Let's jump right into it...
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1. EDIBLE TOWNS - I've seen thousands and thousands of fruit and nut trees and shrubs, vines and wild vegetables growing wild here. As you may have seen in these recent posts I was able to fill all my pockets, and even a few plastic bags with fruit (for example). I urge the interested reader to check out...
Groups of volunteers maintain edible gardens all over the town of Todmorden, in the UK. And, the idea is catching on all over the world.
My vision for a US project is more expansive. It would entail having every possible space (not just unused land) utilized for growing edible plants that are entirely free to the public.
Here in California, streets could be lined with fruit trees of every variety--apples, plums, cherries, pears, apricots, peaches, oranges, lemons, limes, pomegranates, figs, dates, strawberry trees, etc...
Hedge rows could be raspberries and blackberries, boysenberries, blueberries, and of course grapes, etc...
Fields of wheat grain, sunflowers and corn could be grown within the town.
There are already dozens of species of wild vegetables that grow prolifically, such as wild lettuce, chives, onions, carrots, beats, radishes, squash, even wild grape leaves are full of Vitamin C, etc...
Very many species of flowers are edible and nutritious. Every kind of rose is edible, and so are their ripened hips (apples are in the rose family, and rose hips can taste very much like apples). The pink Maine Sea Rose is especially sweet and fragrant.
One day when I was particularly broke in Livermore, I collected an enormous amount of wild food, including rose petals, wild grape leaves (look for red stemmed vines--the domesticated grape leaves are tougher and not as tasty), green sweet almonds, green onions, wild lettuce, lemons, dates (fallen from palms), plums, apricots, and wild sage. It filled me up and was extremely good for my digestive system. If I had been there later in the summer season the green almonds would have gained their protein value too. That represents, carbs, protein, healthy fat, fiber, sodium and all the vitamins needed to sustain life.
Now, I realize that there are problematic aspects to this. Pollution from automobiles is a major one. There are also certain kinds of bacteria spread by snails and slugs that can be very dangerous to humans. These things would have to be worked out. But, hell, if we can launch space shuttles, develop iPhones and build thermonuclear intercontinental missiles, we can figure out how to keep toxins out of the plants we grow in town squares.
As time moves forward, cars will become cleaner and more towns will have cleaner public transportation. If anyone has seen the movie Her - with Joaquin Phoenix, Directed by Spike Jonze; a film about a near future computer program that becomes sentient - you will see NO cars. The city is entirely based around public transportation. The development of these greener machines could feather into a vast growing project.
There is much more to explore with this idea. And, I will continue my own modest efforts to think outside of the box on it. Please leave a comment about your own concepts!
2. SOLAR POWERED PUBLIC AC POWER OUTLETS - This is something so elementary and obvious that I'm surprised that communities who compete with each other for visitors and tourist attention have not seriously explored it.
Existing light poles would be fitted with a single 200 watt photovoltaic panel (solar generator) which would charge a deep cycle marine-style battery pack. A simple box would invert the DC power to AC and an ample rack system of a dozen outlets would be installed anywhere (since once DC is inverted to AC it can be piped through relatively thin wires to any location).
Over and over again I have seen travelers and even citizens in a town clamor for the one available outlet. Small electronic devices would hardly even put a dent in the power of a (let's say) four battery electric bank. It would cost very little. Solar panels will last a minimum of 11 years, and the batteries would have to be changed about every 5 years. Total cost for one power kiosk (including all the equipment I just listed) would be something on the order of $1,000. Ten of these stations, scattered about a town or city, would only be $10,000, would be extremely low maintenance (perhaps costing another $1,000 in technical labor per YEAR). So, ten years of electric service (all equipment and labor) would be in the neighborhood of $11,000, per kiosk, or $110,000. But it would lighten the load on local businesses (many of whom provide public power straight off the fossil fuel grid). It would attract people to the centers of towns, increasing local revenue for local businesses and tax money for local districts. It would be green, clean and inexpensive. Municipalities already waste MILLIONS of dollars per year. This would be a way to save money and provide an unprecedented service to the public.
This has snags, like any other new concept. But, it also is just a matter of ironing out the wrinkles and DOING it.
3. FREE PUBLIC WI-FI - Of course, this idea has been batted around for years. But until the big communication companies get their heads out of their gold-lined asses, an intermediate solution could be for one central city signal to be broadcast in a 3 mile range, from the downtown area--maybe the city hall?
This is VERY cheap to do. You all know how easy it is to turn a cable or DSL line into a wireless property-wide field of Wi-Fi. You simply buy a wireless router for $35.00 and boom, you're in business. At the city level the broad signal would have to be powerful, but even 100 times more money (say, $3,500) to buy the broadcaster would be a drop in the city budget. There seems to be some paranoia about hacking, etc. But the probability of cyber crime becoming rampant is minuscule. Think about it... There are PLENTY of mechanisms already in place for cyber criminals to have their way.
Regarding FCC (and other) regulatory restrictions? Once again, it is a mater of WILL. The will of the people can change legislation. If they want it enough, it will change.
4. A VOLUNTEER EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM - Many homeless folks will work if they are motivated by hunger, thirst, addictions, or whatever. Most are not lazy. I see the same men and women work all day collecting cans to return. It is simple work, but it is still work.
