Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Apocalypse Soon: Has Civilization Passed the Environmental Point of No Return?

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Apocalypse Soon: Has Civilization Passed the Environmental Point of No Return?

Click here to access article by Madhusree Mukerjee from Scientific American.

If Bill McKibben's article didn't bring you down, this one will--unless you are an incorrigible optimist.

Although there is an urban legend that the world will end this year based on a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar, some researchers think a 40-year-old computer program that predicts a collapse of socioeconomic order and massive drop in human population in this century may be on target.