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Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXI–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 2: Squeezing the Masses Even Tighter
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXI– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 2: Squeezing the Masses Even Tighter In Part 1 of this series of Contemplations on the typical responses of a society’s ruling elite to societal collapse, I discussed the problem of diminishing returns on investments in complexity–perhaps the central tenet of archaeologist […]
The Bulletin: September 3–9, 2026
The Bulletin: September 3–9, 2026 This past week’s articles of interest… CLICK HERE If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview. Trump Attacks Iran Attacks Trump Attacks … How to Engineer a Food Crisis — UNSHADOWED (IAF) The Leipzig Incident Has All The Hallmarks Of A False Flag The Heat Strike: Our Last Chance to […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLX–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 1
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLX– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 1 Have you noticed that when a society begins to falter, to move sideways, its ruling elite rarely if ever respond by looking in the mirror and asking, “What are we doing wrong?” No–instead they ask, “How can we maintain our positions […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIX– On the Limits of Ecological Recovery: A Response to a Thoughtful Challenge
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIX– On the Limits of Ecological Recovery: A Response to a Thoughtful Challenge In my recent Contemplation on affordability, collapse, and the architecture of hydrocarbon decline I argued that the ecological conditions necessary for the reemergence of a large, complex society are unlikely to be met after our global, industrial ones […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVIII–On the Hunger of Empires
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVIII–On the Hunger of Empires While I should be out in my gardens beginning the late-summer preparations I typically do at this time of year to get ready for our lovely Canadian winters, I have chosen instead to quickly pen a Contemplation focused on imperial collapse following a conversation I was […]
The Bulletin: August 20–26, 2026
The Bulletin: August 20–26, 2026 This past week’s articles of interest… CLICK HERE If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview. Collapsing Now, Gone in 2030 — Johnny Silverhands Jeff Currie: Forget $91 Brent, The Real Crisis Is $170 Diesel | ZeroHedge More on the Next ‘Super El Niño’ Energy: Preparations and Possibilities Revisited — […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVII–Unchallenged Propaganda: Good Government and the Theology of Growth
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVII–Unchallenged Propaganda: Good Government and the Theology of Growth I’m going to take a bit of a detour from the past few Contemplations concerning the Architecture of Collapse I’ve been developing and address something that is a bit of a pet peeve for me. It’s the constant barrage of propaganda emanating […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVI–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 3
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLVI–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 3 shutterstock.com In Part 1 of this Contemplation (see: Website Medium Substack) I argue that Gail Tverberg’s affordability argument complements my supply-side, EROI one. Extraction costs rise as EROI falls, and the subsequent increase in energy prices erodes affordability for the 90% of income earners […]
The Bulletin: July 29-August 5, 2026
The Bulletin: July 29-August 5, 2026 This past week’s articles of interest… CLICK HERE If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview. US Corn Conditions Suffer Sharpest Deterioration In Three Years, Fueling Food Inflation Fear | ZeroHedge A Rights Revolution For Nature Exercise works for depression. So why isn’t it treated like real medicine? […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIII-Peak Oil and the Architecture of Collapse, Part 2
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIII- Peak Oil and the Architecture of Collapse, Part 2 Oil Production’s Seneca Cliff In Part One of this Contemplation (see: Website Medium Substack), I attempted to lay out the foundational components of humanity’s hydrocarbon predicament by looking at the geologic, energetic, and systemic realities. I asserted that hydrocarbons are not just one […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLII–Peak Oil and the Architecture of Collapse, Part 1
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLII–Peak Oil and the Architecture of Collapse, Part 1 The Forgotten Foundation My most recent Contemplations have discussed the foundational bases of modernity’s predicament: ecological overshoot, physical limits to growth, the maximum power principle, the mind over reality transition, progress traps, and wetiko. I’ve risked minimising what is perhaps one of our most crucial material aspects in […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLI–The Celebration of Our Own Undoing, Part 2
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLI–The Celebration of Our Own Undoing, Part 2 discoverthewetiko.com In Part 1 (see: Website, Medium, Substack), I attempted to lay the groundwork for understanding our predicament. I relied on some of the key scientists and researchers I have read. William Catton’s Overshoot argues that our species has greatly overshot the carrying capacity of our […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCXLIX–The Celebration of Our Own Undoing, Part 1
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCXLIX– The Celebration of Our Own Undoing, Part 1 The Mechanics of Our Predicament We are peculiar creatures, we humans. I have spent much of my recent years — since that jarring viewing of Collapse more than fifteen years ago — watching our species with a mixture of bewilderment and a strange, sorrowful […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCXLVIII–Monetary Systems, Thermodynamics, and Ecological Overshoot, Part 2.
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCXLVIII–Monetary Systems, Thermodynamics, and Ecological Overshoot, Part 2. “…the economy is an energy system, and not a financial one. Money is a human artefact used to exchange the goods and services that constitute economic output, but all of these are products of energy. Our economic history is a narrative of how […]
