http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/ Humans have tinkered with the natural world since we appeared on the evolutionary stage. Our days certainly seem numbered: As the home team, Nature bats last. Thu, 17 May 2012 05:02:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-5115 Greatest hits – Guy McPherson's blog Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:00:02 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-5115 [...] Saving the world: a transcript for your review: We’re fish in a river, unaware that there’s an ocean, much less a landbase. If you intend to think your way out of this cultural mess, you’ll think of Nietzsche’s Overman. You’ll think of Orwell’s modest heroes. You’ll think of all the quirky, off-beat, out of touch, counter-culture contrarians you’ve ever met. You’ll think. [...] [...] Saving the world: a transcript for your review: We’re fish in a river, unaware that there’s an ocean, much less a landbase. If you intend to think your way out of this cultural mess, you’ll think of Nietzsche’s Overman. You’ll think of Orwell’s modest heroes. You’ll think of all the quirky, off-beat, out of touch, counter-culture contrarians you’ve ever met. You’ll think. [...]

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-383 Atlas Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:55:33 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-383 Nietzsche would never agree with your opinions of the ubermensch and convservation biology anyways so don't even involve him in this. Society is not going to end climb out of your ivory tower and join real society. I believe the oil trade is coming to a close but wal-mart will still be around. With companies like bp and shell spending large portions of their revenues on alternative energy research an alternative energy source will be made available. Wal-mart will just start using alternative energy (gasp!). Wal-mart has a profit incentive they will always do whats cheapest (which is why everything there sucks) it's how they make money. We are consumers, we consume it's simple and your little speech article here isn't very constructive, if you don't like humanity and civilizationthen remove yourself from it go live in the middle of the desert, or in the forest, or in the mountains. Nietzsche would never agree with your opinions of the ubermensch and convservation biology anyways so don’t even involve him in this. Society is not going to end climb out of your ivory tower and join real society. I believe the oil trade is coming to a close but wal-mart will still be around. With companies like bp and shell spending large portions of their revenues on alternative energy research an alternative energy source will be made available. Wal-mart will just start using alternative energy (gasp!). Wal-mart has a profit incentive they will always do whats cheapest (which is why everything there sucks) it’s how they make money. We are consumers, we consume it’s simple and your little speech article here isn’t very constructive, if you don’t like humanity and civilizationthen remove yourself from it go live in the middle of the desert, or in the forest, or in the mountains.

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-382 Matched Betting Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:15:19 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-382 It is a fallacy to think you can get rich quick through gambling. I've read plenty of stories of people gambling their lives away only to win nothing on the hope that their luck comes true once. It is a fallacy to think you can get rich quick through gambling. I’ve read plenty of stories of people gambling their lives away only to win nothing on the hope that their luck comes true once.

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-381 Terje Dysli Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:33:26 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-381 I read your blog reguarly and I find it very interesting . But I think your are a little to focused on the absence of oil. There will be oil available, but at a very, very high price. So we will not stop consuming, but we will consume much, much less of it and of everything else. The globalization will go in reverse. We will live much more local, work closer to home. Buy less, but almost all what we buy will be manufactured locally. We will in fact be a happier community with people regarding themselves as citizens and not the terrible word consumers. The biggest problem is our politicians and the elite who will probably fight to maintain status quo. They will not understand that fighting for oil is meaningless and they will not accept that our economy can´t be based on exponential growth indefinitely. So stay at the bright side of life. Enjoy life and prepare for a challenging future with both happiness and sorrows. Terje Dysli Moss, Norway I read your blog reguarly and I find it very interesting . But I think your are a little to focused on the absence of oil. There will be oil available, but at a very, very high price. So we will not stop consuming, but we will consume much, much less of it and of everything else.
The globalization will go in reverse. We will live much more local, work closer to home. Buy less, but almost all what we buy will be manufactured locally. We will in fact be a happier community with people regarding themselves as citizens and not the terrible word consumers.
The biggest problem is our politicians and the elite who will probably fight to maintain status quo. They will not understand that fighting for oil is meaningless and they will not accept that our economy can´t be based on exponential growth indefinitely.
So stay at the bright side of life. Enjoy life and prepare for a challenging future with both happiness and sorrows.
Terje Dysli
Moss, Norway

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-380 Stan Moore Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:06:27 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-380 A few thoughts after reading the McPherson "Magnum Opus" and seeing repeated mention of the late Edward Said. This man was one of my heroes. He was a truly civilized man in the best possible sense, a superior intellect and a man of conscience. Plus he was a great communicator. He witnessed suffering and spoke truth to power. He did not live to see the resolution of the evil that he so wished to correct, but his life was nonetheless meaningful and excellent. He provided a lesson that our lives can be successful in the quest itself and not always in the actual attainment of our end goals and realization of our hopes. I recall looking up Edward Said's email address and sending him a note of profound thanks for his work and his contribution to my own life and education. Amazingly, he wrote back, thanking me for my kind words. A few months later he was dead. I wrote a eulogy that I posted somewhere online, and I later received an email from his wife and daughters thanking me again for my kind words. This sort of minor connection to a great man is a cherished memory of mine. And to see Edward Said included in the pantheon of McPherson luminaries and influences reinforces in my own mind the great relevance and depth of McPherson philosophy. Stan Moore Petaluma, CA A few thoughts after reading the McPherson “Magnum Opus” and seeing repeated mention of the late Edward Said. This man was one of my heroes. He was a truly civilized man in the best possible sense, a superior intellect and a man of conscience. Plus he was a great communicator. He witnessed suffering and spoke truth to power. He did not live to see the resolution of the evil that he so wished to correct, but his life was nonetheless meaningful and excellent. He provided a lesson that our lives can be successful in the quest itself and not always in the actual attainment of our end goals and realization of our hopes.
I recall looking up Edward Said’s email address and sending him a note of profound thanks for his work and his contribution to my own life and education. Amazingly, he wrote back, thanking me for my kind words. A few months later he was dead. I wrote a eulogy that I posted somewhere online, and I later received an email from his wife and daughters thanking me again for my kind words. This sort of minor connection to a great man is a cherished memory of mine.
And to see Edward Said included in the pantheon of McPherson luminaries and influences reinforces in my own mind the great relevance and depth of McPherson philosophy.
Stan Moore
Petaluma, CA

