Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Location: Piikani Reservation, Alberta

I just want to provide a quick example of what I see as a progress trap. Since the very beginnings of agriculture humans have been collecting hay to feed their animals over long cold winters or during other periods where feed has become scarce.

We started with simple haystacks. We would cut our hay by hand and using pitchforks, stack this hay for later use. Then technology introduced us to the square bale. The square bale was recognized as progress, we could now easily stack our hay in easy to handle square bales. No more pitchforks. With the square bale we began to see a decreased dependence on manpower and an increasing dependence upon technological and fossil fuel power. More fuel-powered baling machines, more trucks with trailers, but still a large amount of brute physical labour.

Now here is where things have become interesting. It seems as I’ve been driving through most of Alberta, that square bales have now given way to large round bales. The round bale is great since you can unroll large amounts of hay when it’s time to feed. It’s that same idea, bigger is better, and instead of moving a large number of square bales, why not just move one large round bale. Sure, move one large 1300lb round bale, using technology of course.

So as you can see, we went from a simple system dependent on human-power, to a complex system dependent on technological power. The progress trap lies in the fact that without technology a round bale is virtually impossible to move. If you run out of fuel or if your feed truck breaks down, maybe the animals don’t get fed.

In the end you can always bust apart your round bale and break out the ol’ pitchfork, so we’re not facing the end of the world or anything. I’m just illustrating how everything in our world seems dependent upon technology, and eventually technology breaks down. If we’re not careful, elsewhere in our lives we may one day find ourselves left with a heavy load, and no way to lift it.

peace,
d