Here in California it can be very lucrative. In Maine the most a person can earn is $0.06 per can, and the can must be uncrushed and able to stand on their own. That takes up a LOT of volume and is impractical to deal with on a large scale for one person. But here, you can crush cans down to the size of a large coin - in fact recycling stations prefer it, because there is less chance that foreign objects are adding weight that is not aluminum. Cans are not scanned, they are weighed. And, quantity raises value. If you return 6 cans you receive $0.05/can. If you return 600 cans, you can receive upwards of $0.08 per can (or 60% more)!
My point with the above example of returning cans is simply to show that if nickles and dimes (in the form of cans) are lying around waiting to be picked up by people who are desperate for money, they WILL be. And they are. THAT is why deposit/return laws have cleaned up a disgusting problem that America had. In the 1970's the roadsides were atrocious. When Maine implemented the law, there was an immediate change. I've walked through states with no such law and their roadsides should be embarrassing to them.
The idea then would be to exchange some sort of voluntary labor for a valuable thing. That thing could be a small private room for the night. Maybe it would be a full meal at participating restaurants or groceries. And it could be cash, if the labor was extraordinary. Anyone from kids on school vacation, to the homeless, to the average working Joe or Jane who wants a little extra something, and desires contributing to the community, could do this kind of work and everyone would benefit.
What would the labor be? Beautification and Civic Maintenance (for example): picking up trash, maintaining plants in parks, fixing infrastructural issues--you name it. Many folks have skills that they would be happy to use. Does it put other town workers out of business. No. Why? Because those workers could then be elevated to the position of supervisors over the impromptu work force. They would not earn more money, but they could earn the same amount and simply work less time, giving more time for leisure or second jobs.
This kind of arrangement would raise the living standards of the poorest people, give them the dignity of being employed (as independent contractors).
As with the other ideas above, much thought would have to be put into developing an effective plan. But we could do it.
5. ADDING SHOWERS TO PUBLIC BATHROOMS - I know, I know, this sound like a tea cup trying to float in a tempest, but...
Adults do not need to be infantalized. The majority of homeless - at least here in Northern California - use the trash cans, flush the toilets, wash their hands, etc. Given the opportunity, I truly believe they would be responsible with a public showering program. It may not work in other places (Los Angeles or Detroit come to mind, for example). Yet, once social systems such as the one I'm proposing are implemented and stick around for half a decade or so, nearly everyone gets used to using them responsibly.
If 6 shower stalls were added to the restroom I saw in Kennedy Park here in Napa yesterday, it would be a one time construction expense for the city. Maintenance would be much easier than cleaning toilet stalls. Solar heaters could provide warm - not hot - water. Done on an industrial scale, a very efficient system could be devised (even in cold places) for clean, warm showers.
Soap and shampoo would be provided just as it is in the sink area of restrooms. Stalls would be private and consist of the shower itself and a small changing area. This is not rocket or nuclear science. It is simple civil engineering. Again, we can do it. It is simply a matter of will.
The conventional "wisdom" is that every person should have a home in which to do these private things. But, it should be painfully obvious - and it IS very obvious to me, here at ground level - that not all people are able to have these things for themselves.
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Let's start with the above. I have other ideas about resting and sleeping places. They are crude and rudimentary, prototypical concepts. No one has ever introduced anything like them on a wide or national scale. I know without the shadow of a doubt that the first instinct of thinking people is to nay-say and look for holes in these hypotheses. I ask that you not immediately shoot them down, without trying first to see for yourself if you have ways of improving them so that they would actually function in a realistic way.
Take it from me, NO new idea passes public scrutiny without having to fight for its survival. It takes fortitude, dedication and tenaciously focused effort to accomplish things like the above. But it is VERY far from impossible.
Ultimately, SOMETHING has to be done to address the dirty, filthy, embarrassing and socially weakening effect of inequality. For me, personally, it is not a matter of direct wealth-redistribution. People need to care enough, be inspired enough to do REAL work. And by that, I mean the homeless need a damn good reason to make an effort.
A Post-20th Century, technologically advanced, world-wide civilization is developing. It will not continue to develop if the delayed mores, ignorant public opinion and too-easily accepted shortfalls are becoming institutionalized problems.
Each night 1/7th of the entire planetary population goes to bed without eating enough to survive. We have the means, the money and the knowledge to end this despicable travesty. What we lack ENTIRELY is the WILL. If we were to ACT as we believe, we could transform the world into a virtual material paradise over the next couple of centuries.
Helping the powerless to have their share of personal power is the beginning of the beginning. It is the Alpha of the future that will come after the Omega of the past.
In James Joyce's Ulysses, Stephen says...
"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken."
Whatever the meaning in the book, the meaning for our global society is crystal clear to me. And I think most of you - in the context of which I speak - can nod your head about that.
The lip service MUST end. And the Real service MUST begin. We have thought about it and talked about it, now it is time to bite the bullet, put our habitual pessimism and skepticism borne out of laziness and personal self-preservation aside and DO IT.
Thought, Word, Act... Truth, Beauty, Goodness.
To do so is Love in Action. To get over the hump of our collective procrastination will be the hardest part. It is why we still fail, when success could be ours for the taking. And the hump can only be surmounted by Thinking for Yourself. Drop the ideologies of other human beings. They are a poison to Cognitive Liberty. We are selling our children's future away... And THEY will hold us accountable someday if we don't get started now.
Thanks for reading, and may love direct our conversation.
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