Realistic Hopelessness

Is there a word which describes optimism despite obvious dire hopelessness? Optimism despite a lack of actual applicable solutions? A lack even of blurry suggestions that sound anything like actual solutions? Of willful blindness applied to the global politics of self centered naked greed? Of lack of recognition of widespread corporate media driven ignorance? Of victim blaming, evidence dodging, and general obfuscation? Of just getting all aboard the happy train of 'positive thinking’, spouting fake meme after fake meme about endless 'future generations’ and boundless, omnipotent human ingenuity that can solve it all?

Yes, and that word is, simply: denial.

It doesn’t just feel like doomsday.

It is.

Posted to:
https://medium.com/@joe_brewer/why-being-realistic-feels-like-doomsday-thinking-3eddf421ff59

A Chronicle of Catastrophe

I just read several articles on the dire state of the coral reefs... a chronicle of catastrophe. Global Catastrophe, they warn. Oceans to die when the coral reefs die. Apparently the overheated waters of human caused climate change are deadly to corals. When the oceans die, we die. Who thought an ocean could die? Who thought eco-suicide was a real possibility... that became a real probability.

Censored Humanure

Agitated into another post here, since my words were apparently barred elsewhere.

Below you will find my previously unpublished comment to the article: "Humanure: The Next Frontier in Composting - Modern Farmer"

I began by pointing out a factual error as of March 11, 2017 which Modern Farmer may correct without acknowledging the reader who pointed it out (me). The rest should be self apparent, as well as all the reasons Modern Farmer didn't want my comments to appear. Enjoy.
...
"A well-drained site is essential to prevent water contamination, and for maintaining anaerobic conditions in the pile." Obviously the desired condition is aerobic, not anaerobic. Low oxygen favors disease and odor causing organisms.

This article also promotes and promulgates false fears of properly made and aged humanure - with unnecessary cautions to only use it "where there is no chance of it coming to contact with something you’re going to eat." Not much point then, is there?  No confidence in the quest to reconnect with nature, and to stop wasting energy and fertility, aye? With unfounded paranoia like that, who would bother and 'risk' it?

It seems like the whole point of this article is to generate icky, icky fear of this well informed trend, so instead we'll continue to spend billions of tax on infrastructure and energy... paying a few to stay fabulously rich pumping anerobic (airless, so now toxic), sewage around.

I'm left wondering if the author of this article read Joseph Jenkin's book "The Humanure Handbook". After thousands of years of humanure success, it only took industrial propaganda a generation or two to 'domesticate' us with the imposed neurosis of fecophobia.

Without humanure the ancient civilizations of Egypt and China would not have lasted thousands of years... a few generations at most. It's how they grew their FOOD, darn it. Ick! We, of course, flush it all 'away'. Much better to starve. And pollute the sea. And enrich the industrialists as we impoverish our soils and ourselves. Brilliant.

So ladies and gentlemen, arm yourselves with chemical bowl wash and brush, and don't forget the rubber gloves. Be more afraid of human poop than human extinction. Amen.

The Toxic Threat of 'Rolling Coal'

Well, its been a while since I've posted. It probably would have been a while longer... but "Rolling Coal" has aroused my anger enough to exercise my keyboard muscles.

Some of you may be wondering exactly what "Rolling Coal" refers to. It's where diesel trucks and incredibly stupid and/or evil delinquents mingle with hazardous results. Immature savages are purposefully altering their trucks to spew out as much noxious toxic illness causing climate wrecking pollution as they can. They modify their vehicles to waste fuel and produce extra pollution. Seriously. Nauseating thick clouds of sickness and death. And they think it's cool. They brag about it on Facebook.

I tell you these twisted jerks and their subculture are profoundly bad. They are  assaulting with poisonous compounds. Some of their victims may be elderly with respiration problems. Some may be innocent infants who are especially vulnerable. Others already stressed out from ubiquitous toxic pollution overload and suffering from sub-clinical illnesses could be gassed into critical illnesses. These bastards are making us sick and reducing our lives. Injuring us. Indeed, they're doing it to the whole planet, toxic gasses don't stay put. And these ass-wipes think it's cool. They target their chemical plumes of black carcinogenic soot filled lung choking smoke at pedestrians, bicycle riders, and especially drivers and passengers of efficient 'green' vehicles... particularly when it's a Prius.

