The following is a list of my Website\/Medium\/Substack posts from the first one I penned on January 24, 2018 to the most recent. There is a link to each with a paragraph or two that follows this link and provides some insight into what the post is about. [NOTE: doing my best, but this list is only periodically updated…]<\/p>\n
\u2018Patriotism\u2019 and Manipulation of it by the State<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n January 24, 2018 Hell in a Hand Basket and Why We\u2019re Going There, Guaranteed (Sort of)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n February 28, 2018 Don\u2019t Spill the Beans<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n March 4, 2018 Is \u2018Growth\u2019 a Positive Force? Part One<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n April 5, 2018 Covid-19 and Our Competing Narratives<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n April 25, 2020 Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh August 8, 2020 _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh II<\/strong> August 8, 2020 _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh III August 14, 2020 If we do not choose to stop this insanity now, we can be assured that nature will do it for us and we are not going to enjoy the choices nature makes for us to reset things to some sort of balance. The collapse that accompanies overshoot is never \u2018fun\u2019 for the species experiencing it.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh IV September 24, 2020 Despite the story that these policies are being used to solve our problems and help people, the reality is that they are very much probably doing the exact opposite.<\/p>\n In fact, a good argument could be made that the \u2018all in\u2019 aspect of this is further evidence that the planet is reaching the endgame of overshooting our natural carrying capacity and the fallout is quickening towards its obvious conclusion: collapse of the complex systems we have come to depend upon.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh V<\/strong><\/p>\n Website<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n October 2, 2020<\/p>\n Electrify Everything: The Wrong ‘Solution’ I\u2019d like to believe we could do the former but my bet is on the latter for humans very much engage in behaviour that reduces their cognitive dissonance to avoid reality and, unfortunately, the foxes are firmly in charge of the henhouse and seldom, if ever, allow a good crisis to go to waste\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh VI<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n October 9, 2020<\/p>\n Infinite Growth, Finite Planet; What Could Possibly Go Wrong? _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh VII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n October 12, 2020<\/p>\n Science: It May Not Be All You Think It Is Of course, because I cannot predict the future with certainty, only time will tell\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh VIII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n October 30, 2020<\/p>\n Peak Oil and Sociopolitics But we have a slight problem. We live on a finite world with finite resources but especially fossil fuels which underpin our current world and all of its interconnected complexities. Our world as designed and functioning currently is fubar without fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh IX<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n November 7, 2020<\/p>\n Hear, Speak, See No Evil: Sociopolitical Collapse _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh X<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n April 29, 2021<\/p>\n Who Do Representative Governments Actually Represent? _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XI<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 7, 2021<\/p>\n Fiat Currency, Infinite Growth, Finite Resources: A Recipe For Collapse _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 14, 2021<\/p>\n Growth Greenwashing: A Comforting Narrative The foxes truly are in charge of the henhouse. But they have created a comforting narrative so that the chickens can avoid the cognitive-dissonance that comes from realising it\u2019s all just a fairy tale. Ontario, a place to \u2018grow\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XIII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 17, 2021<\/p>\n Electrify Everything: Neither ‘Green’ Nor ‘Sustainable’ Narratives that use the small Overton window of internal combustion engines vs. electric vehicles completely disregard the underlying issues of our dilemmas and avoid the hard choices that need to be made \u2014 to say little about the fact that they mislead and propagate false beliefs. They do, however, help significantly in reducing our mass cognitive dissonance that is created from our pursuit of the growth chalice on a finite planet with hard, biophysical limits.