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Wed Nov 6 16:20:37 CET 2013
engine that has powered three centuries of accelerating economic
development, revolutionizing technology, science, culture and human life
itself is, today, a roaring out-of-control locomotive mowing down
continents of forests, sweeping oceans of life, clawing out mountains of
minerals, pumping out lakes of fuels, devouring the planet's last
accessible natural resources to turn them into "product," while destroying
fragile global ecologies built up over eons of time. Between 1950 and 2000
the global human population more than doubled from 2.5 to 6 billion. But in
these same decades, consumption of major natural resources soared more than
sixfold on average, some much more. Natural gas consumption grew nearly
twelvefold, bauxite (aluminum ore) fifteenfold. And so on. At current
rates, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson says that "half the world's great
forests have already been leveled and half the world's plant and animal
species may be gone by the end of this century."
Corporations aren't necessarily evil, though plenty are diabolically evil,
but they can't help themselves. They're just doing what they're supposed to
do for the benefit of their shareholders. Shell Oil can't help but loot
Nigeria and the Arctic and cook the climate. That's what shareholders
demand. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and other mining giants can't resist mining
Australia's abundant coal and exporting it to China and India. Mining
accounts for 19% of Australia's GDP and substantial employment even as coal
combustion is the single worst driver of global warming. IKEA can't help
but level the forests of Siberia and Malaysia to feed the Chinese mills
building their flimsy disposable furniture (IKEA is the third largest
consumer of lumber in the world). Apple can't help it if the cost of
extracting the "rare earths" it needs to make millions of new iThings each
year is the destruction of the eastern Congo - violence, rape, slavery,
forced induction of child soldiers, along with poisoning local waterways.
Monsanto and DuPont and Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science have no choice but
to wipe out bees, butterflies, birds, small farmers and extinguish crop
diversity to secure their grip on the world's food supply while drenching
the planet in their Roundups and Atrazines and neonicotinoids.
This is how giant corporations are wiping out life on earth in the course
of a routine business day. And the bigger the corporations grow, the worse
the problems become.
In Adam Smith's day, when the first factories and mills produced hat pins
and iron tools and rolls of cloth by the thousands, capitalist freedom to
make whatever they wanted didn't much matter because they didn't have much
impact on the global environment. But today, when everything is produced in
the millions and billions, then trashed today and reproduced all over again
tomorrow, when the planet is looted and polluted to support all this
frantic and senseless growth, it matters - a lot.
The world's climate scientists tell us we're facing a planetary emergency.
They've been telling us since the 1990s that if we don't cut global fossil
fuel greenhouse gas emissions by 80-90% below 1990 levels by 2050 we will
cross critical tipping points and global warming will accelerate beyond any
human power to contain it. Yet despite all the ringing alarm bells, no
corporation and no government can oppose growth and, instead, every
capitalist government in the world is putting pedal to the metal to
accelerate growth, to drive us full throttle off the cliff to collapse....
We all know what we have to do: suppress greenhouse gas emissions. Stop
over-consuming natural resources. Stop the senseless pollution of the
earth, waters, and atmosphere with toxic chemicals. Stop producing waste
that can't be recycled by nature. Stop the destruction of biological
diversity and ensure the rights of other species to flourish. We don't need
any new technological breakthroughs to solve these problems. Mostly, we
just [need to] stop doing what we're doing. But we can't stop because we're
all locked into an economic system in which companies have to grow to
compete and reward their shareholders and because we all need the jobs....
Still, it's one thing for James Hansen or Bill McKibben to say we need to
"leave the coal in the hole, the oil in the soil, the gas under the grass,"
to call for "severe curbs" in GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions - in the
abstract. But think about what this means in our capitalist economy. Most
of us, even passionate environmental activists, don't really want to face
up to the economic implications of the science we defend....
Of course, no one wants to hear this because, given capitalism, this would
unavoidably mean mass bankruptcies, global economic collapse, depression
and mass unemployment around the world. That's why in April 2013, in laying
the political groundwork for his approval of the XL pipeline in some form,
President Obama said "the politics of this are tough." The earth's
temperature probably isn't the "number one concern" for workers who haven't
seen a raise in a decade; have an underwater mortgage; are spending $40 to
fill their gas tank, can't afford a hybrid car; and face other challenges."
Obama wants to save the planet but given capitalism his "number one
concern" has to be growing the economy, growing jobs. Given capitalism -
today, tomorrow, next year and every year - economic growth will always be
the overriding priority ... till we barrel right off the cliff to
collapse....
If there's no market mechanism to stop plundering the planet then, again,
what alternative is there but to impose an emergency contraction on
resource consumption?
This doesn't mean we would have to de-industrialize and go back to riding
horses and living in log cabins. But it does mean that we would have to
abandon the "consumer economy" - shut down all kinds of unnecessary,
wasteful and polluting industries from junkfood to cruise ships, disposable
Pampers to disposable H&M clothes, disposable IKEA furniture, endless new
model cars, phones, electronic games, the lot. Plus all the banking,
advertising, junk mail, most retail, etc. We would have [to] completely
redesign production to replace "fast junk food" with healthy, nutritious,
fresh "slow food," replace "fast fashion" with "slow fashion," bring back
mending, alterations and local tailors and shoe repairmen. We would have to
completely redesign production of appliances, electronics, housewares,
furniture and so on to be as durable and long-lived as possible. Bring back
appliance repairmen and such. We would have to abolish the throwaway
disposables industries, the packaging and plastic bag industrial complex,
bring back refillable bottles and the like. We would have to design and
build housing to last for centuries, to be as energy efficient as possible,
to be reconfigurable, and shareable. We would have to vastly expand public
transportation to curb vehicle use but also build those we do need to last
and be shareable like Zipcar or Paris' municipally-owned "Autolib" shared
electric cars.
