ENVIRONMENT, ANIMAL RIGHTS, PHILOSOPHY - TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PREPARING FOR CIVILIZATION'S END . Diagnosis: Why Civilization is Unsustainable . Prescription: How to Save the World . Understanding How Gaia Works . Overpopulation: The Crash Catalyst . Let-Self-Change (LSC): Resilience & Self-Experimentation . Activism: What Else You Can Do Personally . Building a Community-Based Society . Creating a Gift Economy and Other Alternate Economies . Understanding and Caring for Our Animal Friends (* indicates key How to Save the World articles) updated Jan. 1, 2007 Diagnosis: Why Civilization is Unsustainable Root Causes (February, 2003) dealing with the disease, not the symptoms  Losing the Game (April, 2003) a parable about today's environmental madness Global Warming: A Tragedy of the Commons (December, 2003) Why there's no political will to fix it A Language Older Than Words (January, 2004) Derrick Jensen tells us what's wrong with the world and what to do The Fear of Nature (January, 2004) Its root cause, and how to overcome it *  Living Outside Ourselves (February, 2004) remembering who we were until our culture made us like everyone else Global Warming & the Crime of Denial (March, 2004) Bush's ostrich act on global warming threatens the planet The Empire Strikes Out (March, 2004) The eloquent environmentalism of Kenny Ausubel *  The Only Life We Know: The Cost of Not Knowing (II) (April, 2004) we put up with a grim, monstrous existence because it's the only life we know, the only life we can imagine We Share This Land (April, 2004) private property laws aggravate the Tragedy of the Commons and deprive us of contact with nature *  How Nature Works and Why Civilization Doesn't and The Real War Ahead (June, 2004) a systems view of Gaia - charts showing how both systems are self-reinforcing, with forty actions to help restore the natural one *  Catastrophic Agriculture (July, 2004) Richard Manning explains how we discovered rather than invented agriculture, and how that discovery sent us down a wrong path and created most of rhe ills we face today *  The Consequences of Failure (July, 2004) What ecological collapse might look like The Chemical Soup We Live In (August, 2004) the poisons in our midst The Real Issues, and Why No One Talks About Them (September, 2004) why vested interests avoid the complex and controversial issues *  He Can't Hear You Anymore (December, 2004) our addiction to consumption and debt, and how it's made us homeless Simple Truths (January, 2005) putting the reality of modern life in simple terms Jared Diamond's Collapse (January, 2005)  a new book explains how societies collapse, but is a bit to rosy about how to avoid it happening again The Death of Environmentalism (January, 2005)  two environmentalists explain why the movement has lost esteem, focus and direction In the Year 2045 (February, 2005) Ran Prieur predicts a slow crash, and I add my own predictions A Short History of Progress (March, 2005) Ronald Wright's new book anticipates Jared Diamond's Collapse, but puts a darker face on root causes Homo Sapiens, Gatherer (August 16, 2005) #1245 - Anthropologists and archeologists show we were originally vegetarians/gatherers and then became carnivores/hunters in such a big way we now can't easily switch back Living on Borrowed Time (August 28, 2005) #1257 - James Kunstler's The Long Emergency says we have a few years yet to learn to live with less Beginning Again (Sept. 6, 2005) #1265 - David Ehrenfeld's prophetic 1993 book on civilization coming apart bit by bit The Bird Feeder and the Tragedy of the Commons (Sept. 12, 2005) #1271 - Conservation is unnatural, which is why bird feeders and other commons attract squabbling The Challenge of Wilderness Environmentalism and the Four Myths of Civilization (Dec. 18, 2005) #1377 - Why wilderness is so important, but its protection is espoused by so few *  No Noble Savage (Jan. 12, 2006) #1404 - We're not innately better or worse than gatherer-hunter humans, just more prone (due to stress) and more empowered (due to technology) to commit atrocities The End of Civilization as a 'Software Crash' (Jan. 22, 2006) #1414 - Are we headed for the Blue Screen of Death of civilization culture? Can Cities Become Resilient? (Feb. 7, 2006) #1430 - The short answer: no The End of Oil: Collapse vs Powerdown and the Choice of Economies (March 20, 2006) #1472 - Depression first, says Paula Hay; then, if we're smart, replacing the economy with a more resilient one to handle the end of oil, but collapse is more likely Dreaming in Petrocolour: The End of Oil Dependency? (March 24, 2006) #1476 - Amory Lovins prescription falls victim, alas, to four common myths *  Feeling Unbearable Grief for Gaia (March 29, 2006) #1481 - Richard Anderson explains