are many ways we could all help lessen our Carbon Footprint. We could become vegan, ride our bikes to work, and use our cooling systems less, but each of these things have something in common. They would all involve a large change in behavior and the discomfort brought about by sacrifice.

This is why getting stricter with what food we allow to go to waste is the Number One Thing we can all do in this country to combat Climate Change. The primary reason I believe this is not only how easy it would be, but also all the positive benefits it would have for all of us. Let’s review some of these below.

The Positive Benefits of Limiting Food Waste:

Wasting less food saves money
Buying less, each visit, allows for alternative methods of transportation such as walking and biking
Using less food leaves more for other humans and animals
Wasting less food produces less methane emissions
Creates less materials to throw into landfills
Uses less resources to transport food
Requires less water to irrigate crops
Wasting food costs, the USA 165 Billion a year
The USA currently wastes 40% of the food produced

Yes, look at those last two. If the USA wastes 165 Billion on food each year https://cnn.it/1vuse8P and the USA has 119 million households https://binged.it/2sMA6EI that means each household wastes roughly 1386.55$ dollars a year or 115.54$ a month.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Wrap you head around this for a minute. 115.54$ is enough food for a lot of families to live off for a whole week and it’s thrown away. Let’s look at this from a different angle. If 40% of the food is wasted, this means 40% of the water used to irrigate it is wasted. 40% of the gas used to ship it to us is wasted. 40% of the time used to grow, harvest, transport, stock, and sell is wasted. This is a colossal amount of resources our country is throwing on the landfill which is just helping destroy our planet faster.

I’m not asking cowboys to become vegan here. I’m just asking people to help make our country stronger while getting a little more exercise and saving yourself hundreds of dollars. If you can’t motivate to do it for your environment or your country, then just do it for yourselves. See you at the bike rack in front of Safeway.

wildernesspunk5.5

You can grab some of my fiction here, check it out.

Bone hat

WildernessPunk: Mists of Babble On (California Road Ripping Part II)

I should have known, but all it took was a few days for Greg to surpass my earlier winnings with his necklace sales, well trades, which are topping 250$ and counting. Yet, competition gives way to smooth sailing as we equip ourselves in style for the journey back, not only to, but also through 1000 miles of desert.

Still, the trip isn’t over. I have sad goodbyes to make. Although if this cat doesn’t stop walking on my computer, some of them might become a bit easier.

cats

And yes, goodbyes are sad and bad, but sometimes you have to pull the band-aid trigger and just move everyone to the next chapter of their life. For some a new chapter, for my daughter, I think it will be the beginning of the next novel.

california lake

Hills of mist lay drenched in fog as we race south and away from the lands of wine and weed. Soon, even in the most populated state, we leave the people and homes behind. A small outpost, like a boat floating over a sea of grass, allows me to discuss Lovecraft with an interested father as we get one more day of rest before heading into Mojave National Preserve.

california mists

The upcoming downlow:

I have never been to the MNP
With the government shut down things will either be locked or free?
Do we have enough gear for a January camp?
Will Greg just sleep in the car?

cali

Seventeen hours later and I have the answers to all those questions.

After driving into the Mojave, we manage to find a Dollar General and stock up, such as we can. Figuring topping off the gas can’t hurt, I head into the K, because hell, an extra sixer can’t hurt either. A heated conversation is going on as I approach the counter.

Hipster Costumer: “Yeah man, I love M and Ms.”

Neck Tattoo Clerk: “Hell yeah, I eat a bag every day. But I just eat three at a time, so I can savor them, but I eat a whole bag every day!”

Hipster Costumer: “I’m going to go home and nap, but when I wake up, I eating this whole bag!”

Neck Tattoo Clerk: “I fucking LOVE M and Ms!”

At this point they look over to me to make sure no innocents witnessed the man on the job drop the F bomb over his love of candy. They see me with just a sixer of beer at 2PM.

Hipster Costumer: “Holy shit dude, you’re tall. I thought I was tall, but you are like a giant.”