These are the sorts of things we would have to do if we really want to stop
overconsumption and save the world. All these changes are simple,
self-evident, no great technical challenge. They just require a completely
different kind of economy, an economy geared to producing what we need
while conserving resources for future generations of humans and for other
species with which we share this planet....
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D
Surviving Climate
Change<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1385171441-b7518f0e99ebb2cf1b0687da=
2301eefa-e563907?pa=3D18475744240>
By Michael T. Klare, *TomDispatch*
18 November 13
....With an awareness of climate change growing and as intensifying floods,
fires, droughts, and storms become an inescapable feature of daily life
across the planet, more people are joining environmental groups and
engaging in increasingly bold protest actions. Sooner or later, government
leaders are likely to face multiple eruptions of mass public anger and may,
in the end, be forced to make radical adjustments in energy policy or risk
being swept aside.
In fact, it is possible to imagine such a green energy revolution erupting
in one part of the world and spreading like wildfire to others. Because
climate change is going to inflict increasingly severe harm on human
populations, the impulse to rebel is only likely to gain in strength across
the planet....
*[After describing a Turkish uprising of this kind, the author turns to
China:]*
The same trajectory of events -- a small-scale environmental protest
evolving into a full-scale challenge to governmental authority -- can be
seen in other mass protests of recent years.
Take a Chinese example: in October 2012, students and middle class people
joined with poor farmers to protest the construction of an $8.8 billion
petrochemical facility in Ningbo, a city of 3.4 million people south of
Shanghai. In a country where environmental pollution has reached nearly
unprecedented levels, these protests were touched off by fears that the
plant, to be built by the state-owned energy company Sinopec with local
government support, would produce paraxylene, a toxic substance used in
plastics, paints, and cleaning solvents.
Here, too, the initial spark that led to the protests was small-scale. On
October 22nd, some 200 farmers obstructed a road near the district
government=92s office in an attempt to block the plant=92s construction. Af=
ter
the police were called in to clear the blockade, students from nearby
Ningbo University joined the protests. Using social media, the protestors
quickly enlisted support from middle-class residents of the city who
converged in their thousands on downtown Ningbo. When riot police moved in
to break up the crowds, the protestors fought back, attacking police cars
and throwing bricks and water bottles. While the police eventually gained
the upper hand after several days of pitched battles, the Chinese
government concluded that mass action of this sort, occurring in the heart
of a major city and featuring an alliance of students, farmers, and young
professionals, was too great a threat. After five days of fighting, the
government gave in, announcing the cancellation of the petrochemical
project.
The Ningbo demonstrations were hardly the first such upheavals to erupt in
China. They did, however, highlight a growing governmental vulnerability to
mass environmental protest. For decades, the reigning Chinese Communist
Party has justified its monopolistic hold on power by citing its success in
generating rapid economic growth. But that growth means the use of ever
more fossil fuels and petrochemicals, which, in turn, means increased
carbon emissions and disastrous atmospheric pollution, including one
=93airpocalypse=94 after another.
Until recently, most Chinese seemed to accept such conditions as the
inevitable consequences of growth, but it seems that tolerance of
environmental degradation is rapidly diminishing. As a result, the party
finds itself in a terrible bind: it can slow development as a step toward
cleaning up the environment, incurring a risk of growing economic
discontent, or it can continue its growth-at-all-costs policy, and find
itself embroiled in a firestorm of Ningbo-style environmental protests.
This dilemma -- the environment versus the economy -- has proven to be at
the heart of similar mass eruptions elsewhere on the planet....
*[The author then explores protests in Germany, Japan, and the U.S. and
says the following:]*
The Explosions Ahead
What these episodes tell us is that people around the world are becoming
ever more concerned about energy policy as it affects their lives and are
prepared -- often on short notice -- to engage in mass protests. At the
same time, governments globally, with rare exceptions, are deeply wedded to
existing energy policies. These almost invariably turn them into targets,
no matter what the original spark for mass opposition. As the results of
climate change become ever more disruptive, government officials will find
themselves repeatedly choosing between long-held energy plans and the
possibility of losing their grip on power.
Because few governments are as yet prepared to launch the sorts of efforts
that might even begin to effectively address the peril of climate change,
they will increasingly be seen as obstacles to essential action and so as
entities that need to be removed. In short, climate rebellion --
spontaneous protests that may at any moment evolve into unquenchable mass
movements -- is on the horizon. Faced with such rebellions, recalcitrant
governments will respond with some combination of accommodation to popular
demands and harsh repression.
Many governments will be at risk from such developments, but the Chinese
leadership appears to be especially vulnerable. The ruling party has staked
its future viability on an endless carbon-fueled growth agenda that is
steadily destroying the country=92s environment. It has already faced
half-a-dozen environmental upheavals like the one in Ningbo, and has
responded to them by agreeing to protestors=92 demands or by employing brute
force. The question is: How long can this go on?...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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833704b425b89c21e1879ce7d-e563907?pa=3D18475744240>
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Reflections on Evolutionary
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<div dir=3D"ltr">contains five collapse oriented article at the bottom,<div=
><br></div><div>good summary of the arguments</div><div><br><div class=3D"g=
mail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class=3D"gm=
ail_sendername">Tom Atlee</b> <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:cii at i=
gc.org">cii at igc.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 8:54 PM<br>Subject: Acknowledging real end-times=
possibilities<br>To: Michel Bauwens <<a href=3D"mailto:michel at p2pfounda=
tion.net">michel at p2pfoundation.net</a>><br><br><br><u></u><div style=3D"=
padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;background-color:#000000;margin-top:0;paddi=
ng-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0" bgco=
lor=3D"#000000">
<div style=3D"background-color:#000000"><p style=3D"font-size:0px;color:tra=
nsparent">Tom Atlee's Co-Intelligence Journal
. The Co-Intelligence Symbol .
