Anyone who thinks our new and growing climate chaos is the ‘new normal’ (and assumes that we merely have to adapt), anyone who thinks that the “Trump transition” merciless administrative actions are the new normal, anyone who thinks that what they imagine is the ‘new normal’ has any relation to ordinary (normal) social change or … More The “New Normal” is Extremely Abnormal
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash There is an old statistical principle having to do with probability and risk in trying to estimate future conditions and how to prepare for or take action to mitigate them to try to alter the outcome of our past and present bad behavior. In assessing the two potential errors in judging the … More Are We All Here? “Balance” and Meaning in Seeking a Livable Future
I guess the saying, “There is no accounting for taste” may be true after all. Nevertheless, some things can be said of choice when it involves contagion and fear. Sometimes taste may be only part of the explanation of political self-destructive behavior. There are, for example, too many reasons why people who really do not … More A Gang of Sycophants and the Dominator Culture
“Yes, sometimes we need to take a moment, shed a tear, and then double down on our commitment to building a cleaner, fairer world for all. The recent #USElection results may have left many of us rattled, though perhaps not surprised.“ ~ Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director, She Changes Climate I have tried to maintain a … More Does Realism Trump Hope?
I vaguely remember when I first encountered sociology and wondered, ‘what’s that about.’ I had taken an ‘aptitude test’ during my first year in college. It indicated that my highest strengths were in ‘science’ and ‘social.’ My first thought was, “What’s ‘social?” When I explored the social sciences, especially sociology and psychology, I encountered a … More The Empire Is Not Us
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
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
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
Humans are an odd lot. We fret over the future, we lionize the past, and we are in denial about the present. Or, it might not really be about human nature, but rather about the present spot in the devolution of the dominant culture of our time. I think it is the latter. It seems … More Looking Forward: Doom Loop or Hope Spiral
My thoughts here were stimulated by a ‘Letter from the Director’ by Beth Sawin, Director of the Multisolving Institute, which I read last month. In that letter, she rightfully struggled over the ‘bad news’ that six of the nine key planetary boundaries between Earth System health and systemic danger had by then been breached. That, … More To Do or To UN-do: Is That the Question?
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 