economic collapse — Transition Voice

You built that: 3 top strategies for resilience

By Erik Curren October 17, 2012

President Obama aroused the GOP's ire for reminding business owners of the obvious point that their success relies in part on roads and bridges built at public expense. But the rest of us would do well not to place too much faith in big government in the uncertain times coming with peak oil, climate change and economic collapse. Whether you think we're facing another financial meltdown this fall that could lead to global chaos or just another fifty years of on-and-off recessions and partial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: Barack Obama, climate change, economic collapse, environmental economics, peak oil, resilience

Climate change a threat multiplier for global crisis

By R. Michael Conley August 17, 2012

This article is re-posted, with permission, from R. Michael Conley's "Weathering the Storm" email newsletter, intended to explain the coming crisis brought on by climate change, peak oil and the economic crisis to business leaders. -- Ed. The forces of the perfect storm are intensifying; the danger more imminent. Its fury will intensify as colliding forces reach critical mass and trigger a chain reaction of immense proportions. In this issue, ?Weathering the Storm's publisher, R. Michael … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate, Transition Tagged With: climate change, economic collapse, peak oil

Give me that doom time religion

By Erik Curren June 4, 2012

I don't usually think of people interested in peak oil, climate change and economic collapse as particularly religious. "Spiritual" maybe -- Sufi dancing and Lakota Vision Quests are OK and agnosticism is better. But peak preppers are usually not the kind of folks you'd expect to see in the pews on Sunday at First Presbyterian. The Age of Limits conference held at the end of May offered some new insights on how religion, as an organized institution, could play a key role in helping people … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: Carolyn Baker, Christianity, Dmitri Orlov, economic collapse, Gail Tverberg, John Michael Greer, New Age spirituality

Five bummer problems that make societies collapse

By Erik Curren August 18, 2011

"If anyone tells you that there's a single-factor explanation for societal collapse," says collapse guru Jared Diamond, "you know right away that they're an idiot. This is a complex subject." So, forget about peak debt, peak oil, peak climate, peak Harry Potter or even peak everything as the single most important problem that could bring today's whole pulsing, beaming and txt-mssgng mess down into a lifeless pile of shorted-out microchips, rusted carburetors and busted sporks from Taco … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: economic collapse, futurology, Greenland, Jared Diamond, peak debt, Vikings

No shirt, no shoes, no problem. Interview: Dmitry Orlov

By Lindsay Curren August 16, 2011

Though we've had Transition Voice for almost a year now, last month was the first time I talked to Russian-American peak oil and economic analyst Dmitry Orlov, whose popular website, Club Orlov, offers both his own thoughts, and a vigorous community of like-minded readers. Because Orlov takes a more skeptical, less forgiving look at collapse, I think I might have been tuning him out to a degree, considering myself not doomer enough for his club. Or maybe I had Panglossia when it came to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Dmitry Orlov, economic collapse, interview, Russia, Soviet Union, Stars of Peak Oil

Smashing the melon of American complacency with the mallet of Russian grit

By Erik Curren August 11, 2011

Dmitry Orlov scares the crap out of me. The relentlessly doomerish boss of ClubOrlov.com has become famous in peak oil circles for presiding over a kind of comedy club from hell where a rabid fan base celebrates the coming fall of the American Empire under the load of peak debt while devouring posts on such subjects as the future of sailing ships and ways for dead people to send text messages. The site's sidebar lists topic tags including cannibalism, ruins and Siberia. Even Orlov's name … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Alexis de Tocqueville, American culture, Dmitry Orlov, economic collapse, Gallagher, Russia, Soviet Union

Praying for rain, praying for collapse

By Erik Curren July 14, 2011

Bone-dry Arizona wouldn't be my first pick as a site for an eco-community meant to weather peak oil and climate change. But that's exactly where Transition Voice columnist Guy McPherson has decided to "exit the empire" of contemporary American consumerism before it comes crashing down around the residents of America's biggest cities. With a couple friends, Guy fled unsustainable Tucson for 2.7 rural acres to set up a self-sufficient intentional community. He hopes it will set an example … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: economic collapse, environmental economics, Guy McPherson, intentional communities

Readers and authors talk

Elisabeth J. Potts on Climate collision course: CO2 levels about to hit 400 ppm » As of this week, we have already reached the 400ppm milestone. Here's the thing: We all need some sp...
Ed Johnson on Roundup of distressing climate news » Thank you all for your comments and commitments. I too sense this with out all the research backgrou...
Lee Samelson on The climate change mountaintop » It seems like the stages occur in reverse order for climate hawks Climate hawks or climate activists...
Steve on For sale, habitable planet, too late » Doug, I am in a similar place to you, I think. I have probably never really faced up to the reality ...