City living in a post-peak world

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

This headline at today’s version of Energy Bulletin caught my eye: Are cities sustainable in a post-peak oil world? The editors at Energy Bulletin, reflecting contemporary culture, clearly do not understand sustainability. At every level, from the individual through the culture and even through the species, ours is a transient existence. We should be focused on [...]

The morality of imperialism, continued

Sunday, December 20, 2009

33 Comments

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 [...]

Fear and loathing in the blogosphere: doom, gloom, and controlling the message

Saturday, December 12, 2009

29 Comments

I spend quite a bit of time reading the work of other bloggers. Believe it or not, I’ve read a few books, too. This post follows my usual approach of being an equal opportunity offender as I comment on the philosophy of James Howard Kunstler, Dmitry Orlov, and John Michael Greer, along with a few [...]

Briefly, for now

Monday, September 14, 2009

17 Comments

While I'm developing a post about the ongoing decline into negative territory beyond Hubbert's Peak, today's brief post satisfies two purposes: (1) shameless self-promotion, and (2) short-term prediction.

Whack!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

47 Comments

The next case of $120 oil, assuming we get there before the industrial economy falls into the abyss, will be brutal for an already over-stretched American consumer. Banks are falling like dominoes on a mule cart over the bumpy terrain of declining energy supplies. When will the lights go out?

Rally time

Thursday, August 27, 2009

2 Comments

It's rally time on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a positive day for the eighth day in a row to hit a year-long high amidst the longest streak since April of 2007. Before you get too excited about this bit of green-shoots news from the boys on murderer's row, let's consider the cause and consequences.

A typical reaction

Sunday, August 23, 2009

12 Comments

Occasionally when people talk to me about my new life in and around the mud hut, their conclusions include one of the following statements: (1) You're selfishly wasting your talent as an excellent and inspiring teacher. You should be teaching at the university, saving students, instead of preparing for economic collapse. (2) Don't be silly. The United States cannot suffer economic collapse. My responses go something like this:

Theory and practice

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

30 Comments

I used to believe the bankruptcy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would have substantial implications. The FDIC officially ran out of money last Friday when they shuttered the usual handful of banks. When they close another handful this Friday -- conveniently out of the media's not-so-watchful eye -- they'll have exactly nothing with which to back up the deposits. Since backing up deposits in failed banks is the FDIC's entire mission, this should cause the financial system to fail overnight.

Politics and personal responsibility

Saturday, August 1, 2009

26 Comments

I've long recognized the two-party, one-ideology basis of American politics, and I was calling Barack Obama a neoconservative long before it was popular to recognize him as the Teflon President 2.0. But even I can hardly believe this tidbit from a guy I thought was pretty damned smart: From the I-cannot-believe-this-is-happening camp, Obama is appointing a Monsanto man as food safety czar. Welcome to Farmageddon, land of the free.

Time for a revolution

Thursday, May 28, 2009

14 Comments

If you think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath while counting your money.

Guy McPherson's blog

Tag Archive | "economy"