Neck Tattoo Clerk: “And look, he’s got beer. This guy is ready to party!”

Hipster Costumer: “Yeah, he must need to drink a whole six-pack to equal us drinking one…”

cali mount

Eventually I get, beer, gas, and laughs and then rip back onto I-40. The mists we’ve traveled through change to rain. Captain Mysterious and I reach an unspoken understanding we will be in a wet camp, with little available in the way of wood. Any wood which can be found will also be drenched, so two people with limited gear, could be hard pressed while exploring the largest desert in the USA.

cali desert

Two hours later, we take the exit into the Devil’s Playground. Worries over the Government Shutdown turn out to be unneeded for the lands swept before us barren and unpopulated. The fog covered mountains looming over the desert confirm this was a strong choice no matter what the outcome. However, despite its beauty, the lands prove sparse and there will be little obvious resources available to help us through the January night.

cali majove

Heading north, we moved deeper into this no-man’s-land or NML. Then I spotted a sixty-foot com tower. “I got an idea. The dirt roads leading to these towers are always better maintained.” And when you have a Honda Accord these things become so much more important. My guess proved right, and we reached the tower without incident. Upon arriving, we discovered two things.

A single fire place sized log.
The road continued.

After grabbing the log, we continued as well and struck gold. A mile past the tower was a giant tumble of boulders with a fire pit. We stopped and as the clouds lowered over the mountains, we got the fire lit before the rains grew stronger, which they soon did. The place proved to be amazing. The fire remained traditional and small. We kept it just big enough to cook on and take away the shivers of the soaked jackets.

cali fire

Intense events should have a meaningful climax and for me, camping out in the mist shrouded desert in a desolated and unexplored piece of this country proved an excellent way to end my 2700 miles power trip to drop my eldest, Katrina, off at her new home town.

cali cliffs

Trips should leave you refreshed and yet anxious to get back to your lives and the projects and goals which infuse your existence. A great trip will spark new ideas and solutions, along with jumpstarted energy to complete your dreams.

Perhaps we need the pause to be able to focus those dreams. Only by being temporarily removed from your steady life and locale can you realize how you wish to improve it and why you should do so. Travel inspires and reminds one how small our corner of the universe is. We are only one story within the billions, but this makes it no less important for us.

I also think stripping down our possessions helps with this. In the USA many seem to feel we are what we own. But when you’re standing in the rain with the only jacket you have, eating the last of the food you possess, it clears you of the excess. Possessions are just what we surround ourselves with, be they shirts or selves, we encase our bodies in what we own, but in the wilds, we have little of this. Perhaps therefore it’s one of the finest ways to figure out who you really are?

Cali Josh.jpg

You can grab some of my fiction here. Heroes who strive on a different Path

Bone hat

WildernessPunk: California Roadripping

There are two types of people in this world, those who walk toward the UFO and those who run away.

Which are you?

I bet you can guess the type I am.

Okay, okay, let me back up a little bit. If you read my last post, you know I spoke on how I was going to focus on serious facts and issues and get away from personal adventures and philosophies…. ahhh, well maybe next time, this roll of the dice involved a random roadtrip driving my daughter, her two cats, everything she owns, and Greg the camera man, opps I mean Captain Mysterious, to her new home in Ukiah California.

Cali Stream

As I jack in at the Iron Door, which is California’s oldest tavern, I look back on how we reached this isolated mountain town hours off the beaten path and decades away from the manic highways and flashing lights which promise convenience and luxuries which would have been unimaginable when the builders of this tavern laid down their first stone in 1852.

cali bar

Grey owned the skies as we left Tucson for points north, well one point really. Vegas baby. Joshua Trees and lead colored clouds fought for our attentions as Phoenix led to Kingman. With the new road bypassing the Hoover Dam. we arrived two hours earlier than I’d told my Gangrel buddy, John, I’d be showing up, so we decided to hit a small tavern/restaurant/casino. I figured it’s a little rude to show up someplace, half starved.

