Given recent events, I thought a revisit of "Tragedy of the Commons Restated" written by Jay Hanson 12 years ago, might an appropriate Campfire topic.

A "commons" is any resource used as though it belongs to all. In other words, when anyone can use a shared resource simply because one wants or needs to use it, then one is using a commons. For example, all land is part of our commons because it is a component of our life support and social systems.

A commons is destroyed by uncontrolled use—neither intent of the user, nor ownership are important. An example of uncontrolled use is when one can use land (part of our commons) any way one wants.

(*Note: This posting was delayed due to the discovery that the mushrooms in the woods adjoining my parents cottage were black trumpets. 4 hours, 5 lbs of mushrooms, and some soaking wet clothes later, here, on my 4 year anniversary of being a member of this website, is tonight's Campfire...;-)

A common theme in conversations of the peak oil/limits to growth aware is 'What do I do'? Just slightly less common is 'What do I do with my money?' The biggest difficulty in contemplating/deciding/acting towards a new paradigm is one does this while the old paradigm is still going strong, if only on the surface and the media. In a temporary departure from usual Campfire topics, tonight's discussion will revolve around the concept of investments, and the coming transition from the old finance based rules into new undefined territory.

The Four (non-financial) Capitals -Natural, Social, Human, and Built - (description)

This is a guest posting by Altaira, who has a Masters Degree in Agricultural Science. She is employed at an NGO working on issues related to sustainable development.

What kinds of jobs / careers should we be preparing for in the future?

I am sure the answer to this question depends on how quickly you think things will change, and what that change will be.

Over the very long term, it seems to me that businesses will be much smaller and more local and there will be a great deal more manual labor. There were be differences of opinion on what the world may look like, and what time frames will be. Possible outcomes:

--Electricity / no electricity
--Water / no running water
--Electric cars / solar cars / trains / walking
--Current countries / new country boundaries
--Tractors / Draft animals

Should we be preparing for this change now? What career choices do you see as reasonable ones? What educational choices should people be making now?