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XIV<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 20, 2021<\/p>\n Reducing Population: Degrowth or Enrich Everyone? _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XV<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 21, 2021<\/p>\n Finite Energy, ‘Renewables’, and the Ruling Elite _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XVI<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n May 24, 2021<\/p>\n Finite Energy, Overconsumption, and Magical Thinking Through Denial _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XVII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 1, 2021<\/p>\n ‘Renewables’ and the Overton Window That Ignores Biophysical Realities _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XVIII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 5, 2021<\/p>\n ‘Renewables’, Electrify Everything, and Marketing Propaganda _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XIX<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 7, 2021<\/p>\n Fossil Fuels: Contributing to Complexity and Ecological Overshoot _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XX<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 9, 2021<\/p>\n Climate Emergency Action Plan: Electrification and Magical Thinking _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 16, 2021<\/p>\n Loss in Trust of Government: A Stage of Collapse _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 22, 2021<\/p>\n ‘Net Zero’ Policies: Propaganda to Support Continued Economic Growth _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXIII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n June 28, 2021<\/p>\n ‘Clean’ Energy And Stages of Grieving _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXIV<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n July 2, 2021<\/p>\n Climate Change And Narratives To Support Continued Economic Growth _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXV<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n July 8, 2021<\/p>\n More Greenwashing: ‘Sustainable’ Development _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXVI<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n July 9, 2021<\/p>\n Is It Too Late For Pessimism? _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXVII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n July 24, 2021<\/p>\n Ecological Overshoot, Hydrocarbon Energy, and Biophysical Reality _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXVIII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n August 10, 2021<\/p>\n The Predicament of Ecological Overshoot Cannot Be ‘Solved’, Especially Via ‘Renewables’ _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXIX<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n August 17, 2021<\/p>\n Are We Being Duped Regarding Climate Change? _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXX<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n September 21, 2021<\/p>\n Ecological Overshoot and Political Responses _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXI<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n November 2, 2021<\/p>\n Beware the Snake Oil Salesmen: Climate Change and Elite Confabs _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXII<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Medium<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Substack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n November 6, 2021<\/p>\n Greenwashing, Fiat Currency, Narrative Management: More On Climate Change and Elite Confabs _____<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXIII<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u201c<\/strong>The State, therefore, relies upon and manipulates its citizens\u2019 very emotional notion of \u2018patriotism.\u2019 It uses it to maintain and expand its control of resources (both physical and financial) both domestically and abroad. And those who question or challenge it are branded treasonous and attacked\/ostracised in any number of ways. Questioning is not allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDespite all of the above, there are a variety of other variables that could push a teetering globe into a collapse scenario, particularly geopolitics or a natural disaster. No one knows. Prediction of the future is for meteorologists and economists, neither of which is very good beyond a couple of days for the former, and much less for the latter. I must admit, however, that Marion King Hubbert\u2019s prediction of the coming demise of industrial civilization, along with the seminal text, The Limits to Growth, are pretty good guesses in my books.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIn his book, The Collapse of Complex Societies, archaeologist Joseph Tainter argues that a society becomes more prone to collapse when stress surges \u2014 that are a common occurrence for every society \u2014 can no longer be accommodated due to a lack of \u2018reserves\u2019. In other words, when a society has hit the limit of its capability of dealing with stress it becomes increasingly susceptible to collapse (i.e. spilled beans).\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOne of the steps I believe we need to take to avoid, or at least mitigate (if it\u2019s not too late), some of the predicaments we are likely going to have to face in the not-too-distant future is to challenge the \u2018growth is progress\u2019 mindset that I\u2019ve just outlined and scale back on the pursuit of growth at all costs. In fact, as these articles evolve my hope is that readers will come to appreciate that \u2018growth\u2019 is not just a positive force but has negative attributes as well that we tend to ignore or downplay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnother thing I\u2019ve come to believe is that complex systems with all their various feedback loops and emergent phenomena are impossible to predict or control no matter how sophisticated one\u2019s model to interpret the system in questions is. While I have my own biases based upon my readings, research, and experiences (especially with respect to what pre\/history tells us about complex societies and their \u2018evolution\u2019), I\u2019ll make my predictions about what will happen when everything has worked itself out. That\u2019s the safest bet for guessing what the future holds. I will say this however, it is likely in one\u2019s best interest to prepare for the worst and hope for the best\u2026whatever that may be. Life rarely, if ever, quite works out the way we expect.\u201d<\/p>\nToday\u2019s Contemplations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nMythical Narratives Everywhere to Avoid Reality
