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thecurioustale · 1 year

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My 6-Week Tumblr Return Trial Period Is Up

Happy Autumn! Today is the Autumnal Equinox. (That is, if you're in the Pacific Daylight Time zone or earlier; it's actually tomorrow, the 23rd. The moment of equinox is 11:49 pm PDT this year.)

I came back to Tumblr six weeks ago (actually a little shy of seven weeks but six is the highest whole number) and said that I was going to give it consistent effort till the Equinox to see how I felt about it. Well, that day is today!

I've decided to significantly reduce my Tumblr presence, but not go back to zero like before. I still plan to post at least once or twice a week, and more whenever the fancy catches me. I don't want to slow-roll you, so there's the bottom line.

For those interested, I thought I would talk about my experience since returning.

Why I Came Back

A few years ago on my birthday I set myself a challenge of posting in my journal every day for a year—which I more or less did, and then promptly stopped because it had been a laborious thing for me with limited rewards.

This year on my birthday I decided to try that challenge again, except this time "soft": no formal public announcement, and no penalty if I missed a day. Good thing, too, because I missed a day right away! 😅 But I definitely was doing more and better writing on my journal than I had been, and I liked that. Maybe there was a sweet spot between the strict artifice of one journal entry every day and the sad default of no entries for weeks.

Then, a few days into the challenge, I got the idea of diverting this energy away from my journal and into social media, to try and begin the long process of building an audience for my creative works. I recognize with some dread that when I eventually do finish my next novel, no one is going to read it—because no one is going to know it exists. But that's not set in stone; this is something platforms can help with! And you can't just build a platform overnight. You have to start well in advance. In this post-mainstream-publishing era where independent artists' only hope is to create their own following, I knew that I would have to at least try, if I wanted people to actually read my work.

Building a platform is something I had done years ago, around the time the Prelude to After The Hero was coming out, and I was hugely successful at that time in creating lots of content and lots of channels—i.e. the platform part. But I didn't actually get anywhere in building an audience. Then my life fell apart from multiple catastrophes in a short period, and for many years I had no ability to pursue "platform growth" at all.

But I have that ability again, at least temporarily, and maybe this time I could do better.

Marketing and being social are very hard for me. They don't come naturally to me and I am not good at them. But what I can do is write about my creative work, my life, my take on the world, and anything else that comes to mind. With any luck, that would attract some eyeballs. It's the same thing I was doing eight years ago in my platform-building work, but I could be smarter about it this time, and learn from my past mistakes, which involved a lot of wasted effort that no one ever saw. This time I could try going specifically where the people are: social media! Social media was a part of my original platform-building push eight years ago, but only on the periphery. This time I could put all my platform-building into it, and not all the different channels at once, but just in one single place. Concentrate all my effort on a single point!

So I chose Tumblr: the only social media platform that still seems to reward long-form, thoughtful content. (Not counting YouTube video content.) Facebook is definitely on the way out as a relevant social media network, Twitter was unusually toxic even before the idiot took over, and TikTok to put it politely is not my jam. But Tumblr...I still use Tumblr! I still read several people's pages, and have done so for many years.

I was never actually active on Tumblr as a creator myself. As far as posting my own content goes, my social media home has always been on Facebook (and, for a while, Google+). My "return" to Tumblr this summer wasn't really anything of the sort. Even though my account is many years old, this summer was my first time making a big effort here.

And here's what I learned.

What Worked and What Didn't

I went in with very low expectations. In other words, I didn't actually expect anyone to see my work. I expected to put in my six weeks, toil away in obscurity the whole time, and leave.

But a couple people did notice my return, and reblogged my early posts, and between them they had enough followers that their reblogs got me a small influx of followers. (Hi!) So there were eyeballs, at least. I wasn't talking to the wall. It was a good bet that anything I wrote would at least have a chance of being seen by multiple other people.

A good start!

I set about trying to learn about the Tumblr algorithm and people's usage patterns. I learned that there is a very strong signal to set apart the content that people enjoy seeing and the content they don't. On the scale of Zero to Fire, a lot of what I wrote was either hard Zero or pretty decently Fire.

In the Zero category: My short-form humor was dead on arrival. So was my Tolkienian vocabulary series. My fat liberation essay—by far the biggest effortpost I made during my six weeks here—attracted a single troll and no legitimate engagement whatsoever. At 7700 words I doubt many people even read it. Cool art reblogs were also pretty much a Zero. The people in my tiny audience don't want to see any of this stuff, at least not from me.

In the Fire category: People liked my hot takes on copyright law, left-handedness, rationalist-adjacent topics and framings, some personal anecdotes (but not others), and—most promisingly—some of my discussion about the mechanics of authoring and writing, including topics such as redemption arcs, body diversity representation, losing interest in one's own stories, and long sentences. To the extent I am going to attempt to build a larger Tumblr following over time, this "mechanics of authoring" area is probably where I will focus my primary aim.

Not everything was Zero or Fire. There were also some posts in the middle. My posts actually discussing my own work, The Curious Tale and Galaxy Federal, landed in this space. They mostly fell flat for my general audience, but did noticeably better than the hard Zero stuff due to the consistent engagement of a tiny handful of fans. (Thank you, especially you Fip!)

In terms of financial support, six weeks of content creation on Tumblr yielded no book sales and no new patrons on my Patreon fund, though I did get one pledge increase from an existing patron! This isn't a big surprise, since I didn't make any push to attract new patrons and have made no attempt to hide that my book is also available for free. Still, zero is a noticeable number.

What Tumblr Feels Like

I'll be honest with you: I don't really "do" social media. I never have. I don't like social media. I am a creature of individual websites, web journals / blogs, and message forums. Facebook is the social network I use most (if you don't count YouTube), and my Facebook is set up more like a walled garden than a social network node—i.e., it is almost completely restricted to the people on my deliberately-short friends' list. I use it to look at cool pictures of clouds and landscapes, learn about things going on in my city, and keep in touch with friends. I've never really been one to use social media the way it is intended these days.

Nevertheless: Of all the social networks, I've always had a comparatively positive view of Tumblr. Tumblr is where freaks and weirdos come to be freaky and weird, and I love it. (Sometimes in principle more than practice, but still.) There used to be a tumblr called "Fuck Yeah Fat Upper Arms," and that was what I would point to whenever I had to explain to someone why I love Tumblr.

I also know there are notorious amounts of drama and pettiness on Tumblr, but in my experience it isn't so hard to just sidestep it most of the time. Also, I don't follow all that many people, so I probably just don't see much of this stuff in the first place.

