Plunging Into the Polycrisis
The more I listened to participants, though, the more I realized perhaps most accurate word is “embrace”, for is it really possible to manage this polycrisis?
collapse of industrial civilization
The Great Transition
As we continue to poke and demand a systematic shift to environmental justice and ecological restoration, let us be vigilant in recognizing the emerging local projects and new institutions that stir our gratitude and provide a part of the roadmap to a new world.
What the IPCC report should have told us
The problem with the recent IPCC report is that it is still talking about ‘average’ changes over the earth, discussing what might happen decades from now as a result of increased rate of change. Even if the message is labeled “code red” or urgent, it is still understating what is already happening.
Climate Change and Resource Depletion. Which Way to Ruin is Faster?
What could bring down the industrial civilization? Would it be global warming (fire) or resource depletion (ice)? At present, it may well be that depletion is hitting us faster. But, in the long run, global warming may hit us much harder. Maybe the fall of our civilization will be Fire AND ice.
Overproduction of Elites and Political Upheaval, or… the Story of Rich People Doing Stupid Things (Episode 43 of Crazy Town)
Society is producing too many elite people, and their decisions are causing extreme inequality, which is one of the key components of today’s sustainability crisis.
Why Worry About Collapse?
For the purposes of this post, we can think of collapse as a drastic and probably chaotic reduction in energy and resource use per person, the result looking primitive by today’s standards.
What roles for markets and for the state when climate risk is existential?
The climate policymaking orthodoxy is that markets can efficiently price and mitigate climate risks, but this blog argues that when risks are existential — that is, a permanent and drastic curtailing of human civilisation’s future development — then the damages are beyond calculation.
Is Earth’s climate about to pass the tipping point?
There are many examples of Tipping points (TP). Although tipping points and points of no return are the buzzwords of our times, we should probably be using them more than we are.
To What End?
Humans have acquired the power to radically change the world. Great power should ideally be wielded only by those capable of great responsibility.
In Breach of Contract
Humans today stand in gross violation of our pact with nature. We are egregiously in breach of contract. Our protections are thereby revoked.
The Collective Consciousness of Humanity Has Cancer: The Prognosis is Dire!
The temperature of our planet is rising, and I’m not talking about global warming. I’m talking about the rising social anger temperature and its potential to create a social, civil, and economic collapse.
Capitalism, the Doomsday Machine (or, How to Repurpose Growth Capital)
Why wait for collapse? Repurposing growth capital now could help unwind the doomsday machine sooner rather than later.