What this message is about: Concerns about civilizational collapse and hum=
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<h2 align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:20=
px;font-weight:bold;margin-top:10px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',He=
lvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2em;padding-top:0;color:#412c0a;padd=
ing-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0;di=
rection:ltr">
<span style=3D"color:#412c0a;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica=
,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:20px;text-align:left;direction:ltr">Tom Atlee&#=
39;s Co-Intelligence Journal</span></h2></div></td></tr></tbody></table></d=
iv>
<div style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clear:both;margin-top:0;paddi=
ng-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0"><tab=
le style=3D"margin-bottom:auto;border-right-style:none;border-right-width:0=
;border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:auto;border-left-style:none;border-bot=
tom-style:none;border-left-width:0;border-bottom-width:0;border-top-style:n=
one;border-top-width:0;border-spacing:0;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"=
width=3D"530">
<tbody><tr><td align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clea=
r:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bott=
om:0;margin-right:0" width=3D"530"><table height=3D"104" align=3D"left" wid=
th=3D"180" style=3D"margin-bottom:0;border-right-style:solid;border-right-w=
idth:1px;border-top-color:#fdf2e4;border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:0;bor=
der-left-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-width:1px;border=
-bottom-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom=
-color:#fdf2e4;border-spacing:0;margin-left:0;border-right-color:#fdf2e4;ma=
rgin-right:0;border-left-color:#fdf2e4;float:left">
<tbody><tr><td align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clea=
r:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bott=
om:0;margin-right:0"><div style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:15px;margi=
n-top:3px;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0;margi=
n-right:30px;float:left">
<a style=3D"color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1385171=
441-4e485cbbcb0c4900f8025fc23afc01ea-e563907?pa=3D18475744240" target=3D"_b=
lank"><img src=3D"https://d1wh43egtz3cgo.cloudfront.net/promotion_images/04=
95/5409/original/Cii-logo-smaller.jpg" height=3D"104" alt=3D"Cii-logo-small=
er" style=3D"border-right-width:0;border-left-width:0;border-bottom-width:0=
;border-top-width:0" width=3D"150"></a><p align=3D"left" style=3D"clear:bot=
h;font-size:11px;line-height:1.5em;margin-bottom:1.5em;margin-top:3px;font-=
family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;padding-right:0;paddin=
g-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-left:0;color:=
#645234;text-align:left;font-style:italic;direction:ltr;width:150px">
. The Co-Intelligence Symbol .</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div styl=
e=3D"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;padding-left=
:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0"><p align=3D"left" style=
=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-fami=
ly:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;paddin=
g-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:=
#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
<em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic"><strong style=3D"fo=
nt-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline">What this message is about:</strong=
> Concerns about civilizational collapse and human extinction in the fores=
eeable future are rising and moving from the fringes into the mainstream. =
Many who share these concerns are understandably prone to despair and cynic=
ism. What are the various life-serving ways to confront and respond to the=
se daunting realities?</em></p>
</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-=
bottom:0;clear:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0=
;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0"><table style=3D"margin-bottom:auto;border=
-right-style:none;border-right-width:0;border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:=
auto;border-left-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-width:0;bo=
rder-bottom-width:0;border-top-style:none;border-top-width:0;border-spacing=
:0;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" width=3D"530">
<tbody><tr><td align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clea=
r:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bott=
om:0;margin-right:0" width=3D"530"><div style=3D"margin-top:0;margin-right:=
0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom=
:0;padding-right:0">
<h1 align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:18px;line-height:1.3em;padding-right:=
0;margin-top:0;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-se=
rif;margin-bottom:10px;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;margin=
-right:0;margin-left:0;color:#412c0a;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-43eb6e7d498582168e98ba287eaa67a6-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Acknowledging real end-times possibilities</a></=
h1></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom=
:0;clear:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;paddi=
ng-bottom:0;margin-right:0"><table style=3D"margin-bottom:auto;border-right=
-style:none;border-right-width:0;border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:auto;b=
order-left-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-width:0;border-b=
ottom-width:0;border-top-style:none;border-top-width:0;border-spacing:0;mar=
gin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" width=3D"530">
<tbody><tr><td align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clea=
r:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bott=
om:0;margin-right:0" width=3D"530"><table height=3D"138" align=3D"left" wid=
th=3D"168" style=3D"margin-bottom:0;border-right-style:solid;border-right-w=
idth:1px;border-top-color:#fdf2e4;border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:0;bor=
der-left-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-width:1px;border=
-bottom-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom=
-color:#fdf2e4;border-spacing:0;margin-left:0;border-right-color:#fdf2e4;ma=
rgin-right:0;border-left-color:#fdf2e4;float:left">
<tbody><tr><td align=3D"left" style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;clea=
r:both;margin-top:0;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bott=
om:0;margin-right:0"><div style=3D"padding-right:0;margin-bottom:15px;margi=
n-top:3px;padding-top:0;padding-left:0;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0;margi=
n-right:30px;float:left">
<img src=3D"https://d1wh43egtz3cgo.cloudfront.net/promotion_images/0500/716=
5/original/220px-Yin_and_Yang.svg.png" height=3D"138" alt=3D"220px-Yin_and_=
Yang.svg" style=3D"border-right-width:0;border-left-width:0;border-bottom-w=
idth:0;border-top-width:0" width=3D"138"><p align=3D"left" style=3D"clear:b=
oth;font-size:11px;line-height:1.5em;margin-bottom:1.5em;margin-top:3px;fon=
t-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;padding-right:0;padd=
ing-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-left:0;colo=
r:#645234;text-align:left;font-style:italic;direction:ltr;width:138px">
Co-evolution of Life and Death</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div styl=
