I don’t do fiction, but this has run around in my head for a few days now so I had to write it down.
I woke up at 6AM; it seemed to be getting a little earlier everyday as the spring sunshine came through the widow, just another day.
My routine was still much the same, have a cup of tea, followed by another and another, greeting members of the family as they ventured downstairs.
Check emails, read blogs and the news, and most importantly the local web portal to see what was going on in our community.
The big news for the end of the quarter was that we had generated a good amount of electricity in recent months thanks to the good weather, and the community council was already considering increasing the number of PV panels that we have, there was also a suggestion that we should make the move to hydrogen production with the excess power that we generated and run our own fuel cell for the lean times. I added my thoughts to the monthly discussion document that was available to all within our mini society and moved onto more immediate things; after all it would be the end of the year before any big decision would be made.
There were no new supply opportunities, but then most of these were negotiated the year before, but there were two new applications for new business. Cheese making (another one!) and a cobbler. I whole heartedly supported the latter as it was still hard to get a decent pair of functional boots rather than some imported, stylised, flimsy junk that lasted a few months before they had to be broken down for recycling. Better to have something that could be repaired and someone who could repair them. I added my approval to the community loan that would be granted if the application was given the green light.
I wondered if my arteries could support another cheese maker.
The usual notices; births, deaths and marriages, and register of visitors. The latter, now somehow redundant, was one of the reminders of harder times when local borders were created to stop the mutating virus from spreading. Movement of people was tracked much like the movement of animals, which kind of made sense if you remember the foot and mouth crisis that hit the UK early on in the century.
I had laughed at the UK slogan “lockdown locally, live longer” I have no idea who came up with these slogans, but they were crap!
It was during these localised lockdowns that community devolution was created. Initially it was by town or city, and then expanded to rural communities, especially as there had been a mass migration back to the countryside as people fled to apparent safety. This turned out to be the turning point as the city folk spread the disease far and wide, and as the borders went up, although only virtual, you now had to register your movements. If they put you in a different location for more than a week (increased from a day), or if you planned to move somewhere on a permanent basis then you now had to seek permission from the community you wanted to live in. I think some people were quite happy with this as it meant that money was no longer a passport, although it had to be said it created a new set of problems, but then what system doesn’t?
I think we all expected the government to keep hold of some of the temporary powers that were granted during the pandemic, just so long as they had a soft approach to enforcement then only a minority seemed to care. We all seemed happy enough for Google, Apple and Facebook to track our movements so passing that power to the government wasn’t that much of s stretch, knowing that you could ditch your mobile if you wanted to appeased the naysayers and conspiracy junkies. We may well have taken a step closer to the Chinese model, but it seemed to be one that worked so why not?
Perhaps surprisingly this changed the demographics of the cities, towns and villages as the young migrated to the higher risk, higher paying, metropolises and the old(er) folks headed for the less populated areas. A sweeping generalisation of course, but it was certainly a trend.
With the demise of many of multinational service industries such as MacDonald’s, Costa and the like, small independent enterprise was rife and the only competition they faced was from their neighbour, which I have to admit seemed fair to me. The little guy was no longer forced out by the giant who could run at a loss to kill the completion. At least on the few occasions that I did travel to a city I was guaranteed a different experience in each of them, not the same photocopy high streets of old. A multitude of independent shops now crammed the huge vacant spaces that used to be Next or HMV. The big guys still existed of course, but many had shifted entirely online to cut costs when fearful customers changed their shopping habits, and only a few had gone back to the old model.
Maybe this played a part in the collapse of the financial system as investment groups (landlords) lost a big part of their income stream?
But I think it was introduction of a universal basic income was the real game changer. After the collapse of the financial system, which everybody feared as in meant that everyone’s pension was up the spout, something had to be done to stop a civil war similar to the one that had happened in the USA.
A revolt that was only quelled when the president of the time was killed by a stray golf ball, by all accounts struck by Chinese guest staying at the Mar a Lago estate.