When I returned to Tumblr I am pleased to say that it was basically what I hoped for: lots of wonderful niche and countercultural stuff; really thoughtful discussions that get a lot more depth here than almost anyplace else I've seen; and amazing art and fanart. There were lots of takes I didn't like, of course. Lots of stuff that rubbed me wrong. And the drama is definitely alive and well. But that's just life, right? As amplified by social media in all its unnuanced might. On the whole, I have enjoyed my time spent browsing Tumblr these past six weeks.

One thing actually did bring down my spirits about this place, though, and it has nothing to do with drama or takes I don't like: Tumblr feels kind of addictive. Like a giant industrial vat full of churning slurry, and if you fall in there's no getting out. I have an addictive personality, not to booze or drugs (as far as I know) but to content sources, specifically "content-firehose" websites that always have new things to read. I was stuck on GameFAQs for years back in the day, long after it had become a net-negative for me. Right now my big content addiction is Reddit, and it's definitely a net negative in my life for all the time it wastes for so little in return. And there have been many other content addictions in the years between. It's very hard for me to leave a content-firehose website once I've gotten sucked into it. And I really, really don't want to get sucked into Tumblr.

Like, this place is genuinely cool, but it doesn't "do it" for me like it did the last time I paid close attention to it. Fuck Yeah Fat Upper Arms is gone, and with it the innocence of my youth. Social media just isn't my scene, and returning to Tumblr has definitely given me the impression that I've "outgrown" it altogether. (I wrote a few days ago about one of the reasons why I think this.) I don't particularly want to spend a lot of time here. I don't have that content addiction to Tumblr yet, and I can feel myself actively straining to avoid developing it every time I'm on here. That's why I've only been reading my dashboard a few times a week.

I'm not saying social media is something juvenile that everyone is supposed to outgrow; I'm just talking about my own preferences and issues. My ideal use case for Tumble is to check in with Tumblr periodically and see new Samus Aran fanart and hot takes on cool things I've never heard about or thought deeply enough about. But, in practice, reading my Tumblr dashboard feels like dipping my feet in that vat of slurry I mentioned: It's very time-consuming and a lot of the stuff I see I don't really "need" in my life.

This six-week experiment has actually helped me to realize that, going forward, I should be looking to use social media less in my life, not more. It isn't just all-consuming and energy-draining; it has become kind of evil over the years. Tumblr isn't nearly as bad as some of the worst offenders, but on the whole we're slowly being pushed to use these services in very particular ways, ways which degrade us, and it's nefarious. Not just the abuse of our personal information and privacy, but the way we spend our time and think about the world. Social media seems to be making society actively worse on the whole, and that's down to the profit motives of the people who make the rules about how these services operate. It's probably not a coincidence that Tumblr, as one of the least-problematic major social networks, is also not particularly profitable.

I have lamented for years that I wish we would go back to individual people's websites and enthusiast–owned-and-operated message forums. I really think that this viewpoint is not just my nostalgia glasses talking; I think the individual websites paradigm was a better way of experiencing the Internet and interacting with each other. But while I can't do much to change society's patterns in general, I can at least be deliberate about how I engage with social media myself. And I think I'm going to be doing less of that as time goes on.

My actual public face is my Live Journal, even though it has languished for years. Either it or some successor blog is likely to be an ongoing constant for the rest of my life. I hope people will gradually find me there.

The Long Game

You're not gonna build an audience in six weeks. I know that. Also, in my time here, I've only done one of the two things that one needs to do to build an audience on social media: I've created content. I think my content has been more or less decent. (You can tell me if you think otherwise.)

What I haven't done is heavily engage with other content creators. I haven't done many reblogs; I've done zero asks; and I don't follow other tumblrs in a businesslike mindset of network—I only follow the ones I think I might like to read.

If I were to continue, the next step in my trial period would be a 3-month experiment. I've had enough success here in the past six weeks to justify dedicating another three months of my life to daily Tumblr posts if I want.

In that time I would need to focus more on the "networking" side of social networking. On the content side, I would continue trying to figure out what people like to see and what they don't. But it's the networking stuff that would be next in line for my full attention.

I'm also aware that all of my data are biased by the small size of my audience and the nonrandom composition of it. There is a danger in optimizing for that, from a long-term scalability and optimization standpoint. My social networking efforts would have to be geared toward diversifying my audience as much as growing it, because the truth of the matter is that I don't know yet who "my" audience truly is. Most of the people here now are people who are here because they like other creators and respected those people's recommendations—not because they necessarily like my art. The poor showing of my posts discussing my art kind of speak to that point.

So the question is, do I have a 3-month trial period in me? Or even just another 6-week period?

And that's a really tough question. I need to be writing my books, and I need to be paying my rent, and when I'm here on Tumblr I'm not doing either of those things. The best-case scenario is that by being here I'm setting myself up to pay future rents and have more available time for future creative writing. But in the meantime there are rents coming due in the immediate future, and my mental bandwidth is sickly and limited.

Is Tumblr even the place to build my audience? It might not be! It might be YouTube. It probably is YouTube. But Tumblr isn't nothing, and writing short essays is a hell of a lot faster than producing videos. A few loyal Tumblr followers might be just the pop I would need to get a future YouTube effort off to a running start.

One of my flaws as an entrepreneur is that I hate thinking like one when it comes to this whole sales / engagement / audience-building / marketing stuff. I like thinking about people as people, not as economic partners whose tastes and needs I must carefully accommodate to in order to hopefully earn a living from this someday. And I don't like thinking about my own content here as "content." I hate that word. But I am under no illusions about why I am here. I am not here for fun. I've done my Live Journal "for fun" for twenty years (as of last month!) and I have no audience to show for it. Growing an audience is not about having fun. Bonus points if you can manage to have fun along the way, but what it's really about is giving people an experience that they enjoy and want more of.

Social media is a hungry beast, a dehumanizing force (in my view), and an algorithmic rat race. I would much rather create content on my own terms, rather than try to play the social media game. This is one of the many reasons why I am so bad at the whole marketing side of building a business. Successful entrepreneurs dive right into it and give the people what they want. Like that "emotional damage" mate on YouTube: He gave an interview talking about how he just tried different schticks, not even comedy per se, until he found something that worked on people.

In an ideal world, when my next book is finished I could just press a button and everyone in the world know about its existence, and everyone who is interested could buy it and read it. But in the real world, you have to peck and scrape your way to attention, and I'm just so bad at this that it discourages me from even making the attempt.

So, adding it all up, what I come up with is that it would be wasteful for me to just abruptly give up on Tumblr as suddenly as I returned to it. I've started a ball rolling here, and I can build on that beginning if I want. But I also don't think that people need to hear from me on a daily basis. I'm probably not doing myself any favors by posting effortful content every day, not just in terms of my own sustainability but in terms of the algorithms of Tumblr and the mental bandwidth of my readers.