After the bartender, Jewels, laughed at Captain Mysterious for thinking he needed to smoke outside, “Were you people from?” she asked, as we sat at the bar, ordered a few apps, and put 20$ into the machines, and got our free drink. Thirty later, we had the former, but had finished the latters. Feeling the need for one more chance, and another IPA, I give the machine a second try. I kept staying alive with trips. “Trips for the trip, but I gotta get quads.” My compatriots looked on over slices of cheese pizza, while both my mug and my twenty were drained down to their dregs.

The bartender, looked over and she took a little pity on me and said, “You’re still playing hun, you stayed alive just long enough for a final ale.” As she set it before my, by credit read zero. A pair kept me alive. Another trip and then… 4 fucking ACES. 200$ later we left the T/R/C/ and met my Stalwart ally and his family and bounced a bit through Vegas dodging salesmen and junkies. Quote of the night.

Trender salesmen: “You like cologne, right?”

John: “Not at all. My wife’s lucky of she can get me to wear fucking deodorant.”

But then we had a problem. In her quest for proper planning, Kat had reserved a hotel on the fair side of the Sierra Nevadas. This would have been 100, if the roads over the range which trapped the Donner party hadn’t been snowed out. She knew the cats would be the first to go, if we got stuck, so she offered to cancel the room, but the hotel said, no.

John said, “15 to the 5 and you’re done.”

“And drive through Bakersfield,” I replied, “No way!”

California hotel

Instead we tour through Death Valley and yellow cliffs mixed with storms dumping more snow onto the mountains in the far distance. Looming over the jagged desert planes, the white capped mountain ranges divided half the state and blocked us from our multiple goals. But to the south, one pass was rumored to be open. We headed toward it burning through the desert miles. Desert became forest, which was later edged with snow, as I drove onward through hundreds of miles of endless turns, twists, and cliffs. After a titanic effort, we made it to a place with two lanes, but as the sun set, we had to once again press into the mountains to make it to our hotel. Hell, if we were going to toss away over a hundred bucks just to pay another hundred bucks to spend a night in Fresno.

Cali Katrina

Which brings me back to the Iron Union, but we aren’t done yet.

Now we are, but arriving in Ukiah is only half the quest. Employed, but with two cats and no where to stay, we need to set my girl up with a place to keep her out of the driving rains. Damn, I hope Greg can sell some of his necklaces so we can go back to the brewery…

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

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WildernessPunk: Reboot

Well yeahhhhh, I have not picked up the mantel of WildernessPunk for a half a year. I feel somewhat remiss over this, but also justified, for I’d rather shut something down than risk becoming a hypocrite or just blurt out theories or lifestyles changes I’m not willing to engage in myself.

diablo perpective

The original mission statement of WildernessPunk was the fun idea of traveling through and living in the wilds of the USA (Wilderness) while creating the funds to do so by writing and other e-commerce (Punk). This proved an interesting Idea which gave me the motivation and time to comment on our current lifestyles, while gaining the perspective to do so by taking several steps out of it.

Yet, for all its strengths, it remained just the tale of one person and in a small regard, the discussion of what I was able to do, which most people reading would not be able to follow or at least not easily.

camp 1 clouds

Instead, I’d like to open WildernessPunk to be less an exploration of one man’s journey through modern nonsense, which causes destructive lifestyles, and more of a ‘I’m living in a home like you, surrounded by others, but what can I do to make the world a better place.’ Wildernesspunk will also mean stepping outside of norms (Punk) and offering more extreme solutions than you’ll see the mainstream present. These will be explored with the end goal of protecting the environment in mind (Wilderness).

Please though, let’s keep in mind, when I say make the world a better place, I’ll be more focused on the world itself, and less concerned with the human needs of the people living through this stage of history. I know people are important and we have a hard time making changes without us feeling we’re getting a payoff, so I’ll be sure to keep this in mind. In general, however, I’m more interested in saving the lands, plants, and animals for future generations than insuring the people flowing through this eyeblink of history get coddled.