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe world is not as we have been conditioned to believe by the narrative managers who weave the various storylines (read Edward Bernays book Propaganda for interesting insight on this). Awareness of this is a first step towards a better understanding of how messed up this world truly is and, possibly, doing something for your family\/community to make it more resilient as the system inevitably declines\/collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nFeeding the Growth Monster: Fiat Currency and Technology
\n<\/strong>\u201c<\/strong>Most of us want to believe that technology and human ingenuity will \u2018save\u2019 us (thus arguments from academics\/educators about focusing more resources into education, not realising that there isn\u2019t the time nor agreement over \u2018solutions\u2019 for education to play a role) but it is most likely that our efforts at greater and greater technological \u2018solutions\u2019 are just expediting our journey over the cliff since technology speeds the exploitation of finite resources, much as money printing does, and creates a host of negative consequences we conveniently ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nGrieving: There Are No ‘Solutions’ to Overshoot
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe need to come to accept that our chasing the infinite growth chalice must stop, and that all the \u2018baubles\u2019 promised from this pursuit by the sociopathic \u2018leaders\u2019 that profit from their control of the wealth-generating and -extraction systems that arise from this economic\/political quest of growth are not worth the journey over the cliff ahead.<\/p>\n
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\nFiat Currency: Debasement and Infinite Growth
\n<\/strong>\u201cThere is no consideration whatsoever of the limits imposed upon us. There is only more growth to try and address our dilemmas that are created by us pursuing growth in the first place.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cAn energy descent is in our future whether we wish it or not. We can go through the \u2018collapse\u2019 that always accompanies a species that has overshot its environmental carrying capacity in a relatively dignified way by addressing the dilemma head on, or we can spend our last breath attempting to sustain the unsustainable and go out with a bang.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cUnless and until we all begin serious discussions about degrowth on a global scale (even just local\/regional would be a great start), I fear we will continue along our current path; in fact, it would appear we have actually picked up speed in these exploitive and damaging endeavours as diminishing returns (see archaeologist Joseph Tainter\u2019s The Collapse of Complex Societies) have made it necessary to invest more and more effort, energy, and resources into finding and retrieving the resources necessary to hold our complex systems together for a bit longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cWill, as some argue, our technology and human ingenuity save us in this current trial in complex societies? I\u2019m doubtful; in fact, I\u2019m fairly certain these things will simply expedite the fall as we rush into them to try and solve the problems we have created, bumping up against the real biophysical limits imposed by a finite world in the process and creating even more problems and dilemmas.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cEvery dollar spent requires energy to produce the goods or services provided. Think this doesn\u2019t happen? Take a look at GDP and energy use. They are correlated almost perfectly. They increase together. Think alternative energy will meet this demand? Hardly. Increased alternative energy production has not even been able to keep up with increasing demand. The world has had to continue to ramp up fossil fuel use to meet demands. The more money that is created and spent, the more demand there is for energy and resources.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cFor these two reasons alone the majority of people and certainly almost all the ruling class (and this includes academics, media, politicians, corporations) will refuse to see or acknowledge the flaws when exposed. Evidence is memory-holed. Whistleblowers are vilified (or worse). The believers and those benefiting from the dominant storyline will fight tooth and nail to defend the system. The narrative must be protected. Just read up on the various inquisitions of the Catholic Church to see how narratives that support the powerful are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe best thing one can do is attempt to remove one\u2019s family and local community from this delusional matrix as much as is possible. Yes, make your displeasure and contempt for the way things are known, especially at a local level, but focus on