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Solarpunk sounds likely doomsday prepper shit (beehaw.org)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I don't know where else to put this. I'm sorry if it's in the wrong place and will move it if it's not appropriate here.

Every time I read anything from so-called solarpunks, it reads like slightly left of centre ravings of doomsday preppers. They seem to love many of the same fascist talking points. For example, individualism self-sufficiency , which sounds a lot like the frontier cowboy fantasies of right-wing nutters. They promote what essentially is subsistence farming, which is a terrible way to live. There's a reason this kind of shit leads to famine in developing countries. An almost enthusiastic fantasy surrounding primitism and the loss of technology. There are so many issues, I could go on. Unless I'm missing something (possible) I don't see much appealing about solarpunk because it seems to have a delusional nostalgia for the "good old days", much in the way conservativism does.

Is it really as crackpot as it sounds? If not, what am I missing?

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I see the problem with subsistence farming. Again, that's not the goal. Tech-assisted, ecologically sustainable farming is.

Green cities, too, of course, but your objections seems to stem from misidentifing solarpunk as being about being some kind of off-grid individualists living off the land, which it is just not.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I'm picking up that "rugged individualist" energy. I did admit, I could be wrong. I guess I'm just looking for some sort of assurance that isn't the case.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm not entirely sold on the whole solarpunk thing, either, but I got more of an "increase your self-sufficiency, reduce your gratuitous consumption" vibe. Solar panels, high-efficiency lighting/energy usage, self-hosted computing, low-power computing. These kinds of things can add resiliency, not reduce it, especially if you live in a place with unreliable regional services such as statewide blackout/brownouts.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

And there are communal aspects as well. I've seen tool libraries brought up, where a community can get access to a higher quality set of tools than they would as individuals. There are other discussions on defining third places that aren't driven by commercial interests.