On Power in a Depleted World There were a few comments in email and on Resilience about the potential for the wealthy to create havens where they can continue to live as they do now while the rest of us fall into chaos. I'm pretty sure the wealthy would like us to think that this… Continue reading The Daily: 22 December 22
Category: Polemics & Rants
The Daily
for 17 December 2022 Io, Saturnalia! Let the dancing begin! Two feet of snow... that's the beginning of the Midwinter revels here in central Vermont. Two feet out there and snow still falling heavily over the entire state. I have tickets to the Nutcracker tonight. I wonder if that's going to happen. The plow guys,… Continue reading The Daily
The Daily
for 16 December 2022 A short rejoinder inspired by numerous responses to Negative Feedback. Type in "percent transportation on renewables in the US" into Google and this is the top figure in the search results: 17% in 2020. (Note: I'm using the US because there are easily obtainable data and because the US is a… Continue reading The Daily
Negative Feedback
We throw a lot of words around without giving much thought to meaning or physical manifestation. We talk about systems, iteration, interdependence, feedback. We slap these labels on all manner of things, but we don’t really consider the real-world implications. For example, we talk about economic systems, the interrelated networks of processes and infrastructures used… Continue reading Negative Feedback
The Daily
for 3 December 2022 While listening to Nate Hagens talk with Betsy Taylor (another newbie Vermonter!) about "nature based solutions" I finally realized why I am not fond of podcasts. To begin with, I don't generally like listening to talk media because most of it is just horrible in all sorts of sociopathic and stupid… Continue reading The Daily
The Deadly Weight of the Series
Every time you wake up and ask yourself, "What good things am I going to do today?" remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it. — Indian Proverb found in Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 21 November Can I just say that I really… Continue reading The Deadly Weight of the Series
The Daily
for 29 November 2022 Beware of those who want to convince you that it is impossible to strive for good just because it is impossible to reach perfection. — John Ruskin in Tolstoy’s Calendar of Wisdom, 26 November I spent Thanksgiving with millennial New Yorkers, my son's friends and co-workers. A nicer, more enthusiastic group… Continue reading The Daily
An….d We’re Back…
In the continuing saga of plunder and extortion that is life in the 21st century... Son#1 and I went down to visit Son#2 and his new wife for a Thanksgiving with his "caravan of exalted, super-twinkly, international friends." (Name that quote and you can probably figure out where I was...) This was a long-planned trip.… Continue reading An….d We’re Back…
The Daily
19 November 2022 This weather is not doing things by half, I'll give it that. We went from the longest growing season on record — 181 days, theoretically long enough to grow even protracted growing season veg like okra — with the official first frost date ringing in at 28 October, to... well, there's a… Continue reading The Daily
Owning Earth
I've always been confused by the idea that there is an economy that is not land-based. Everything comes from the Earth, from the air that we breathe to every single resource we toss into our toolkit. But even a narrow interpretation of the land economy as farming makes no sense. There is no other economy.… Continue reading Owning Earth