So I've come to the conclusion that Tumblr is probably not where my audience is going to be built, if indeed I ever manage to build one. But there is some potential here, and, more importantly, this is where the vast majority of my current fans are.

Ergo, going forward I will be reducing my posting frequency to a target of once or twice per week, plus whatever extras I see fit to add. I will continue to test out different types of content to see what catches interest. And I will start playing that social networking game that I dread so much, and try to engage more with others and hawk myself far and wide without looking like I'm trying to hawk myself, because for all that we claim to live in an age of sincerity we absolutely don't, and we will see where things go.

I will revisit this at Halloween, and see how I feel about it.

In the meantime, I will try to take some of this bandwidth I am freeing up and allocate it to other audience-building work. More on that as I have it for you!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and for giving me some of your time. Please please please do give me some feedback if there's anything you want to know or want to see me discuss.

#Meta

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prohader · 2 months

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Littlewood Review - July 18, 2024

Developer: Sean Young | Publisher: SmashGames

I'm a lover of farm and lifesim games. I first played this a few years ago on Switch in between a move- I was transferring colleges and living with my parents, and had to spend a whole summer living at my older sister's home in the middle of bumfuck nowhere while waiting for our new home to finish being built. I am a completionist at heart, and this game was light enough to complete without wasting my life and chill enough to listen to some video essays or watch some shows while I did it. Now it's 2024, so I decided to give it another go. Let's dive into what Littlewood is about, why I love it, and why I find it underrated... but far from perfect.

What It's About:

This game is an extremely lighthearted, chill, and cozy world directly an apocolyptic scenario where you, the hero of Solemn, have single-handedly defeated an evil dark wizard. The world is saved but fragmented, and everyone knows who you are... except for you. You see, you lost all of your memories of the battle before and you no longer have any of your magical powers or your trusty sword. So what do you do when you no longer have any ultimate goal and the world is broken apart? Well, build a new home, of course! Two of your trusty, ragtag friends and a warm fatherly figure from before your lost your memories are here to help you start your new life as a mayor of sorts for your town in which you will reside, grow, care for, and customize to your heart's content. The Game: I'd say this game is like a lite and easy-to-digest version of games like Animal Crossing (New Leaf and New Horizons, to be specific) and Stardew Valley, but it has its own identity and unique mechanics that stand out from other "cozy family-friendly farmsims" on the market. The main mechanic that I find a breath of fresh air compared to real-time progression and set in-game clocks is Littlewood's time system. All of your choices in the game are revolved around actions that take energy to use, and you have set amount of energy to spend each day. The amount of energy you spend fishing, cooking, gathering, crafting- almost everything in the game, in fact- progresses the time and once you have completely depleted all of your energy in the day, the day ends. As the leader of your town, you are free to do virtually whatever you want and whenever you want, so the player is incentivized make all of their energy spent per day feel worth it. As mentioned, the player can do a myriad of things such as watering and collecting flowers, picking weeds, talking and hanging out with townsfolk, getting closer to them, growing crops, mining ores, chopping wood, creating furniture, catching bugs, upgrading their town amenities, and even (later on) playing a card mini-game that's easy to understand but takes a bit of practice to master. Progression in Littlewood, I'd say, strongly involves growth of the town amenities and making your little villagers happy. By talking to your villagers and making their homes more comfortable, they will incrimentally provide you more blueprints and unlockable tools and items that are critical for you to make money ('dewdrops') and increase you rate and efficiency of the things you produce or catch, such as building materials, crops, fish, and bugs- all that you can use to get even more dewdrops or craft furniture, homes and buildings. As per the nature of these type of cozy games, there isnt a very primary goal that you're encouraged to reach or complete. By naturally engaging with the game you will come across most of the villagers you can unlock eventually. But this game is really great for people that want to catch EVERY bug, breed EVERY variety of flower, and donate EVERYTHING they can to complete their museum for no reason but the satisfaction of seeing a job completed. The Positives: If you want a comfortable game to kill an afternoon or hunker down in bed with every now and then, i'd be hard-pressed to find something as cozy and easy to pick up and put down than Littlewood. The gameplay is stupid simple (did I mention you only really needs three buttons and a d-pad to play this game? So it's extremely accessible), and the collection aspect can get pretty addictive, especially when each day ends with a barrage of exp being gifted to you for all the work you did and all of the affection meters for the villagers you've interacted with that day shooting up.

The setting isnt super unique, but the way in which the world is introduced to you incrementally is something I wish more cozy games did- I love that the world is broken up in such a way that the major mode of transportation is by hot air balloons, I love the quirky characters you can find, I love the lore about the world you can unlock through books and little pieces of conversation, and I just adore the tiny itty bitty sprites. Animals look so tiny and adorable you want to pop them in your mouth like tic-tacs, and the character profile sprites are expressive and a joy to see. Each character also has their own unique 2-frame animation. And like I said, there's plenty of things to upgrade and collect.

The Negatives: The game doesnt really give you much reason to pay attention to what the characters are saying to you. My biggest problems with this era of "cozy" games is that I feel like sometimes writing and character development is left to die in a ditch, and you can sort of feel that in Littlewood. Yes, each villager is charming and cute and have their own quirks and personalities, but theyre all so extremely 2 dimensional that it's hard to really feel anything for most of them. But this is kind of a big deal when you're playing this game blind for the first time- because the characters actually occasionally tell you very important information! In my first playthrough, I got several hours into the game (almost giving up) before getting some really helpful tools that are intrinsically tied with building a desk in your villagers' houses and accommodating their home requests- especially the beginning handfuls of characters you recruit to your town. I feel like if the tools are going to be tied to making your villagers furniture, it should be made way more clear, and the things the characters say to you should be more engaging so you're not just mashing through everything they say. Additionally, due to the lackluster writing combined the entire setup of the game- you being the Solemn's savior- leads everyone to just put you on a pedestal and stroke your ego all the time for something you never did (in game). You can never do anything wrong and you're automatically cool and attractive and amazing to everyone, no matter what. It kind of makes romancing characters feel extremely forced and imbalanced, like many characters are only interested in you because you're the Hero of Solemn. One really important aspect of this I want to discuss is with one NPC in particular that sours the whole game for me SO much that i will actually mash through their dialogue or intentionally ignore them outside of completing tasks... maybe I should say her. It's Willow, I'm talking about Willow. Now, im sorry for all of those out there that may actually really like Willow. But the game strongly communicates that the player and Willow were in love before the game began. It makes talking to her when you're not particularly interested in her in the first place really awkward, and even moreso when you're much more interested in ANY of the other characters over her. It'd be one thing if it was just coming from her, but Dalton and Dudley also frequently bring it up and it's really distracting and uncomfortable. And even though i'm bisexual, i (usually) tend to favor bachelors in games whenever there's any sort of romancing element, so it adds another layer of uncomfortability in an otherwise cutesy-cozy-soft-power-fantasy game. I wish that the developer instead just made it so she had a crush on the hero before losing their memories or something, because my mind cannot help but think about how devastating it would be if my partner were to lose all of their memories and wake up one day with them marrying someone else and forgetting everything about me and the things we did together. It's not that I absolutely hate the idea, but with a game of this tone, it really puts an awkward damper on what is normally a fun self-indulgent mechanic. Willow having had a romantic history with the main character prior to the game up until the moment they lost their powers makes the player feel guilty for not choosing her, and makes the player's choice to marry anyone but her feel less "meaningful" as a result. Maybe that’s just me, but it really feels mismatched with the purpose of the game. Additional Thoughts: I really think this game would benefit significantly from even a minor update or DLC. There are a couple tiny graphical bugs on Switch (doors open for some reason, and you can really easily go OOB in the town hall) but there's honestly a lot more that can be added to add in more customizeability to the player and the town, but I can make a whole separate post on what I think would make for GREAT Littlewood DLC (and I probably will)! Personal Rating: B

