Peak Oil & Daniel Quinn's "The Story of B"
"The Story of B" is a novel written by Daniel Quinn regarding the ultimate flaw of our culture. Quinn defines our culture is that which has adopted "totalitarian agriculture". This form of agriculture obliterated all former culture, which had lived sustainably as part of nature. Now, with peak oil upon us, the goal of finding the secrets to a sustainable culture is essential for the very survival of the vast diversity of life.
Quinn writes "The Story of B" as a follow up to his groundbreaking work, "Ishmael". While covering and reviewing much of the same ground, Quinn goes further into exploring the issues of overpopulation, war, religion, and many of our cultural ills. Quinn traces these ills back to the point at which our grandparents of long ago began to believe that they were like gods in their power.
Being like gods is a concept that naturally arose as those grandparents grew their own food, refused to allow any other organisms access to that food, killed all competitors for that food, and even destroyed the food of the competitors. This type of agriculture led to increased food production for this expanding human culture, which in turn led to population growth. Humans, like all other animals, naturally increase in population as food supply increases, and we are now at a number somewhere north of 6.5 billion individuals. This population will stop increasing once food production stops increasing, and peak oil may be the limiting factor.
Peak oil will most likely be the limiting factor in food production. Modern, mechanized food production depends directly on petroleum for most if not all stages. As oil supply continues on its several year plateau, and the uncertainty of decline looms, food production may soon begin to fall. Depletion of soil, changes in rainfall, limitations on water for irrigation, and increasing use of food stocks as fuel, already seems to be decreasing the annual global food yield. It seems quite likely that famine and starvation for the poorest of countries is again inevitable.
In any other culture and any other species, a decrease in food supply would be a burden shared equally amongst the members. In our global culture, this is not the case. In our culture, food is grown far from the majority of the people. Entire countries of people eat two, three or more times as much food as they can grow themselves. Cities depend almost entirely by food grown in the country. As the food supply declines, the distribution will not be equitable, and only those who have the means with have the food.
The most disturbing reality of this is that global food production will probably decline by 50% or more in our lifetimes. This means that entire countries will be virtually cut off from food imports, and that famine and starvation will occur, no matter what we would like to do. It is disturbing to think that the many people of Ethiopia and Darfur will either die of starvation, or will be killed in wars designed (consciously or unconsciously) to decrease the population. It is even more disturbing to realize that the more food we send to these nations, the more their population will grow, and the more of them will die when we no longer have the excess to send abroad.
An example of a similar situation is when people set out feeders for animals. In some cases, this feeder becomes a major food source for the animals. They begin to depend upon it, and often their population grows. At some point, the people stop putting out the food. Perhaps they move away, die, run out of money, or just decide that it doesn't interest them anymore. Now, a population of animals is cut off from their "artificially" enlarged food source, and if they can't find an alternate source of food, then their numbers will diminish, and they will die.
This brings us back to the root of the problem of overpopulation, which is our system of food production and the philosophy that accompanies it. This philosophy is that the world was made for our culture, and that our purpose is to dominate and use it. Now, I imagine quite a few would argue that this is not what we believe. This surely is not the vision and behavior of our culture. But these objections are as easily dismissed as looking out a window and seeing the way our culture has changed the world.
From my window, I see a yards, and houses, and electric lines, and fences, and a stand of trees that looks no more than a hundred years old. This land used to be alive, a virgin forest with hundreds of species and thousands of organisms. We came, our culture, and we utterly destroyed it.
If I drive two miles from here, I come to a field, that was also once a forest. Now, it is dead. What was once rich soil is now depleted and stale. Putrid liquefied factory farm animal waste is sprayed all over it. After the GMO corn is growing, the land will be sprayed with a biocide to kill everything except the corn itself. This is the stamp of our culture on the earth.
My goal is to find and articulate a vision of how humans can live sustainably, and the core value system that is necessary to live this vision.
"The Story of B" proposes that there are already many cultures that live sustainabily, but that their philosophy of life is very different from ours. They do not believe that the world was made for them. They do not believe that they were made to rule the world. Instead, they believe that they are part of the world, and part of the web of life. While we attempt to subdue and control everything, other cultures live without attempting to control.