The UBI was quite simple, or so they said, I never quite got my head around it, but it worked so happy days. It certainly changed peoples approach to work as they invariably followed their own path rather than having the system force a low paid, stimulus free, career upon them. Jobs began to mean something to people again and although you could probably survive off the handout, if you wanted to buy something beyond the basics then you had to find some way of generating money, so work still played a big part in everyone’s lives. More importantly it pretty much eradicated poverty and deprivation overnight, as well as making a big dent in the crime statistics.
I could go on of course, but goats don’t milk themselves, maybe I’ll dream more in the future.
You haven’t been around since May. I hope everything with you is okay.
Hi GP, all good thank you, busy with the farm 🙂 I hope all is well with you too?
So far. Hoping FL doesn’t get any worse!!
Stay safe, I have my fingers crossed for you all.
Thank you!
The numbers are not looking great in FL or CA if UK media reports are correct.
Stay safe.
They are now considering FL to be the epicenter of the virus.
That is crazy. I assume Miami will be pretty bad.
That area is really hit bad, but they just don’t follow the guidelines. What can they expect?
It will be interesting to see how prophetic you have been. Your dream may be closer to reality than you could ever imagine.
I would be happy enough if it headed in this direction 🙂
Eddy, it looks like paradise where you are!
One persons utopia is another’s dystopia, but I like it 🙂
🙂
Nice blog
Thanks for popping in 🙂
My pleasure, followed you 😇
You must have read the “world made by hand” by Kunstler 🙂
Not yet, but I will try and find a copy now 🙂
got any e-reader?
Yes indeed, and I use Calibre so I can convert any format if you happen to have a copy spare 🙂
Great blog. With so much time on many peoples’ hands? We are all ‘what is past’ considering/reflecting, ‘what is now’ dilemma/survival and ‘what is future’ hoping/planning. This could change many peoples’ choices of where to go from now. Or lack of choice to go back to what once was due to losing their lifestyle/profession/job. My job experiences? Certainly has changed my ‘will I continue as a Staff Nurse when this is over’ future role. Take a job you love and push it into situations you could never have imagined. It will provoke much thought in my mind. My colleagues speak similarly. Love your fictional thoughts. Small business and community values? Even in towns I should imagine there is an improved togetherness. Well. Alongside others’ inanity. I experience rural values already. And in many ways….it’s cohesive people caring dynamics have surprised me in a very positive way. Thank you. Again. Great read.
Thank you for popping by and commenting, I am certainly hoping for a better future, it may be our last chance and I think we can build on the community spirit that seems to be flourishing at the moment 🙂
“Cheese making (another one!) and a cobbler.” Before reading the next sentence, since you’d just mentioned cheese (a food), I thought “cobbler” referred to a kind of pie: apple cobbler, cherry cobbler, etc. It made sense, and so if the shoe fits…
Very good, you had me laughing at that one, but as you know I just cobbled this together like most of my posts 🙂
🙂
Of course the pandemic is a disaster for many but it has brought many advantages, some of which you mention. I for one would not be sorry to lose the Costas, the Starbucks, the Macdonalds, etc. I’d be happy to see the small entrepreneurs replace them. But I’ll be sorry to lose the noticeably cleaner air through our window and the uninterrupted dawn chorus in the morning. That is indeed an unlikely dream.
Sadly yes, but on listening to the news tonight, before Boris has his next moment, I can see another spiral appearing, who knows when it will end or where it will lead to?
What kind of cheese?
Seriously, not bad. Not sure that scenario would play out like that because prior movement out of the cities basically created miniature versions of the cities with the same problems (suburbia). There is no reason to think the same wouldn’t occur again.
But, one can dream . . .
keeps my mind active when I’m walking the dogs, milking the goats, weeding!
This could be a multi-part serial on a blog. Hang on, I’ve just had an idea… 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
I could have expanded each idea a page or two, most of it based on thoughts I read on other blogs and news I hear, but writing is best left to people who can write, like you 🙂
Cool dream Eddy, if only!
Problem is I cant stop imagining what the future might bring 🙂
Hard not to really I suppose.