Collapse or Expansion?
We have a choice. Will our future be a perma-crisis, inward focus, and collapse - or -global-scale projects, outward focus, and unlimited horizons?
This report thinks big (which isn’t too common anymore in our cynical time). Hope you enjoy it.
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The perma-crisis keeps rolling along, and here’s a hint on what the next target will be:
White House: “I would not plan on an announcement this week on a national climate emergency. Declaring a public health emergency (on abortion) is very different from declaring a climate emergency. Each unlocks a different set of priorities and a different pot of funding.”
Based on our recent experience, we know that the government’s crisis response will feature:
Top-down authoritarianism. “you must do this” or “you can’t do this.”
Programs that devolve into helicopter money. “send everyone a check.”
A growing willingness to follow the dictates of a networked swarm. “escalation” + “existential threat” + “extreme response.”
What can we expect to see when the government and a networked swarm go all in on the climate emergency?
Escalating Blackouts. Lots of them as usage spikes. US electricity production has flatlined for years due to climate emergency drawdowns, while usage has increased. The situation will only worsen as nuclear power is decommissioned, with nothing to replace it (we saw this with New York City’s Indian Point shutdown and recently in Germany, although the government is now reconsidering its decision as prices spike).
Agricultural meltdowns. Here’s a short video to give you a feel for what is coming. This type of thinking — combined with the emergency powers needed to implement it (see above) — could make the 20th Century’s collectivization of agriculture look like a warm-up act (for example, the Netherlands just made an unpopular 30% cut to livestock numbers).
Bans. Lots of them. From bans on new gas stations (in CA) to bans on bitcoin (proposed by the ECB) to bans on using natural gas in new construction (everywhere, despite a lack of new electricity production to replace it) to plastic products (everywhere).
What’s going on?
To understand this, it’s essential to understand the narrative driving this decision-making. In this case, it’s a narrative of collapse. “the earth will die if we don’t do anything” For a great example of this narrative, let’s use Jared Diamond’s evergreen best seller Collapse. His historical narrative boils down to the following: