Are we not members of a culture that worships consumerism? Are the products of greed nothing more or less than the objects of our idolatry?

Are the pin-striped suits, fleet of cars, chauffeur, private jets, McMansions, distant hideaways, secret handshakes and exclusive clubs…… all signatures of success in a culture borne of the ‘goodness’ of greed?

Consider for a moment what greed has wrought.

Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001

Pete Murphy
Author, “Five Short Blasts”

Perhaps we can agree that science is indisputably the finest source for gaining an adequate understanding of the way the world we inhabit actually works and for accurately enough grasping the “placement” of the human species within the order of living things on Earth. But, as others have noted with such clarity and coherence, too many world-class scientists have treated the human overpopulation of Earth as a taboo topic and, even worse, perniciously participated in the politicization of the science of climate change. Barack Obama cannot know whatsoever could somehow be true, in large part, because so many scientists have failed to reasonably assume their responsibilities to science as well as to sensibly fulfill their duties as scientists.

Rather than do what I have been doing over the past 7 years by extolling the virtues of good science, today I am going to try something different.

What follows is a brief artistic expression that is intended to convey a symbolic meaning parallel to but distinct from, and more significant than, the literal meaning.

Please consider an allegory: that a titanic struggle between human beings and the natural world is in the offing. It seems this struggle is fulminating now precisely because too many leaders of the 6.7 billion {soon to be 9+ billion} members of the human family generally do not share the distinctly scientific, evidence-based perspective of many within this community. Many too many of our brothers and sisters, especially those with great wealth and power, pompously and erroneously believe that human organisms are separate from, and somehow superior to, life as we know it on Earth.

At least to me, it appears that an epochal contest is taking shape on the far horizon between the ‘team’ of “mother culture and father profit” on one side and ‘Team’ Mother Nature on the other.

This could be the greatest show on Earth in 10,000 years.

The team of “mother culture and father profit” appears adamant in its willful intentionality to stay the same old business-as-usual course of recklessly overconsuming limited natural resources; relentlessly expanding large-scale production and distribution capabilities without regard to physical limitations of the natural world; and overpopulating our planetary home, come what may for children and coming generations, biodiversity, the environment and the Earth’s body.

Team Mother Nature simply is.

Which team will likely be seen by reasonable and sensible observers as winning the contest for success in 2012, 2020 and 2050, if the human community continues its idolatry of distinctly human overconsumption, overproduction and overpopulation activities by choosing forevermore unbridled overgrowth activities just as we are doing now?

If the leaders of the family of humanity do not choose change, do you have any ideas about which team will prevail and when will the outcome of the colossal contest no longer be in doubt?

Sincerely,

Steve

Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
http://sustainabilityscience.org/content.html?contentid=1176

http://literature.lalisio.com/oai.html?o.0.au=Salmony%2C+Steven+Earl

Billions of dollars are paid in bonuses and bailouts to the “wonder boys” on Wall Street. Precisely what have these self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe been doing for billion dollar year-end paydays?

Yesterday we found out.

In recent years “the brightest and best” have perfected the rule-making governing the manipulation of ‘free’ markets and the institutionalization of fraudulent financial instruments and business models.

What still mystifies me is this: What have these heirs of Ozymandias done in 2008 to merit this self-enrichment? More manipulation and more fraud for more ill-gotten gains, I suppose.

What can done for the benefit of the human community to put right this massive wrongdoing?

Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
http://sustainabilityscience.org/content.html?contentid=1176

I agree with some others that the chance for growth is gone. The next years will be about using up what’s already been produced with a steadily declining comfort of life for most. Of course there will still be production, but it will be so dwarfed by decline in other areas it will barely register. Think of it this way, if every family bought a hoe, shovel, and seeds this weekend (and nothing else), our GDP would take an enormous hit. If we only buy the barest necessities of life for the next few years, think about the economic impact. We are seeing that right now in October’s Retail Numbers (3% drop). And that is just the slightest beginning.

Unfortunately, those in the margins, the poor, the sick, the old are going to suffer the most at home and abroad. A die-off is inevitable if simply in the form of life expectancy (negating disease, war, famine) from lowered availability of medicine. At some point, there will be growth as it seems to be in human’s nature (unless western civilization is completely annihilated) to grow until a limit is reached. We’ve reached the limit of what got us here.

Growth may happen, but only after we go through a fundamental change in the structure of our economy and society. And I don’t see that growth happening in anyone’s generation alive today. I see the collapse happening quicker than most expect and the recovery taking longer. Negative feedback loops go exponential really, really quick.

So much of what we relied on to pull us out of the Great Depression simply isn’t there anymore…from our own natural resources, to undeveloped countries [sic] we can pillage for profit, to a captive audience to sell to, to a strong work ethic or a strong manufacturing base. None of that is there with us now in this crisis.

I hate to admit it, because it scares the he11 out of me, but we are in for a terrible mess. Those of us who’ve been reading about PO for a long time knew this was coming…but can no longer just hope we were wrong. Sadly, we weren’t. And now it’s here to deal with.

In both cases though we each have to go through stages of grief because you are having to say good bye to the old you which was defined by your place in an America that is slipping away.

That’s so very hard. Its ok to feel overwhelmed and to obsesses and all manner of what may feel like un-natural reactions. Its ok to do well on some days and then wake to dark days where it feels like nothing is worthwhile.

Before the recent collapse many got “stuck” or mired down by the proforma nature of our preparations.

Now that things are collapsing (PO or not, it pays to be prepared now) PO types who prepared have a measure of qualified calm and now might be able to move on to other levels of dealing with the grief.

Those of us who are coming to PO awareness in the midst of this collapse are handicapped by a lack of time that is needed to process the falling away of our American Way where we were “entitled” to live energy wasteful lives.

The sooner one mourns and acknowledges this falling away and then embraces the transformational possibilities of transition and post-peak in a positive way, the sooner they can get active, help themselves and those around them not descend into unproductive and self-destructive grasping for the “old way of things”.

Self-destructive is waiting for or living by the DOW or gold prices or oil prices, waiting for the housing market to come back, waiting for this or that manipulated economic metric to improve. Re-read your 1984 (Orwell) and pay special attention to the media reports that shower people in every venue.

Constructive is practicing intentional calm (meditation), planning, stocking up, relocalizing, meeting neighbors, growing local community and local food. I suggest doing this joyfully, make it fun. I am not religious but my inspiration comes from Zen Buddhism – its all about right now and that right now is 100% free and its 100% gone already cuz right now is 100% new.

Find a way to recharge and refresh.

Constructive, obviously, is visiting Sharon’s blog, learning from her, DOING food storage. It is also finding time to get outside and away from the TV/radio and connecting with the pulse of your life that has zero to do with money and which slips away from each of us every moment we live.

Instead of frittering away hours and days worrying about recession or depression, do the hard work to build your resilience and also to help others who have already fallen.

I think there is likely exactly zero that you or I can do to gracefully unravel the CDOs, deleverage AIG and the banks, save the Auto Boondoggle, reinvest in alternative fuels, save recycling, reinvest in pipelines and oil industry physical plant that are old and convalescing poorly, invest in ultra deep sea oil drilling and explorations, (deep breath) and the MANY other things that need to be done.

What we CAN do is what Sharon is showing you how to do. That right there is a full time job.

I was surprised that the average lifespan of a nuclear power reactor is 40 years. Seems like a short time considering the effort and materials consumption that goes into it.