Category Archives: What to do

The freedom to travel enabled people to flee to better tribes

Preface.  One of my favorite books was Bruce Chatwin’s “Songlines” about how aborigines were included by the Australian government in the building of a new railroad so that sacred sites could be avoided and they could add the rail line … Continue reading

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How past societies avoided the Agricultural trap

Preface.  There’s a great deal of evidence that past tribes did grow food but deliberately chose not to make that the entirety of the way they lived, preferring a more seasonal styles of life with hunting and gathering, and governance … Continue reading

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Why were California & Pacific NW Native tribes so different from each other?

Preface.  Why do many societies near each other have such different values, beliefs, mythology, and governance?  In “Dawn of Everything”, the authors suggest that it’s because:

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Dawn of Everything: self-governance not Kings & Slavery

Preface.  After the Great Simplification new societies will arise, and I hope copy past civilizations that deliberately avoided slavery, war and autocratic kings.  I’ve extracted a few examples of this from The Dawn of Everything below.

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What did Native Americans make of the French in the 16th century?

Preface. My first exposure to philosophy was in High School, about the philosophies that helped shape the U.S. constitution. This led me to read Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and others. “Dawn of Everything” points out that Native American philosophies should … Continue reading

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Dawn of Everything Conclusion

Preface. Clearly for their conclusion to make sense you’ll need to read the book and see the evidence for yourself.  Since they challenge just about all of the ideas currently in fashion, you can find some pretty damning reviews of … Continue reading

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Dawn of Everything Introduction

Preface.  It is likely that all world oil, both conventional and unconventional, peaked in 2018. The good news is that this means there isn’t enough carbon left to turn the world into a hothouse extinction, though for centuries the planet … Continue reading

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Neighborhood councils to cope with energy decline

I’m reading “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” which is one of the best books I’ve read in years, and a very hopeful one – this 700 page book is full of evidence that agriculture, capitalism, slavery, … Continue reading

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Can we eat enough fried food for biodiesel to keep trucks running?

Fatberg from London sewer If the U.S. can’t make enough biodiesel from plants, then the question becomes: Can we step up our fast-food game? Can we eat more French fries?  Biodiesel is already made from used cooking oil (11.5% of … Continue reading

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Energy certificates as currency when oil shocks strike?

Since world oil peaked in 2018, clearly there will be a time when there are oil shortages. The price may be high at first, but that often brings on a financial crash (Hamilton 2013), unemployment rises as business shut down, … Continue reading

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