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Below you will find my previously unpublished comment to the article: "Humanure: The Next Frontier in Composting - Modern Farmer"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

How to make the Bulls on Wall Street Happy

One of the generally agreed upon, but rarely discussed and usually ignored aspects of reality... is that the Earth has not been  growing all that much larger lately. A lonely meteorite smashes in once in a while, that's about it. Yet we pray to invoke 'growth' as the salvation of civilization. It would indeed be a miracle if the Earth suddenly started growing significantly larger. New continents just popping up everywhere. New and improved oceans. Plenty of big new oil field discoveries, bigger than Saudi Arabia, daily.  Brand new phosphate mines. An ever expanding cornucopia of fresh fertile soils. Sparkling clean air.  Free xtra sized drinking water supplies. And, of course, increasingly larger dumps for all our crap, but NIMBY. It would probably make the Bulls on Wall Street very happy.

comfortably numb

This is a comment I left at Jan Lundberg's site: Culture Change in response to his article:
"Celebrate the Stampede or Step out of It? " 

Celebrate... Hmmm... We are on an irreversible slide that will take us through the house of horrors -- the valley of the death of billions. No happy ending, no way to wake up from this nightmare. Most are still absolutely unaware. Perhaps there is less counter-productive panic that way. If there's nothing anyone can do about Anthropomorphically Induced Catastrophic Climate Change and Peak Everything any more... If it is just -politically impossible- to alter our course, maybe we should just wallow in ignorant bliss, in the fast-lane, of course. AC and Stereo on, blasting down the road, feverishly texting. Maybe we should celebrate all this death and destruction with a co-linear global self mutilation and sadomasochistic festival... Ah... right, we're doing that St. Vitus's dance already, to the tune of the big band march. But some pain is seeping through the cracks, a few folks are feeling it, and even talking about it. Apparently we're just not delirious enough yet. Hmmm, well, it looks like we're going to need much stronger drugs to be able to completely ignore this emerging catastrophe. With the right (positive) mental attitude, we'll be able to totally immerse ourselves in the experience, without feeling or thinking at all. Then everything will be simply delicious fluff... no content... just pure taste -- sweet as cotton candy but without the nutrition. Hey -- we'll be able to celebrate being 'comfortably numb', perhaps forever.

Read between the lines, maybe you'll hear a low growl. The closest I can get to celebration is growling along with the tune. OK, I'm a bit flat, but what do you expect under this load?

On the Pain of Compassion

It hurts so much to care... to think about the suffering of others and all the sufferings to come due to environmental damage, and shortages of energy and materials...  to know that human beings have overpopulated this Earth, and that nature will balance things, one way or the other, in her own harsh ways. It hurts so much to know and care.

That pain seems like a good argument against caring. To just "forget about it" and save myself from the anguish by turning away. Perhaps I could find sufficient distractions. It's true that I'd  have to integrate my frustration and powerlessness and numbly accept those conditions as what I am.  But theoretically I'd be free of all the concerns and worries, at least over everyone else... But is there any way that I could also drop my concerns for myself? Especially if my whole reason for eliminating compassion towards others is an attempt to obtain aloof composure?  No, clearly I'd be in a self-centered mode, and therefor I could not drop my concerns over my own future and the suffering I'll personally encounter as a result of Peak Oil, and Catastrophic Climate Change.

So I'd still be anxious and depressed. And now also isolated. Alone in my own selfish concerns, and I couldn't honestly expect anyone else to care about me.

If my original motivation is to reduce my own suffering -- then the only path to that goal is to maintain my compassion for others. We're all in this together.   It hurts so much to care - yes, the suffering has begun, it cannot be eliminated, and the only way to reduce it is to face it.

American Boat People

Judging by the general consensus that Cuba is the most sustainable nation on the planet today, and the U.S. being somewhere near the bottom of that list... Will we see millions of American Boat People - Peak Oil Escapees - seeking to enter Cuba as an emerald refuge in the Caribbean? Naturally a mass migration-invasion of that sort would destroy the civility and sustainability of Cuba. U.S. citizens would be better advised to copy the Cuban efforts... if only there was enough time and determination. But with declining oil supplies predicted to hit hard in just 3 to 10 years, it seems likely that a burgeoning flotilla of Nouveau-Poor American Boat People is an all but certain future phenomenon. The New Pirates of the Caribbean could well be Ex-Suburbanite CEOs attempting to navigate their yachts. And they get really pissed when they run out of Grey Poupon Mustard.

