Tag Archive | "depression"
Warning shots
How many do you need? I still keep hearing, “If things get bad, I’ll move to ….” And then fill in the blank with your favorite fantasy or nightmare, including these and many more: “my sister-in-law’s property in Kansas” “Mexico” “the wilderness” “a central America country” “southern Europe” “the coast” First, let’s consider how “bad” [...]
Continue reading...What works, maybe: individual options
Monday, April 26, 2010
Like global climate change, peak oil represents a predicament, not a problem. There is no politically viable solution to either of these great challenges. Political solutions require economic growth, forever, and therefore no significant sacrifice on the behalf of the electorate. Further, the industrial economy is underlain by the assumption of growth: The industrial economy [...]
Continue reading...Surveying the field and charting a course
Friday, April 16, 2010
It’s all the rage to talk about a double-dip in the industrial economy. That would be an economic trend in the shape of a W. I think an M is far more likely. The assumption of never-ending growth underlies all neoclassical economic assessments, but I think that assumption is about to break up on the [...]
Continue reading...What works: Caveats for a series of essays
Monday, March 15, 2010
My next few essays will concentrate on the cardinal elements of survival: water, food, body temperature, and community. Unless and until we secure these four entities, we will not survive. At the mud hut, our goal is not merely survival. We intend to thrive during the post-carbon era. We relish the opportunity to see the [...]
Continue reading...Viral collapse
Sunday, February 14, 2010
According to economists, the beauty of globalization is worldwide access to materials and cheap (or free) labor to bring the materials to powerful countries. We provide garbage, pollution, and low wages — or, in the “best” cases we enslave workers — and we obtain materials and finished goods. This is the rising economic tide that [...]
Continue reading...Wanted: two miracles
Monday, January 25, 2010
The cover of William Catton’s 1980 book, Overshoot, includes the following definitions: carrying capacity: maximum permanently supportable load. cornucopian myth: euphoric belief in limitless resources. drawdown: stealing resources from the future. cargoism: delusion that technology will always save us from overshoot: growth beyond an area’s carrying capacity, leading to crash: die-off. Most people to whom [...]
Continue reading...If it suddenly ended tomorrow, could you somehow adjust to the fall?
Monday, January 18, 2010
We’ve all played the “what if” game, and specifically the one with a timeline. What if I had six months to live? Would I live differently? Would I see somebody, or some place? How would I “make my peace” with the world and those I love? Let’s kick it up a notch. It’s not one [...]
Continue reading...Terminating the industrial economy: a ten-step plan
Friday, December 25, 2009
Will the ongoing economic collapse reach completion in time to save the living planet, and our species, in the absence of action on our part? Perhaps. Does that give us the right to ignore the moral imperative, hoping — or rather, wishing — peak oil causes the system to collapse under its own weight in [...]
Continue reading...The morality of imperialism, continued
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My latest post stirred considerable interest, as indicated by my email in-box as well as several thoughtful comments online. Although I tried to be clear about my position, questions continue to flow in, suggesting my no-holds-barred approach lacked clarity. I’ll try again in this post, recognizing that my position is so nuanced it is likely [...]
Continue reading...Can we handle the truth?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released World Energy Outlook 2009 today. Even before the sham was shipped, it was exposed as a big 'ol bucket of lies. Seems the current administration thinks Americans can't handle the truth, so we need to apply some pressure to keep the lid on the facts. If this country's paragon of transparency (i.e., world's leading liar) and master of hope (i.e., wishful thinking) actually trusted the American people, perhaps we could avert chaos.
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
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