The Future Is Retro
The wayback machine is nearly upon us
Every civilization that has ever existed has fallen. The ancient Egyptians lasted 3000 years, the Romans a thousand. The big difference this time is our civilization spans the world. Just because we speak different languages and eat different foods does not mean we won’t all be affected. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen soon, probably within the next few generations.
Overreach. Plunging Energy Return on Investment (EROI) for oil as it gets harder to find will result in an inflationary spiral. Climate change with no solution and feeble attempts at solution will get worse. Unparalleled economic disparity. Water scarcity. Arable land scarcity. Metals and minerals scarcity. This ties all countries together. We are all on the same round boat sailing around the same bright sun.
Welcome to the Anthropocene epoch, the unofficial geological term for the age of human civilization presented to future geologists as a thin strata of microplastic, radiation, and soot. And mark my words, it will be thin.
Humans will survive, but the incredibly grandiose, tawdry, sublime, idiotic, ingenious, but inefficient and unsustainable civilization we’ve constructed using the lotto jackpot of fossil fuels will collapse. Islands of self-sufficiency may hang on for a hundred years or…