But we must also come to terms with the reality of the situations we live within. Humans are the ones killing this planet and are also the only beings who can save it. Thus, since it is up to humans to do the saving, we must jump into human systems (politics/popular opinion) and help steer all of us toward a philosophy with physical techniques which will insure this planet’s continued survival. In this sense, as much as I hate to do it, at times, the human experience must be reviewed, evaluated, and graded.

This will not be done in a news anchor style, pushing us two degrees in one direction or the other. This is WildernessPunk after all. Extreme times call for extreme discussion and changes. This can be done. We possess the intelligence and funds to solve all the world’s ills, we just need to have the willpower and passion to do so.

stairs

People talk about climate change, what we need is a climate change within us. This is what we require to evolve into the next stage of humanity. People like Trump are a horror, but they don’t elect themselves. Trump doesn’t scare me as much as the millions of people out there who still support him. Millions of people who would do anything to make another dollar and care little for anything outside of their own limited experiences.

There is no need to preach to the converted. Instead let’s help wake up the people who’s lives are built on lies and educate even the best of us how we can each push ourselves to build a world where our great grandchildren will still have the opportunities to walk through the wild areas of the planet, breath clean air, and live with the satisfaction they aren’t part of a species which destroyed their own planet.

yellow stone

In order to do this, I intend to focus more on the practical methods of keeping the Earth alive as opposed to the philosophical. I imagine I’ll let go with a few rants, cuz well, it’s me, but getting worked up over the dinner table isn’t going to be enough. So please look forward to learning how average folks, like ourselves, can step up and make a difference and join the process for making our world a better place, because in the end, isn’t this what we’re all about.

Thanks for listening.

the world famous golden nugget

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

danger

Noble Savage? WildernessPunk

As I sit in my self-made campsite near the top of Arizona’s second highest peak, Mount Graham, I see two choices spreading out before me. To my left the mountain stretches through the tall ponderosa lining its steep cliffs. A difficult journey into its mysterious shadowy depths awaits. To the right I can just make out the road which drops 6000 feet and would return me to the desert and the small town of Swift Trail Junction. Left or right, wilderness or civilization.

mount Grammy

What is more noble, the freedom of the wilds or the charity of civilization?

I already posted one WildernessPunk piece where I thank Trump for the one good thing he’s done for us, which is giving us a clear picture of the true percentage of people who can’t evolve past the asshole/idiot stage. (See One in Three, WildernessPunk for more details) I intend to take things further and really get down to the meat of human development and explore how easy/difficult it will be for humanity to save our planet.

earth snake

I used to firmly believe people could, if presented with the correct information, be able to change their minds. I often debated the preachers shouting out bible quotes on my college mall. I would argue with others until late in the night. I studied history and anthropology and thought, despite the horrors our world has seen, people were moving toward a better future. Like many liberal leaning folks, I’ve been heartened by the lessening of racial injustice and the greater acceptance of the GBLTQ individuals.

Yes, things appeared to be improving, but now I also see the rise of neo fascists not just in the USA, but in many countries around the globe. I also realize one would have to be a fool to think the increasing populations of people expecting more with less to go around, mixing with a deteriorating environment, won’t be creating global situations ripe for this to grow worse.

So what’s going on?

How can things be improving overall for most of the world while simultaneously so many are embracing emotion based lies over facts and true problem solving? I have a theory and most people aren’t going to like it.

Saquaro Clouds

There may be a deep and ingrained reason people are dividing and less able to come to an agreement than ever before and I’ll get to outlining this, but first I want to toss something else out there.

The USA. like most countries. is dividing into two camps. Really three with the third camp being both ends of a bell curve, either folks who have risen above such well-established rhetoric or are too dull witted or too involved with their personal crisis to care. But let’s move back to the publicized two. Most tend to call them, Right/Left, Liberal/Conservative, Red/Blue. I’m going to make it even simpler and label them Group A which = Red, Conservatives, Right etc… And group B which = Blue, Liberal, Left etc…

Let’s discuss the basic values of these groups.