e=3D"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;padding-left=
:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-right:0"><p align=3D"left" style=
=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-fami=
ly:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;paddin=
g-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:=
#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
Dear friends:</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5e=
m;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Rom=
an',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:=
0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;tex=
t-align:left;direction:ltr">
An increasing number of people are coming to the conclusion that there'=
s a non-trivial chance that civilization will collapse - or, more terminall=
y, that the human species will die off - within the next few hundred years,=
thanks to climate chaos and/or many variously related threats.[1]</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
These extreme but no longer "crazy" views are drifting towards th=
e mainstream. Quite in addition to the many apocalyptic movies, novels, an=
d music - the R.E.M. anthem "it's the end of the world as we know =
it, and I feel fine" being exemplary - former Vice President Al Gore <=
a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.c=
om/redirects/1385171441-3bcb12235460e769477ea5b44935d839-e563907?pa=3D18475=
744240" target=3D"_blank">recently suggested</a> that civilization might no=
t survive the next 100 years - and two separate <em style=3D"vertical-align=
:baseline;font-style:italic">New York Times</em> op eds by Roy Scranton and=
Samuel Scheffler (below) recently explored the philosophical and psycholog=
ical implications of human extinction.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
These cultural phenomena are the tip of an iceberg of disturbed collective =
consciousness increasingly haunting the minds, hearts, and spirits of ordin=
ary citizens who really don't want to think about it or talk about it.<=
/p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
For years writers seriously concerned about climate change and peak oil hav=
e been pioneering ways to address these emerging realities head-on, with va=
rying degrees of pessimism, practicality, positive vision, and spiritual in=
spiration. Some of the many voices I know of in this choir include:</p>
<ul style=3D"list-style-position:outside;padding-right:0;margin-bottom:1em;=
margin-top:0;line-height:18px;padding-top:0;list-style-type:square;padding-=
left:18px;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0"><li style=3D"padding-right:0;mar=
gin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;font-family:Geo=
rgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5em;padding-top:0;=
color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;padding-bottom:0=
;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-989db1d555e65dc2610637d330833361-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Culture Change</a></li><li style=3D"padding-righ=
t:0;margin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;font-fam=
ily:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5em;padding=
-top:0;color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;padding-b=
ottom:0;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-9a0d220c905b2147dba6cd04aabff5d1-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Transition Towns network</a></li><li style=3D"pa=
dding-right:0;margin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:=
0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5=
em;padding-top:0;color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0=
;padding-bottom:0;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-bbeb12263fda860c73f028d486d490f4-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">John Michael Greer</a></li><li style=3D"padding-=
right:0;margin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;font=
-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5em;pad=
ding-top:0;color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;paddi=
ng-bottom:0;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-bfe2c512ba584ede028b63c635ea4e88-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Post-Carbon Institute</a></li><li style=3D"paddi=
ng-right:0;margin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;f=
ont-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5em;=
padding-top:0;color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;pa=
dding-bottom:0;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-4b03c639460f40c38128f6eed8a11fbd-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Oil Empire</a></li><li style=3D"padding-right:0;=
margin-bottom:0;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;font-family:=
Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;line-height:1.5em;padding-top=
:0;color:#645234;padding-left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;padding-botto=
m:0;margin-right:0;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-0c2ef7faab1a64750fb19fe3b34ad552-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Collapse of Industrial Civilization blog</a></li=
></ul>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
A quick look at any of them will tell you whether they speak to your own ne=
eds and perspectives. In addition, below I've excerpted some specific =
recent articles that will give you a taste of what I've been reading la=
tely that led to this post.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
But I want to make clear: In this post I'm not wishing to promote or c=
ounter any of these views or responses. What I want to do here is help bri=
ng the issue out of the closet so it can be talked about more freely.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
As hard as collapse and extinction are to think and talk about, I do not be=
lieve that doing so makes them more likely. On the contrary, I believe exp=
loring them may free up energy to take more creative, wholesome action toge=
ther, regardless of how things turn out. I'm being guided here by an u=
nderstanding that what can't be spoken erodes our spirits and empowers =
the darker, less free parts of our nature.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
I believe that it is time to look more courageously at the full vista of wh=
at we face in our and our children's future. And then make of it what =
we can, fully connected with our love of life.</p><p align=3D"left" style=
=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-fami=
ly:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;paddin=
g-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:=
#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
Furthermore, given the reality that we don't actually know what will ha=
ppen, systems science and evolutionary ecology suggest that diversity of re=
sponses will increase our chances for collective resilience.</p><p align=3D=
"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top=
:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:=
1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bot=
tom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
In my next post I'll discuss some of my own strategies for affirming li=
fe in the strange circumstances in which we find ourselves - indeed, that w=
e have collectively made for ourselves - even in the face of the possible e=
nd of civilization or the human race itself.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
Coheartedly,
<br>
Tom</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-=
