Society

I just dropped in to see what condition my Transition was in: part 2 – context

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British and American cultures are often thought of as mirror images of one another…The UK is a small country, and, as Hopkins points out, there is no room to “run and hide.” In contrast, vast sections of the US are virtually empty….We have different gun cultures…We will need to explore this important cultural difference in detail, in order to understand the phenomenal rise in popularity of the American “survivalist” movement, and TI’s-UK’s (culturally based?) aversion to it.

Social collapse best practices

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If there is one thing that I would like to claim as my own, it is the comparative theory of superpower collapse. For now, it remains just a theory, although it is currently being quite thoroughly tested. The theory states that the United States and the Soviet Union will have collapsed for the same reasons, namely: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget, and ballooning foreign debt. I call this particular list of ingredients “The Superpower Collapse Soup.”

KunstlerCast: Water Transit

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James Howard Kunstler responds to a listener question about the future of water transportation in North America. There is a fabulous inland waterway system in North America that is going to become very important again. But if we want to remain serious about trade in this country, we are going to have to rebuild the infrastructure for water and rail transportation. All of those waterfronts where we’ve been building theme parks, condominium clusters and picnic grounds in recent times will have to make room for the warehouses, piers and sleazy accommodations for the sailors that are required by water transit.

Toward Ecosophy

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Underlying the common casual assumption that some way out of peak oil will be found are the presuppositions and value judgments some social critics have called “scientism,” centered on faith in the omnipotence of human reason over nature. What options do we have for moving toward a less self-defeating worldview as the limits to humanity’s supposed “conquest of nature” come within sight?

Energy and ecology: why societies really succeed and fail

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A human society that aspires for long-term sustainability will want to live in accord with basic ecological principles: energy comes from the sun; all resources are constantly cycled such that there is no waste whatsoever; fertile soil is the foundation of terrestrial life; and a sustainable population of a given species is one that is maintained at or within the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.

Post Carbon and Energy Bulletin

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Post Carbon Institute announced January 14 that it was adopting EnergyBulletin.net as a core program. In this post, EnergyBulletin.net’s Managing Editor introduces EB and explains why he thinks this marriage is a good thing: “With social changes coming faster than ever, we need a more robust organization so we can continue to support the community that’s grown up around peak oil and sustainability.”