[Jacob]

I agree that solar energy is the most abundant and easiest to capture.

While PV electric solar setups are great for electronics, I do think we tend to “over-electrify” our solutions.

I like to harvest it directly for:

* Lighting

* Heat (water and thermal mass)

* Growing Food

Do our roofs need to be so solid and opaque? We put solar panels on top to then turn on lights and heaters inside the house. How about a simpler greenhouse-like weather-shield that lets in more natural light and heat? Would you live inside a greenhouse?

[Jacob]

My “Domesteading” designs are heavily inspired by SolarPunk. I’m still working on getting all of the ideas out into the rendering, but here’s what I’ve got so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtVZHJzhbUY&list=PLqgvqcLBE0bSdLAAI38zJnpqEwM2mDa2S&index=2

[Jacob]

I love BioArchitecture! We should look to nature for many of our solutions, as it has already solved them so elegantly.

I hadn’t heard the word until recently, and had been using the phrase BioHarmonic Architecture, but I think they’re pretty much the same thing.

I have been taking some courses from https://www.bioveda.co/ — and I would also consider his work to fall into the BioArchitecture umbrella. Lots of great inspiration there for sustainable and affordable building.

bioveda.co

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[Jacob]

Sort of. What I dream of is even simpler than barter and IOUs. There is no record keeping in a “me today, you tomorrow” system. Possibly also called a Gift Economy? The community freely exchanges goods and services to make sure everyone in the community is cared for.

For example, say the chicken farmer hurts their arm while working on an improvement to the chicken coop. The massage therapist and herbalist work together to mend their arm because they care about not only the person in their community, but the eggs and chicken that freely flow into the community from the work they do.

But yes, as much as I wish it could be that simple, it starts to fall apart at scale. You get “free loaders” who don’t contribute their share, and luxury goods / higher order services can go unrecognized. And then there’s the fact that a single community in which that Gift Economy could be established will never truly be self-sufficient, so you’ll need some way to also exchange outside of that economy anyways.

Yeah… humans make it tricky. I suppose there’s a reason we developed currency. ????

[Jacob]

So many good options to explore. And I imagine many of them will be the right choice for different communities. I wish it were easier to move to a “me today, you tomorrow” economy built on trust and love. But getting buy-in on that model at scale is really difficult, as we’re all quite used to having money bridge the trust gap.