Tag Archive | "depression"
What works: Caveats for a series of essays
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.
Continue reading...The recession is dead … long live the recession!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The world's first peak-oil recession has come to a close, according to third-quarter numbers invented by the federal government. Apparently flooding big banks, insurance companies, and automobile manufacturers with fiat currency interrupted the plummeting descent of American Empire. The stock markets skyrocketed expectedly. Predictably, so did the commodities markets.
Continue reading...Media alert
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The industrial economy is slipping through our fingers like mercury from a broken thermometer. Facing a rapid terminal decline in crude oil -- the lifeblood of western civilization -- there is nothing you, me, or President Obama can do to save the industrial economy. But as we near the end of the industrial economy, complete with the collapse of our fuel-, food- and water-delivery systems, individuals can make arrangements to thrive in the post-carbon era.
Continue reading...Three peas in a pod: Osama bin Laden, Rush Limbaugh, and me
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
For the first time in my memory, we have a major media figure pining for the failure of a president, and therefore the country. And, also for the first time in my memory, I agree with Rush. The economic collapse of this country promises a renaissance for non-human species and non-industrial cultures.
Continue reading...
Monday, March 15, 2010
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