MANIFESTO 1: WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN?

Just what in the heck makes a good ol’ Texas boy who works at an evil big box store think he can help save the world (also known as "Mama told me that tunafish had gone over, but I ate it anyway")?

This morning when I woke up and looked outside, I saw the yard full of glossy black grackles. It seemed like something... I dunno - an omen? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately on a certain glossy black substance, and now I’ve got these birds looking me in the eye, watching to see what I’d do next. They didn’t know which way I was going to jump - and honestly, neither do I. But I feel like I’ve got to do something, and soon.

You all know our story by now... airport snowstorm, mysterious stranger in what seemed like a tuckered-out and unguarded moment, dire-sounding prediction about an oil shock on April 30. I think some of the Eight took it more seriously than others. I know I scoffed at it, mostly. For all I knew it was some darned viral marketing thing like you read about in the papers. But there was that little spark deep down inside me that wondered if it could be true. In legalistic terms, I guess I could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the dude was hoaxing us. So the eight of us - eventually ten - decided that we would throw it to the wall of the internet and see if it would stick. The internet’s a real funny place; almost a scary place. Just about anyone can put in their two cents’ worth, and anyone else can read it. Immediate, widespread publicity, not filtered, just out there. And some really amazing things have come from that, haven’t they? Instant fame, instant notoriety, instant gratification. And in a lot of cases, there’s been an upswell of online activism that’s caused big changes in society. Just ask Dan Rather. What better place to start a conversation with the world about its future than on the ’net? Some of us were gung-ho. Some of us were nervous about retaliation. Some of us were ambiguous. But in the end, we decided that it’s better to be safe than sorry, and we let y’all know about our airport experience.

A couple of months ago I was pretty apathetic about the whole darned thing. We’ve gotten along just fine this far - what could possibly happen to make the world go to hockeysticks in a handbasket? But the more I read, and the more I lived in 2007, the more concerned I got. I’ve watched gasoline prices climb to $3/gallon. I’ve read reports that indicate that big oil countries just aren’t producing as much as they used to, even though demand and prices are on the rise. I’ve read blog posts by a woman who survived post-Katrina New Orleans and knows how rough we’re gonna have it if something happens to the oil. I’ve read about Warren v. District of Columbia, which states "a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen."

Do you hear that? Does it scare the pants off you? Because it petrifies me. Courts have ruled that Uncle Sam has no obligation to give you squat.

So here’s what we need to do, people. We’ve got to learn to work together. We’ve got to learn what we need to do to become self-sufficient. We’ve got to research how to live in the case of losing our oil. And we’ve got to get a game plan in place yesterday. What will you do when and if it all comes down?

It’s a tough question to answer. The scenario is almost unimaginable. I’ve done a lot of primitive camping, but I know that when I come home I can pop a TV dinner in the microwave and have a hot shower. I take that for granted. Don’t most people? But now I know that it’s up to me to do everything I can to make sure I keep those gifts, those luxuries, available to everyone. It’s up to me, and it’s up to you.

How will you save the world?

 

MANIFESTO 2: FOR THE PEOPLE WHO NEED OTHERS.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm here. I don't have a way with words, I barely finished school, and I got a big heaping plate of crap to take care of every day. I gotta make sure Uncle Frank takes his meds, I gotta get to work so I can pay the bills, I gotta make sure Grace is clean and fed and safe. Then it hits me. They are why I am here. It's people like Uncle Frank and Grace who will be hurt if someone isn't there to help them. It's all the people who need other people, all the kids and seniors and sick people that don't have the knowledge or the strength or the ability to figure this stuff out. As scared as I am, as overwhelmed as I am, it's gonna hurt them a whole lot more. If I can do this, anyone can.

 

MANIFESTO 3: We Can Do It!

We have depended on the men (yep, mostly men) wearing expensive suits underneath their lab coats to make our future secure. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s NOT WORKING. Can anyone here say “Hurricane Katrina”? Now, imagine a Katrina-scale problem that affects the whole country.

We’re not going to wait for the dithering, missteps, wastage, fingerpointing, and empty photo-ops of concern. We believe that when it comes time to gather information and make decisions, local people are light-years ahead of TPTB. Our manifesto is “We Can Do It!” with a healthy side plate of “Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way.” And the first step, people, is to tell your story.