right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',se=
rif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-r=
ight:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:le=
ft;direction:ltr">
[1] <strong style=3D"font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline">The various=
threats related to climate change</strong> include (but are not limited to=
) peak oil and other rapidly depleting resources, failed agriculture and co=
nsequent starvation, the degradation and death of entire ecosystems like oc=
eans and rain forests, new or resistant diseases (or diseases in new places=
), accelerating species extinctions, nuclear (war or power) catastrophes, w=
idespread wars and failed states, and super-technologies whose potentially =
massively destructive impacts are unleashed purposefully or by miscalculati=
on, error, terror, or random alienated or inspired hacking.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-h=
eight:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Tim=
es New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;pad=
ding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:ba=
seline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-53744631274be10722d56de34192bd69-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene</a><br>
By Roy Scranton
<br><em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">The New York Ti=
mes</em></p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;pad=
ding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman=
9;,serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;mar=
gin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-ali=
gn:left;direction:ltr">
We have passed the point of no return. From the point of view of policy exp=
erts, climate scientists and national security officials, the question is n=
o longer whether global warming exists or how we might stop it, but how we =
are going to deal with it.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
There=92s a word for this new era we live in: the Anthropocene. This term, =
taken up by geologists, pondered by intellectuals and discussed in the page=
s of publications such as <em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:i=
talic">The Economist</em> and <em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-sty=
le:italic">The New York Times</em>, represents the idea that we have entere=
d a new epoch in Earth=92s geological history, one characterized by the arr=
ival of the human species as a geological force. The Nobel-Prize-winning ch=
emist Paul Crutzen coined the term in 2002, and it has steadily gained acce=
ptance as evidence has increasingly mounted that the changes wrought by glo=
bal warming will affect not just the world=92s climate and biological diver=
sity, but its very geology =97 and not just for a few centuries, but for mi=
llenniums. The geophysicist David Archer=92s 2009 book, =93The Long Thaw: H=
ow Humans are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth=92s Climate,=94 lays=
out a clear and concise argument for how huge concentrations of carbon dio=
xide in the atmosphere and melting ice will radically transform the planet,=
beyond freak storms and warmer summers, beyond any foreseeable future.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
...The challenge the Anthropocene poses is a challenge not just to national=
security, to food and energy markets, or to our =93way of life=94 =97 thou=
gh these challenges are all real, profound, and inescapable. The greatest c=
hallenge the Anthropocene poses may be to our sense of what it means to be =
human. Within 100 years =97 within three to five generations =97 we will fa=
ce average temperatures 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than today, rising seas=
at least three to 10 feet higher, and worldwide shifts in crop belts, grow=
ing seasons and population centers. Within a thousand years, unless we stop=
emitting greenhouse gases wholesale right now, humans will be living in a =
climate the Earth hasn=92t seen since the Pliocene, three million years ago=
, when oceans were 75 feet higher than they are today. We face the imminent=
collapse of the agricultural, shipping and energy networks upon which the =
global economy depends, a large-scale die-off in the biosphere that=92s alr=
eady well on its way, and our own possible extinction. If homo sapiens (or =
some genetically modified variant) survives the next millenniums, it will b=
e survival in a world unrecognizably different from the one we have inhabit=
ed...</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
[T]he biggest problems the Anthropocene poses are precisely those that have=
always been at the root of humanistic and philosophical questioning: =93Wh=
at does it mean to be human?=94 and =93What does it mean to live?=94 In the=
epoch of the Anthropocene, the question of individual mortality =97 =93Wha=
t does my life mean in the face of death?=94 =97 is universalized and frame=
d in scales that boggle the imagination. What does human existence mean aga=
inst 100,000 years of climate change? What does one life mean in the face o=
f species death or the collapse of global civilization? How do we make mean=
ingful choices in the shadow of our inevitable end?</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
These questions have no logical or empirical answers. They are philosophica=
l problems par excellence. Many thinkers, including Cicero, Montaigne, Karl=
Jaspers, and The Stone=92s own Simon Critchley, have argued that studying =
philosophy is learning how to die. If that=92s true, then we have entered h=
umanity=92s most philosophical age =97 for this is precisely the problem of=
the Anthropocene. The rub is that now we have to learn how to die not as i=
ndividuals, but as a civilization....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
The human psyche naturally rebels against the idea of its end. Likewise, ci=
vilizations have throughout history marched blindly toward disaster, becaus=
e humans are wired to believe that tomorrow will be much like today =97 it =
is unnatural for us to think that this way of life, this present moment, th=
is order of things is not stable and permanent. Across the world today, our=
actions testify to our belief that we can go on like this forever, burning=
oil, poisoning the seas, killing off other species, pumping carbon into th=
e air, ignoring the ominous silence of our coal mine canaries in favor of t=
he unending robotic tweets of our new digital imaginarium. Yet the reality =
of global climate change is going to keep intruding on our fantasies of per=
petual growth, permanent innovation and endless energy, just as the reality=
of mortality shocks our casual faith in permanence.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
The biggest problem climate change poses isn=92t how the Department of Defe=
nse should plan for resource wars, or how we should put up sea walls to pro=
tect Alphabet City, or when we should evacuate Hoboken. It won=92t be addre=
ssed by buying a Prius, signing a treaty, or turning off the air-conditioni=
ng. The biggest problem we face is a philosophical one: understanding that =
this civilization is already dead. The sooner we confront this problem, and=
the sooner we realize there=92s nothing we can do to save ourselves, the s=
ooner we can get down to the hard work of adapting, with mortal humility, t=
o our new reality.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
The choice is a clear one. We can continue acting as if tomorrow will be ju=
st like yesterday, growing less and less prepared for each new disaster as =