💚 Unique time-progression system

💚 Chill, cozy collectible game.

🚫 Interesting lore, but too little of it shared or explored

🚫 Villagers are pretty one-note, any depth they have is left unexplored, and they all put the player on the pedestal so it makes interacting with them sometimes uncomfortable if you think about it for a little too long.

🚫 Important Tools and QOL features should be tied to other systems, not how comfy or aesthetically pleasing your villagers's homes are.

#littlewood #long post #review #b #indie game #indie game review #videogames #video games #farmsim #indie games #lifesim #littlewood game

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macleod · 2 years

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From Japan to Iceland, futuristic vertical farms are starting to bloom

Indoor farming is a new and rapidly growing trend that has significant benefits over traditional agriculture methods, including increased efficiency and sustainability. Indoor farming can also help to combat climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, methane) released into the atmosphere and reducing the need for pesticides.

There are several different ways to do indoor farming, but the most common approach is to use hydroponic systems. These systems rely on water systems rather than soil to support plant growth, creating a controlled environment for the plants to grow in efficiently. An array of sensors designed specifically for this ensure that waste is minimized and resources are recycled whenever possible. Hydroponics also allows farmers to grow crops without dealing with pests or disease outbreaks, and it requires minimal land area compared to traditional agriculture methods. Because you essentially build the farm vertically, you can use places like former factories or warehouses.

In the Shizuoka Prefecture, a facility that’s around 20,000 square feet (0.2 hectares) grows a whopping 12,000 lettuces a day (lettuce is excellently suited for this type of farm). Farmers set up the light regime for the plants (using LEDs), as well as the temperature and humidity level, and enjoy round the year crops. Not only is the area required for the yield much lower than with conventional methods, but the water usage is also lower (10-20 times lower).

More recently, a farm in Kyoto developed by a company called Spread became a record-breaking facility that also introduced bees to pollinate its strawberries, achieving stable pollination under LED conditions and showing that there’s plenty of unexplored opportunity within vertical farms.Image credits: Spread.

Singapore is also betting on vertical farms with one farm established in 2022 producing 500 tonnes of greens each year, in addition to its previous projects. Being able to grow food directly in urban areas means you can bring it to consumers quickly and inexpensively.

Meanwhile, Iceland is taking advantage of its ability to produce cheap, sustainable energy using geothermal sources to fuel a large vertical farm. Iceland has constantly had a problem of having to import food, and Iceland has one of the most expensive food markets in the world due to this. But Andri Bjorn Gunnarsson, founder and CEO of VAXA, the company behind the vertical farm, says Iceland also has some advantages that make it suitable for vertical farming.

(Source: ZME Science, November 9th 2022)

#green #indoor farming #hydroponics #industrial farming #farming #green technology #japan #iceland #singapore #mine #articles #science #news #solarpunk #agriculture

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kh2333 · 8 days

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Sustainable Farming Practices: A Pathway to Future Food Security

In the face of growing global challenges such as climate change, population growth, and depleting natural resources, the need for sustainable farming practices has never been more critical. Agriculture remains the backbone of many economies, but traditional farming methods often contribute to environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and soil erosion. To secure the future of food production, sustainable farming offers a transformative solution that balances productivity with environmental stewardship.

1. The Importance of Soil Health

Healthy soil is the foundation of sustainable farming. Through techniques such as crop rotation, cover cropping, and reduced tillage, farmers can improve soil structure, enhance its ability to retain water, and reduce erosion. The integration of organic matter into the soil also promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms, contributing to long-term soil fertility.

2. Water Management: Reducing Waste and Preserving Resources

Effective water management is crucial for sustainable agriculture. Traditional irrigation methods often lead to water waste, but sustainable practices like drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and the use of drought-resistant crops can significantly reduce water usage. Precision agriculture technologies, such as soil moisture sensors, allow farmers to optimize water application, ensuring crops receive only what they need, when they need it.

3. Biodiversity: Enhancing Ecosystem Resilience

Biodiversity plays a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving the resilience of farming systems. By incorporating diverse crops and livestock, farmers can reduce the risk of pest outbreaks and diseases. Agroforestry, which integrates trees into farming systems, enhances biodiversity while providing additional income streams, such as timber and fruit production.

4. Reducing Chemical Dependency

Sustainable farming promotes the reduction of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which can harm the environment and human health. Alternatives like integrated pest management (IPM) use biological control methods, such as beneficial insects, to manage pests. Additionally, organic farming methods focus on natural soil amendments and composting to enrich the land without harmful chemicals.

5. Renewable Energy in Agriculture

The shift to renewable energy sources is becoming an essential aspect of sustainable farming. Solar panels, wind turbines, and bioenergy can power farming operations, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Many farms are now integrating renewable energy technologies to achieve self-sufficiency while also contributing to environmental conservation.

6. The Role of Technology in Sustainable Farming

Advances in agricultural technology are playing a transformative role in sustainability efforts. Precision farming tools, such as GPS-guided tractors, drones for crop monitoring, and automated irrigation systems, help farmers optimize inputs and maximize efficiency. These innovations not only increase productivity but also minimize waste and environmental impact.

7. Promoting Local and Organic Markets

Sustainable farming goes hand in hand with the promotion of local and organic food markets. Supporting local farmers reduces the carbon footprint associated with food transportation and encourages the consumption of fresh, seasonal produce. Additionally, organic farming practices prioritize animal welfare, soil health, and chemical-free food production, contributing to a healthier food system.

