A Small Farm Future
By Chris Smaje, A Small Farm Future
My book A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity, and a Shared Earth is now hurtling on its final trajectory to land on Planet Earth mid-October.
Collapse: a Helpful Guide for the Perplexed
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
Archaeologist Joseph Tainter, whose book The Collapse of Complex Societies I mentioned in my previous post, uses this working definition: “A society has collapsed when it displays a rapid, significant loss of an established level of sociopolitical complexity”.
Business-as-Usual Porn – or, We Need to Talk about Collapse
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
I think we need to talk openly and calmly about the possibility of societal or civilizational collapse arising from humanity’s present predicaments.
An Environmentalist Apologises…
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
I apologise for my part in a civilization that made Apocalypse Never a bestseller. I hope that you will have both the capacity inherited from my generation and a fortitude of your own to learn from my failings, and to build a better civilization over the ashes of mine.
Why Oil Didn’t Save the Whales – and Why it Matters
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
Far from saving the whales, it was oil that nearly obliterated them, and may yet still do so. The real lessons to be drawn from the history of whaling are more interesting and more complex than the oil salvation narrative.
Some Questions Concerning Violence
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
What kind of past does our political community wish to cultivate and project into the political present in order to meet present challenges, such as trying to keep the planet habitable for humanity? My answer would be not the one represented by Colston, nor the one represented by Churchill.
Covid-19 Economics: Beyond Austerity and Debt-Finance
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
So to the question ‘how will humanity’s collective household pay for Covid-19?’ my answer is neither to squeeze the poor, nor to squeeze the future by closing your eyes and believing in the magic of the money tree. Instead, I’d suggest you look out your old spade and hoe from the back of the garden shed. There’s work to be done.
From Energy Transition to Energy Reduction
By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future
My request to those working in the renewable energy industry is to ask themselves before undertaking any new project: “Will this help people to live a lower energy lifestyle than they previously did?” – which, regrettably, is not something we can say of the low carbon energy installed globally to date. If they can’t answer yes to the question, I’d request they dump the project and seek another one. It’s urgent.