(((This just in from John Thackara's Doors of Perception Report.)))
THE LONG DESCENT
John Michael Greer's new book The Long Descent is a welcome antidote to the armageddonism that often accompanies peak oil discussions. "The decline of a civilization is rarely anything like so sudden for those who live through it" writes Greer, encouragingly; it's "a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by many social critics today." Greer finds it helpful to look at Russia's recent journey - from superpower status through collapse, contraction, stabilization, and recovery -
as one example of where the rest of us may be headed. "Despite economic collapse, urban populations did not turn into starving mobs roving the landscape. Instead, as existing supply chains broke down, local entrepreneurs jerry-rigged new ones, and the backyard gardens of the Soviet era went into overdrive to keep most Russians fed". The changes that will follow the decline of world petroleum production are likely to be sweeping and global, Greer concludes, but from the perspective of those who live through them these changes are much more likely to take gradual and local forms. "This will make them harder to notice, but paradoxically easier to meet".
http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/4014
(...)
TAKE TO THE BOATS!
Dmitry Orlov, a writer about life after oil, has sold his beachfront house, bought a boat, and is sailing up and down the east coast of the US. "It's a lifestyle choice, plus a way to minimize costs and maximize available options"
he says. If you, too, fancy a "just in case" boat, an online guide by Ian Swan includes suggestions to suit every pocket. Me, I'm probably best-suited to inflatables: "they are very stable and great load carriers - their one downside is that they are harder to row, especially upwind, because of their high windage".
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/46452
(((Who's Dmitry Orlov? Mr Soviet-American post-collapse.
Hope he doesn't drown in that dinky sailboat.)))
(((He also wrote a book called REINVENTING COLLAPSE:
THE SOVIET EXAMPLE AND THE AMERICAN PROSPECTS.)))
"In the waning days of the American empire, we find ourselves mired in political crisis, with our foreign policy coming under sharp criticism and our economy in steep decline. These trends mirror the experience of the Soviet Union in the early 1980s. Reinventing Collapse examines the circumstances of the demise of the Soviet superpower and offers clear insights into how we might prepare for coming events.
Rather than focusing on doom and gloom, Reinventing Collapse suggests that there is room for optimism if we focus our efforts on personal and cultural transformation. With characteristic dry humor, (((he actually is a remarkably funny guy, given his topics))) Dmitry Orlov identifies three progressive stages of response to the looming crisis:
Mitigation-alleviating the impact of the coming upheaval
Adaptation-adjusting to the reality of changed conditions
Opportunity-flourishing after the collapse (((lots of room because all the pessimists drank themselves to death)))
He argues that by examining maladaptive parts of our common cultural baggage, we can survive, thrive, and discover more meaningful and fulfilling lives, in spite of steadily deteriorating circumstances.
This challenging yet inspiring work is a must-read for anyone concerned about energy, geopolitics, international relations, and life in a post-Peak Oil world.
Dmitry Orlov was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve. He was an eyewitness to the Soviet collapse over several extended visits to his Russian homeland between the late eighties and mid-nineties. He is an engineer and a leading Peak Oil theorist whose writing is featured on such sites as www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net and www.powerswitch.org.uk.
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