building your community\u2019s self-sufficiency and -reliance. Reduce your consumption. Grow your own food. Re-localise as much as possible. Stop depending on both government and corporations. Stop feeding the beast for it will consume us all while selling us lies and stealing our \u2018wealth\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cWhy is this connection to fiat currency important? Primarily because money is basically a claim on future resources and such resources are in terminal decline. So, the more money we \u2018print\u2019 (regardless of the reason for its printing), the more claims there are on future resources; resources that not only are disappearing quickly and getting more costly to access (because we always retrieve the easiest and cheapest to get to first), but whose retrieval results in monumental ecological destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI have to laugh at the bombastic rhetoric. They cheerlead \u2018sustainable\u2019 development and growing with the environment in mind without flinching at the hypocrisy in their oxymoronic statements at all. They talk about protecting the environment while undermining it with expansion. They speak of responsibility to future generations while using up all the finite resources that support life. They expand and expand and expand with no understanding of how exponential growth quickly overwhelms systems and that overshoot of the environmental carrying capacity of a region always ends in collapse.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe really do need to stop using language that does not reflect reality. Electric vehicles are neither \u2018green\u2019 nor \u2018clean\u2019. A shift to them is not in any way, shape, or form helping us to address the various ecological\/environmental dilemmas humanity has created in its endless expansion and exploitation of the planet\u2019s limited resources (and that go far beyond carbon emissions).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI think you\u2019ve got it completely backward; in fact, your suggestion would likely expedite the impending \u2018collapse\u2019 of our complex and energy-intensive, industrialised world. The \u2018advanced\u2019 economies are going to have to become far, far less \u2018rich\u2019 and as I said, either we choose how this might be done before we fall over the impending energy cliff or nature WILL do it for us; and nature doesn\u2019t give one single iota of care or concern about how populations are brought back into balance with an area\u2019s environmental carrying capacity. There are many who suggest a massive die-off of humans is the most likely scenario for the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI\u2019m increasingly doubtful we are going to face the ultimately very difficult decisions that need to be made (in fact, needed to be made decades ago) and we will continue to stumble along hoping and praying that all will work out just fine, thank you. Only time will tell how this all plays out for none of us can accurately predict the future but the path of decline\/collapse seems fairly certain. Every complex society that has existed up to this point in history has experienced it and we are not significantly different when push comes to shove. If archaeologist Joseph Tainter\u2019s thesis in his monograph The Collapse of Complex Societies is accurate, complex societies \u2018collapse\u2019 due to the inability to deal with stress surges because they have been experiencing diminishing returns on their investments in complexity; and this is exactly the situation with humanity\u2019s investments in fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cIn fact, it may actually be too late as some suggest and all the arguments and competing narratives are just \u2018academic\u2019 at this point \u2014 we would only truly know in hindsight. Perhaps the best one can do is to try and make one\u2019s household and local community as resilient and self-sufficient as possible. It is sometimes wise to plan for the worse and hope for the best; although hope is not really a strategy and the planning\/action part is what\u2019s really important. Yes, stop consuming as much and change your expectations but also be prepared for a future of less and not one of perpetual growth and prosperity as our ruling class pushes (what politician has not promised \u2018more\u2019 to garner support? as the article highlights). \u2018Normal\u2019 is what we make it, not what we are told by others \u2014 especially those who seek to \u2018profit\u2019 from us. It is going to take a massive paradigm shift for us to weather the impending energy cliff and we are quickly losing time to prepare, both physically and psychologically.