Group A

Belief in the truth of preindustrial dogmas
Government should be used to control others
The government should be used to control and use other countries and peoples
Their religion of choice should be the baseline used to determine how the government controls its civilians
When it comes to the military, the bigger the better
Some groups, religions, and races are not to be trusted and are mostly comprised of bad people.
The past was better
Some people and groups are out to get you, your family, and anything you have
Emotions and beliefs are more important than facts
Everyone has an equal chance in life and hard work is all it takes to reach your goals.
Wealth and power is the yardstick in which a person’s success is measured

Sup

Group B

Overall, our culture is improving
The purpose of the government is to help people
Discrimination is wrong
All people are created equal
Happiness is the yardstick by which a person success is measured
Facts should drive decision making
One’s opinions should remain flexible and if presented with updated information be able to change
The government can be used to help increase economic equality
We can make the future better
Although we are all created equal, random ills/benefits and situations brought about by our culture give everyone a different circumstance which they must adjust to when seeking success

And what about Group C? I’m not going to go too far into this group here, but let’s just assume the more apathetic due to being dull witted tend to fall in line with Group A, while those who attempt to evolve to a higher rational state still tend to have a soft spot for group B.

zzzzzz

I said I had a theory as to why these two groups can’t agree well and I’m not the only one. Although I do intend to take it a step further.

There has been more research going on in recent years as to why some people support Group A or Group B and the data being gathered increasingly points to this being caused by a physical aspect of brain development. Much as how we’re born either male or female, it appears we may also be born into Group A or B. A person’s choice on which group or lifestyle they chose may be determined before birth.

Not to get all Dungeons and Dragons or call up the paradigms created by English writer Michael Moorcock, these groups have also been associated with Law and Chaos. Group A is Lawful and seeks to keep things the same. The world is working for me, why change it? These are my beliefs why change them? My family went to church when I was growing up, so will my children.

Group B is Chaotic. If there is a way to make things better, we should figure it out, so we can improve. If I am presented with new facts which prove an assumption I had is wrong, then I should change my mind.

Alright gentle readers. I hope I whetted your appetite for more, but I also try to keep these articles under three pages, so I’m going to have to return with some factual data and research, which has been done to support the ideas I’m laying down for you here. I’ll also reveal my more advanced theory on the subject. Wow, what a cliffhanger. I hope you can handle it.

Dionysus Neutral Space

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

Ghost Town’s Ghost, WildernessPunk

This is my new thing, at least for the next month or so, I’m heading out into Arizona’s desert badlands on the week’s most off-days, Monday and Tuesday. Some people think you should only explore the desert in the winter. Forget such nonsense. One should experience an area’s true nature. You don’t become one with the saguaros hiking through them in January. This would be like trying to discover Mardi Gras in New Orleans in September. Also, with Phoenix now being the fifth largest city in the USA, if one wants a little Desert Solitaire, you need to avoid the spilling of the hundred thousands into the wilds by dodging the weekends. I want to be the only non-local around, damn it. Non-local = El Loco.

Saquaro Clouds

Before I go any further, I’d like to elaborate on something. I’ve had a few nick names throughout my life, but I’m sure Alex Bone isn’t one of them… When I was in middle school, my large feet and tall frame earned me the tag of Bigfoot. Later in high school, oh what a lovely time, I was called The Ghost due to my pale complexion. Is this reverse racism, being too white for whiteys? So since I endured the label of The Ghost for several years, I think I have the right to keep the term as I explore some of Arizona’s backroad quasi-ghost towns. (Side note: I did enjoy a heathy amount of retribution against the culprits who labeled me in my 90% jock high school, but as they say, this is quite a different story.)

Scene

After spending the afternoon looking for a former mining town, small, and old enough to draw me in, but also modern enough for me to have a roof and a bite for a least a night, I settle on Superior Arizona. Sean Penn stared in Uturn which was set here a few decades ago. Hollywood liked the looks of the place and felt it represented Arizona strangeness at its finest, but does the reality hold up to the fantasy? Still, it could be worse, I could end up at that Wrong Turn place with all the cannibals with bows. Such events can be very exciting as well, unless you get eaten and then it just bites.

