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The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 4
The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 4 Blind Alleys and Techno-Fantasies The majority of proposals made by those who acknowledge limits fail on at least one of the previous criteria, and often several, if not all of them. Solution space is smaller than we typically think. The most common approach is to […]
The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 3
The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 3 Energy – Demand Collapse Followed by Supply Collapse As we have noted many times, energy is the master resource, and has been the primary driver of an expansion dating back to the beginning of the industrial revolution. In fossil fuels humanity discovered the ‘holy grail’ […]
The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 1
The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 1 Intro A great deal of intelligence is invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. Saul Bellow, 1976 More and more people (although not nearly enough) are coming to recognise that humanity cannot continue on its current trajectory, as the limits we face […]
The Anglo-American empire is preparing for resource war
The Anglo-American empire is preparing for resource war The control of resources remains a core factor in US considerations for sustaining global US hegemony in the face of rising geopolitical influence of its major rivals Last week, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff released the new National Military Strategy of the United States of America, 2015. The […]
Sustainability Metrics, Growth Limits, and Philanthropy
Sustainability Metrics, Growth Limits, and Philanthropy As the metrics of sustainability become ever more robust and sophisticated, it is ever more apparent to many of us who study those metrics that industrial civilization, as currently configured, is unsustainable. Ecological footprint analysis tells us that we are presently using 1.5 Earths’ worth of resources annually. We […]
Is the next threat too many ‘them’ in a resource-scarce future?
Is the next threat too many ‘them’ in a resource-scarce future? Defence planners are haunted by visions of angry, marginalised black people endangering corporate power when climate change topples their governments Last week, Israel hosted the 15th Annual Herzliya Conference, run by the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS), a hawkish think tank specialising in national […]
Why EIA, IEA, and BP Oil Forecasts are Too High
Why EIA, IEA, and BP Oil Forecasts are Too High When forecasting how much oil will be available in future years, a standard approach seems to be the following: Figure out how much GDP growth the researcher hopes to have in the future. “Work backward” to see how much oil is needed, based on how much […]
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Is a Resource-Conscious Blockbuster for Our Time
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Is a Resource-Conscious Blockbuster for Our Time Who ruined Mad Max’s world? The new film isn’t afraid to lay blame — and suggest a way forward. When the first Mad Max was released back in 1979, the era’s reigning existential threats were nuclear winter and, to a lesser extent, peak oil. Set in […]
In Denial: We Pursue Endless Growth At Our Peril
James Steidl/Shutterstock In Denial: We Pursue Endless Growth At Our Peril A requiem for planet Earth As we’ve been discussing of late here at PeakProsperity.com, humans desperately need a new story to live by. The old one is increasingly dysfunctional and rather obviously headed for either a quite dismal or possibly disastrous future. One […]
Letter to a Plutocrat: Your Pipeline Made Me a Criminal
Letter to a Plutocrat: Your Pipeline Made Me a Criminal Dear Sir/Madam: I’m writing to you who control our government now — that is, the big corporations of the world. Let’s not pretend it is otherwise. Thanks to a system in which money buys elections, nearly all of our politicians are in your employ. Thanks for […]
William Catton’s warning
William Catton’s warning William Catton Jr., author of the seminal volume about our human destiny, Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, died last month at age 88. Catton believed that industrial civilization had sown the seeds of its own demise and that humanity’s seeming dominance of the biosphere is only a prelude to decline. His […]
Peculiarities of Russian National Character
Peculiarities of Russian National Character Recent events, such as the overthrow of the government in Ukraine, the secession of Crimea and its decision to join the Russian Federation, the subsequent military campaign against civilians in Eastern Ukraine, western sanctions against Russia, and, most recently, the attack on the ruble, have caused a certain phase transition […]
Few jobs despite booming Mozambique economy – Features – Al Jazeera English
Few jobs despite booming Mozambique economy – Features – Al Jazeera English. Maputo, Mozambique – Beto Magumane Cossa was orphaned at 14 when his father was killed by a woman with whom he was having an affair. Alone and with no other family living in Magude, a rural district 155km from the capital Maputo’s shopping malls and luxury […]
Questions We Should Have Asked about Technology
Questions We Should Have Asked about Technology. Welcome. Thanks so much for joining us at this Teach-In—maybe we should really call it a marathon rather than Teach-In. It’s going to be 50 speakers over 22 hours on two days in a steady stream, covering as many nuances and aspects of this question as we could manage to […]
Why China’s slowdown is taking a heavy toll on Canada | Jeff Rubin
Why China’s slowdown is taking a heavy toll on Canada | Jeff Rubin. If beaten up Canadian investors are looking to assign blame for the bruising suffered by their portfolios of late, they could do worse than point an accusatory finger at China. The resource super-cycle that drove valuations so much higher over the last […]