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cMost (all?) discussions about reducing fossil fuel use are comforting narratives that help to reduce our mass cognitive dissonance that is created when one realises that our lifestyles\/complex society cannot continue as it is on a finite planet. We tell ourselves and others that our human ingenuity (especially via technology and \u2018science\u2019) will save us without realising that all we are doing is avoiding the really tough decisions that need to be made, individually and collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe live on a finite planet with real biophysical limits that have very likely been well surpassed in a number of areas. The sooner we realise this and reach the conclusion that we cannot in any way support or expand our high-energy complexities and the growth that accompanies this, the sooner we might, just might, get on the path towards degrowing our world in a just and equitable way rather than continue to chase the magical thinking necessary to sustain our world as currently contrived and going even further into overshoot than we already have. Reversion to the mean always happens in such instances and if we hope to mitigate in any controllable way the consequences that will flow from this, we need to get started \u2014 like yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe two extreme and relatively polar-opposite responses are simple. We could curtail our dependency on this resource and greatly reduce our complexities (something that was probably needed to begin decades ago). Or, we could create stories about how our ingenuity will provide us with a scientific\/technological solution to avoid the tough path of degrowth \u2014 primarily through the magical thinking necessary to believe that there is a \u2018green\/clean\u2019 energy source that we can tap into to sustain our energy-intensive living standards and global complexities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI truly do believe many people are susceptible to\/persuaded by misleading stories\/narratives for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most prominent of those being the deference to authorities\/experts that we tend to display (think Stanley Milgram\u2019s electric shock experiments). We tend to have trust\/faith in particular people\/professions and the marketers\/propagandists (aka snake oil salesmen) are quite aware of this. So, a handful of academics\/politicians\/\u2018experts\u2019 come out and declare \u2018electrification\u2019 of everything will lead us to the promised land\u2026and here we are, only discussing the more comforting (and misleading\/false) \u2018solution\u2019 and completely ignoring a more painful one that may be much more realistic in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI\u2019ve come to the conclusion that government, especially big government, is virtually the last place I am going look to for leadership, virtue, or even just common sense since their motivation is to subjugate the majority of us to serve their interests and that of their close supporters (primarily the rich and influential financiers), not mine, my family\u2019s, or my community\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe \u2018net-zero\u2019 propaganda is a perfect example. It continues to push expansion (the very cause of our dilemmas), particularly of certain \u2018solutions\u2019, while marketing itself as the road to sustainability because, you know, it all evens out in the end. Sit back, relax, fire up the Netflix, watch another sports event, your \u2018leaders\u2019 have everything under control. Pay no attention whatsoever to the kerfuffle behind the curtain over there. We can have our cake and eat it too!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cSuch a fairy tale ending is indeed possible, but only in our imaginations. The momentum of our complex systems and the reality of a finite world straining under the exploitation of cognitively \u2018advanced\u2019 walking-talking apes are taking us down a path that is best described by William Catton Jr. in\u00a0Overshoot<\/a>: a species that overshoots its environmental carrying capacity is destined to encounter a population \u2018collapse\u2019 and any response that increases the drawdown of the fundamental resources upon which the species is reliant only speeds up the process. And this seems very much to be exactly what we are doing as we \u2018debate\u2019 ways in which to sustain our living standards and most of our energy-reliant and -intensive sociocultural practices.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cGiven all of this, I am increasingly coming to believe that regardless of our understanding of our dilemmas we will fail to address them in a way that would differ from complex societies of the past. We will continue to pursue growth and attempts to prolong such growth for as long as we can, damn the consequences. We will, for the most part, continue to believe biophysical limits do not, well, limit us. We will continue to tell ourselves and believe the comforting narratives our \u2018leaders\u2019 will tell us. We will continue to cling to faulty paradigms and rarely, if ever, admit the crumbling social structure (and physical structures) around us is anything but the \u2018fault\u2019 of those who didn\u2019t believe in our ingenuity and inventiveness; to say little about the fact that the rich and powerful marketing these fantasies stand to become even richer and more powerful as we pursue them. It\u2019s a final blow-off top of \u2018growth\u2019 before the eventual collapse that always accompanies a species overshooting its natural environmental carrying capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cSome of the negative consequences of our expansion and increasing complexity have been acknowledged. Instead of slowing our march towards the cliff ahead, however, the vast majority (all?) of our \u2018ruling class\u2019 (whose primary motivation, I would argue, is the control and expansion of the wealth-generating systems that provide their revenue streams), as they so often (always?) do is leverage the increasingly obvious crises to enrich themselves. They use\u00a0narrative control<\/a>\u00a0mechanisms (particularly their influence over the mainstream media and governments) to