December 2007


Tea for two, times two times two times two . . .

We have a social disease, and I’ve taken the presumptuous liberty to name it: exponentiosis stupiditus (“ES” as it is known among expo therapists). It’s a condition characterized by gleefully pursuing endless growth until its inherent impossibility clobbers us to smithereens. Generally incurable, it is highly contagious and endemic in the population of industrialized nations, with a prevalence of around 99%. Once infected at an early age, victims are afflicted with a compulsion to acquire stuff regardless of consequences. Many cultures and civilizations have suffered and expired from ES, but never before has it afflicted humans on such a planetary scale.

Exxonentiation

Despite the varied political rhetoric of the last few mercantile centuries, the issue is neither capitalism nor communism nor fascism nor socialism nor any ism. The issue is the prevalent cultural delusion that we can grow our portfolios of acquisitions without limits; indeed, if we don’t we’ll die.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true. And most of us have no idea why.

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Why bother? Why indeed . . .

Bike 1

Meet the Futilitarians

Who are the Futilitarians? They are the majority of us, from silent to noisy, who acknowledge that global warming is a problem and want to do something about it. But they can’t bring themselves to believe – let alone act on – the demands of climate reality and the consequences of the general chaos delivered by our relentless exponential growth (more next time on exponentiation, i.e., the wonders of multiplication by two).

The Futilitarians are those whom I regularly and duly malign (although they have my sympathies), who expect material “progress” to proceed apace regardless of the limitations of the natural world. (more…)

Why can’t we keep the dots connected?

Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation is the oldest weekly magazine in the country (1). Today it is a bastion of progressive opinion and insight, and on May 7, 2007, it published an urgent special edition entitled “Surviving the Climate Crisis: What Must Be Done” (2).

The Ship

To give credit where due, there are some excellent articles in this issue, with important points by writers serious about global warming:

  • Christian Parenti tells us that “Only a few decades remain if we are to avoid cataclysmic runaway global warming and its attendant crises” (3), and reports that according to a government report renewables could supply all of U.S. electricity needs by 2030 (4). (more…)