We are all dinosaurs now

Paul Craig Roberts has noticed collapse is at hand. And small wonder, now that fear is starting to paralyze the entire global financial system and stock markets are more fragile than before the Lehman event of 2008, which nearly terminated industrial civilization. Derivatives represent yet another near-term threat to the industrial economy. They have run wild, they continue to run wild, and and they remain an unregulated global casino for banks.

The industrial economy of the globe is so interconnected at this point that the flapping of the proverbial butterfly’s wings at a coffee shop in Florence could well cause an economic tornado in Kansas City. Recognizing this threat to the world’s industrial economy, President Obama is begging Europe to print money to support failing banks while he continues to create an ever-increasing number of terrorists by approving weekly Predator drone strikes throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. The interconnected nature of the flawed and failing paradigm is all the more reason, as if you needed one, to invest in localization and your neighbors.

On the other side of the fossil-fuel coin, March 2012 was the warmest March on record for the contiguous United States, 0.3 degrees Celsius (0.5 degrees Fahrenheit) above the previous 1910 record, and 4.8 C (8.6 F) above the 20th century average. Meanwhile, some scientists have discovered a previously unknown and still little understood source of methane in the Arctic while others are really going out on a limb by concluding human activities probably are responsible for climate change. Additional positive feedbacks are on the rise, and completion of the ongoing collapse is the only way to stop them. Indeed, it might be too late already. But if we act as if it’s too late, that act becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. I’d rather not see how that turns out.

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My monthly essay for Transition Voice was published this morning. It’s here.
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Mike Sosebee was interviewed by Shift Shapers radio regarding Sosebee’s film, Somewhere in New Mexico Before the End of Time. The full interview is embedded below.

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This post is permalinked at Island Breath.