craft stories extolling solutions and salvation that not only preserve their revenue streams but expand them in a kind of final blow off top of resource extraction and use; ignoring, of course, the environmental fallout of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI interpret my approach as actually somewhat \u2018optimistic\u2019 and focused on what I personally can control because if we are being honest with ourselves, most of what is occurring is well beyond our personal control, and probably even collective control. And if we\u2019re dealing with \u2018emotional\u2019 responses to our social and physical environments, the only thing we can control is our reaction. Ultimately we all see what we want to see, we all hear what we want to hear, and we all believe what we want to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cI\u2019m increasingly chagrined to see us continue to chase the infinite growth chalice with a belief that this will all work out just fine, thank you, as long as we abandon fossil fuels and shift to \u2018renewables\u2019 with a religious-like fervour that completely ignores some harsh, biophysical realities. I am reminded of author Robert Heinlein\u2019s observation that we are rationalising creatures, not rational ones, and we are leading ourselves into a very, very precarious and dangerous place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cIncreasingly, however, this storyline is showing many plot holes: energy-return-on-energy-invested close to zero or even negative; non-renewable, finite resource limits; environmental\/ecological destruction to procure needed resources; dependency upon the fossil fuel platform for the procurement and processing of necessary materials as well as the distribution, maintenance, and afterlife disposal\/reclamation processes. As I attempt to point these roadblocks out to the advocates of \u2018renewables\u2019 and suggest degrowth is a more realistic path given the biophysical limits of living on a finite planet, I am quite chagrined with the variety of personal attacks I am subjected to. From being a climate change \u2018denier\u2019 to a shill for the fossil fuel industry, the anger\/denial that is displayed is quite something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cProbably the most dire predicament we face is ecological overshoot \u2014 too damn many people (especially living in \u2018advanced\u2019 economies) for a planet with finite resources.[xiii]<\/em><\/a>\u00a0The constant push for growth (which really is just to prolong\/support the gargantuan Ponzi that our financial\/economic\/monetary systems have become) is the exact opposite of what we likely need to be doing; as is the push to \u2018electrify\u2019 everything.\u00a0 The unfortunate thing for the future is that any species that overshoots its natural carrying capacity has only one way to be rebalanced: a massive die-off.\u00a0When that occurs\u00a0(and how it unfolds)<\/em>\u00a0is anybody\u2019s guess\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cAs Rex argues, the \u2018solutions\u2019 that will matter most to people will be at the local level. Relocalistion of as much production and distribution of goods as possible (but especially potable water, food, and shelter needs \u2014 including that which is needed to deal with local weather\/climate, such as wood for winter heating) is the best approach to be taking to help one\u2019s community mitigate as much as possible the coming storm. It\u2019s likely to get ugly and \u2018government\u2019 will be nowhere to be found to turn to; you will need to depend upon immediate family, friends, and community members so cultivate those relationships and work on getting them to understand our predicament and begin making your local community as self-sufficient and resilient as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cIf we are not discussing significant degrowth , however (and we\u2019re not because there\u2019s no money to be made from it and the primary motivation of the ruling class, who control the mainstream narratives, is the control\/expansion of the wealth-generating systems that provide their revenue streams), then it would seem we are just creating stories to sell more stuff and people tend to accept them readily because they reduce cognitive dissonance \u2014 we recognise we live on a finite planet and infinite growth is not possible (except through extreme magical, Cargo Cult-like thinking) but want to also believe that we can continue to live in our energy- and resource-intensive lifestyles uninterrupted and without significant sacrifice\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cFor a long time, the growth needed to \u2018fuel\u2019 our economic system was provided by our exploitation of the planet and its relatively preserved and seemingly limitless resources. That changed, however, as we began encountering diminishing returns on our investments. For the past 50 years or so this growth has been predicated upon the expansion of debt\/credit (i.e., fiat currency creation) and has, unfortunately, entered a very dangerous territory where debt repayments are exceeding people\u2019s ability to even pay for their interest, let alone principal. To say little about the fact that debt\/credit is in essence stealing from the future in the form of claims on future resources (especially energy) that are not only increasingly difficult to procure but in many cases don\u2019t or won\u2019t exist in the future because we live on a finite planet.\u201d<\/p>\n