Sufficiency

I've begun reading a book called 'The logic of sufficiency' by Thomas Princen and its stimulating - dealing as it does with the central problem that we have with the dominant idea of 'efficiency' . He points out that the concept of sufficient is so lost to us as a society, that we find it almost backward. I have considered that one of the reasons that I’m not 'successful' relative to the social blueprint, is that I’m not DRIVEN. This is something that is an inherent problem for me in the pursuit of my ideal as a millionaire. Yet there’s nothing that I seem to be able to do about it. When the chips are down, and the bills are all overdue, I’m focused on making some money and keeping the wolf from the door. When there’s money in the bank, I’m content. Not much money, you understand, just enough to be reasonably OK this month. To have a buffer that would last a couple of months is unheard of…I’d be tempted to spend that sort of money before it ever got so much.

So the idea of ‘sufficiency’ is a welcome one to me. It seems to be saying that its OK to stop when you’re full, rest when you’re tired.

I’ve also been reading a fair bit about the coming fuel crisis that will reform our working model for society. When we begin to feel the pressure of an oil shortage, there will need to be some profound and deep re-evaluation of our world models. Things that we are currently taking for granted, as if they are a basic right, like the right to affordable personal transport, the right to clean water, the right to education, the right to heating and a ‘life’.

Sound apocalyptic? Think about the way our society is constructed on oil. Nearly everything that we use has been touched by it in some form or another, from the food on our table to the water in the tap. Farm equipment, oil based fertiliser, processing machinery, transportation and the network of distribution nationally and globally, the cookers we cook on, (OK some are gas…but guess what…that’s running out too!)…filters for the sanitation facilities, waste disposal, and of course the fuel in your car. You will of course be thinking of the millions of other uses that we take for granted.

….because we don’t know what sufficient is.