[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: Piano, Deep Sub-Bass Synth, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Harmonica, Electric Guitar]
[Intro]
How much is enough?
(Enough for who?)
How much can the land provide?
(And who gets to stay inside?)
Count the acres
(Count the mouths)
Count the water
(Count the house)
Count the children
(Count the kin)
Then ask the question…
(Who’s out? Who’s in?)
[Verse 1]
A hundred acres
Twenty souls
That’s the number
That’s the goal
Food and water
Wood and heat
Enough to keep
The whole thing neat
… add another
And another
Pretty soon
You’re counting cousins
(Who’s in?)
[Pre-Chorus]
The spreadsheet grows
(The numbers climb)
The land stays put
(It’s still the same size)
You can’t create
Another acre
Just because
You need it later
[Refrain]
Where to begin?
(Who’s out… who’s in?)
Once it’s thought about…
(Who’s in… who’s out?)
[Verse 2]
Mom and Dad
(Bring them in)
Fourteen people
(Here we begin)
Sister, brother
(Bring them too)
Partners, children
(What do we do?)
Twenty-five
(And counting!)
The gate is closed
(The clock is sounding)
There comes a moment
You have to decide
Who gets a place
On the inside
[Chorus]
Who fends for themselves?
(Who fends for themselves?)
When there’s nowhere else
(And nobody helps)
Who gets the water?
(Who gets the food?)
Who gets the shelter?
(Who’s in the mood?)
It’s easy to say
(Everybody comes!)
When everything’s plentiful
(And there’s plenty for everyone)
But when the limits
Finally show…
(Who gets to stay?)
… I dunno just ain’t gonna go
[Bridge]
Do you choose
The oldest first?
(The youngest first?)
The ones who work?
(The ones who hurt?)
Do you choose
The strongest hand?
(The smartest mind?)
The ones you love?
(Or leave the choice behind?)
What does “family” mean
When resources run thin?
Is there an outside?
(Is there an in?)
[Break]
Who’s in?
(Who’s out?)
Who’s staying?
(Who’s going?)
Who’s got some?
(Who’s got none?)
Who’s got tomorrow?
(Who gets one?)
[Instrumental, Psychedelic Bluegrass Jam]
[Slow-building fiddle, bass and guitar]
[Harmonica Solo]
[Final Chorus]
Who fends for themselves?
(Who fends for themselves?)
That’s the question we ask
(When the numbers don’t match)
Twenty people
(Then twenty-five)
How many can we sustain?
(How many survive?)
And when the capacity
Finally ends…
(Who’s family do we send?)
[Instrumental, Whistle Solo]
[Final Refrain]
Where to begin?
(Who’s out… who’s in?)
Once it’s thought about…
(Who’s in… who’s out?)
Where to begin?
(Who’s out… who’s in?)
The hardest calculation…
(Is who gets civilization.)
[Outro]
[Instrumental, Whistle Solo]
Count the future…
(Are you sure?)
And, what comes above?
(Count the love…)
About the Song
Tonight’s homework assignment: How much land do we need for all our shit?
AKA: The “Who Will Fend for Themselves?” Experiment
Last night was micro: How much land do I need for just me?
Tonight is macro: How much land do we need for me, my family, and company?
In two different experiments—one in New Zealand and one in Pennsylvania—families have been trying to find the answer.
Interestingly, both case studies arrived at a remarkably similar result: if you can optimize the use of roughly 100 acres, you can support about 20 people, although toward the lower end of what we would consider a modern standard of living.
And that’s when the bigger problem became evident.
As part of our long-term planning, we had to determine who would be allowed to come live with us in a crisis such as climate change.
There were eight of us. We figured our parents would need to be among the first to come. That added six, bringing us to 14. Then we started adding siblings, their partners, and their children. We quickly exceeded 25.
So the real question became:
Who gets invited?
And who is left to fend for themselves?
That sounds like an abstract thought experiment when you have plenty of land, food, water, and energy. It becomes a very different question when those resources have a hard limit. And as climate change accelerates—and the number of grandchildren continues to grow—these questions are no longer really about “future generations.”
They are about our own descendants.
They are the people who may actually have to confront the new realities we are leaving them.
That’s the part of the experiment I find hardest to calculate.
Not how many people the land can sustain.
But who gets to be one of them.
From the album “I Dunno“