it comes, and more and more desperately invested in a life we can=92t susta=
in. Or we can learn to see each day as the death of what came before, freei=
ng ourselves to deal with whatever problems the present offers without atta=
chment or fear.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
=3D =3D =3D =3D</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.=
5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New R=
oman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-lef=
t:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;t=
ext-align:left;direction:ltr">
Excerpts from
<br><a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madm=
imi.com/redirects/1385171441-50c0df0bf669a49d1c8d9b1bdf72127f-e563907?pa=3D=
18475744240" target=3D"_blank">The Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously.<=
/a><br>
by Samuel Scheffler
<br>
21 September 2013
<br><em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">The New York Ti=
mes</em></p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;pad=
ding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman=
9;,serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;mar=
gin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-ali=
gn:left;direction:ltr">
I believe in life after death. My belief in life after death is more mundan=
e. What I believe is that other people will continue to live after I myself=
have died. You probably make the same assumption in your own case. Althoug=
h we know that humanity won't exist forever, most of us take it for gra=
nted that the human race will survive, at least for a while, after we ourse=
lves are gone.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
Because we take this belief for granted, we don't think much about its =
significance. Yet I think that this belief plays an extremely important rol=
e in our lives, quietly but critically shaping our values, commitments and =
sense of what is worth doing. Astonishing though it may seem, there are way=
s in which the continuing existence of other people after our deaths =97 ev=
en that of complete strangers =97 matters more to us than does our own surv=
ival and that of our loved ones.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
. . . Of course, many people are terrified of dying. But even people who fe=
ar death (and even those who do not believe in a personal afterlife) remain=
confident of the value of their activities despite knowing that they will =
die someday.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
. . . The knowledge that we and everyone we know and love will someday die =
does not cause most of us to lose confidence in the value of our daily acti=
vities. But the knowledge that no new people would come into existence woul=
d make many of those things seem pointless... [O]ur capacity to find purpos=
e and value in our lives depends on what we expect to happen to others afte=
r our deaths.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
. . . But will humanity survive for a good long time? ...[We] know that the=
re are serious threats to humanity's survival. Not all of these threats=
are human-made, but some of the most pressing certainly are, like those po=
sed by climate change and nuclear proliferation. People who worry about the=
se problems often urge us to remember our obligations to future generations=
, whose fate depends so heavily on what we do today. We are obligated, they=
stress, not to make the earth uninhabitable or to degrade the environment =
in which our descendants will live.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
I agree. But there is also another side to the story. Yes, our descendants =
depend on us to make possible their existence and wellbeing. But we also de=
pend on them and their existence if we are to lead flourishing lives oursel=
ves. And so our reasons to overcome the threats to humanity's survival =
do not derive solely from our obligations to our descendants. We have anoth=
er reason to try to ensure a flourishing future for those who come after us=
: it is simply that, to an extent that we rarely recognize or acknowledge, =
they already matter so much to us.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-h=
eight:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Tim=
es New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;pad=
ding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:ba=
seline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
Excerpts from</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5e=
m;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Rom=
an',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:=
0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;tex=
t-align:left;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-4fe95318ec6f4f2fe9436c6c98801493-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Why We Cannot Save the World</a><br>
by Dave Pollard</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.=
5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New R=
oman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-lef=
t:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;t=
ext-align:left;direction:ltr">
Hardly a day passes when I don=92t hear a cry for us all to work together t=
o do X, because if we do that, everything will change and the world will be=
saved (or at least be rid of some horrific and intractable problem and hen=
ce made immeasurably better). Many variations of X are proposed, and they=
=92re often about (a) comprehensively reforming our political, economic, ed=
ucation or other system, (b) achieving some large-scale behaviour change th=
rough mass persuasion or education, or (c) bringing together great minds an=
d volunteer energies to bring ingenuity and innovation to bear collaborativ=
ely on some issue or crisis.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
It is perfectly reasonable to believe that such change is possible: Look at=
what we have done in past to eradicate diseases, to institute democracy an=
d =91free=92 enterprise worldwide, to dramatically reduce the prevalence of=
slavery, to pull the world out of the Great Depression, to produce astonis=
hing technologies and improve the position of women and minorities, we are =
told. All we need is the same kind of effort dedicated to X. If we work tog=
ether we can accomplish anything.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
It is perfectly reasonable to believe that such change is possible. But suc=
h change, I would argue, is not possible. The belief that substantive and s=
ustained change comes about by large-scale concerted efforts, or by the pro=
verbial Margaret Mead =93small group of thoughtful, committed citizens=94 m=
isses a critical point =97 throughout human history such change efforts hav=
e only occurred when there was no choice but to do them, when the alternati=
ve of inaction was so obviously and inarguably calamitous that the status q=
uo was out of the question. And even then such efforts usually fail =97 eit=
her they run up against fierce and powerful opposition and are suppressed, =
or they bring about a new status quo that is arguably worse than what it re=
placed. ...</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
We can be persuaded that our exhaustion, our physical, intellectual, emotio=
nal, spiritual and imaginative poverty, the debilitating chronic diseases t=
hat are now epidemic in our culture, the ghastly suffering to which we subj=
ect other animals in the name of food and human safety, the epidemic of phy=
sical, sexual and psychological abuse in our homes and institutions, the en=
