Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In the previous post on Chaos, Havoc, and the American Abyss, we began a discussion about the work of Peter Pogany, and how it relates to the situation we now find ourselves in with the pending Trump administration here in the U.S.
Many have speculated on the reasons for the current crisis in American politics, and surely there are many facets that have played a part, and there are many angles to cover.
Though it may sound like a cliché, real change rests on our shoulders as citizens, community members, and even as consumers.
Avoiding societal collapse means building bridges between science and the rest of the world.
John Michael Greer’s latest nonfiction book looks at the likely trajectory for North America over the next five centuries.
As long as we’ve had language—for tens of thousands of years, at last estimate—we’ve been able to formulate the question, “What will tomorrow bring?”
We seem to be facing the same problems that the Romans faced two thousand years ago: how to maintain control over a complex system that turns out to be unstable and prone to fighting against itself?
Industrial civilization and its fossil fuels have allowed for a lacksadaisy modern way of life that places an overwhelmingly stronger inclination on the various guises of narcissism than on genuine civic participation, leading to a crisis of democracy.
The fact that one narrowly defined aspect of the universe seems to behave like a machine, though, does not prove that the universe is a machine, any more than the fact that one machine happens to look like a purple dinosaur proves that all machines are purple dinosaurs.
Seeing how the collapse of economies is turning into a bit more than just a fad, where viable and applicable, teaching ourselves out of our jobs and professions before they’re pulled out from under us might come in rather handy.
The non-negotiable foundation of any meaningful response to the crisis of our time, as I’ve pointed out more than once here, can be summed up conveniently with the acronym L.E.S.S.—that is, Less Energy, Stuff, and Stimulation.
Greer’s new novel Twilight’s Last Gleaming is set about a decade in the future in a world much like today’s, but with more expensive oil and a more advanced rival for global supremacy — China.