The "Story of B" is essential reading for any that have already tackled "Ishmael", but "B" is not the end of the story. Quinn follows up with a final sequel titled "My Ishmael", which expands on the concepts introduced in both earlier works, addressing some of the counter arguments that critics have issued. All together, the trilogy provides a unique view of how our global culture is inherently unsustainable, and suggesting a bold new path to local culture and a sustainabile future for humanity.
Quinn writes "The Story of B" as a follow up to his groundbreaking work, "Ishmael". While covering and reviewing much of the same ground, Quinn goes further into exploring the issues of overpopulation, war, religion, and many of our cultural ills. Quinn traces these ills back to the point at which our grandparents of long ago began to believe that they were like gods in their power.
Being like gods is a concept that naturally arose as those grandparents grew their own food, refused to allow any other organisms access to that food, killed all competitors for that food, and even destroyed the food of the competitors. This type of agriculture led to increased food production for this expanding human culture, which in turn led to population growth. Humans, like all other animals, naturally increase in population as food supply increases, and we are now at a number somewhere north of 6.5 billion individuals. This population will stop increasing once food production stops increasing, and peak oil may be the limiting factor.
Peak oil will most likely be the limiting factor in food production. Modern, mechanized food production depends directly on petroleum for most if not all stages. As oil supply continues on its several year plateau, and the uncertainty of decline looms, food production may soon begin to fall. Depletion of soil, changes in rainfall, limitations on water for irrigation, and increasing use of food stocks as fuel, already seems to be decreasing the annual global food yield. It seems quite likely that famine and starvation for the poorest of countries is again inevitable.
In any other culture and any other species, a decrease in food supply would be a burden shared equally amongst the members. In our global culture, this is not the case. In our culture, food is grown far from the majority of the people. Entire countries of people eat two, three or more times as much food as they can grow themselves. Cities depend almost entirely by food grown in the country. As the food supply declines, the distribution will not be equitable, and only those who have the means with have the food.
The most disturbing reality of this is that global food production will probably decline by 50% or more in our lifetimes. This means that entire countries will be virtually cut off from food imports, and that famine and starvation will occur, no matter what we would like to do. It is disturbing to think that the many people of Ethiopia and Darfur will either die of starvation, or will be killed in wars designed (consciously or unconsciously) to decrease the population. It is even more disturbing to realize that the more food we send to these nations, the more their population will grow, and the more of them will die when we no longer have the excess to send abroad.
An example of a similar situation is when people set out feeders for animals. In some cases, this feeder becomes a major food source for the animals. They begin to depend upon it, and often their population grows. At some point, the people stop putting out the food. Perhaps they move away, die, run out of money, or just decide that it doesn't interest them anymore. Now, a population of animals is cut off from their "artificially" enlarged food source, and if they can't find an alternate source of food, then their numbers will diminish, and they will die.
This brings us back to the root of the problem of overpopulation, which is our system of food production and the philosophy that accompanies it. This philosophy is that the world was made for our culture, and that our purpose is to dominate and use it. Now, I imagine quite a few would argue that this is not what we believe. This surely is not the vision and behavior of our culture. But these objections are as easily dismissed as looking out a window and seeing the way our culture has changed the world.
From my window, I see a yards, and houses, and electric lines, and fences, and a stand of trees that looks no more than a hundred years old. This land used to be alive, a virgin forest with hundreds of species and thousands of organisms. We came, our culture, and we utterly destroyed it.
If I drive two miles from here, I come to a field, that was also once a forest. Now, it is dead. What was once rich soil is now depleted and stale. Putrid liquefied factory farm animal waste is sprayed all over it. After the GMO corn is growing, the land will be sprayed with a biocide to kill everything except the corn itself. This is the stamp of our culture on the earth.
My goal is to find and articulate a vision of how humans can live sustainably, and the core value system that is necessary to live this vision.
"The Story of B" proposes that there are already many cultures that live sustainabily, but that their philosophy of life is very different from ours. They do not believe that the world was made for them. They do not believe that they were made to rule the world. Instead, they believe that they are part of the world, and part of the web of life. While we attempt to subdue and control everything, other cultures live without attempting to control.
The "Story of B" is essential reading for any that have already tackled "Ishmael", but "B" is not the end of the story. Quinn follows up with a final sequel titled "My Ishmael", which expands on the concepts introduced in both earlier works, addressing some of the counter arguments that critics have issued. All together, the trilogy provides a unique view of how our global culture is inherently unsustainable, and suggesting a bold new path to local culture and a sustainabile future for humanity.