Being Wrong is Maybe a Good Thing

David Atkins (pic found on Facebook)

I've been immersed in reading this week and not really ready to do a book review yet. It's going to take some time for me to digest what I have read and will most likely reread some of the sources I have found.

The big idea that I am working on is this: we are pretty much wrong about most things we do in this civilization of ours. 

We travel wrong ~ Our fossil fuels are throwing more and more carbon into the atmosphere than our ecosystem can address.

We farm wrong ~ Our soils are diminished and in various stages of 'addiction' by years of throwing nitrogen, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other synthetics on our land. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, we let what soil we do have remaining lay exposed after harvest allowing it to blow away in the wind or run off into our streams and rivers . 

We garden wrong ~ See above.

We ranch wrong ~ We keep our livestock standing in one place most of their lives causing land loss, soil loss which eventually leads to desertification. Not to mention that the livestock lead pretty miserable lives.

We heat our homes and businesses wrong ~ We use a source of fuel that pollutes our air, our land, our water supply, causes ill-health in those who provide these fuels, and fills our atmosphere with carbon.

We use water wrong ~ Somehow we think that water is not as precious as we need to be thinking of it. All of the above wrongs jeopardize this very valuable commodity. 

And those are just a few of the 'wrongs' I am considering this week. What I see as a silver lining though is that so few of us are happy. Look around you. Can you think of more than a handful of friends or family who are truly happy with the ways things are or how they spend their days? Rethinking how we live our lives may be something we are all very much ready to explore.

If you could use your car to travel where you wanted for little cost - would you support it?

If you could be assured that the food you ate and set on your family's table was nutritious and guarded your loved ones against disease - would you support it?

If you could live comfortably in your home in all seasons for little cost - would you support it?

If those last three interest you - stay tuned. That's where I am heading on this blog.  Being so very wrong about all these systems is maybe the only way we would have chosen to do things right.  

The future may be just exactly what we wanted all along 

and better than we thought it could ever be.