Waiting until nightfall, The Ghost heads into the what remains of Superior’s downtown. I travel under a bridge complete with a Troll’s lair and then move over the undulating streets which crumble under my shoes. The tangle of roads leaves me feeling disoriented until a glowing neon sign peeks between the burned-out shells of houses. It reminds me food and drink are possible if only one can find their way past these half-abandoned houses. A break in the fence later and I’m moving over brick streets and up old staircases lining the sides of empty buildings.

Superior Path

I’m woken up the next morning with a manic knock on my door. A young woman saw my children’s clothes in my car and came to the natural conclusion I had them locked in my trunk. I quickly realized this was schizophrenic logic and this poor gal had a serious mental illness. She wanted for a light for her smoke and took my lighter while asking me to open the trunk to prove there were no children locked inside. I figured this act would be better than a crazed call to the sheriff and obligated her. She walked away satisfied and yep, I got my lighter back before I headed off to the one open restaurant on a row with nine closed ones.

Sup

Last Scene Update:

While I was at lunch, the aforementioned female broke into people’s rooms and was chased off by a very angry woman. Somehow, I’m the most paranoid guest who actually keeps the door locked?

Oh, another update. Last night’s quest for grub and dud, had also failed due to the twisted alleys and a shut down time of 7pm (It’s a small town). The long, also half lost, journey back to the hotel left me needing to complete my trek to the town’s one functioning tavern. Porter’s Saloon had been around a while. I can feel the whispers of the long dead miners mixing with real cowboys as they paid out their earnings on a small slice of civilization and four surrounding walls filled with a different kind of spirits.

Bone at Porters

Another type of ghost haunts the place now. The living ghosts clinging to a dying town. Little in the way of jobs or money comes in, but low, to no, rent as fourth generations cling to former miner’s homes balances this enough for many to stay. They bake through the low desert heat avoiding the chain stores, strip malls, and shopping in return for this blessing, they keep their original aspect. Nothing here is duplicated, the town is as individual as the people who made it.

Are people like towns/cities?

Some are just copies of other things we see, a mass following of ideas, fast food chains, exercise studios, and cross-country commodities. From Miami to Seattle kids can dress the same and follow the same trends. While in some towns there’s an indifference to commonality. People follow a similar path. Many let themselves be taken in by mass movements which spread over countries and continents. Whether one is Christian, Liberal, or into War-Porn, opps I mean Sports, you’re all waiting in the back of a huge line with millions if not billions of smucks.

FYI the bigger the line the more smucks.

Some people, like Superior, use whatever resources they have to shape themselves in the best manner they can manage. They borrow and trade with the outside world, but after they mold it to their needs, it is unique and unrecognizable.

hat river

Many mass thought patterns and movements have merit and one need not waste their whole life reinventing the wheel. However important issues, concepts, and movements should not be taken for granted. It is when we insist the way a huge group of people think is right, when we are most likely to be wrong. Things like avoiding racism, promoting environmentalism, and a positive based life are examples of philosophies I hope the whole species will evolve into embracing.

Bridge

So what is the answer? How can one know the right path to tread and which is a huge waste of time or worse… evil?

Here is a handy backward paradigm checklist. If you follow a system or leader who does these things duck, cover, and then run away.

Bridge View

Backward Paradigm Warning Signs:

Paradigm is based on Fear
Is inflexible in regards to how it has all the answers
Hate and blaming others rules the words of the leaders
Seeks to eliminate outsiders
Ignores facts
Asks one to take things on faith instead of proof

How can we balance the individualism of avoiding interference with the bombardment of the modern world while it’s now more important than ever to be involved with saving our planet and way of life?

Trump's favorite Nature View

I really think we will either have to evolve our consciousness or die. How many planets have failed when they reached this stage and how many have moved ahead? I would love to know the odds before I start placing my bets. Just kidding, I’ll bet on us every time. I’m a glass half full kind of a…

Oh crap, what am I?

Boneand Yig

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

Superior Sunset