Conclusion

Sustainable farming practices offer a viable solution to the challenges facing modern agriculture. By prioritizing soil health, efficient water use, biodiversity, and renewable energy, farmers can produce food in a way that safeguards the environment for future generations. The integration of technology further enhances the potential for sustainable farming to meet global food demands while reducing the ecological footprint of agriculture. The adoption of these practices is not just a necessity for the future of farming—it is a pathway to long-term food security and environmental sustainability.

#farming #organic farming #sustainable farming

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busstalks · 15 days

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Best 10 Business Strategies for year 2024

In 2024 and beyond, businesses will have to change with the times and adjust their approach based on new and existing market realities. The following are the best 10 business approach that will help companies to prosper in coming year

1. Embrace Sustainability

The days when sustainability was discretionary are long gone. Businesses need to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) values into their business practices. In the same vein, brands can improve brand identity and appeal to environmental advocates by using renewable forms of energy or minimizing their carbon footprints.

Example: a fashion brand can rethink the materials to use organic cotton and recycled for their clothing lines. They can also run a take-back scheme, allowing customers to return old clothes for recycling (not only reducing waste but creating and supporting the circular economy).

2. Leverage AI

AI is revolutionizing business operations. Using AI-fuelled solutions means that you can automate processes, bring in positive customer experiences, and get insights. AI chatbots: AI can be utilized in the form of a conversational entity to support and perform backend operations, as well.

With a bit more specificity, say for example that an AI-powered recommendation engine recommends products to customers based on their browsing history and purchase patterns (as the use case of retail). This helps to increase the sales and improve the shopping experience.

3. Prioritize Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is of utmost important as more and more business transitions towards digital platforms. Businesses need to part with a more substantial amount of money on advanced protective measures so that they can keep sensitive data private and continue earning consumer trust. Regular security audits and training of employees can reduce these risks.

Example: A financial services firm may implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all online transactions, regularly control access to Internet-facing administrative interfaces and service ports as well as the encryption protocols to secure client data from cyberattacks.

4. Optimizing Remote and Hybrid Working Models

Remote / hybrid is the new normal Remote teams force companies to implement effective motivation and management strategies. Collaboration tools and a balanced virtual culture can improve productivity and employee satisfaction.

- Illustration: a Tech company using Asana / Trello etc. for pm to keep remote teams from falling out of balance. They can also organise weekly team-building activities to keep a strong team spirit.

5. Focus on Customer Experience

Retention and growth of the sales follow-through can be tied to high quality customer experiences. Harness data analytics to deepen customer insights and personalize product offers making your marketing campaigns personal: a customer support that is responsive enough can drive a great level of returning customers.

Example – For any e-commerce business, you can take user experience feedback tools to know about how your customers are getting along and make necessary changes. Custom email campaigns and loyalty programs can also be positively associated with customer satisfaction and retention.

6. Digitalization Investment

It is only the beginning of digital transformation which we all know, is key to global competitiveness. For streamlining, companies have to adopt the use advanced technologies such as Blockchain Technology and Internet of Things (IoT) in conjunction with cloud computing.

IoT example : real-time tracking and analytics to optimize supply chain management

7. Enhance Employee Skills

Develop Your Employees: Investing in employee development is key to succeeding as a business. The training is provided for the folks of various industries and so employees can increase their skills that are needed to work in a certain company. Employee performance can be enhanced by providing training programs in future technology skills and soft skills and job satisfaction.

Example: A marketing agency can host webinars or create courses to teach people the latest digital marketing trends and tools This can help to keep employees in the know which results in boosting their skills, making your campaigns successful.

8. Diversify Supply Chains

The ongoing pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of global supply chains. …diversify its supply base and promote the manufacturing of drugs in Nigeria to eliminate total dependence on a single source. In return, this approach increases resilience and reduces exposure to the risks of supply chain interruption.

- E.g., a consumer electronics company can source components from many suppliers in various regions. In so doing, this alleviates avoidable supply chain interruptions during times of political tensions or when disasters hit.

9. Make Decisions Based on Data

A business database is an asset for businesses. By implementing data, they allow you to make decisions based on the data that your analytics tools are providing. For example, sales analysis lets you track trends and better tailor your goods to the market.

Example: A retail chain can use data analytics to find out when a customer buys, and it change their purchasing policies. This can also reduce overstock and stockouts while overall, increasing efficiency.

10. Foster Innovation

Business Growth Innovation is Key A culture of creativity and experimentation should be established in companies. Funding R&D and teaming with startups can open many doors to both solve problems creatively but also tap into new markets.

Example: A software development firm could create an innovation lab where team members are freed to work on speculative projects. Moreover, work with start-ups on new technologies and solutions.

By adopting these strategies, businesses can navigate the turbulence for 2024 and roll up market — progressive.AI with an evolving dynamic market, being ahead of trends and updated is most likely will help you thrive in the business landscape.

#ai #business #business strategy #business growth #startup #fintech #technology #tech #innovation #ai in business

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elsa16744 · 3 months

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The Business Case for Sustainability: Balancing Profitability and Environmental Responsibility

Investors have embraced responsible portfolio management strategies to encourage sustainable enterprises and support socio-economic development. Meanwhile, customers refuse to buy from a brand that fails to curb labor malpractices, pollution, waste generation, and petroleum consumption. This post will describe the business case for sustainability to increase awareness about these trends.

What is Sustainable Business Development?

A company engages in sustainable business development when it revises its operations, product design, and resource allocation to contribute to social and environmental problem resolution. It is not about pretending to be eco-friendly or slowing industrial progress. Instead, sustainability for business ensures companies can thrive without harming social harmony and Earth’s resources.

Today, business leaders leverage sustainability consulting services to navigate modern regulations demanding more responsible corporate approaches. Besides, several pressing matters range from safekeeping consumer data to making workplaces more inclusive.

At the same time, multiple compliance guidelines have overwhelmed managers. So, it is imperative to embrace a tech-led strategy. It will help increase your firm’s compliance across all the major frameworks, like the ones described below.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting,

Task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD),

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),

And the EU taxonomy.

How Can a Business Balance Profitability, Ethics, and Sustainability?

The older the organization, the more challenges you must overcome to go green. An excellent method is multistakeholder brainstorming. Let customers, suppliers, employees, business associates, and investors chime in and provide improvement ideas.

Another indirect approach involves extensive data gathering, insight extraction, and reporting. Using automated computing systems, companies can monitor the policy dynamics in the target markets and improve specific operations in realistic stages.

