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Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXVII–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 7: Patterns, Prophecies, and the Path Forward
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXVII–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 7: Patterns, Prophecies, and the Path Forward This Contemplation concludes my series exploring the responses of ruling elites to diminishing returns on investments in complexity. I’ve looked at: squeezing of the population (Website Medium Substack); ideological justification (Website Medium Substack); military expansion (Website Medium Substack); scapegoating (Website Medium Substack); and technological […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXVI– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 6: Technological Salvation and the Pursuit of Innovation
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXVI– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 6: Technological Salvation and the Pursuit of Innovation Today’s Contemplation is the last response I will analyse that explores a society’s ruling elite attempts to counter diminishing returns on investments in complexity: technological salvation and the pursuit of innovation. Thus far I […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXV– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 5: Scapegoating and the Search for Internal Enemies
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXV– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 5: Scapegoating and the Search for Internal Enemies This Contemplation continues to explore the responses of the ruling elite to diminishing returns on investments in complexity that began with a review of the extraction mechanisms used to squeeze resources out of a state’s […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXIV–The Inevitability of Growth.
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXIV–The Inevitability of Growth. A slight departure from my series of Contemplations on elite responses to encountering diminishing returns on investments in complexity… gettyimages.com One of my favourite events is unfolding here in Ontario, Canada–he states sarcastically, perhaps even theatrically given the theatre that accompanies such events. It’s election time. Monday, […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXIII–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 4: Military Expansion and the Pursuit of Conquest
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXIII– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 4: Military Expansion and the Pursuit of Conquest This Contemplation continues my exploration of elite responses to diminishing returns on investments in complexity. Part 2 explored the most common one–squeezing the population–and the extraction mechanisms used. Part 3 analysed the response of […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXII–Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 3: Investing More Heavily in Ideological Justification
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLXII– Elite Responses to the Architecture of Collapse, Part 3: Investing More Heavily in Ideological Justification I began this series of Contemplations on elite responses to the architecture of collapse by outlining the five recurring ones that tend to be made in the face of diminishing returns on investments in complexity: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLV–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 2
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLV–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 2 stock.adobe.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 […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIV–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 1
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CCLIV–Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline, Part 1 US Changes in Real Income Affordability, Collapse, and the Architecture of Hydrocarbon Decline On the heels of my two-part Contemplation that took a look at the supply-side dynamics of hydrocarbons–particularly oil–and the consequences of the geologic reality for our global, industrial […]
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 […]