that At the heart of the modern age is a core of grief, and describes that grief's four stages The Weather Makers (April 5, 2006) #1488 - Tim Flannery's new book erases the last doubts about the causes and dangers of global warming The Dark and Gathering Sameness of the World (April 19, 2006) #1501 - Terry Glavin's Waiting for the Macaws: Stories of dawning extinction Lack of Presence (April 26, 2006) #1508 - We're too busy living in the past and the future to realize what's going on and what we have to do How Would We Behave in a Great Depression? (April 28, 2006) #1510 - The next great depression will likely precede civilization's collapse, and give us an idea of how we will cope with that collapse Home-Free (July 4, 2006) #1578 - Our loss of place: The garden we cast ourselves out of is gone, and besides there are too many of us now to fit in it anyway About the Author, and About this Blog (July 5, 2006) #1579 - My credo, history and purpose for writing, as a bit of context for all these articles Endgame (August 10, 2006) #1609 - Derrick Jensen's 2-volume epic describes the twenty operating principles that doom our civilization to self-annihilation This is Our Tomorrow, Today (Nov. 16, 2006) #1698 - The hell that is Lagos today foreshadows the overpopulated, overcrowded, economically depressed, crisis-ridden future of all of us Prescription: How to Save the World Five Elements of a New Culture (July, 2003) prerequisites for an environmentally friendly culture There's Something Happening Here (July, 2003) adding a new politic to the new culture and economy *  Writing Our New Story (January, 2004) want a new society, a new culture? write a new story Plan B (March, 2004) if moderate solutions don't prevent eco-catastrophe, we might have to resort to this The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of (July, 2004) thinking with the gloves off about how we could radically reduce population and consumption *  The Truth About Nature: How to Save the World (August, 2004) a substantially revised and updated version of this 2002 paper *  A Theory of Knowledge (September, 2004) could a new story, attention to overpopulation and overconsumption, the wisdom of crowds and helping each other overcome obstacles, be the formula for saving the world? What are the Chances for our World? (September, 2004) applying Kotter's theory of business change to saving the planet *  A Global Think-Tank Based on the Wisdom of Crowds (October, 2004) could unbiased, vastly connected virtual think-tanks staffed by amateurs solve the world's most intractible problems better than the grey-beards? Inventing a New Human Culture (January 2005) technology got us into this mess, could collaboratively-developed technology get us out? *  Duties Beyond Borders: Towards a Society Built on Respect for All Life (February, 2005) Peter Brown's pragmatic yet idealistic prescription for stewardship of the planet *  Dyson's Dream (February, 2005) Free Information, Freedom from the Grid, and Peer-to-Peer Bio-Innovation as components of a world-changing program to undermine the economy Could Social Networking Save the World? (March, 2005) Rob Paterson argues that social networks could allow us to connect and transact with each other so powerfully it could replace our economic system *  Creating a Post-Civilization Culture (March, 2005) The ingredients: Principles, Learnings, Enablers and Infrastructure *  Seeing the Big Picture (Building a Bigger Frame) (March, 2005) Looking for synthetic, non-parochial, transcendent ways of solving the world's problems * The End of Philosophy (May 2, 2005) #1131 - John Gray's extraordinary Straw Dogs tells us we cannot change who we are and we will not save the world, but that's OK The Rogue Animal and Gaia Consciousness (May 4) #1134 - John Livingston's 1994 Rogue primate tells us it is not too late to rediscover our true natural purpose and higher consciousness * Too Far Ahead (Oct. 11, 2005) #1300 - Civilization is on its last legs, and we can't save it; the answer isn't despair but personal responsibility to make the world better now, and striving to live a full, natural, joyful, purposeful, aware life What Good is Technology Anyway? (Dec. 20, 2005) #1380 - If deployed to the right ends, to make the world a better place to live, it is potentially very good The Hanover Principles  (Dec. 24, 2005) #1385 - The principles for sustainable living drawn up by Bill McDonough for the World's Fair How to Disrupt and Replace the (Distorted) 'Market' Economy (Dec. 6, 2005) #1364 - Building a new economy around Intentional Communities, Natural Enterprises, and information-powered consumer/citizen activism The Canadian Sustainability Movement: A Three-Part Plan for World-Changing (Feb. 3, 2006) #1426 - How the Suzuki Foundation's