 

MANIFESTO 4: What needs to be said.

Why am I here? I have a wife, three daughters and two granddaughters. I've worked hard (too hard my wife says) to make sure my family has everything they need. I don't have the most glamorous job, but it pays the bills. I've worked at the same place since I was 19 years old and I've always followed the rules. At times, I've gritted my teeth and done just what I was supposed to do--what I was told to do--even if it wasn't what I wanted to do.

Now, I'm a little over a year away from retirement. My daughters are well on their way to making good lives for themselves. The wife and I are planning to rent an RV and travel across the country. I want to see the Grand Canyon and Niagra Falls. I suppose it's a typical American dream - traveling across America, stopping at every roadside attraction, eating at every greasy spoon and talking to the locals. Maybe it won't be as romantic as I envision it, but it's something we've always wanted to do. Now, I'm worried we may never get there.

I don't know what is going to happen on April 30th. None of us know. I'm here because I want to do whatever I can for my family and all the other families out there. We all have dreams and we shouldn't have to give 'em up. I've seen what people can do when they get together and join forces. I've worked with the union and I've been the guy others have pushed to the front to say what needed to be said. Whether he meant to or not, Nico pushed me to the front again.

 

MANIFESTO 5: EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

Are you nervous about the oil shock? I’ll be honest. Part of me is downright terrified. But I’m also optimistic. Excited, even.

Shock is good. That’s right, good. It wakes us up. It helps us change — big change and little change, crazy change, creative change. It motivates us to take risks, for the better.

This is what I believe: Shock helps solve problems we would otherwise ignore. Shock turns us into innovators. And that’s what I’m exited about.

It won’t be pretty, not at first. In my heart, I know that. In the pit of my stomach, I feel that. Some of us are going to find ourselves living very different lives, very soon — and we won’t like it. We’ll desperately wish everything could just go back to normal. But normal just won’t work anymore. That’s where this website and 8TSOC come in.

When things get hard, when normal stops working, we will innovate. We will re-design our everyday lives. We will hack the way our neighborhoods work. We will re-engineer society.

And when I say “we”, that means you, too. You’re reading this. You’re officially involved now. Maybe this site was started by 8TSOC, but it’s not just eight to save our country any more. It’s as many of us as possible. Every extra brain we put on this problem makes a difference. And we need your brain to help us come up with completely original, maybe slightly crazy, ideas for banding together and living without as much oil as we’re used to.

We’re probably not just saving the country. We’re probably saving the world. Because no one on this planet is going to escape the oil problem until we start living differently. And if saving the world isn’t enough to get you involved, dreaming big, thinking crazy, and living different, then I don’t know what is.

Yes, it’s ambitious. But that’s what crisis does – it makes you think big. So that’s exactly what all of us have to do together. Hundreds of thousands of strangers on the Internet (yes, I expect there to be a LOT of us) can take this oil shock in our own hands. We can change our own lives, alter our own realities, to show everyone else the way. So here’s what I propose:

Every single one of us needs to come up with at least ONE creative idea for a life with less oil. And we have to be willing to test each other’s ideas, to see if they work. Run little experiments. Report back to each other with blog posts, podcasts, video documentation, audio analysis.

What do I mean by creative ideas? Well, I’m personally looking to science and science fiction for my inspiration. You’ve heard of swarm computing — what about swarm commuting? I want to try to figure out what that might look like, and how it might work. Or take natural capitalism — maybe we could figure out ways for our neighborhood merchants start to practicing it right now. Here’s another strange thought: What would a mash-up of bioregionalism and flash mobs do to help regions deal with the shock? I’m just spitting out ideas here.

Let’s all brainstorm like crazy. No idea is too weird to test. So don’t be shy. What’s YOUR idea? Let’s set up some social experiments, share hypotheses about what might help. And most importantly, let’s ALL of us try to live just a few minutes of our days differently to get some real results.

It may be weird – but it just might work. To recap:

1. Crisis can be good.
2. We are going to become citizen innovators.
3. We need your crazy ideas.

Together, we’ll see if it works, see if it helps, see if it saves the world. Sound good?

