This writing under construction
The Primer has a very middle class bias. It is written primarily for people who can afford to downsize. That's people with homes,, people who pay off their credit cards, people who can travel if only modestly. The Primer is also written for the well off with sizable eco footprints such as the proverbial upper 1%.
From the Primer's perspective, the greater the eco footprint, the greater the reason to downsize.
But what about the working poor who are the proverbial, one pay check away from severe consequences? They might say the guy writing the primer has no idea what its like to live with the uncertainty of minimum wage jobs, choosing to repair the car or having enough for groceries or shelter?
This guy who writes the Primer has no experience with what many millions of people experience everyday just trying to stay above water. The only homelessness the Primer's writer has known was low budget back pack travel in Europe and Africa. I always had money for back up if needed.
A recent article in the New York Times describes the current, early November 2025, now longest government shutdown. While some people have had their flights cancelled, many others have had their access to food cancelled. According to the article, one in nine Americans depend on SNAP assistance. That is a shocking statistic. The need for help with food means there is probably need for help with other necessities. Millions of people are downsized but not by choice.
What does the Primer have to say about those millions of people?
The Primer would say everyone deserves to have comfortable and secure shelter, healthy food and enough of it and a mode of life that provides opportunity to contribute to the well being of society.
So we need to read the fine print.
Who or what defines what is comfortable and secure shelter, healthy and enough food and what is this opportunity? Which lifestyle or culture script is the person in need of help guided by? The seduction of the consumer culture or the vision of paradigm shift. The actions to take to achieve a preferred lifestyle condition will not be the same for the consumer culture and paradigm shift because the desired outcomes are very different.
Of course, the New York Times article did not explain a distinction between the consumer culture and paradigm shift. The Mainstream media is not so acquainted with the ideas of paradigm shift. That said, many articles and opinions in the Mainstream media can certainly be openings that can lead towards paradigm shift.
This may sound like mainstream conservative but the route to sustainability contains elements that sound conservative but the paradigm shift choices are for a very different outcome than the conservative.
Let's pretend by magic, as of January 1, paradigm shift, as described in the Primer, was adopted as public policy for the entire country. What would the initial Primer transformation plan look like?
weave together - make a graphic
faith groups, youth groups
earth corps/youth corps
n'hood associations
community colleges - teach new courses specific to paradigm shift
extension office, master gardeners
healthy SNAP
scouts
senor villages like vancouver, wash
community centers
eugene volunteer program, kelsey
school garden project
kepw, community radio
permaculture
hub at our lutheran
can be city/local, state, national
master of sustainability admistration
The Primer has a very middle class bias. It is written primarily for people who can afford to downsize. That's people with homes,, people who pay off their credit cards, people who can travel if only modestly. The Primer is also written for the well off with sizable eco footprints such as the proverbial upper 1%.
From the Primer's perspective, the greater the eco footprint, the greater the reason to downsize.
But what about the working poor who are the proverbial, one pay check away from severe consequences? They might say the guy writing the primer has no idea what its like to live with the uncertainty of minimum wage jobs, choosing to repair the car or having enough for groceries or shelter?
This guy who writes the Primer has no experience with what many millions of people experience everyday just trying to stay above water. The only homelessness the Primer's writer has known was low budget back pack travel in Europe and Africa. I always had money for back up if needed.
A recent article in the New York Times describes the current, early November 2025, now longest government shutdown. While some people have had their flights cancelled, many others have had their access to food cancelled. According to the article, one in nine Americans depend on SNAP assistance. That is a shocking statistic. The need for help with food means there is probably need for help with other necessities. Millions of people are downsized but not by choice.
What does the Primer have to say about those millions of people?
The Primer would say everyone deserves to have comfortable and secure shelter, healthy food and enough of it and a mode of life that provides opportunity to contribute to the well being of society.
So we need to read the fine print.
Who or what defines what is comfortable and secure shelter, healthy and enough food and what is this opportunity? Which lifestyle or culture script is the person in need of help guided by? The seduction of the consumer culture or the vision of paradigm shift. The actions to take to achieve a preferred lifestyle condition will not be the same for the consumer culture and paradigm shift because the desired outcomes are very different.
Of course, the New York Times article did not explain a distinction between the consumer culture and paradigm shift. The Mainstream media is not so acquainted with the ideas of paradigm shift. That said, many articles and opinions in the Mainstream media can certainly be openings that can lead towards paradigm shift.
This may sound like mainstream conservative but the route to sustainability contains elements that sound conservative but the paradigm shift choices are for a very different outcome than the conservative.
Let's pretend by magic, as of January 1, paradigm shift, as described in the Primer, was adopted as public policy for the entire country. What would the initial Primer transformation plan look like?
weave together - make a graphic
faith groups, youth groups
earth corps/youth corps
n'hood associations
community colleges - teach new courses specific to paradigm shift
extension office, master gardeners
healthy SNAP
scouts
senor villages like vancouver, wash
community centers
eugene volunteer program, kelsey
school garden project
kepw, community radio
permaculture
hub at our lutheran
can be city/local, state, national
master of sustainability admistration