sustainability plan, combined with grassroots actions, could yield a sustainable nation Sustainability, Cradle to Cradle (Feb. 12, 2006) #1435 - Bill McDonough explains how to make buildings and products in a completely sustainable way Taking Things Into Our Own Hands (Feb. 24, 2006) #1447 - Even problems like global warming might better be solved by grassroots, bottom-up action instead of relying on politicians or 'the market' The Sustainable Living Collaborative: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (March 12, 2006) #1463 - An elaboration on post #1426 above Beyond Hope: The Radicalization of Derrick Jensen (May 26, 2006) #1538 - Jensen's new book 'endgame' advises us to live responsibly but without hope; I'm not sure this is possible for most of us The Great Turning (June 9, 2006) #1552 - David Korten's new book contains interesting principles for a new political and economic order, but no practical roadmap Cultural Divergence After the Crash: Thoughts on The Only Life We Know (June 14, 2006) #1558 - The post-civilization cultural model around which my novel-in-progress in based What Progressives Are Missing (June 25, 2006) #1569 - The need and process to starve the status quo The Logic of Sufficiency (July 28, 2006) #1600 - Thomas Princen's set of principles, assumptions and connecting theory for rationally and collectively self-managing complex adaptive systems George Monbiot's Heat -- Part One (Oct. 30, 2006) #1690 and Part Two (Nov. 3, 2006) #1692 - A specific plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 90%, but it requires everyone's cooperation to work Getting Environmentally Friendly Transportation Back on the Rails (Dec. 14, 2006) #1725 - It's no longer a practical solution on a large scale, but there are things we can do to attract energy-efficient transportation nevertheless Understanding How Gaia Works Common Sense (February, 2003) the wisdom of trusting your instincts The World We Want (February, 2003) Mark Kingwell's book also says trust your instincts *  The Third Way   (March, 2003) why you should trust your instincts Dangerous Meme #1: Tribalism Works, #2: Why You Hate Your Jobw and #3: Advice for Advancing Radical Ideas (May, 2003) about tribes and tribal businesses How to be Human (September, 2003) three life lessons, from a duck How Hard it is to be Different (September, 2003) our culture's homogeneity makes it harder for radical change to be accepted, and makes us more vulnerable The Perfect House (October, 2003) Farley Mowat explains the Inuit solution to the housing crisis The Truth About Stories and Our Story (December, 2003) Thomas King explains that stories are all we are, the essence of our culture, and what that means *  We Are Each Our Own Culture (February, 2004) How we are each much more unique and alone than we might imagine *  A Sacred Earth Culture (March, 2004) a recapitulation of my environmental philosopy, and an intro to psychologist Glenn Parton's argument about why a Sacred Earth culture is so hard for us to imagine The Spell of the Sensuous Part One , Part Two and Part Three (April, 2004) David Abrams book on the importance of reawakening our senses and imagination and moving from our minds to our bodies, to reconnect with the Earth and its important knowledge Love Politics and Loving More Than One (April/May, 2004) Glenn Parton's essay on how our culture of emotional and sexual exclusivity closes us off from each other and damages us psychologically, and my thoughts elaborating on this idea Cultural Metamorphosis (May, 2004) Elisabet Sahtouris and Gary Alexander say our next culture could emerge cocoon-like Sensualization (October, 2004) a 'magical' exercise to reconnect with nature and your senses Why I Sometimes Don't Make 'Sense' (October, 2004) just because I can't explain instinctive knowledge in rational or moral terms doesn't mean it's not the best guide for human behaviour Saving the Land (November, 2004) John Taylor Gatto talks about his eco-philosophy, and sets a great example The Three Principles (December, 2004) The Chumash teach that limitation, moderation and compensation make for a great culture A Lesson from the Gwaii Haanas (December, 2004) How the Haida tried to confront empire, and how Shoshana Zuboff says we should try again Exterminism by Glenn Parton (January, 2005) and Free Love  (April, 2005) and The Great Refusal (May 21, 2005) #1153 the first two parts of Glenn's 3-part essay, on the psychology of the US after Bush 2004, and the spiritual rationale for polyamory Ivan Illich: Progressive-Libertarian-Anarchist Priest (February, 2005) Illich's ideas to reform education, de-institutionalize society and de-materialize values as steps to reintegrate ourselves into a balanced ecosystem Love Politics Revisited (March, 2005) Laura Kipnis's Ag