 

MANIFESTO 6: WILL IT COME TO THIS

 

MANIFESTO 7: MY PRINCIPLES AND INTENTIONS

Wikipedia defines "manifesto" as "a statement of principles and intentions." My principles are like anyone's I guess. I want to be happy. I don't want other people to be unhappy. I want there to be justice, and fresh air. I am not very patient about it I guess. These principles seems to be pretty simple. I have never heard anyone who started out "It's not so simple..." ever come up with a really good reason why it's not so simple, except once when the answer had to use calculus. Usually "it's not so simple" just talks around in a big circle.

My intentions are to stick to my principles. I don't see why less oil means less happiness. "Riches do not delight us so much with their possession, as torment us with their loss." And I hope that less oil doesn't mean less justice or less fresh air.

When I talk with adults, they say that I don't understand who the world works. But then neither do they. Sometimes I point that out, like, 'nice job on that climate change thing.' They don't like that.

I think young people can see the world the way it really is. That gives us something very important to say. “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." My intention is to be part of the next level of thinking.

 

MANIFESTO 8: Rely on each other, not on oil

I’ve always thought of myself as a simple, self-reliant type. It’s pretty much up to us to get stuff done in our communities. Cant rely on government, bloated python that it is. You saw what happened to those unlucky folk during the hurricane. Nature will always have it’s way with us and we’re more the fool if we think Uncle Sam will help us.

That’s why I’m darn worried about our reliance on oil, and it’s just gettin worse. Our fine soldiers are getting maimed and killed and for what -- to protect our energy interests? We were all stuck in that darn airport waiting on Mother Nature to let us go home. And we all realized this problem affects us ALL – no matter what job we have or where we live. I’m sure seeing it more and more in my business – the cost of fuel for my truck, my generator, my crew complaining about how everything is getting more expensive for them. My clients are squeezing me on my costs down and yet I feel I need to start raising my bids to help me and my crew pay the bills and make sure my daughter has a good future as my parents did for me.

I know we’ll weather the storm as we’re resourceful. We’ve got a great community that helps one another as needed, bringing food to neighbors like Mary Kate when they’re on the mend or helping with Scouting for Food, raising money via SOAR, leading camping trips for kids in the Sisters, building or fixing homes for needier folk,, etc. We always help each other. But dealing with this potential oil mess over time will require sacrifice and people working together. And that’s what really worries me. Most Americans, and I generally mean city folk, seem to me to have gotten soft. I don’t spend lots of time in cities so my daughter would say I’m clueless”, but it just seems that people who live in cities don’t know how to be self-reliant anymore – build things, grow things, etc. – because they never need to. But if this oil thing gets bad, people will need to and that’s where the trouble will start.

I’ve been watching this problem get worse – the price of gas, then food, then construction material, etc. -- so it was like a wake-up call when eight of us from all walks of life had similar concerns. But I was also encouraged that we were all thinking up and sharing some good ways to cope. But if we’re worried and trying to cope, then others must be too. Then one of us, I can’t remember if it was Pachinko or mpathytest, had the great idea to use the Internet to get the word out to more people. While I’m a Web luddite compared to most (many thanks toAlexa for harassing me all these years to write her at school), I got it. And I hope everyone else out there gets it too as everyone’s gotta chip in if we want to help determine our future.

 

MANIFESTO 9: action is the antidote

 

Manifesto 10: Think bigger

I live in Silicon Valley. There are lots of very smart people here, people who like a challenge, who like a new exciting idea. They innovate, they tell us, and they will change the way we will live in the future, they tell us that too. And most days, I see thousands of them sitting in gridlock with their motors running.

What's wrong with this picture? Sure, I know a lot of people are just trying to pay the rent, and maybe they, you know, deserve a 400 horsepower Lexus, they work hard. They will play the grindstone game, or the get a better salary with stock options game. I know that game. You're told it's the only game in town. It'll keep you occupied, no doubt about it. But that Lexus will look pretty silly going 3 MPH in a gas line 4 blocks long, even if you can afford it.

There's better game. In fact there's a whole bunch of them. Children. Their friends. Your friends. People you've never met, in countries you've never been to. People you would probably like. People are a better game.

Think bigger. Shout out your thoughts. Mr. Wizard isn't going to fix it this time, people will have to.