A Time for Retrovation
Most people in today’s industrial society believe, or think they believe, in progress: they believe, that is, that human history has a built-in bias that infallibly moves it from worse things to better things over time.
Future Scenarios
Retrotopia: The Cloud that Hides the Future
Our narrator spends his last few hours in the Lakeland Republic, finds an answer to a question that has been bothering him, and boards the train back to Pittsburgh and the unknowns that wait there…
Retrotopia: The Only Way Forward
At a final meeting between our narrator and Isaiah Meeker, President of the Lakeland Republic, certain unstated agendas are revealed and the future of one of the post-US North American republics takes an unexpected turn…
Retrotopia: The View from Ottawa Hills
In his last full day in the Lakeland Republic, our narrator pays a visit to industrial magnate Janice Mikkelson and gets a different perspective on the Republic and the lessons of its history…
Retrotopia: Dinner, Drinks, and Hard Questions
Our narrator has dinner with Melanie Berger, tells her about his change of mind, and has to confront the hard choices ahead of him.
School Days in 2040: Rima’s Day at École Gardiens de la Foret
What might education look like in 2040 if it were to be truly Earth-centric?
Retrotopia: Unnoticed Resources
Our narrator discovers that the differences between the Lakeland Republic and his own country include a sharp variance in vulnerability to sudden political and economic shocks…
Retrotopia: You See it isn’t So
Our narrator apologizes for an almost-quarrel, spends an evening on the town, and gets a sudden insight into the nature of the Lakeland Republic’s achievement from a seemingly unlikely source…
Retrotopia: Diminishing Returns
I’d seen newsboys shouting “Extra! Extra!” in old vids, but didn’t have a clue what they were yelling about. Now I knew, and I also knew one of the ways that people in the Lakeland Republic got news about fast-breaking stories.
A History from the Future: A Prosperous Way Down
This is an excerpt from David Holmgren’s A History from the Future – a prelude to his upcoming book RetroSuburbia.
Retrotopia: Back To What Worked
Our narrator visits another school, catches the flu, and has his first encounter with the Lakeland Republic’s health care system…
Retrotopia: Lines of Separation
Our narrator returns from his trip to a tier one county full of doubts about the Lakeland Republic’s prospects, and has those at once challenged and sharpened by a conversation at the local Atheist Assembly…