Tired of waiting for the barbarians
The apocalypse is a dramatic way to talk about peak oil, climate change and economic collapse. But a new book, ‘The Last Myth,’ claims this story isn’t helpful.
Culture & Behavior
America: The Two Empires
There’s a fascinating parallel between the rise of America’s first overseas empire and the emergence of her petroleum industry. The age of oil, in fact, can be seen as an empire of time — the exploitation of the distant past for the benefit of the present — just as empire in the usual sense is an empire of space, the exploitation of distant countries for the benefit of one imperial nation. The two patterns would emerge together to drive a new mode of imperial expansion — one with a sharply limited shelf life.
powaqqatsi or breaking the spell
(Capitalism) has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, that it is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells (Karl Marx)
The Collapse of Complex Societies (review)
The Collapse of Complex Societies is a useful book. Its model seems valid enough to me, and it contains a wealth of historical background. But I think most readers of this site already have a good idea where this society is headed. For the kind of wisdom that might point to renewal — towards which we still have to work, even if it happens long after we’re gone — we need to look elsewhere.
Taking ‘perhaps’ seriously: the resurgence of the British co-operative spirit
Why does Sennett, a professor both at New York University and the London School of Economics, see Britain, not America, as the new homeland for the social left? Ironically enough, he pointed to our language, much mocked by Americans for its stumbling timidity. We Brits are much better, it seems, at ‘subjunctive expression’, one of the three key co-operative skills…While Americans are experts at declarative expression (“I believe X, Y and Z”), the British with our “perhaps”, “I think”, “it might be” create a space for communication that in turn encourages the second ‘dialogic’ skill: that of listening not to the words, but the intention behind them. The third co-operative skill singled out as key is the ability to empathise.
The Phantoms I’ve Killed
Two weeks ago, I described my factor-of-five reduction of natural gas usage at home, mostly stemming from a decision not to heat our San Diego house. We have made similar cuts to our use of utility electricity, using one-tenth the amount that comparable San Diego homes typically consume. In this post, I will reveal how we pulled this off…with plots. Some changes are simple; some require behavioral changes; some might be viewed as outright trickery.
Together: The Rituals Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation (book review)
As if recovering from the binge of market triumphalism that crested in 2008, the Zeitgeist is now unleashing a steady stream of new works on cooperation. The rediscovery of this aspect of our humanity is long overdue and incredibly important, given the deformities of thinking that economics has inflicted on public consciousness. So I was excited to learn that the distinguished sociologist Richard Sennett had written a new book about cooperation, Together: The Rituals Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation.
How many circles does it take to make a community?
I have read some of the “energy descent plans” of some of the leading Transition communities, and they strike me as being long on ideals and objectives and short on credible strategy — how to get there from here…I have come to realize that our future is so “unimaginable” that strategic planning is impossible…Instead, I wondered if it made sense to have…a “Working Towards” plan — specific ideas for helping us (1) build community and increase collaboration and sharing, (2) reduce dependence on imports and centralized systems and increase self-sufficiency, and (3) prepare psychologically and increase resilience for whatever the future holds.
Could we do this using the Resilience Circle model?
Learning from the ancients – Mar 27
-What Modern Society Can Learn From a 2,800 Year Old Earthen Water Well
-Prehistoric fisheries offer clues to sustainable catch
-Ox Carts and No Coffee: Building a Monastery the Medieval Way
We screwed up: A letter of apology to my granddaughter
I wrote the following letter to my granddaughter, Madeline, who is almost four years old. Although she cannot read it today, I hope she will read it in a future that proves so much better than the one that is probable, and so terribly unfair. I’m sharing this letter with other parents and grandparents in the hope that it may move them to embrace their roles as citizens and commit to the hard work of making the planet viable, the economy equitable, and our culture democratic for the many Madelines to come.
On being in time for Transition
At a time when entire peoples — and species — have lost their homes to flooding, deforestation, war, agribusiness and other forms of hatred and greed, when health has been lost to the increasing toxicity and the decreasing nutritional quality of food, it may be that we no longer have time to indulge in the moral miasma of an urgent need to create a more positive future. Our only time is now, a now that holds the whole complexities of hope and suffering, joy and negativity.
Digging in the couch cushions for loose change: Or, why don’t we just create more resources?
Let’s scrap the misleading language of “creating more resources.” When was the last time you made a fish or some oil? Instead, let’s try and get a real sense of what high oil prices are driving us to do – digging around in our couch cushions for loose change.