My mother can be a bit of doom-sayer sometimes.

“Our reliance on petroleum is going to destroy our society!” she’s been known to say. “Get a piece of land and learn how to garden!” she’s whispered in panicked tones.

Today she sent me some interesting articles by a writer named John Michael Greer. Greer looks at the issue of our declining civilazation through the lens of history, and while he confirms some of my mothers suspicions, his recommendations fly in the face of some of her preferred techniques. Check out: The Coming of Deindustrial Society: A Practical Response. Basic premise? Declining civilizations take at least decades and often centuries to fully fall. Complaining to politicians is useless. Develop community now. All makes sense to me. Two other articles by the same author here and here.