tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416216787811433893.post4165227612890014233..comments2024-02-27T10:18:27.123-06:00Comments on Swedish in Milwaukee: Musings in the Age Of Collapse: Writing at the edge of the precipiceMargaret Swedishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18122528070296887747noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416216787811433893.post-65494528029824164052012-07-11T07:17:34.723-05:002012-07-11T07:17:34.723-05:00One of the reasons to do this in the so-called &qu...One of the reasons to do this in the so-called "3rd World" is that these are the regions which are already experiencing the worst impacts of ecological degradation. The strategy you suggest here amounts to urgent survival mode for these cultures and how you describe it makes me want to nominate you for head of the UNDP. It's about the only path that would work - separate from the industrial growth civilization and build self-sustaining resilience to absorb the crises descending upon us.<br /><br />The other reason is that these cultures will cope far better than we will because they are not yet so dependent on technologies that will continue to shield us for a time, despite the lessons we should be learning after the storms in the mid-Atlantic (there are still thousands without power) and the fires in CO.<br /><br />I agree that we don't know the outcome, we only know we are going to live through incredibly difficult times. This can flip very fast, not only for the worse. We are learning the hard way, but we are learning.<br /><br />The writer/Buddhist part of me insists that we have to do this with creativity and include celebration and art, as I learned from Salvadorans and Nicaraguans in the worst times of their brutal civil wars and US-backed repression. They would still take out beat-up out-of-tune guitars and sing and dance, and Nica poetry was ubiquitous and beautiful. If we don't make the journey inspiring, then we can give it up for sure. Humans need inspiration and we still have more than enough within and without to provide it.Margaret Swedishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18122528070296887747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416216787811433893.post-58313203586020852542012-07-09T11:32:28.883-05:002012-07-09T11:32:28.883-05:00Steve, I pretty much agree but for one point: &quo...Steve, I pretty much agree but for one point: "seemingly certain fate evolution appears to have in store for us."<br /><br />I don't think there is anything certain about the outcome. That we are in a crisis - yes, that is certain. That it will get worse - most likely, virtually certain. That it will get much, much worse - pretty "certain".. But the outcome is very uncertain. We are at a phase or state transition. Small fluctuations or efforts will produce huge, highly leveraged effects (with massive unpredictable secondary, tertiary, etc effects).<br /><br />Our efforts should be directed toward crash landing as survivably as possible so that recuperation - IF it occurs - will be rapid. I would - if I had $ - invest in building Transition Town Initiatives in 3rd word countries. Aim to bypass industrial revolution as much as possible (including cash crops). Aim for as much hands on, participatory democracy, hands on, participatory economic and financial behavior as possible. Try to teach PRACTICAL knowlege / skills as EARLY as possible to as MANY as possible. Teach innovative thinking, teach the SCIENTIFIC METHOD! Teach these as early as possible (with hands on experience especially in alternative technologies and organic agriculture). Why do this in the 3rd world? Part of the answer: Historians observe that when empires collapse, civilization moves outward into border zones, into recently colonized provinces.. Where are the border zones of industrial world? Latin America, Africa, Asia..hombredelatierrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07347889851876420925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416216787811433893.post-5779830874521478242012-07-04T19:10:30.197-05:002012-07-04T19:10:30.197-05:00What we know about biological evolution as well as...What we know about biological evolution as well as the finite and frangible physical world we are blessed to inhabit would lead sensible people to conclude that there is nothing or precious little that can be done to change the human 'trajectory'. So powerful is the force of evolution that we will "do what comes naturally" by continuing to overpopulate the planet and await the next phase of the evolutionary process. Even so, still hope resides within that somehow humankind will make use of its singular intelligence and other unique attributes so as to escape the fate that appears 'as if through a glass darkly' in the offing, the seemingly certain fate evolution appears to have in store for us. Come what may. In the face of all that we can see now and here, I continue to believe and to hope that we find adequate ways of consciously, deliberately and effectively doing the right things, according the lights and knowledge we possess, the things which serve to confront and overcome the 'evolutionary trend' which seems so irresistible."Steve Salmonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14109791379488548923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416216787811433893.post-81824912536054512142012-07-04T14:02:39.449-05:002012-07-04T14:02:39.449-05:00This is an interesting project: deconstructing the...This is an interesting project: deconstructing the culture to discover its narrative. I've thought about that for years. There seem to be several "layers" or interacting "narratives".<br /><br />One is primordial: 3.5 billion years of Darwinian Evolution. We have brains / minds shaped by that narrative. Human racism has its roots in chimpanzee tribalism. And of course, much else, much of it positive. Humans are tool making animals (hence - in the long run - technological animals, given the time for technology and, later, science to emerge). There is much fossil evidence as well as comparative human / chimp studies (behavior, anatomy of upper limbs and nervous system) that demonstrate that the tool and humans CO-EVOLVED. Human and tool evolution are linked, co-dependent, "symbiotic". We would not have survived without tools, they would not exist without us. One of our innate gifts, tool-making / technology / science is STRONGLY "emergent" at this point in our story. The hick: we have not learned to master or control SciTech. We have become the Apprentice Sorcerers of the planet. Not learned to use our full mental / spiritual powers: Einstein said, I believe, that we use only 10% of our mental capacities.<br /><br />Another layer of cultural or civilizational narrative (or programming) is the rise of what Edgar Morin - the philosopher of Self-Organization - calls "Historical Societies" (I personally prefer the term, "Patriarchy" or "Patriarchal Culture"). This phase marks the rise of centralized, hierarchal, militarized, imperial states about 6000 years ago (I guess). This phase is marked by urbanization, specialization, professionalization, the appearance of slavery and class oppression, the worsening of the status of women, and the rise of "plundernomics" (economic systems based on imperial expansion, rape and plunder of the earth and it's peoples. Industrialization is its latest, most toxic avatar).<br /><br />I guess one could describe subtexts for the specificities of different cultures and periods but these are the broadest outlines I see, at present..hombredelatierrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07347889851876420925noreply@blogger.com