demic sense of grief and depression about our lives and our world, the acce=
lerating extinction of all non-human life on Earth except for human parasit=
es, the rapid depletion of cheap energy upon which our whole culture totall=
y depends, the endlessly growing gap between the tiny affluent minority and=
the massive struggling majority, the runaway climate change that our human=
pollutants has triggered, the utter impossibility of ever repaying the sta=
ggering debts we have dumped on future generations, and the consequences wh=
en those debts come due =97 we can be persuaded that all of these things ca=
n be somehow fixed, that all of these unintended consequences of the way we=
have been living our lives for a thousand generations, can somehow be reso=
lved in one or two, by a concerted effort to do X.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
They cannot. That is not how the world, or human civilizations, work, or ev=
er have worked. Our human civilization, like all living systems, is complex=
, and complex systems do not lend themselves to mechanical =91fixes=92. The=
y evolve, slowly, unpredictably, over millennia. We may be able to change m=
any malleable human minds in a hurry, if we=92re motivated, and if we must,=
at least for a while until we can go back to what we were doing. But we ca=
nnot change our bodies, which are still evolving slowly, trying to adapt to=
our minds=92 relatively recent decision to leave the rainforest, to eat me=
at, to settle in large, crowded, stressful, hierarchical cities, to walk up=
right. Our weary, pretzel-bent bodies are complaining about the changes we =
have forced on them over the past million years, and struggling with them. =
Too much too fast, they say.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
And we cannot begin to enable the ecosystems of which we are a part to adap=
t to these changes, ecosystems now in states of massive collapse, exhaustio=
n, desolation and extinction. We do not know what to do. We are limited to =
mechanical solutions =97 technology and engineering =97 and mechanical solu=
tions cannot =91solve=92 these crises =97 crises that technology and engine=
ering have themselves substantially caused.....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
So why do we go on clinging to this hopeful, idealistic view that we can [&=
quot;save the world"]? I think it=92s because we want to do our best, =
so we want to believe we have enough control over ourselves and our actions=
and the world in which we live to be able to =93progress=94, to solve prob=
lems and deal effectively with crises. Life is wonderful and we want it to =
go on and be wonderful for everyone, now and in the future...</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
[But] The challenges we face are overwhelming, and they=92ve been accelerat=
ing in size and complexity for millennia. The more we learn about them, and=
their interrelatedness, the more daunting they become....</p><p align=3D"l=
eft" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0=
;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.=
3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-botto=
m:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
[If] we want to deal with the economic crises we have precipitated, neither=
austerity nor stimulus will work. We have to reinvent our whole economy as=
a steady-state one without debt or credit. But we can=92t do that, because=
without growth our economy will collapse and plunge us into the worst depr=
ession civilization has ever known. And with growth our resources will run =
out faster and climate change will accelerate, precipitating both energy an=
d ecological collapse globally. We have created a problem that has no solut=
ion, and it=92s the same one, as Jared Diamond and Ronald Wright have expla=
ined, that led to the downfall of past civilizations. Except this time the =
problem is global, and we=92re all going down.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
The same kind of dilemma faces us in trying to cope with peak oil. Research=
such as George Monbiot=92s has demonstrated that there are no renewable or=
sustainable substitutes for oil (even with the loftiest predictions about =
human ingenuity and improvements in technology) that can provide anywhere n=
ear the power that hydrocarbons do. But our whole civilization, even our fo=
od system, is hooked on cheap oil. When it runs out, in a series of crises =
that will get steadily much worse as the century unfolds, our economy will =
collapse, all of our technologies will run out of power, and billions will =
starve. A future world with ten billion people trying to live on a planet t=
hat, without the subsidy of cheap, abundant energy, can perhaps support a t=
enth that number, is almost too ghastly to imagine. And in our desperate ef=
fort to forestall that energy and resource collapse, we are likely, just as=
the Easter Islanders did, to excavate every mountaintop, dig into the seas=
and the sands and the deepest depths of the planet, and cut down every tre=
e until nothing is left standing.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
That is why, when a problem or series of problems or crises appear intracta=
ble, extremely difficult if not impossible to resolve, our tendency is to r=
esist dealing with them, to deny the problems, to leave it up to future gen=
erations or higher powers to deal with them....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
My hope is that eventually enough people will ...start to focus attention o=
n adapting to and increasing our resilience in the face of, the cascading c=
rises that will eventually (I think by century=92s end) lead to civilizatio=
nal collapse.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
This will be grim work, because these crises are likely to be ghastly, and =
we are totally unequipped to deal with them. And it will be local work, bec=
ause centralized =91organizations=92 will be crumbling and unable to provid=
e any =91top-down=92 or coordinated help. We can start now (as soon as each=
of us =91must=92) to acquire the old and new skills and capacities we will=
need to cope with collapse =97 relearning and relocalizing many basic skil=
ls of our grandparents, both technical (e.g. permaculture) and soft skills =
(e.g. facilitation), as we rediscover how to live in community and how to l=
ive together self-sufficiently....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
Until the old systems die, we won=92t be able to see what, and how much, re=
ally needs to be done anyway, and the remains of the old systems will strug=
gle defiantly to resist new experiments (this is already happening). We can=
do some advance learning, and practice dealing with crises in a personal, =
proactive way (i.e. rather than expecting the government to fix each crisis=
as it occurs, and to tell us what to do).</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
We can get to know our neighbours, including the ones who are annoying and =
ignorant and unable to self-manage, and what we can do with and for each ot=
her, and lay the foundations for true, local communities. We can get to kno=
w the place we live, the organic process of which we are most immediately a=
part, and what else lives and can naturally thrive there. We can experimen=
t with new models and constructs of how to live sustainably and joyfully, p=
rovided we recognize they are just experiments and are unlikely to flourish=
until the old systems crumble.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
Much of this early preparation can be easy, and fun, if we choose to make s=
