To add, after a bit of look around – the same man who took that great photo of Cascade also took this iconic image…

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/fsa/8a26000/8a26700/8a26761v.jpg

This jumped out at me and I just have to say something – the businesses: Beer joints (2) Drugstore (1) Cafe (1).

“…find our way out of the current mess without more war”

Guardian, you need to read ‘Powerdown’ by Richard Heinberg. It details a plan that is widely accepted as being about the best anyone has come up with.

In a nutshell the plan calls for worldwide energy audits of all sources (most folks are very surprised that the actual physical reserves our most precious fossil resources are not accurately known). Then, as a world, we equitably use less fossil energy every year as less becomes available.

Our economy will stabilize because energy prices will stabilize. Business, an households as well, currently cannot effectively plan while energy prices jump all over the price spectrum.

Since our food production system is effectively turning oil into food, we will have less food available each year and will need to limit every family in the world to one child to prevent worldwide starvation.

Settling on a real, workable solution is critical. The author points out that there has never been a shortage of resources in the history of the human race where our species didn’t fight over it.

Since our current social configuration will utterly fail without cheap, abundant oil, the wars resulting from a fierce struggle could easily get out of hand and go nuclear.

Science Magazine pointed out 2 years ago that even a small nuclear exchange could produce a nuclear winter where crops could fail for several years.

Americans need to learn about ‘peak oil’ and the realities of our current energy predicament. Alternatives, renewables, coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar and wind will all be attempted but high oil prices will make all of these things quickly become unattainable. We are in deep trouble, but only a very few in America have any idea of our true situation.

Tom,
How are we ever going to factor in the “Greed is good” mantra so pervasive in American culture? Cooperation for the greater good is just not American. Most Idahoans would agree buying ammo and guns ought to solve the problem. Oh.. and lets not forget a big ole heap of Jesus to sweeten the deal.

Dog,
As the Guardian knows from his extreme frustration with Boise City Government, we are ruled by rich folk who are really only interested in padding their already cushy situation with secret little deals while smiling, posing and preening for the cameras.

The popular media outlets the rich folk own are allowed to reveal real stories, but they are never put into context, or have any connect-the-dot background information. The citizens are so overloaded with stories about fire, crime, car crashes and weather, that snippets of really important stories slip by and away before anyone notices.

Our people are given a vague sense that the store of state is being minded while the rich folk are out back tossing as much of our wealth into the back of their wagon as it will hold. Their buddies then wipe out the tracks as they haul their booty of to be stuffed in their offshore bank accounts.

I am not very hopeful for our future. I’ll see your God & Guns, and raise you 50 cases of cheap whiskey, and a roomful of hoarded food.

Tom, while your goal is laudable, does the author share just who and how this plan will be administered?
Who is going to enforce the “one child per family” worldwide?
Who tells, and enforces, China to cease building 18 new coal fired plants per month?
Who conducts these “world-wide energy audits” and how do they enforce them?
Your path seems rather “Orwellian” in it’s scope and I seriously doubt it can be realistically implemented without total, world wide domination by someone, or something.

T.A.

As a former Republican Operative (NY, NJ and ID) and erstwhile Bull Moose Candidate for Mayor, I am well acquainted with the status quo.

And while I nearly completely agree with your assessment of the situation, I would like to point out that victory can be found in participation.

My brief participation (cut short by an unexpected death) embarrassed the Mayor into adopting my campaign call for a Forensic Audit of the CCDC (which he reneged on later, knowing nothing would happen).

Participation = Change

No Participation = SSDD

Here’s what I know… Dictators/Kings/Queens are mostly a better type of leadership because the can only steal so much, and they tend to form a fondness for their country and want it to succeed.

The current system in America allows theft by 10’s of thousands of leaders so the corruption is massive. Our political leaders only care about their power and status for the most part, not about their constituents.

The problems that the world faces cannot be solved with every human being on the planet trying to grab as much wealth as possible. We live on a small, finite planet, and have no place to go if we mess it up badly.

We need to honestly figure out, as a world, whether we intend to continue trying to maintain ‘situation normal’, which is totally unsustainable, and will likely cause a huge die off of the human species, or do we want to listen to our best scientists and devise a sustainable framework which we will all live within.

This is, on a global scale, exactly what we face as a city in Boise. Do we let the ‘growth is good’ folks win? If we do, we know exactly what will happen. We will create a carbon copy of Los Angeles, or New York, in the long run. That is, if resource depletion doesn’t end the party early, like it probably has already.

Two bars, a drugstore, a cafe and a barber shop — what more could any town need?
Oh, yeah; a grocery store, a post office, a gas station and a couple of churches.

Once a town has all that, additional growth is just redundant.

Too bad.

Don’t forget they had a brothel or two in Cascade back then as well, or at least more workin girls than now. It was OK back then to drink beer and drive and beat your wife too.

I just think fun needs to be re-legalized. The beatin yer wife comment was a poke at the Pollyanna
comments about the good old days. Doesn’t the Bible say it’s OK to beat your wife?