John Michael Greer — Transition Voice

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

Twitter will set you free to Occupy

By Erik Curren January 9, 2012

I'm pretty conflicted about computers and the Internet these days. On the one hand, I run an internet magazine, build websites for small businesses and local good causes alike and even get paid to help people use Facebook and Twitter. It's fun too, since we all know that the web is the ultimate instant gratifier. Where else can you write an article or make a change to a visual design and, within minutes, hear back about it from somebody halfway around the world? It's all too easy, it's all … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Arab Spring, civil rights movement, John Michael Greer, Malcolm Gladwell, Occupy Wall Street, Paul Mason, social media, Twitter, Wendell Berry

Top 10 peak oil books of 2011

By Erik Curren December 12, 2011

Welcome to our second annual list of the top ten peak oil books. Most of them are explicitly about peak oil, while others deal with energy depletion as a significant factor in the economy or the environment. A couple titles focus on responses to the myriad conundrums that Richard Heinberg has dubbed "peak everything" and that are now converging to create a perfect storm for global industrial civilization. Along with Heinberg, we list books by peak oil stalwarts John Michael Greer and Dmitry … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: Dmitry Orlov, futurology, James Howard Kustler, John Michael Greer, Richard Heinberg, top 10, urban homesteading

Transition groups getting things done

By Erik Curren November 22, 2011

I'm glad that John Michael Greer's frank feedback on the Transition movement has generated a healthy discussion among Transition Voice readers. While no one is a bigger supporter of Transition than we are, we welcome an open discussion about how to best help our households and our communities to prepare for an economy that will continue to contract as peaks in energy and other resources make themselves felt. And we're also glad to see that Transition groups around the world have made real … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: John Michael Greer

Transition plans and meetings a waste of time, says Greer

By Erik Curren November 21, 2011

After he spoke on the panel about local solutions at the ASPO-USA Truth in Energy Conference held in Washington, DC earlier this month, I asked John Michael Greer to give us some of his thoughts about the Transition Movement. He obliged us and so we offer his comments in full below. Greer is the author of numerous books on peak oil and other subjects including The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered. Q. What do you think of the Transition movement’s decision to focus on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: ASPO-USA, John Michael Greer, Totnes

Young farmers: Anybody want to be a serf?

By Erik Curren October 3, 2011

“I don’t know a single person under 30 who doesn’t want to own a farm,” wrote Fran Korten in an issue of YES! Magazine devoted to jobs and alternative careers. "A growing segment of people don’t want to just buy organic, healthy food. They want to grow it. This new lust to farm seems to cross class, race, and politics." This farm-lust probably doesn't feature the ambition to become a penniless laborer bound to some rich guy's estate. But the nation's leading … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: farming, feudalism, John Michael Greer, Monticello, serfdom, Severine von Tscharner Fleming, Thomas Jefferson, young farmers

Adam Smith got it way, way wrong!

By Lindsay Curren September 15, 2011

I love the way John Michael Greer's latest book, The Wealth of Nature, opens, with a good skewering of the premise on which the modern pseudo-science of economics depends. Exposing 18th century philosopher Adam Smith's thinking in The Wealth of Nations as flawed, Greer goes on to explain what Smith missed, why it's important, and how we can turn the error in history around. The ultimate source of value It's not that Greer dismisses Smith out of hand. A formidable lay historian, Greer … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: Adam Smith, apocalypse, DIY, economy, energy policy, John Michael Greer

Voluntary poverty — it could save your life, but what a hard sell

By Erik Curren July 8, 2011

Poverty is finding middle class families these days these days through unemployment, bankruptcy and home foreclosure, whether they like it or not. And mostly, they don't like it. But John Michael Greer, author of this year's The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered and several previous books on surviving peak oil, suggests that those who haven't found poverty yet might want to seek it out for their own good. Poor and lovin' it In "How Not to Play the Game," Greer recommends … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit, Transition Tagged With: Diogenes, Epicurus, Henry David Thoreau, John Michael Greer, poverty, simple living, slow food, St Francis of Assisi

Michael Ruppert, extended interview

By Lindsay Curren January 10, 2011

Editor's Note: The following is my extended interview with Michael Ruppert which took place for about 2 hours in late December via Skype. The text below is almost entirely complete, with just a few omissions for space, and a few additions for clarity. It's a long one, but interesting. So settle in and read up. In the text I jump right in, dispensing with writing our hellos. LC: You really impressed me with your comments in the film The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: dystopia, economy, global climate disruption, interview, Jan 2011, John Michael Greer, peak oil, relocalization, Stars of Peak Oil

Low-tech for your resilience toolbox

By Erik Curren December 30, 2010

In a world where iPhones, iPods and iPads are everywhere and where dinner often means popping frozen mac and cheese into the microwave, pre-industrial ways of living may seem hopelessly quaint. But if you're concerned about peak oil, old tech can offer ways to increase personal and family resilience, if you're open to considering it. Can't you use less energy to do that? Lately, I've been trying to convince our two teenage daughters to put a cover on a pot before boiling their water. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Products, Re-skilling Tagged With: Dec 2010, energy efficiency, John Michael Greer, survivalism

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 ...