20 years ago, there was a different type of catastrophist: those who saw PeakOil as a key to waking up the world to its folly. Instead of a critical awareness of peaking energy availability (4 dollar gasoline was the impetus for hybrid cars and tesla), however, the Republicans received manna from heaven in the form of Fracking.

All of the possibilities for intentional management of collapse went out the smokestacks of “clean burning” natural gas powerplants and exurbian pickup owners relieved by lowered gasoline prices.

It’s triage time for economists, but no economist is going to tell you that there are too many economists, all stuck up a cul de sac in cement SUVs (Nod to Kunstler).

Academia has been making excuses for empires since the first college was invented. Where is the real innovation of human thought going to come from now?

From pain of collapse. I don’t think it’s necessary: but it is apparently inevitable.