Future Proof = Freedom
Our goal is to help you live in a more sustainable way while freeing yourself from the systems that you are dependent on.
Keep reading to understand how.
What are we doing? What is the point of all of this?
This world is wonderful, but it could be much better. Ask yourself the simple question, “What is the point of all of this?”
Take this a few steps further:
Is this the type of world that I want to live in? Can I help make it better?
What makes me feel good about myself?
What makes me excited to wake up in the morning? Is it to go to work? Am I excited to wake up?
Do I love what I do? Am I contributing? What could I do to contribute more?
How am I impacting others both now and into the future?
Am I living the way I’d like to, or am I being told what’s best for me?
Is all of this necessary or can we live in better harmony with ourselves and with nature?
Pretty tough questions aren’t they?
Many people are cruising through life on autopilot with little knowledge that they are tied into a system of dependence that is unnecessary. We want to help you reduce this dependence and free yourself.
What do I mean by this? Well as human beings, we have a short list of definite needs.
1) Food
2) Water
3) Shelter
4) Love…though some people would argue this
The remarkable thing is that as a society, we have created systems of dependence which in many cases are either harming us or our planet. We’ve done this to satisfy our needs and multiple programmed wants.
Give me some shelter
For the most part, our homes and buildings are built in a way that conflicts with nature and with us. This is unnecessary as we can build our homes and communities in a way that they provide for our needs in a sustainable way. But what is stopping us from doing this?
First let’s recognize the Problems that we have created
Human beings are the only creatures on the planet that have to pay to live, but is this necessary? We battle over money, a resource created for the good of the world so that people may exchange value with each other. While money is an incredibly useful tool, sadly there are many people who use it for control or as an excuse to cut corners and pass the buck onto others or the environment. In many ways money has become a mechanism for dependence and compliance. The good news is that how you spend your money is the only vote that you truly have. In other words, corporations will only do what people pay for!!!
How these SYSTEMS are affecting our NEEDS
Our food is often grown or processed in factories, covered with chemicals, is genetically modified or has been tampered with in some way in order to maximize profits. Believe it or not this affects us deeply. Health problems in our society are a reflection of this.
Our water is being poisoned and often squandered to satisfy the interests of corporations. We put unnecessary chemicals such as fluoride into our drinking water and allow the land to be exploited in a way that facilitates the damaging of water. We have even been convinced by marketing that we should drink bottled water because everything else isn’t safe.
Our shelter, or rather our buildings are energy and resource-hungry drains on the natural world that keep us tied into unsustainable systems. To satisfy our energy needs we frack the ground and poison the air burning fuels that should stay underground as they are changing our climate and negatively affecting our health.
And love, well…. do we really feel connected to each other and to our one and only home? Are we really meant to live in this way? I don’t believe so.
If we set LOVE as the goal of our society, we would naturally work towards a sustainable world where health, true freedom and abundance flourish. In the process we would remove or greatly reduce our dependence on the systems that are harming us.
We can accomplish this goal if we work on ourselves and use our buildings as a way to get there.
A Love Based Economy – Our Future Proof Manifesto
A healthy home or building can be a place that uses little energy (or produces its own), produces healthy food and even treats water. The place you live doesn’t have to negatively impact the environment.
This is possible. You can take action in your own life/home to improve what you have. We want to help you understand how to do so in a cost-effective manner.
Guidelines we need to get there:
A love based economy can be profitable while meeting the needs of people and protecting the environment. Here are a few ideas of how to get there. These are big ideas. They are the only kind that really change things.
People and Environment come before Money – Let’s build a society where people and the environment come first. Banks can always make more money, we shouldn’t be screwing each other over for it. Let’s use it to make things better rather than to have control over people. As I noted earlier, vote with it. Let’s use money and our efforts to vote for the world we want to live in.
Think Long Term – “Cost”, “Me” and “Now” are important, but we must act in the interest of the long term. Putting health, freedom and prosperity above money will improve our lives in ways most people would never consider. BTW, if your home isn’t dependent on the system, you will be automatically safer while saving money.
Radical transparency – Let’s wake up and tell the truth. Lies are draining and are the cause of most suffering. In certain situations truth is a matter of perspective, and hence there are pros and cons of all decisions. But with enough information, you can decide the truth that works for you rather than depending on marketing for your opinion.
Accountability – Let’s do things for the long term and verify that things work properly for the long term. People are only human and make mistakes, especially if they are working under time or financial constraints. If the incentive is strictly to make money, then you can be sure that corners are cut. Having a third party verify work provides a higher level of accountability and shouldn’t be an option.
Durability – Let’s use resources efficiently and build things to last for the long term. Waste costs money and harm, even when it is small scale. Every drop in the bucket counts. Where there is waste, lets find ways to capture and utilize that waste. It is a source of opportunity. Our society has forgotten these concepts in favor of profits. Let’s change that.
Conservation – Not only does it make sense ethically, but also financially. For instance a Net Zero building produces as much energy as it uses over a year. It pays the owner rather than a utility company. You may consider this the equivalent of freedom. Water and materials can also be thought of this way. Future Proofing our society requires conservation. Let’s reduce our waste. There is a definite payback to doing so even if it isn’t measured in monetary terms.
True Costs – The economy is man made and therefore flawed. It doesn’t take the externalities of doing business into account. If a practice is damaging to the environment, that has a cost. If it is harming human health, that has a cost. Should a business cut corners to pass the costs onto consumers? That has a cost and it happens with virtually all businesses. Let’s utilize and engage with businesses that have the best interests of everyone in mind.
Efficiency – Let’s use what we have efficiently. Waste is bad and often unnecessary with proper planning. The things that we consume on a regular basis should not have to go around the world – sometimes several times through their production cycle – to reach their end user. If the true cost of the end products was actually paid by consumers, this would greatly shift the way we look at what we consume. We can do better and it is better for us.
Health – Why would you want to poison yourself? The things that we surround ourselves with should not poison us. This applies to the things we put in our houses, into our bodies, into the environment and even the people and attitudes that our society celebrates. Let’s be more conscious of this and support companies that place people’s health above profits.
Local – Transporting materials has a cost that is often overlooked. For instance food can be grown locally and even organically if resources are planned well. Not all food should have to be flown thousands of kilometers to reach a dinner plate. We can plan and build infrastructure that would accomplish this, creating a much higher level of food security and health within our local communities. Permaculture and vertical gardening are growing in popularity to support this notion. 3D printing will do the same thing for many of the consumables we need. Let’s engage with our local businesses to ensure and secure the health of our communities.
Independence – Yes we will always need each other, but we shouldn’t build dependence into our lives to satisfy the economy. For instance, in North America we have become dependent on the automobile because we have designed our cities for automobiles rather than for people.We are also dependent on the energy it takes to power our homes and automobiles. Being less dependent is a good thing. Let’s build cities and systems that ensure prosperity in good times and bad.
Sustainability – Like I said at the beginning of this post, what is the point of all of this if it comes crashing down on us? Let’s Future Proof our world.
There are many more facets to building a better world. Have I missed any? Could these ideas help build a better world and transition our economic system to one that is more sustainable?
If you have suggestions or comments, please leave them below.
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