Humanity at a Crossroads

Thin gruel today. It’s just a couple of links to something I wrote with Sam Bliss and a new post by Ian Welsh that hit home. The topics may seem quite different, but they go hand in hand. Quick overviews of both and a bit more follow.

First is an article on degrowth for RSA Comment that Sam Bliss and I collaborated on. (Sam teaches ecological economics at the University of Vermont and is president of DegrowUS. And he was a contributor to WPC book #2, and I interviewed him for the WPC Podcast last year.)

In our post, Sam and I shared the story of Andrew Moore, who formerly worked in the shipping industry, but decided to shift track as he realized its unsustainable nature. Please check out Andrew's story and the accompanying mind-blowing statistics. They're something to behold.

• All we are saying is give degrowth a chance - RSA Comment

The second post is the latest from Ian Welsh, the longtime blogger who writes at ianwelsh.net. (Ian sat down with me for the WPC podcast following the 2020 election.)

Ian’s post puts forth a question of human nature and asks us to consider two paths forward. One looks increasingly dire, while the other offers meaningful hope.

• None Of This Had To Be: The Two Paths - Ian Welsh

On that note, I’m a bit nervous about the coming weeks. I’ll be greatly relieved (and surprised) if we manage to get through them unscathed. The NYT’s front page is loaded with worrisome headlines, but this editorial that discusses “laws prohibiting private paramilitary activity” gets right at it.

With that, this site might be pretty empty through the end of the year. We’re trying to ramp up a Kickstarter for Morph, our upcycling social enterprise, where I’m attempting to do some good via my experience in sustainability/circular economy and my social enterprise-related teaching experience.

Assuming we pull it together, I’ll share a post once the campaign goes live, but I’ll try not to go overboard with it here.

See you in a bit.