They do not need to transform all practices and risk productivity loss. Since they will utilize data from authoritative sources, their decisions will also have a sound foundation. Available technologies can involve ESG data solutions tailored for private companies, financial materiality estimates, controversy analytics, and risk forecasting tools.

Finally, leaders, board directors, and the rest must periodically evaluate their business sustainability initiatives. If they notice some strategies becoming obsolete, they must devise appropriate action plans to rectify such issues.

Advantages of Business Sustainability

1| Efficient Resource Consumption

Pollution and carbon risk mitigation require brands to replace conventional energy systems with greener alternatives. This renewable energy transition allows companies to rationalize how they allocate resources to operations. Moreover, they can reduce dependence on public infrastructure for power and water using modern technologies.

Treating and reusing water might not be suitable for all enterprises. However, the scope of these practices encompasses offices, factories, and post-sales product maintenance. In other words, you want to consider the entire product lifecycle to increase your ESG ratings and positive impact potential.

Integrating green technology to fulfill the efficient resource consumption requirements makes you more competitive and attracts more investors. Therefore, business profitability increases thanks to sustainability accounting compliance.

2| Resilient Supply Chains

Socio-economic and ecological threats limit your enterprise’s growth potential. They endanger the well-being of consumers and supply partners. Consider how environmental problems, political chaos, or social issues hinder free transportation, making timely product delivery more arduous.

However, brands can voluntarily work toward building a peaceful, green, tolerant, and resilient community. They must collaborate with employees, educators, policymakers, and local stakeholders. After all, most corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects aimed at literacy increase, women empowerment, and cyber safety awareness create opportunities to create a more stable world.

Aside from social disharmony threats, your supply chain is often vulnerable to fraud, region-specific quality norm inconsistencies, and controversies. You cannot eliminate these risks, but you can reduce the harm they might cause using predictive analysis and contingency plans. Many sustainability frameworks address these aspects in their reporting guidelines.

3| Long-Term Stakeholder Relationships

Responsible consumption and a solid supply chain increase an organization’s reputation. Socially conscious customers prefer companies that realize the cost of human-caused industrial activities. Therefore, they want leaders to embrace business sustainability, transparent communication, and ethical human resource practices.

Simultaneously, social networking sites (SNS) have empowered individuals to voice their disappointment with brands that fail to improve compliance. So, customers will likely stop purchasing from you if you lag behind competitors in sustainable business development.

Conversely, corporations with adequate CSR programs get loyal customers, free press, positive value association, and investor goodwill. They become leaders in establishing new industry norms while others struggle to understand sustainability accounting principles.

Precaution: Greenwashing is Not a Business Case for Sustainability

Consider the following:

What can anyone do if companies manipulate their financial and carbon disclosures?

Will investors, regulators, and customers trust other brands who also report on sustainability or ESG performance metrics?

What types of green claims can an organization include in its marketing campaigns?

How do we verify that a brand’s reported CSR outcomes are genuine and tangible?

Can ESG disclosures backfire and expose your company to controversies and misinformation attacks? 

These are legitimate fears expressed by many because of the greenwashing cases. The perpetrators use deceptive verbal and design tactics to boast about on-paper CSR achievements with no on-ground impact. Some claimed they use 100% renewable energy by cunningly omitting crucial reporting elements. Others had suppliers employing child labor in life-threatening working conditions.

Greenwashing hurts stakeholder trust in ESG, TCFD, and GRI documentation. When one company receives greenwashing allegations, others in the same industry also attract criticism. Sooner or later, the media picks up the story, and the hard-earned brand reputation evaporates into infinity.

Avoid greenwashing and disassociate with partners, municipalities, and suppliers doing it.

Conclusion

Leaders who recognize the significance of sustainable business development are visionaries. They know their business can thrive if the consumers, employees, investors, and regulators are happy with their work. So, the world has witnessed a rekindled interest in ethics-driven corporate attitudes and investment strategies.

Reducing byproduct generation, enforcing anti-harassment policies, and adopting practical data governance standards make brands more sustainable. Their supply chain resilience increases while more stakeholders trust them.

Nevertheless, greenwashing risks prevent organizations and investors from unlocking the full potential business sustainability use cases. Therefore, all the stakeholders must be honest with compliance reporting. It is okay if your ESG ratings are low because you can implement initiatives and work with experts to improve them.

In the end, only transparency matters. Without it, sustainability reporting will become a worthless formality. However, with the proper oversight, the opposite will happen, and your organization will surpass all competitors while solving social and environmental problems.

#sustainability consulting services

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dreamtech0749 · 4 months

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In a world where economic growth often comes at the expense of environmental degradation, the intersection of nature and the business world is more crucial than ever. As concerns about climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss mount, there's a growing recognition that businesses must operate in harmony with nature to ensure their long-term viability. This paradigm shift is not just about altruism; it's about embracing sustainability as a strategic imperative for success in the modern marketplace. Nature has long been a source of inspiration and innovation for businesses. From biomimicry, where designers and engineers look to nature's solutions for complex problems, to ecotourism ventures that capitalize on the beauty of natural landscapes, there are countless examples of businesses finding value in the natural world. However, the relationship between nature and the business world has often been exploitative, with companies prioritizing short-term profits over long-term environmental sustainability.

Fortunately, there's a growing awareness among businesses that this approach is no longer tenable. Consumers are increasingly demanding eco-friendly products and services, and investors are scrutinizing companies' environmental performance more closely than ever before. In this new landscape, businesses that prioritize sustainability not only reduce their environmental impact but also gain a competitive edge in the market. One way businesses can embrace sustainability is by reducing their carbon footprint. This involves minimizing energy consumption, transitioning to renewable energy sources, and offsetting unavoidable emissions through carbon offset projects. By embracing clean energy solutions, businesses can not only reduce their environmental impact but also save money in the long run by lowering their energy bills. Another important aspect of sustainability is resource conservation. Businesses can adopt circular economy principles, which emphasize reducing, reusing, and recycling materials to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. By designing products with longevity and recyclability in mind, companies can reduce their reliance on finite resources and minimize their contribution to landfills and pollution. Biodiversity conservation is also a critical component of sustainable business practices. Companies can support conservation efforts by preserving natural habitats, protecting endangered species, and sourcing materials responsibly to avoid contributing to deforestation and habitat destruction. By safeguarding biodiversity, businesses can ensure the long-term health of ecosystems and the services they provide, such as clean water, air purification, and climate regulation. In addition to mitigating environmental impacts, businesses can also create positive social change by investing in community development and supporting marginalized populations. By partnering with local communities and indigenous peoples, companies can ensure that their operations are socially responsible and culturally sensitive. This not only fosters goodwill among stakeholders but also helps businesses build resilient supply chains and mitigate reputational risks. Embracing sustainability isn't just about minimizing harm - it's also about creating value for both businesses and society as a whole. By prioritizing environmental and social responsibility, companies can attract and retain top talent, enhance brand reputation, and foster innovation. Sustainable businesses are also better positioned to weather economic shocks and regulatory changes, as they tend to have more resilient supply chains and lower operational risks. Ultimately, the transition to a more sustainable business model requires a fundamental shift in mindset - from viewing nature as a commodity to be exploited to recognizing it as a source of inspiration, resilience, and abundance. By embracing sustainability as a core business principle, companies can not only thrive in the short term but also contribute to a healthier, more prosperous planet for future generations. In this way, the harmony between nature and the business world can become a cornerstone of a more sustainable and equitable global economy.

