I loved your summation.
"Our high consumption lifestyles have peaked and the era of cheap dense energy is over whether we like it or not. The goods and services we’re used to, especially in developed Western nations, will diminish. It’s already started. Just little things at first, like Siracha. Or maybe baby formula. Or a supply chain interregnum thanks to Houthi rebels.
These disruptions will grow exponentially worse, like black holes in our way of life. We’ll be able to ignore them until we can’t. We won’t be able to ignore the worsening weather disasters, the intolerable heat, the mass die-offs of plants and animals, the superheating oceans, the coastal erosion and food shortages and waves of people flowing north as they flee heat and disease-carrying insects.
Why sit back and wait for all of that to unfold? Why not do everything in our power to slow it? Why not make some personal sacrifices now so that someone somewhere else doesn’t suffer as terribly? Why not consider the fate of your own children, if you have them, or grandchildren?
Why be a bystander? Because you were waiting on the Solution? Or the perfect Calculus with which to gauge your actions? Waiting for wealth inequality to get fixed, for capitalism to be reformed, for the Great Renewable Transformation to Affordable Clean Energy?
Or because — what?"
Although I somewhat disagree with you on "Collapse Acceptance".
You seem to be seeing it as another "out" for avoiding having to take action. Which, I admit, it can be. However, I think "acceptance of Collapse" is necessary in that it then "informs" the actions you take.
Act as though Collapse is inevitable and focus on making it as "mild" as possible. There are degrees of Collapse. Let's not make it as complete and horrible as humanly possible.
We fundamentally agree on how one should act, we disagree slightly on the inevitability of Collapse and what that means in terms of how one should act going forward.
Good piece. Like I said, I thought your summation was great. You could work the questions into a secular version of the Passover Haggada.
