Analyst of the human illusions about our place in the Earth System. Soon to be published: Holding It Together: Social Control in a New Era of Great Transformation. My eBook, HOPEFUL REALISM: A Climate Manifesto, is available on Amazon; free download via Kindle Unlimited. https://smile.amazon.com/Hopeful-Realism-Robert-MacNeil-Christie-ebook/dp/B0B52F18CX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LWKLZZGP6BB3&keywords=hopeful+realism:+a+climate+manifesto&qid=1656946028&s=books&sprefix=,stripbooks,428&sr=1-1
I have been puzzling over social illusions for a long time. We all have them, of course; nobody is exempt. Some illusions are convenient; some are outright lies, but of little consequence. But some illusions are far more dangerous than the rest. Some dangerous illusions result in criminals being prosecuted and going to jail; some … More Myths of Sustainability, Resilience, and Revolutionary Change
I read a some articles and listened to a couple of podcasts over the last week or so, all of which, taken together, were quite sobering especially in the context of the great changes we increasingly see these days. That led me to the following thoughts on the difficulties so many have in accepting the … More Financially Deaf, Ecologically Dumb, and Energy Blind
I sat spellbound the other night listening to Karim A.A. Khan, the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal court, as he explained to Christiane Amanpour why he sought arrest warrants from the court for the leadership of both Israel and Hamas. His public announcement had listed the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by … More The Rational Man in a World of Hate
On a recent road trip of nearly two thousand miles up the Pacific coast of Mexico, I encountered more ‘big rigs’ than ever before. On many parts of the carretera, there were many more trucks than cars. And many more pulled two trailers than I had noticed in the past. Think NAFTA. It reminded me … More Too Many Trucks: Consequences of Modern Culture
We are on the road again, this time heading north, back to the high desert of Northern New Mexico, again. We do consider Mexico home too. After all, I have lived here for months at a time, off and on ever since those college days in the 1960s. Yes, parts of Mexico can be dangerous, … More On the Road Again, Again
If you look at the world from an independent perspective, some things are obvious, others not so much. The Industrial Age has generated vast quantities of raw data and information (data structured to make sense). Ordinarily we are not aware of much of what our brains are doing, and that is probably a good thing … More The Shapeshifting Dominator and Us
Our hyper-media culture of industrial modernity tends to send us off in all sorts of directions. In fact, tangential thinking seems to dominate most discussions of important matters. For example, I have been in many discussions of how to deal with the destruction caused by the heating of the planet and the extraction of ‘resources’ … More Back to Basics: Can We Return to Reality?
I am often puzzled by various ‘environmentalists.’ (I put the semi-quote marks around the word, since there are many types and variations among folks who either go by the designation or are called that by others.) All the various professionals, activists, academics, and even politicians (well politicians more than any others) go about their work … More There are No Do-Overs Now.
All this talk of Trump getting revenge is puzzling, at least on the surface. What could have possibly befallen the presumed multi-billionaire that could cause him to seek political revenge? Could it be that he actually knows he lost the election and resents the fact so much that he wants to inflict revenge by destroying … More Resilience vs Resentment and Revenge
As you may have noticed from prior posts here and/or from the Hopeful Realist Newsletter, I consider myself a ‘hopeful realist.’ The reason is twofold. First, neither optimism nor pessimism make any sense to me. I guide my thinking by what I know and do not know about the world. Since both optimism and pessimism … More Realism: The Only Hope
