Uncategorized, Politics & Culture, Economics, Ecological Collapse, Intentional Communities

The BHB Project: Breaking Through to a New Way of Life

The tribal life doesn’t turn people into saints; it enables ordinary people to make a living together with a minimum of stress year after year, generation after generation. Daniel Quinn Lately, I’ve been mentioning BHBs a lot (Bigger Home Bases). But it’s been a long time, I think, since I laid out exactly how I envision getting these larger household formats into the public discussion. … Continue reading The BHB Project: Breaking Through to a New Way of Life

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, ‘Now shut up and obey me.’ People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business Max Weber Like many liberals, I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to crawl inside the headspace of Trump supporters, attempting to figure out what, if anything, could … Continue reading Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

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Economics, Intentional Communities, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Dissolving the Plutocracy from Below

The art of living is always to make a good thing out of a bad thing E.F. Schumacher First things first: let’s remind ourselves of the (seemingly) unassailable nature of the current American plutocracy. This plutocratic infrastructure is so tightly sealed that seemingly nothing can crack it. The two main parties take turns at the reins of power, mostly burning their time in office just … Continue reading Dissolving the Plutocracy from Below

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Intentional Communities, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Population Panic & The American Micro-Household

Whether we accept it or not, this will likely be the century that determines what the optimal human population is for our planet. It will come about in one of two ways: Either we decide to manage our own numbers, to avoid a collision of every line on civilization’s graph — or nature will do it for us, in the form of famines, thirst, climate … Continue reading Population Panic & The American Micro-Household

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

The Weirdness of American Crony Plutocracy

Our society will always remain an unstable and explosive compound as long as political power is vested in the masses and economic power in the classes. In the end one of these powers will rule. Either the plutocracy will buy up the democracy, or the democracy will vote away the plutocracy. Irving Fisher Under Trumpism, we have entered a new age, but it’s a peculiar … Continue reading The Weirdness of American Crony Plutocracy

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Uncategorized

The Tyranny of Unserious Despots

The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Aldous Huxley As we enter the cornered-rat stage of “Trump 2.0; The Re-Deadening,” with his poll numbers tanking and the economy swirling down the drain, each day brings new outrages and tramplings of our republic. As the “Breaking News” emails continue to flood inboxes across the country, liberals have developed a Pavlovian … Continue reading The Tyranny of Unserious Despots

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Ecological Collapse, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Out of Eden (and back)

Knowledge forbidden?Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their LordEnvy them that? Can it be a sin to know?Can it be death? Milton As a whole, humans are still operating inside of our own species, telling stories about human conquests over nature and over each other. This is the stuff of history: what territory was taken, which dynasties usurp other dynasties, what great things have been invented, who … Continue reading Out of Eden (and back)

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Asymmetric Polarization in America

They don’t love Trump because he’s strong. They love him because he makes their bitterness sacred. Because he gives them someone to blame — and someone to hurt. Garrett B. Matty Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. Friedrich Schiller Conventional mainstream(ish) punditry has it that there are radical nutbags on both extremes of the American political spectrum, and that the best path forward … Continue reading Asymmetric Polarization in America

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Trumpism After Trump

In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, ‘Now shut up and obey me.’ People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business. Max Weber In our current plot position of “Trump 2: Revenge of Trump,” the question heard with increasing frequency is, “can this guy last another three years?” His erratic … Continue reading Trumpism After Trump

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