Guy McPherson's blog

U.S. economy running on fumes

The feds are providing the type of support I've come to expect. Facing the collapse of civilization and the extinction of our species, the remaining viable candidates for the nation's highest office are focusing laser-like on cutting taxes and reinvigorating dying industries that have no future. The federal government's complete unwillingness to deal with the tsunami of economic news, from home foreclosures to runaway inflation and supply disruptions in gasoline, is truly pathetic. On the other hand, perhaps TPTB understand that, soon enough, their ability to deal with economic issues will resemble screen doors on a submarine. Once they reach that conclusion, it's easy to imagine they'll save the lifeboats for themselves.

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Christmas, Christianity, and the fall of empire: A year-end reflection

Reason is the basis for understanding the material world. Mysticism has proven an insufficient foundation for dealing with peak oil and runaway greenhouse. As such, I suspect it will prove inadequate for saving humanity. Whether or not we're worth saving is a separate issue.

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Hard times, good stories, and rich lives

There's damn little high fructose corn syrup in your future, and quite a few hard times.

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Last chance for the hairless monkey?

Our last best chance to make it through the ever-tightening bottleneck is to bring down civilization. Although Peak Oil will bring down civilization within the next decade, maybe sooner, we can and should hasten the collapse along.

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The end of civilization and the extinction of humanity

We have, to the maximum possible extent allowed by our intellect and never-ending desire, consumed the planet and therefore traded in tomorrow for today. And we keep making these choices, every day, choosing dams over salmon, oil over whales, cars over polar bears, death over life.

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Philosophy and Conservation Biology

It is not at all clear that humanity can be saved (or, for that matter, is worth saving). Evolution drives us to breed, drives to procreate, and drives us to accumulate resources. Evolution always pushes us toward the brink, and culture piles on, hurling us into the abyss. Nietzsche was correct about our lack of free will -- as Gray points out in Straw Dogs -- free will is an illusion. It's not merely the foam on the beer: it's the last bubble of foam, the one that just popped. It's no surprise, then, that we are sleepwalking into the future, or that the future is a lethal cliff.

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