On: The Story of Here: Why Words Matter-Part Two

Link: The Story of Here: Why Words Matter-Part Two

Here were my comments on the article linked to above:

"the most important element of defending myself is believing that I can" Hmmm... It almost seems a nuisance to have to point out that: Belief alone never assures the desired outcome! Someone might fully believe (stupidly) that they can take on a 1,500 pound Grizzly Bear all by themselves with their bare hands... until total loss of consciousness, forever. No doubt our minds are the best tool we have... we should use them. But I don't imagine that the power of our minds can maintain 'civilization' or even our population levels. I think the best we can hope for is to alleviate some suffering and mitigate enough of the damage to avoid extinction.

Peak Oil: Ignorance and Arrogance, a Dangerous Concoction

Ignorance is where we all begin. It is forgivable -- assuming that a person is willing to learn.  But combine ignorance with arrogance and the result is a dangerous concoction. Earlier today the topic of Peak Oil came up in a conversation and to my astonishment someone claimed two incongruous notions -- that not only were they not worried about Peak Oil... perhaps those who know little about it honestly feel this way... but this person also claimed to: "Know all there is to know about Peak Oil."

That is a dangerous mindset. A closed mind combined with false confidence or perhaps blind faith. This may even be a popular stance, given the general lack of familiarity with peak resources.  The individual who made this outrageous statement of omnipotent awareness of -- and lack of concern over the dire situation humanity is about to enter, even claimed to be a scholar of history. Apparently the fall of myriads of civilizations due to resource depletion such as soil erosion, were never discussed at his school. Now I might expect such a distressing combination of ignorance and arrogance from an economist, or a corporate hack, but from a student of history...!

The problems of peak resources will be profound now, no matter what we do... but we could probably still soften the impact if enough people understand what is going on... and took the right steps. However, conversations like the one I had today, and the realization that such a stance is the dearly held opinion of the majority,  put any such hopes in the improbable category, at best.  I still can't quite believe I actually heard someone say, out loud, that they: "Know all there is to know about Peak Oil." and that they "were not worried about it." We're doomed.

On solar powered refrigerated trucks, Sun-Reefers

Well, I did a little research and came up with the following figures:

A 53 foot long by 8 foot wide reefer container has 424 square feet of roof area.
Typical solar panel efficiencies are in the range of about 10 to 14 watts per square foot.
So we'd get about 424 x 12 = 5,088 watts per truck roof. Assume an average full sun equivalent of 4 hours per day.
5,088 watts x 4 hours = 20,352 watt-hours per day.
Reefer compressors consume 15 to 20 thousand watts when they are on.
So, a truck roof completely covered with panels would provide maybe an hour of compressor use or approximately 3 hours of refrigeration, per day. If you could save a full day's worth of solar collection, and had 100% efficiency - but most inverters and other components add up to maybe 80% total storage/recovery efficiencies. OK, maybe we can get 14 watts per square foot... Total system installed price, with really decent wholesale costs for the equipment, maybe as low as $40,000 to $80,000 per truck. About 80 panels, about 200 watts each.

Average reefer fuel costs run in the range of $6,500/year per truck at $5.00/gallon, (online calculator), with solar providing 1 hour/day of a typical 8 hours per day of diesel (Note: It seems they are basing this on the estimate that the compressor runs about one third of the time, or 8 hours per day. See calculator.)  So solar would provide about (1/8*100) 12.5% of total energy consumed per day: $6,500 x 12.5% = $812.50 savings on diesel fuel per year with solar. The break even would be: $40,000 divided by $812.50/year =  49 years... (without any tax breaks or subsidies or accounting for possible interest earnings if the $40K was kept in the bank, or the interest on a loan for that amount) but the cost of fuel will continue to increase, so the value of the system will also. OK maybe a 30 year payback without tax breaks or  depreciation write offs... about the same result as putting panels on a house or business. What we need is a carbon tax and/or tax breaks and/or subsidies to make this a go... before the diesel is gone. But... by then survivors might just be growing most of their food locally, so the whole point may be moot.

Meanwhile this has been a great example of how much we take the enormous power of cheap fossil fuel energy for granted. 15 to 20 thousand watts to run every refrigerated truck on the road. Doesn't even include hauling up the hills and mountains, that's just for the refrigeration!!! Imagine if it all had to come from bicycle powered generators! That's a lot of hungry slaves pedaling really, really hard for their 1,500 mile iceberg lettuce salads!

Gentlemen: Start your gardens.

Optimism

Business culture demands optimism. Peak Oil is not an optimistic scenario. Therefore it will be ignored, or denied, or ridiculed, or... explained away with fantastic optimistic notions of ever improving innovative technological solutions -- that haven't been invented yet... and are often simply impossible because they violate the laws of physics and/or geological/ecological limits.

But human business or human activity of any sort, if it is to be successful, also demands, actually requires, a solid footing in reality. Determining what is real is often daunting, especially when that reality isn't what we expect or want to see. That is basic human nature. We are happiest when living in a population that experiences an abundant environment, a cornucopia of food and resources.