#business #education #Nature

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futuretonext · 1 year

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The UAE Waste to Energy Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 10% during the forecast period, i.e., 2023-28. The expansion of the market is attributed to the massive amount of residential and commercial waste generated in the region due to urbanization, industrialization, and tourism combined with a surge in power consumption in the area. Additionally, the UAE’s focus on reducing its carbon emission and producing more renewable energy to downsize its reliance on oil and natural gas has further expanded the industry.

#UAE Waste to Energy Market #UAE Waste to Energy Market Growth

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beardedmrbean · 1 year

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ESSEN, Germany (AP) — For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

Jobs were plentiful, the government's financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

No longer. Now, Germany is the world’s worst-performing major developed economy, with both the International Monetary Fund and European Union expecting it to shrink this year.

It follows Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the loss of Moscow's cheap natural gas — an unprecedented shock to Germany’s energy-intensive industries, long the manufacturing powerhouse of Europe.

The sudden underperformance by Europe's largest economy has set off a wave of criticism, handwringing and debate about the way forward.

Germany risks “deindustrialization” as high energy costs and government inaction on other chronic problems threaten to send new factories and high-paying jobs elsewhere, said Christian Kullmann, CEO of major German chemical company Evonik Industries AG.

From his 21st-floor office in the west German town of Essen, Kullmann points out the symbols of earlier success across the historic Ruhr Valley industrial region: smokestacks from metal plants, giant heaps of waste from now-shuttered coal mines, a massive BP oil refinery and Evonik's sprawling chemical production facility.

These days, the former mining region, where coal dust once blackened hanging laundry, is a symbol of the energy transition, dotted with wind turbines and green space.

The loss of cheap Russian natural gas needed to power factories “painfully damaged the business model of the German economy,” Kullmann told The Associated Press. “We’re in a situation where we’re being strongly affected — damaged — by external factors.”

After Russia cut off most of its gas to the European Union, spurring an energy crisis in the 27-nation bloc that had sourced 40% of the fuel from Moscow, the German government asked Evonik to keep its 1960s coal-fired power plant running a few months longer.

The company is shifting away from the plant — whose 40-story smokestack fuels production of plastics and other goods — to two gas-fired generators that can later run on hydrogen amid plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.

One hotly debated solution: a government-funded cap on industrial electricity prices to get the economy through the renewable energy transition.

The proposal from Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens Party has faced resistance from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, and pro-business coalition partner the Free Democrats. Environmentalists say it would only prolong reliance on fossil fuels.

Kullmann is for it: “It was mistaken political decisions that primarily developed and influenced these high energy costs. And it can’t now be that German industry, German workers should be stuck with the bill.”

The price of gas is roughly double what it was in 2021, hurting companies that need it to keep glass or metal red-hot and molten 24 hours a day to make glass, paper and metal coatings used in buildings and cars.

A second blow came as key trade partner China experiences a slowdown after several decades of strong economic growth.

These outside shocks have exposed cracks in Germany's foundation that were ignored during years of success, including lagging use of digital technology in government and business and a lengthy process to get badly needed renewable energy projects approved.

Other dawning realizations: The money that the government readily had on hand came in part because of delays in investing in roads, the rail network and high-speed internet in rural areas. A 2011 decision to shut down Germany's remaining nuclear power plants has been questioned amid worries about electricity prices and shortages. Companies face a severe shortage of skilled labor, with job openings hitting a record of just under 2 million.

And relying on Russia to reliably supply gas through the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea — built under former Chancellor Angela Merkel and since shut off and damaged amid the war — was belatedly conceded by the government to have been a mistake.

Now, clean energy projects are slowed by extensive bureaucracy and not-in-my-backyard resistance. Spacing limits from homes keep annual construction of wind turbines in single digits in the southern Bavarian region.

A 10 billion-euro ($10.68 billion) electrical line bringing wind power from the breezier north to industry in the south has faced costly delays from political resistance to unsightly above-ground towers. Burying the line means completion in 2028 instead of 2022.

Massive clean energy subsidies that the Biden administration is offering to companies investing in the U.S. have evoked envy and alarm that Germany is being left behind.

“We’re seeing a worldwide competition by national governments for the most attractive future technologies — attractive meaning the most profitable, the ones that strengthen growth,” Kullmann said.

He cited Evonik’s decision to build a $220 million production facility for lipids — key ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines — in Lafayette, Indiana. Rapid approvals and up to $150 million in U.S. subsidies made a difference after German officials evinced little interest, he said.

“I'd like to see a little more of that pragmatism ... in Brussels and Berlin,” Kullmann said.

In the meantime, energy-intensive companies are looking to cope with the price shock.

Drewsen Spezialpapiere, which makes passport and stamp paper as well as paper straws that don't de-fizz soft drinks, bought three wind turbines near its mill in northern Germany to cover about a quarter of its external electricity demand as it moves away from natural gas.

Specialty glass company Schott AG, which makes products ranging from stovetops to vaccine bottles to the 39-meter (128-foot) mirror for the Extremely Large Telescope astronomical observatory in Chile, has experimented with substituting emissions-free hydrogen for gas at the plant where it produces glass in tanks as hot as 1,700 degrees Celsius.

It worked — but only on a small scale, with hydrogen supplied by truck. Mass quantities of hydrogen produced with renewable electricity and delivered by pipeline would be needed and don't exist yet.

Scholz has called for the energy transition to take on the “Germany tempo,” the same urgency used to set up four floating natural gas terminals in months to replace lost Russian gas. The liquefied natural gas that comes to the terminals by ship from the U.S., Qatar and elsewhere is much more expensive than Russian pipeline supplies, but the effort showed what Germany can do when it has to.

However, squabbling among the coalition government over the energy price cap and a law barring new gas furnaces has exasperated business leaders.