These despicable barbarians are typically ultra right wing fascists and blatant haters of Blacks, Indians, Jews, and Environmentalists. They are duped followers of commercial hate radio preachers and Koch brothers who deny Extinction Inducing Human Caused Catastrophic Climate Change. They disregard attack the health and safety of human beings and other species. You're not likely to find any health conscious vegans among them. They are in-your-face criminals, road thugs, who should be prosecuted, incarcerated and fined... but... astonishingly... apparently there aren't any state laws prohibiting this sociopathic brutality... yet. Meanwhile the EPA is mumbling something about this rapidly growing anti-environmental phenomenon as being in violation of their clean air regulations. But Federal enforcement is entirely unrealistic. We need tough State laws with sharp teeth to stop this literally sickening madness.

Life as Masterpiece

A comment in response to:
Economy of Poetics – A Sketch

Art is the forming and shaping of incoherence into something that is recognizable - in emotions elicited from memories, in associations drawn from patterns in our lives. Can we reshape this fractious world into a rediscovered ecological aesthetic that will manage to include the beer guzzling fans of violent games and nature raping machismo mating calls? What could possibly tear such eyes away from the pseudo-community of commercial patriotism, from the corporate mindset of winning at all costs - including the bankrupting of their descendants futures?  Perhaps by letting them into the bigger game, the wholeness of life itself... perhaps. But judging by my personal encounters with that all but unanimous horde, I'd bet that we'll likelier see the darkness of apocalypse than such a dawn. Only because of some fluke will any of them be reading any of this.

Threading the Needle

My response to another article on Culture Change:
Arab World's Turmoil May Spell Sudden Petrocollapse
found at: http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/702/1/

As I try to imagine how people will react to the collapse of civilization, to famine and epidemic, to the unavailability of drinking water (technical pump and energy format), to extreme cold and heat, to the loss of transportation and communication, to hopelessness and desperation... and fear... I wonder if there is any way we can avoid adding brutality to this misery. Some experiences of famine have resulted in weakness, in passivity - which conserved what little vitality there was, rather than in aggression and fighting. However, long before people reach such stages of acceptance and optimization, in situations where catastrophe looms yet 'defensive capacity' is still an option -- the horrible capabilities of humanity have emerged. Ultimately, if our species avoids premature extinction, population will fall to sustainable proportions. The question of how we'll get there... as kindly and gently as possible -- or after passing through the worst hell we can construct, haunts my imagination and fills it with anxiety. In these circumstances the emotion of fear is evidence based, and if we don't harness it to rationality and use it to motivate a quest for the softest landing we can obtain, it will darken our nightmare. But I know which strains my imagination more -- the easy to picture apocalypse, versus the difficulty of threading the needle to an eventual heaven on Earth.

Willful Decisions or Frivolous Whims?

These are comments I posted to the article on Culture Change:
 The “Stuff” of the American Energy Footprint
Found at: http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/689/1/

In my experience, while unfortunate, it seems true that most human beings are incapable of making intelligent conscious willful decisions based upon comprehension of facts. Habits, culture, tradition, comfort, convenience, emotions and frivolous whims always seem to weigh far more heavily on decision making than factual knowledge. It depresses me greatly that this seems to be the case. It seems that in all probability we will simply continue on our present course until factors external to our personal control start to limit our choices. Shock and anger, impossible demands, and ultimately -- conflict and war -- are predictable. Wars that will literally physically destroy the remaining functionality of civilization... which will eliminate most of the demand for material resources and energy (if there are any survivors at all).

I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that WAR will be our 'solution' which will 'solve' the problems of Peak Everything. What a horror. We should rename ourselves Homo ignoramus (literally: we have no knowledge), to at least get one fact straight.