The quotations on my home page are overtly political, succinct, incisive statements made by people I admire. They reflect my views after a lifetime of immersion in the myth and propaganda of the United States of America. That's powerful stuff. I now understand, finally, that capitalism, socialism, economics, nationalism, war, peace, authoritarianism, climate, racism—all these… Continue reading On politics and the art of words
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The 5 R’s of collapse: a personal reckoning
First published: July 27, 2025 The matter of the collapse of industrial consumer societies is not only extremely inconvenient for those of us who are enjoying its conveniences, but also deeply challenging philosophically and spiritually ... I am certain we cannot wait for the storm to pass or seek to skirt around its edges—we must… Continue reading The 5 R’s of collapse: a personal reckoning
A poem written for President Trump on the occasion of his birthday
Regrettably, these are not my words. They are the words of my friend for whom I have the greatest admiration and respect. He has more courage than most, including me. Because I was not brave enough to say these things myself, this seemed like the least I could do. Agreeing to have his poem republished… Continue reading A poem written for President Trump on the occasion of his birthday
The full catastrophe
"Am I not a man? And is not a man stupid? I'm a man, so I'm married. Wife, children, house – everything. The full catastrophe." "One of the things that holds the professional class back from making radical decisions is the assumption that most of us are, already, well informed. Instead, research has found that… Continue reading The full catastrophe
Optimum tilt of solar panels
The purpose of the post is to help calm my anxiety that this very useful information might be lost should the original source page disappear and to provide a validated, concrete example of its application. I offer my thanks to the author, software engineer Charles R. Landau, for precisely quantitating what I empirically knew to… Continue reading Optimum tilt of solar panels
Marianne Williamson
Revised 3 July 2024, and again 21 July 2024. I want to talk, very briefly, about Marianne Williamson, the presidential candidate. Today, Joe Biden has done the right thing. What courage that takes; his decision is a testament to his character. Not since President Lyndon Johnson in March 1968 have we seen such an act.… Continue reading Marianne Williamson
How long do we (I) have?
“How long do we have?” asked Zori, as we waited for our dinner. “It is impossible to know for certain in such complex systems,” I explained. “But I expect turmoil of all kinds to begin within the next few years, and am living my life now as if by 2028 the systems people like us depend upon today… Continue reading How long do we (I) have?
The only home we’ve ever known.
Our only home is a pale blue dot. Seen from a distance of 3.8 billion miles by Voyager 1 in 1990, it's less than a pixel in size. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being… Continue reading The only home we’ve ever known.
The selfish meme
It all started, pre-Covid, in a conversation with a close friend. He was wondering if there's some pervasive psychological affliction causing all of us to behave in ways that result in the ecological destruction of our world. 'Mind virus' was the exact term he used. I found the concept strangely attractive and disquieting. I was… Continue reading The selfish meme
Transitions
Transitions—the 215th podcast in a series from Last Born in the Wilderness—is an exposition and deeply personal sharing about what to do in a time when nobody has a clue. Words are insufficient to express the significance of this conversation, so I ask you to listen, really listen, to what Barbara Cecil and Dahr Jamail… Continue reading Transitions