Evonik's Kullmann dismissed a recent package of government proposals, including tax breaks for investment and a law aimed at reducing bureaucracy, as “a Band-Aid.”

Germany grew complacent during a “golden decade” of economic growth in 2010-2020 based on reforms under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2003-2005 that lowered labor costs and increased competitiveness, says Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.

“The perception of Germany's underlying strength may also have contributed to the misguided decisions to exit nuclear energy, ban fracking for natural gas and bet on ample natural gas supplies from Russia,” he said. “Germany is paying the price for its energy policies.”

Schmieding, who once dubbed Germany “the sick man of Europe” in an influential 1998 analysis, thinks that label would be overdone today, considering its low unemployment and strong government finances. That gives Germany room to act — but also lowers the pressure to make changes.

The most important immediate step, Schmieding said, would be to end uncertainty over energy prices, through a price cap to help not just large companies, but smaller ones as well.

Whatever policies are chosen, “it would already be a great help if the government could agree on them fast so that companies know what they are up to and can plan accordingly instead of delaying investment decisions," he said.

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probablyasocialecologist · 10 months

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As the American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein recognized, capitalism fuels economic growth through shifting the cost of that development onto the Global South. So long as this externalization of costs runs smoothly, those of us living in the Global North can enjoy a rich lifestyle and avoid suffering the consequences of environmental crises. This is how we’ve been able to avoid thinking seriously about the true cost of our expansive lifestyles for so long.

[...]

The dilemma is this: As the economy grows, the range of human economic activity grows too, which means that the volume of resource and energy consumption will also grow, making it difficult to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is a historical tendency. In other words, even green economic growth may cause increases in carbon emissions and resource use in direct proportion to its success because economic growth is historically accompanied by more frequent consumption of bigger commodities, including ones in wasteful and carbon-intensive industries. This in turn will necessitate more and more dramatic increases in efficiency, but there is an insurmountable physical limit to the improvement of technological efficiency. This is the Growth Trap, a major pitfall awaiting capitalism as it attempts to establish a zero-carbon economy. The question is, can this trap be avoided? Unfortunately, escaping this trap is unlikely. Sustaining a growth rate of 2–3 percent for the GDP would necessitate the immediate reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent every year to hit the 1.5° C target. If we leave it to the market, the likelihood of achieving a yearly reduction rate as dramatic as 10 percent or more is very low.

[...]

Make no mistake: Green New Deal–style governmental platforms enabling large-scale investment into remaking nations at a fundamental level are indispensable in the struggle to combat climate change. It’s undeniable that we must make the transition to solar energy, electric vehicles, and the like. Public transportation systems must be expanded and made free to all, bicycle lanes must be built, public housing fitted with solar panels must be created—these sorts of works projects, driven by public spending, are all vital. But these things are not enough. It might sound counterintuitive, but the goal of any Green New Deal should not be economic growth but rather the slowing down of the economy. Measures to stop climate change cannot double as ways to further economic growth. Indeed, the less such measures aim to grow the economy, the higher the possibility they’ll work.

#kohei saito #degrowth #green new deal #planetary boundaries #Decoupling

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argyrocratie · 1 year

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"A great deal of the offshored industrial production at the other end of the extended supply chains celebrated in People’s Republic of Walmart is actually carried out in comparatively small job shops that would be more efficiently collocated with local market areas. The technology at the actual point of production, in such cases, is modest in scale and best suited for local or regional production. But it’s enclosed within a corporate institutional framework of extended logistic chains through the framework of copyright, patent, and trademark law which gives corporations a legal monopoly on disposal of an outsourced product. The only reason the facilities in China aren’t all producing identical goods directly for the local market, and selling at a price without the trademark and patent markups, is the enclosure of decentralized production technology within a centralized corporate legal framework. And the only reason the production facilities making goods for people in Iowa are sited in China instead of in Iowa is that the labor there is cheaper.

(...)

Lean production guru James Womack observed that “oceans and lean production are not compatible.” Simply shifting inventories from giant warehouses of finished product or intermediate goods to warehouses disguised as trucks and container ships isn’t really reducing overall inventory stocks at all. It’s just sweeping the batch and-queue bloat of Sloanism under the rug. The outsourced component manufacturers “are located on the wrong side of the world from both their engineering operations and their customers… [in order] to reduce the cost per hour of labor.” To properly apply lean principles it is necessary “to locate both design and physical production in the appropriate place to serve the customer.”49

In his Foreword to Waddell’s and Bodek’s The Rebirth of American Industry (something of a bible for American devotees of the Toyota Production System), H. Thomas Johnson (an expert in lean accounting) writes:

Some people see lean as a pathway to restoring the large manufacturing giants the United States economy has been famous for in the past half century…. The cheap fossil fuel sources that have always supported such production operations cannot be taken for granted any longer. One proposal that has great merit is that of rebuilding our economy around smaller scale, locally-focused organizations that provide just as high a standard living [sic] as people now enjoy, but with far less energy and resource consumption. Helping to create the sustainable local living economy may be the most exciting frontier yet for architects of lean operations.

So except in a few cases like geographically situated mineral resources, microprocessor production, and the like that require long-distance shipping for genuine technical reasons, most of what goes on in the logistic chains Phillips loves so much is just waste production. And that’s a lot of waste production. To put it simply, Walmart’s and Amazon’s increasingly automated inventory systems and just-in-time global logistic chains achieve “efficiency” only in a relative sense. To borrow a phrase from Peter Drucker, they’re the most efficient way of doing a very inefficient thing that ought not to be done at all.

(...)

Capitalism is not in crisis because, as per the orthodox Marxist model, its productivity so great that it undermines capitalist relations of production. It is in crisis because it has chosen models of technological development and organizing production that are unproductive in terms of how efficiently they use inputs. Capitalism is a system founded on extensive growth — that is, on the addition of ever larger quantities of resource inputs, inputs which are artificially cheap and abundant because of the enclosure of land and natural resources. Now that we are in the age of Peak Oil, and approaching the age of Peak Coal, Peak Gas, and analogous limits to a wide range of other material inputs, capitalism is experiencing a crisis of extensive development.

Post-capitalist transition is not simply a matter of celebrating mass production factories and global logistic chains as the “colossal forces of production” Marx wrote of, and saying “Thank you, capitalists, but we’ll take over from here.” Those mass production factories and global logistic chains are the prime examples of the kinds of inefficiency created by a system that treated material inputs as artificially cheap and abundant and pursued growth by throwing more of them on the pile instead of using existing inputs more efficiently."

-Kevin Carson, “We Are All Degrowthers. We Are All Ecomodernists. Analysis of a Debate” (2019)

#kevin carson #capitalism

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