Professors of Economics

     When some professor of economics states that we can't lower our consumption of fossil fuels without lowering our standard of living, he is too young to remember what the standard of living was 65 years ago, because it has been in a steady decline.  There were still lots of fish in clean water. Lots of healthy Game Birds and Animals.  Lots of small farms, 80 acres, 160 acres, farmers owned their land, people owned their houses and places of Business.  Water was drinkable petty much everywhere, air was clean, and there was work for all that wanted to work.  The pay was low, but it was enough that most people actually owned their houses.  If work was short you helped someone else build a house, so when you were ready for your house, barn, store, help would show up.  Today most people do not even expect to do more than pay the rent, or payments, and still never own it.  That seems like a lower standard of living, especially when 40 hours of work outside the home took care of all the cash needs of a family.  Today 80 hours are needed, and a lot of that is paying interest on debt.  All the food was healthy, our bodies were not full of the 80,000 chemical compounds in use today.  Like the millions of tons of Round-up herbicide produced every year by Monsanto, to be dumped all over this one and only planet we live on.  People died from some illness that they would be cured for today, but there are a lot more sick people today.  Immune systems have been compromised in our present 'higher' standard of living that requires 80,000 chemical compounds.  Doors were seldom locked, but it wasn't perfect for certain.  The standard of living for Canadians was higher with far less,  than it is today with far more.  Less is the New Economy, maybe laughter and Community will come back as we advance to a future with possibilities. And remember April 21st, World Buy Nothing Day.  Plant a Garden, take the day on.