I'm a guy who's into the global Transition movement, who worries about peak oil and even thinks that Occupy Wall Street makes some good points. That's why I'm running for public office (see my campaign website). And today is election day. But don't expect to see anything about my race on MSNBC or even in one of those emails asking you to give five bucks to some candidate in … [Read more...]
A course to keep you from crashing
If you still think professional economists have any authority left to talk about finance, debt and banking, remember that most of them failed to predict the Great Recession of 2008. Then consider how many of those same financial experts have been saying on and off since the crash that the economy has entered a recovery, even if only a "jobless" one. Recovery? … [Read more...]
How Saudi oil could start World War III
"I want to go to war with China," said presidential hopeful Rick Santorum in a recent GOP debate, showing the cavernous lack of any good sense that has become his trademark. Nonetheless, Santorum was probably speaking for many Americans who fear that China may soon overtake the US as the world's single great power. By contrast, many of those same Americans probably think of … [Read more...]
Five Bummer Problems that Make Societies Collapse
"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 … [Read more...]
If you’re not overwhelmed, something’s wrong with you
"The shock, the anger, the sense of overwhelm are all understandable," says psychotherapist Kathy McMahon of the moment when someone first hears about peak oil and gets how scary it can be. McMahon, who practices therapy in Northhampton, MA as the "Peak Shrink," thinks that society needs to normalize the anxiety that people feel about ecological overshoot so that more people … [Read more...]