doing as a doomer

John Michael Greer is the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, and his blog The Archdruid Report is essential reading for anyone interested in the ramifications of peak oil and our society. His weekly postings lead the reader through layers of complexity via delightful writing. He weaves his narrative over many interrelated subjects and he doesn't flinch from the truth..As you can tell I am a fan.


His latest post really opened my mind to the interconnections of so many areas. This is the last paragraph - to see how this paragraph ties the whole post together please read the full post here.

I have begun to suspect that this will turn out to be one of the most crucial downsides of the arrival of peak oil. If the industrial economy, as I’ve suggested, was basically an arbitrage scheme profiting off the difference in cost between energy from fossil fuels and energy from human laborers, the rising cost of fossil fuels and other inputs needed to run an industrial economy will sooner or later collide with the declining cost of labor in an impoverished and overcrowded society. As we get closer to that point, it seems to me that we may begin to see the entire industrial project unravel, as the profits needed to make industrialism make sense dry up. If that’s the unspoken subtext behind the widening spiral of economic dysfunction that seems to be gripping so much of the industrial world today, then what we’ve seen so far of what peak oil looks like may be a prologue to a series of wrenching economic transformations that will leave few lives untouched.

I suppose i am a doomer. I do believe that peak oil has occured and the effects as the Archdruid explains, will affect us all. I also believe that climate change is happening and is having and will continue to have accerlating negative worldwide effects. I see Fukishima is still putting highly radioactive material into the sea - anyway the list of portents is endless. I do beieve we are heading for a major downgrade but i don't think it is a cliff necessarily. I enjoy the Archdruid's discussions on the topic because he is focused on the real issue and that is how it will affect people and communities. His viewpoint is very considered and compassionate. Whatever happens connecting people will be the best solution, building relationships and cooperation, building communities and looking after each other. And the time to start is now.