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-379 David Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:07:51 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-379 Let us know how this talk goes down. Could be an interesting response, if you're dealing with people who aren't thinking about this stuff already. Break a leg! Let us know how this talk goes down. Could be an interesting response, if you’re dealing with people who aren’t thinking about this stuff already.
Break a leg!

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-378 Frank Mezek Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:14:10 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-378 There is some hope--there are signs that the short-lived oil bear market is coming to an end.I think $100/barrel will be the bottom,if not a few bucks higher.Time will tell. There is some hope–there are signs that the short-lived oil bear market is coming to an end.I think $100/barrel will be the bottom,if not a few bucks higher.Time will tell.

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-377 Frank Mezek Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:05:52 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-377 Dear Professor Guy, Your upbeat,spiritual message offers hope.It would be great if there was a future for humanity. But in going into any sports bar the jarring reality of human nature hits you like the proverbial Mack truck(I hate it when I show my old age with archaic cliches). There are so many other dispiriting experiences today--found myself telling a friend that everything was better in the past.I wish I could find some basis for optomism. Can anyone help me out? Dear Professor Guy,
Your upbeat,spiritual message offers hope.It would be great if there was a future for humanity.
But in going into any sports bar the jarring reality of human nature hits you like the proverbial Mack truck(I hate it when I show my old age with archaic cliches).
There are so many other dispiriting experiences today–found myself telling a friend that everything was better in the past.I wish I could find some basis for optomism.
Can anyone help me out?

]]> http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-376 Stan Moore Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:48:14 +0000 http://guymcpherson.com/2008/08/saving-the-world-a-transcript-for-your-review/#comment-376 It occurs to me that many, likely a majority in our civilization do not welcome the pending changes. Many do not want a different world and would do everything in their power to preserve it, even wasting remaining resources in trying to sustain the unsustainable. J.H. Kunstler has dealt with this with regards to efforts to preserve suburbia and the "happy motoring" lifestyle we have become accustomed to. Many ladies cannot conceive a society in which shopping for unneeded consumer goods is not the paramount expression of lifestyle. People of both sexes (with red necks by the millions want to preserve Nascar racing. What will the young urbanites do without video games and internet and text messaging? Hard to do without a power grid. Many people fear nature or have no interest in it and no affection for it. I think it is safe to say that a lot of hope will be invested in the exact opposite direction of the hope I have for a reformed world, a balanced world, a sustainable world. Aldo Leopold spoke of "supercivilized" people, and said he did not know what to make of such ones. That was sixty or more years ago, and humanity has certainly become supercivilized to a degree that Aldo Leopold could never have envisioned. So, I think somehow we need to draw a connection between hope and reality. Geology has established term limits for our petroleum-driven supercivilization. Reality tells us that hoping to preserve the scale and even many of the habits formed during the past generations will be counterproductive, frustrating, and likely even dangerous. I guess the fact is that the type of people who will most likely attend a Guy McPherson lecture are people who already hope for what he/we hope for. Many people who hear what we hope for/plan for/ expect will be shocked, saddened, or worse. Stan Moore Petaluma, CA It occurs to me that many, likely a majority in our civilization do not welcome the pending changes. Many do not want a different world and would do everything in their power to preserve it, even wasting remaining resources in trying to sustain the unsustainable. J.H. Kunstler has dealt with this with regards to efforts to preserve suburbia and the “happy motoring” lifestyle we have become accustomed to.
Many ladies cannot conceive a society in which shopping for unneeded consumer goods is not the paramount expression of lifestyle. People of both sexes (with red necks by the millions want to preserve Nascar racing. What will the young urbanites do without video games and internet and text messaging? Hard to do without a power grid.
Many people fear nature or have no interest in it and no affection for it.
I think it is safe to say that a lot of hope will be invested in the exact opposite direction of the hope I have for a reformed world, a balanced world, a sustainable world.
Aldo Leopold spoke of “supercivilized” people, and said he did not know what to make of such ones.
That was sixty or more years ago, and humanity has certainly become supercivilized to a degree that Aldo Leopold could never have envisioned.
So, I think somehow we need to draw a connection between hope and reality. Geology has established term limits for our petroleum-driven supercivilization. Reality tells us that hoping to preserve the scale and even many of the habits formed during the past generations will be counterproductive, frustrating, and likely even dangerous.
I guess the fact is that the type of people who will most likely attend a Guy McPherson lecture are people who already hope for what he/we hope for. Many people who hear what we hope for/plan for/ expect will be shocked, saddened, or worse.
Stan Moore
Petaluma, CA

]]>