Nearly three years ago, I rounded up 30 people for a conversation. The goal: create a community of friends who would survive and perhaps even thrive during the post-carbon years ahead. The conversation lasted about 18 months, after which we were down to 3 of us (counting my dog).
As attentive readers of this blog know, I was in northern California earlier this week, speaking with Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL). And also enjoying the cool environs, talking about fire ecology, attending a Ukrainian Byzantine Eastern Catholic mass, and hanging out on the beach.
A couple days after returning from a trip across the pond, I departed Tucson for northern California. As suggested in my latest entry, I have multiple goals for this trip: (1) There’s no better time than June to avoid the Sonoran Desert; (2) I’m seeing the world while I can, before the Empire dissolves; and (3) I’m facilitating the Fall of Empire, one gallon at a time. In addition, I’ve been asked to speak at the monthly meeting of the Willits Economic LocaLization group (WELL), arguably the people best prepared, at least in this country, for the collapse of civilization. If you’re in the area, drop by the Willits, California community center Monday, 23 June at 6:15 p.m. for a discussion titled, “Thriving in the post-petroleum era.”
Once upon a time, after the ice receded, human settlements spread across a small island. As a result, wars ensued and the natural world was torn asunder. But the relatively small size of the human population, coupled with limited technology, allowed many species to thrive.