Yet we are overpopulating, and depleting non-renewable resources to the point of scarcity and expense and contraction of the economy - making ourselves miserable. We need cultural acceptance of a population slim down plan, preferably via birth control, to the point where we can live in an abundant, sustainable way -- on renewable energy and resources. Yes that means big changes... for the better.

So we can be optimistic, we just have to look to the far horizon and understand what it will take to continue human life and all life on Earth deep into the future:
Balancing our demands with the limits to what the Earth and Sun can actually provide to us, virtually forever.

This was originally written as a comment to the article:
Here's What Peak Oil Prophets Are Failing To Consider
There are several very good comments there answering this absurd article of faith.

Deep Delusion

Delusion takes us down this path
Beneath the earth, below the sea
Beyond the reach of you or me
With steel fingered robots we do the math
With their spiny digits we unleash the wrath

Of a long sleeping dragon
Despite its' fire breath and toxic blood
We can't get off this crud
It hauls our wagon

So we go deeply now, and deeper still
So we can still crave the thrill
Of flying fast over the hills
Over the spills
Over the kills
Salivating over our grills
Where our flesh burns

Dream deeply, now only in our dreams
Are there ways to slay these Dragons
Now the answers only exist in our dreams
Wake up and remember them

Possession

Possession is a funny thing... no not the scary zombie movie sort, something much scarier - the delusionary belief that one can possess part of the world... while everyone in the game respects each other's claims, it seems we can congratulate ourselves on successfully dividing reality.

But each time we divide and take away a portion of the whole, destroy its natural interaction with the rest - it ceases to function and overall we are left with less.

Let me be a little clearer: when we take from the Earth or destroy it's natural functions, for the illusion of profit, we reduce the whole.

Only by sharing can we keep it all alive.

Raising Solastalgia

"Solastalgia describes a palpable sense of dislocation and loss that people feel when they perceive changes to their local environment as harmful." ~worldchanging

Without perception, there is no reaction. No solastalgia. It is impossible to perceive the natural environment through television or computer screens. All this news about the Gulf Crisis - the Gulf Oil Crisis - hmmm... the Gulf of Mexico Oil Crisis... well, that's just another news story to most of the human population on Earth. Just another distant abstraction. We've learned how to watch movies. We've conditioned ourselves as spectators. Removed from the people and events and dramas out there. They're cool to the touch. And they don't touch us.

No wonder "they" don't feel it. The sickening world. The death of species. The decline of life. It's all Out There. Who actually goes Out There anymore? Most surf tragic news from a safe distance - through their screens. Their cool screens which can't touch. Another story. Another movie. Some sports. Next!

But soon TV Land will go away. Soon enough, most of the living won't know it ever existed. The inevitable collapse of industrialized civilization due to scarce resources, toxic build up, catastrophic climate change and extinctions -- will probably take TV Land down too.

Maybe then we will feel solastalgia.

Listening Madly

I was listening to the noise of the big city, the rumble of traffic on the road, the sky encompassing roar of jet airliners above -- and realized I was listening to the sounds of burning oil. Burning oil that is causing catastrophic climate alterations and extinctions. The noisy process was impinging on my eardrums. Directly into my body and into my mind, making my soul squirm.

In a big city -- even in rural areas far from big cities -- the noise of industrial civilization is a constant background din. Something 'normal' people are simply supposed to ignore. Normal people are supposed to have more important things to think about and focus on and do. Like making money or spending it. Noticing these noises at all makes a person arguably weird. Obsessing over these sounds, and their meanings, is probably considered a form of madness by modern psychiatry.

We are supposed to ignore the destruction of our home. We are supposed to ignore the commonplace disrespect shown towards living things. We are supposed to deafen ourselves to the rumble... to the never ceasing buzz of our own demise. Or go mad.

What we can Do?

My response to a good article titled: "What You Can Do in Anticipation of Peak Oil" by Charles Hugh Smith:

A refreshingly realistic portrayal of our situation. I fear that most people who live in industrial civilization are going to be caught unprepared - mentally, emotionally, and physically. The vast majority go on believing that the future will be much like the past, with ever advancing technology enabling and even enhancing human life. Very few of us clearly see the portents of the Great Surprise. It seems frivolous to even hope that people will be better able to deal with truth and reality, while suffering from severe shock, than they can now. A major consideration in any Post Peak scenario should include the added obstacles caused by the bulk paralysis of the general population. And the fact that the general population of humans on this planet is deep into overshoot and unsustainable. Given all that, the suggestions in this article would be very useful if we were a rational species living within our ecological limits. Maybe a few will muddle through somehow. That's the best outcome I can hope for. I certainly don't foresee Mother Nature allowing us to continue with 6.8 billion plus. Once there was an ad with the line: "It isn't nice to fool Mother Nature" -- actually it's impossible.