Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
For those concerned about a sustainable future, changing the reigning industrially-conditioned aesthetic–which is now deeply ingrained in the public mind–will be as much of a challenge as changing the underlying system that created it.
-Deeply Rooted
-A growing revolution: Urban gardens are changing the landscape
-Reality Pricks Corn Ethanol’s Bubble
-‘Eco-Therapy’ for Environmental Depression
-Saving the planet, one block, one small project at a time
-India pays couples to put off having children
Everyone agrees: our economy is sick. The inescapable symptoms include declines in consumer spending and consumer confidence, together with a contraction of international trade and available credit. Add a collapse in real estate values and carnage in the automotive and airline industries and the picture looks grim indeed.
-Nigerian militant amnesty starts
-Clinton Seeks U.S. Africa Gains as China Expands Oil Purchases
-Iran: New confrontation looms
-Unpopular Science
-“Peak Civilization”: The Fall of the Roman Empire
-The Problem is Us
The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) at the US Army War College has issued many stimulating research papers in recent years, several of which deal with energy security issues. Nathan Freier’s recent SSI paper (which we will examine here) does not focus on energy issues. Rather, the central purpose of his study is to present a paradigm for the examination of potential strategic shocks.
The least popular of the laws of physics, the second law of thermodynamics — better known as the law of entropy — is also the key to understanding the problems with modern economics. There’s an inevitable mismatch between the production of goods and services, which are subject to entropy, and the production of money through interest, which in theory drives infinite growth — but this mismatch is resolved in an unexpected way.
-‘$20 Per Gallon’ by Christopher Steiner
-Oil is Peaking But Not Because of Speculation
-Are We Headed for Another Oil Shock?
Today I talk about my “favorite” disaster, called The Sixth Extinction. Even in the age of politically correct environmentalism, most people could care less about the Earth’s plant & animal species unless their decline bears directly and immediately on their own welfare. Accordingly, I will talk about some clear-cut examples where the health of the natural world adversely affects our future survival.
-Personal Responsibility
-Thinking the Unthinkable
-Evaluating Decisions and the Long Term Perspective
-Why Civilisations Collapse
