I remember Jim Strayer. Around 1976, "Mr. Strayer" was a biology teacher at Washtenaw Community College and I was an undistinguished student with no direction and little motivation toward a career. I had two of his courses: General Ecology and Common Plants. We spent a lot of time walking around outdoors, which I liked. He'd lead the class single-file through the woods next to campus and stop, turn around, and talk to us about how we needed to change the way we lived. He was never dour or sullen the way so many environmentalists can be. The sky wasn't falling. The sky would be there with or without the rest of us.
He seemed to enjoy his work, which was teaching about the world and how people should live in it - or at least challenging his students to think differently about it. They thought about it. Some were skeptical.
Mr. Strayer showed us how to do things that, at times, seemed to have little to do with biology, but they were things I liked anyway. He required us to get a "metal match" to start fires because matches were no good if they got wet. We were required to get a hand lens and a compass. He wore a backpack a lot and told us if we got our own and didn't have anything we needed to carry in it, we could put a brick in it and carry that around to stay in shape. We had to find a find a "quadrat" and keep a journal of our visits. He taught us that if we were camping or sitting in our quadrat and met up with assholes who wanted to make trouble, a sock and a bar of soap made a fine blackjack.
He showed us how to make cornmeal cakes from dried feed corn. I don't remember him introducing this as the sad news that this was the way most of the world ate. He "sold it" as a good way to eat. The dried feed corn was incredibly cheap. It required no refrigeration. The grinder was fun to operate by hand and needed no electricity. The homemade preserves that went on the "johnny-cakes" were delicious. One of the "hipsters" in the class said he liked to jump on his motorcycle and "scoot" to some place, wherever, and the corn meal was right for the trip.
Years later, I had an authentic Mexican dinner put on by an immigrant group in Fargo, North Dakota. None of the ingredients used, aside from a little chicken (which could be butchered and eaten fresh), required any refrigeration. Everything was either fresh, dried, or pickled: corn meal and husks, rice, beans, flour, peppers. All "primitive" low-energy input foods. It was like Jim Strayer's "Corn Meal Mush Lab," only better.
For one course, he recommended, if I remember right, we read a book called The End of Affluence by Paul Ehrlich. I read it and remember getting uncomfortable while reading the part about the Anderson Act. I don't remember him saying much about the specifics of the book. No Q & A about our reading "assignment." Over the years, though, I've come to realize that much of our government's business is about creating other "Anderson Acts," which limit corporate liability and turn ordinary citizens into insurance underwriters.
One cloudy, chilly day for lab he led us out to the woods and unpacked a big canteen and a pan to boil water. He built a fire and mixed up "hot Tang" (the orange drink for astronauts) for us all. We sat around drinking and he talked about how he expected things to be much the same as they were for the next 25-years, or so, then there would be major changes as oil got scarce. This was during the Carter Administration.
A while later, during the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan blamed Pittsburgh's steel industry decline on the EPA. It was funny the way Reagan would wrinkle his nose as he pronounced "ee-pee-ay." Carter urged us to turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater. Reagan scoffed at the notion of "limits." Reagan won the election and the hostages were released. Once again, it became "Morning in America."
North Sea oil came fully on line, the Alaskan Pipeline was finished and operational, Pemex, the national oil company of Mexico ramped up production in a huge way. Starting in the early 1980s, three big factors would stimulate the economy and make Reagan look good: cheap oil, the tech boom, and demographics. Demographics because the Baby Boomers reached their peak earning (and consuming) years.
Mr. Strayer may have been off by a few years, but he was right about the looming energy crisis. America went into denial for twenty years or so and even now seems unwilling to accept the fact that our lifestyles will have to change. That was Jim's message, as I recall, that we should get ready to change the way we lived. The change would not have to be dark, cold deprivation, but wouldn't be easy. It was doable and might even be sort of fun.
So now, trouble is here and science, which we need now more than ever, is under attack. What with the "Left Behind Series" selling sixty million copies, a lot of people must expect the rapture any day now. What's the point in sustainability? Combine the book influence with the clout Tim and Beverly LaHaye have in the ruling Republican party, and there's plenty to worry about. Beverly LaHaye runs an influential organization claiming some 500,000 members called "Concerned Women for America." If you go to www.cfwa.org, you can read about all the wonderful things that organization has done like block funding for condoms and birth control in Africa.
Jim's papers on evolution are well written and intellectually accessible. I recently recommended them to a friend who teaches in Oakland County here in Michigan, who said the recent Intelligent Design (ID) ruling in Pennsylvania was "like winning the world series." People are listening (keep the faith!). Sadly, many other teachers are intimidated by the ID boosters and self-censor. Teachers find they don't have time to get around to evolution in the curriculum and often claim "the kids really don't get it, anyway".
I don't know Jim Strayer, but I remember him. He's a teacher with a few simple compelling arguments, strong commitment, a little flair and a few "Foxfire" activities to help us pay attention and think about older, simpler ways. We need more teachers like Mr. Strayer. It's good to know he's still standing up there in front, pitching like hell.
Jim, whatever you do, wherever you go, take good care of yourself, and (just in case) keep that blackjack handy.
All the best,
John Freeland
