Overshoot

An interview with Jorgen Randers: “2052” – “It’s the story of humanity not rising to the occasion

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Jorgen Randers is professor of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School, and among many other things, was coauthor of The Limits to Growth in 1972, Beyond the Limits in 1992, andLimits to Growth: The 30-Year Update in 2004. He has recently published 2052: a global forecast for the next forty years. I had the great honour of interviewing Jorgen recently, via Skype from his study at his home in Norway.

Our Cooperative Darwinian Moment

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Darwin tells us we must evolve or die, and current circumstances bring that choice into stark relief. A lot of people evidently think that fitness and selfishness are the same…Yet it is our abilities to innovate socially and to cooperate in order to increase our collective fitness that have gotten us this far…

Why Things Bounce Back

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Is there a way to mitigate the current volatility of our social and economic systems by designing built-in coping mechanisms? We’ll explore the possibilities this hour with Andrew Zolli, director of the global innovation network Poptech and co-author of the new book “Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back” (Free Press, 2012).

Recovering environmentalists

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In Extraenvironmentalist #46 we speak first with Paul Kingsnorth on why he’s withdrawn from the mainstream environmental movement and its discussions of sustainability…Then, Michael M’Gonigle joins us to talk about the importance of creating an exit-environmentalism that allows us to leave a global system which is falling apart…Finally, John Michael Greer takes root in a new recurring and irregular segment to talk about denial and his take on the environmental movement…

James Howard Kunstler: It’s Too Late for Solutions

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In his new book, Too Much Magic, Jim attacks the wishful thinking dominant today that with a little more growth, a little more energy, a little more technology — a little more magic — we’ll somehow sail past our current tribulations without having to change our behavior. James Howard Kunstler joins Chris Martenson in conversation.

Resilience through simplification: revisiting Tainter’s theory of collapse (part 2)

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While Tainter’s theory of social complexity has much to commend it, in this paper I wish to examine and ultimately challenge Tainter’s conclusion that voluntary simplification is not a viable path to sustainability. In fact, I will argue that it is by far our best bet, even if the odds do not provide grounds for much optimism. Moreover, should sustainability prove too ambitious a goal for industrial civilisation, I contend that simplification remains the most effective means of building ‘resilience’ (i.e. the ability of an individual or community to withstand societal or ecological shocks) [Part 2]

Resilience through simplification: revisiting Tainter’s theory of collapse (part 1)

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While Tainter’s theory of social complexity has much to commend it, in this paper I wish to examine and ultimately challenge Tainter’s conclusion that voluntary simplification is not a viable path to sustainability. In fact, I will argue that it is by far our best bet, even if the odds do not provide grounds for much optimism. Moreover, should sustainability prove too ambitious a goal for industrial civilisation, I contend that simplification remains the most effective means of building ‘resilience’ (i.e. the ability of an individual or community to withstand societal or ecological shocks)

Review: Was a Time When by Sam Penny

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The novel describes a future in which humans have evolved into an entirely new species, the Neu-humans. They are distinguished by their short tails, freckled appearance and super-intelligence—along with a strong tribal sensibility that compels them to tread lightly upon the planet and always make decisions rationally. The story involves an archaeological journey to the “Lands of Oregon,” from what is now northern Canada, to discover the missing link between humans and Neu-humans. The year is 3100.

System Failure: We are approaching the end of society as we know it — And that may be a good thing

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Paul Gilding says it’s time to stop worrying about climate change; global crisis is no longer avoidable. He believes the Great Disruption started in 2008, as spiking food and oil prices signaled the end of Economic Growth 1.0 based on consumption and waste. Coming decades will see loss, suffering and conflict, but he believes the crisis offers us both an unmatched business opportunity as old industries collapse to be replaced by new ones, and a chance to replace our addiction to growth with an ethic of sustainability.

Who do you trust: Mother Nature or Mr. Wizard?

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Just when you thought weird weather and dying oceans might get us all thinking about how to reduce human impact on this little planet we call home, along comes Breakthrough Institute to propose a “solution” worthy of the Army Corps of Engineers: “We screwed it up, so we should take charge of it.”

Trade Off: Financial system supply-chain cross contagion: a study in global systemic collapse

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This new study explores the implications of a major financial crisis for the supply-chains that feed us, keep production running and maintain our critical infrastructure. It also provides a framework for looking at global complexity, vulnerability risk and collapse dynamics. A broad financial collapse is argued to be likely arisng from credit over-expansion and the emergent effects of peak oil and food. A scenario involving the collapse of the Eurozone to show that increasing socio-economic complexity could rapidly spread irretrievable supply-chain failure across the world.