pace for it. And this still leaves us time, time saved by not trying to hol=
d on desperately to our dying civilization culture, to just be, to play, to=
do things that are easy and fun, to live each moment of this amazing life =
at this amazing time to the fullest. To free ourselves, and be wild again, =
welcomed back into the organic process that is all-life-on-Earth, where we =
always belonged.</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
<em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">[The comments on th=
is blog post are particularly diverse and stimulating. I highly recommend =
reading them. - Tom Atlee]</em></p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14p=
x;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,=
'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-le=
ft:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-=
align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=3D</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-he=
ight:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Time=
s New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padd=
ing-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:bas=
eline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
Excerpts from
<br><a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madm=
imi.com/redirects/1385171441-271a5bd43c81ce82219dbb6906658c62-e563907?pa=3D=
18475744240" target=3D"_blank">Rationally Speaking, We Are All Apocalyptic =
Now</a><br>
by Robert Jensen</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1=
.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New =
Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-le=
ft:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;=
text-align:left;direction:ltr">
We are all apocalyptic now, or at least we should be, if we are rational.</=
p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right=
:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;m=
argin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:=
0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;di=
rection:ltr">
Because "apocalyptic" is typically associated with religious fana=
ticism and death cults - things that rational people tend not to take liter=
ally or seriously - this claim requires some explanation....</p><p align=3D=
"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top=
:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;margin-bottom:=
1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bot=
tom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
"Revelation" from Latin and "apocalypse" from Greek, bo=
th mean a lifting of the veil, a disclosure of something that had been hidd=
en....</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;paddi=
ng-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman'=
,serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margi=
n-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align=
:left;direction:ltr">
This "revelation" is simple: We've built a world based on the=
assumption that we will have endless energy to subsidize endless economic =
expansion, which was supposed to magically produce justice. That world is o=
ver, both in reality and in dreams. Either we begin to build a different wo=
rld, or there will be no world capable of sustaining a large-scale human pr=
esence....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
A calm apocalypticism is not crazy, but rather can help us confront honestl=
y the crises of our time and strategize constructively about possible respo=
nses.</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;paddin=
g-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',=
serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin=
-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:=
left;direction:ltr">
<em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">[Another article al=
ong these lines is Elliot Sperber's <a style=3D"text-decoration:none;co=
lor:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1385171441-0df8d6934b=
72fd918bdc9d88f9901176-e563907?pa=3D18475744240" target=3D"_blank">At the E=
dge of the Apocalypse</a> - Tom Atlee]</em></p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-heigh=
t:1.5em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times N=
ew Roman',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding=
-left:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseli=
ne;text-align:left;direction:ltr">
Excerpts from</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5e=
m;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Rom=
an',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:=
0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;tex=
t-align:left;direction:ltr">
<a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"https://go.madmimi.=
com/redirects/1385171441-14af4ddb6b32fc325f7e75d8bc22779c-e563907?pa=3D1847=
5744240" target=3D"_blank">Sleepwalking to Extinction</a><br>
By Richard Smith, <em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">A=
dBusters</em><br>
18 November 13</p><p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5=
em;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Ro=
man',serif;margin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left=
:0;margin-right:0;padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;te=
xt-align:left;direction:ltr">
<em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">[Most of these exce=
rpts cover the theme of Smith's article. But the whole article is fill=
ed with very specific examples of the inadequacy of the fixes being offered=
within the current economic system.]</em></p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
... Why are we marching toward disaster, "sleepwalking to extinction&q=
uot; as the Guardian's George Monbiot once put it? Why can't we sla=
m on the brakes before we ride off the cliff to collapse? I'm going to =
argue here that the problem is rooted in the requirement of capitalist prod=
uction. Large corporations can't help themselves; they can't change=
or change very much. So long as we live under this corporate capitalist sy=
stem we have little choice but to go along in this destruction, to keep pou=
ring on the gas instead of slamming on the brakes, and that the only altern=
ative - impossible as this may seem right now - is to overthrow this global=
economic system and all of the governments of the 1% that prop it up and r=
eplace them with a global economic democracy, a radical bottom-up political=
democracy, an eco-socialist* civilization....</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
[Definition from <a style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:#a51515" href=3D"ht=
tps://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1385171441-2a456a7985f234770445c3d599847809-=
e563907?pa=3D18475744240" target=3D"_blank">Wikipedia</a> - "Eco-socia=
lists advocate dismantling capitalism, focusing on common ownership of the =
means of production by freely associated producers, and restoring the commo=
ns." <em style=3D"vertical-align:baseline;font-style:italic">Note tha=
t this is different from state socialism as practiced by "communist&qu=
ot; countries. - Tom Atlee</em>]</p>
<p align=3D"left" style=3D"font-size:14px;line-height:1.5em;padding-right:0=
;margin-top:0;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;mar=
gin-bottom:1.3em;padding-top:0;margin-left:0;padding-left:0;margin-right:0;=
padding-bottom:0;color:#645234;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:left;dire=
ction:ltr">
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