Generational theory, international history and current events
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by Higgenbotham » Mon Jan 12, 2026 12:33 pm
FullMoon wrote: Mon Jan 12, 2026 11:24 am I don't grow tomatoes anymore because they became a fun project that didn't yield their efforts' worth.
In the summer of 2009 I was laid off from a really good job, leaving us debt-free but no savings to start with. So we had to start with zero, but we were rich with vision and determination for our family to make a go of farming, allowing us to get a sense of what could grow in our punishing humid summers and it also gave us time to figure out where our markets would be. We were farming insane hours, rarely it seemed was I around for meals or bedtimes for our children. At this time we were farming with a tractor on 2 acres (terribly!), got into chickens, laying hens, pigs, and even a few cows. All in trying to practically find a way to make a living here in our area which was proving to be very difficult! Regulations for raising and selling livestock here caused us numerous hardships, and without consistent clients to buy our meat, it became more of a struggle to maintain a family of 6, keep track of our animals, and keep the Tennessee weed bank under control, which did not even come close to happening! To top it all, early in the spring of 2015 right at transplant season, our 6-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a very aggressive life-threatening stage 4 cancer. Life was in chaos. And we needed a change. How We Got Through It By this time in 2015, we had already established some really good methods for growing lettuce, especially in the summer. And after a radical diet and lifestyle change that followed our daughter's health crisis, we started to consume large amounts of vegetables, a lot less meat, and in the fall of 2015 we made a leap of faith to sell our meat business, stop using a tractor, and farm using only one acre. Our farming friends thought we were insane, but we were pretty certain that focusing on just produce would allow us to master the lettuce crop in 2016. We had lettuce for sale every week that season! We were so thrilled to discover that we tripled our income on half the amount of land that year! Excited and inspired, we knew we were heading in the right direction. By focusing on creating better-growing systems in our produce operation, changing our farm practices, we now have year-round production, a near weed-free farm (which makes me thrilled nearly every day), and being really aggressive and creative about our sales outlets for our area, we have been able to live a sustainable and enjoyable life, rarely working in the fields more than 8 hours, which was one of our top goals!
by FullMoon » Mon Jan 12, 2026 11:24 am
by Higgenbotham » Mon Jan 12, 2026 12:48 am
Higgenbotham wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 3:10 pm At this point, we are close enough to collapse that preparing for collapse seems more important than trying to figure out the when and how.
by Higgenbotham » Sun Jan 11, 2026 4:19 pm
Higgenbotham wrote: Sun Jan 11, 2026 3:18 pm One time, he commented that his friend Buffet would not have done well during prehistoric times by shouting at a predator, "I allocate capital well."
Warren’s success: - “I was born wired to allocate capital well.” If I was born in Bangladesh and I walked down the street explaining that “I allocate capital well”, the townspeople would say “get a job”. - Bill Gates says that if I was born 1000 years ago, I wouldn’t survive because I am not fast or strong. I would find myself running from a lion screaming “I allocate capital well!!”
by Higgenbotham » Sun Jan 11, 2026 3:18 pm
“My answer is this: I am still an optimist because I see what innovation accelerated by artificial intelligence will bring.”
Higgenbotham wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:40 pm Bill Gates and others say this is not like Roman times because of all the great technology we have. To that point, let's talk about some of this great technology and how it relates to the drawdown of the resource. I only see technology that works to draw the resource out faster; for example, irrigation in the Midwest that draws down the aquifers, or fracking that draws down the oil resource. Both of these then allow the renewable resource excess extraction rate to be maintained at a higher level than would otherwise be possible. There does not exist any great technology which is putting water back into aquifers or increasing stores of liquid fuels (unless it depletes the other resources - ethanol for example). Most of the enhancement of soil is done with fossil fuel derived products.
by FullMoon » Sun Jan 11, 2026 1:05 pm
by FullMoon » Sun Jan 11, 2026 12:56 pm
If the above is predictive in any way, though, it will be true that we have a good 10 years to run before food prices and food shortages become a really major issue. Silver and real estate in that town bumped along at pretty low prices for a decade before finally making their major move. This year I grew about 3% of our family's food and my goal for next year is 8%. It may be 10 or 20 more years before many people say that good home grown food is wealth in a way, as in an investment in their family's health and future well being.
by tim » Sat Jan 10, 2026 12:29 pm
SHOCKING: Canada Euthanizes a Young & Healthy 26-Year-Old for 'Depression' After one physician refused to administer the lethal injection saying he was “too young and healthy” to die, the state ultimately approved his euthanasia anyway.
Canada’s assisted-death regime has crossed another disturbing line. According to his mother, a 26-year-old man previously rejected for euthanasia by a doctor who deemed him “young and healthy” was later killed through the government’s MAiD program for depression despite family pleas, prior safeguards, and an official ban on euthanasia for mental illness. Her account raises urgent questions about medical ethics, legal loopholes, and whether vulnerability in modern Canada is now met with care, or with death.
by Higgenbotham » Fri Jan 09, 2026 3:10 pm
by Higgenbotham » Fri Jan 09, 2026 2:51 pm
Theoretical Physicists Say 90% Chance of Societal Collapse Within Several Decades By Nafeez Ahmed July 28, 2020
Two theoretical physicists specializing in complex systems conclude that global deforestation due to human activities is on track to trigger the “irreversible collapse” of human civilization within the next two to four decades.
The paper is written by Dr Gerardo Aquino, a research associate at the Alan Turing Institute in London currently working on political, economic and cultural complex system modelling to predict conflicts; along with Professor Mauro Bologna of the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Tarapacá in Chile. Both scientists are career physicists. Aquino has previously conducted research at the Biological Physics Groups at Imperial College, the Max Planck Institute of Complex Systems and the Mathematical Biology group at the University of Surrey.
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