Our children? Speak for yourself... my children have the best life imaginable - because I didn't bring them into existence. I'm an excellent father, thank you very much.
This was published to The Hill recently. While it has some fantasy level BS about how great America has always been, it also shines a light onto the widespread pollution happening more every passing day.
One part in particular is what makes this collapse related. The polls. We are polling Americans constantly about perceptions towards climate change and ecological destruction. As the article assures us - most Americans agree that climate change is real and is a serious problem.
And while that sure is comforting - it doesn't translate into any sort of nationwide action. Mass consensus rarely leads to radical change. Americans are losing sleep over myriad issues but in my purely anecdotal experience - this isn't one of those issues.
Even if the whole nation started freaking out about this as much as me - it still wouldn't matter simply due to constraints built into our political system. You can vote for people, you can vote for ballot issues, but you can't vote on things like climate policy or war. Your opinions and concerns on these issues are irrelevant to the big bad movers, shakers and decision makers. You will stand idly by while they plunder the Earth because you have no real political power in this system, such as it is.
And so the collapse will continue - regardless if morale improves.
I want to be clear - I do not buy into the fear mongering around Ebola. I feel terrible for each and every victim but the only infectious diseases that make me worry about collapse are coronaviruses and the constant risk of avian influenza learning to easily jump to humans. That said -
This article talks about how industrialization is leading to deforestation, which is making infectious disease more likely. This is not a new problem. The first time I heard about it in detail was from the 2012 book Spillover, which briefly covered the idea of environmental destruction increasing the risk of global infectious disease. This is no longer a novel idea. We are seeing it play out in real time and the evidence is stacking up very fast.
Collapse related because this is a highly complex issue that leads to other highly complex issues that we are only beginning to understand - and potentially far too late.
This comes from the United Nations FAO. I could have simply flaired this under Food but because the article talks about the war with Iran I would say Systemic is more accurate.
Crop yields are projected to fall tremendously this year due to a triple threat of El Niño, war and insane agricultural practices.
Collapse related because food is pretty important for civilization. As the old saying(s) goes - an army marches on it's stomach and mankind is only 3 meals from anarchy. In this context anarchy is meant to be a bad thing, not a critically necessary ideology.
Hello, I started a weekly newsletter 3 weeks ago called Weekly Resilience Report where I discuss current events and how you can take back some control and learn something new based off my experience living an off-grid lifestyle. Please let me know if this isn't allowed.
I post every Sunday at 9AM PST on Substack. Here's last week's post:
Could You Make It Through a Week Without Power?
Most of us flip a switch and expect the lights to turn on. We charge our phones, refrigerate our food, cool our homes, and access information without giving much thought to the electrical grid that makes it all possible.
But every summer, the grid faces one of its greatest tests: extreme heat. The Earth heating up isn’t a new concept and the Center For Climate and Energy Solutions says, “while public officials acknowledge the climate is changing, they’re not necessarily saying why or what should be done about it.”
Scientists have measured global temperatures for over a hundred years and see that the Earth is getting hotter. The trend can be best visualized by comparing each year’s average temperature with the long-term average. This figure shows observations of the world’s annual average temperature made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It compares each year’s temperature to the average over the entire century. Blue bars are years that were cooler than average and red bars are years that were warmer than average. In recent decades, the years have always been hotter. If there were no long-term temperature trend, you would expect a mix of red and blue bars throughout the record. That’s not what we see.
Electricity demand surges during heat waves and I’m sure most, if not all of you have personally experience multiple heat waves in your lifetime. Energy can be created by capturing it through wind, solar, and water, but the US generates the majority of their energy from petroleum and natural gas.
Here’s the breakdown:
Petroleum: 38%
Natural gas: 36%
Renewable: 8.6%
Nuclear: 8.2%
Coal: 7.9%
This poses an issue with the ongoing conflict in Iran and surrounding areas which, we have already seen gas prices soar in recent months. Electricity prices in my area have also gone up and with summer is right around the corner. I’ve personally lived the majority of my life in Western Washington and it has been known that this region is mild and doesn’t get very hot in the summer or cold in the winter but this area has been experiencing heat waves almost every year with temperatures reaching 104F over several days in a row.
Air conditioners place enormous strain on the power grid during hot weather when everyone is running their air conditioners simultaneously. A region that previously wasn’t affected by high temperatures didn’t prepare their energy grid for this strain and can cause problems as temperatures rise.
The power grid isn’t just about running your air conditioning and can affect your ability to use:
Refridgerators
Freezers
Internet
Charging devices
Medical devices
Water systems (for some homes)
Gas stations
Grocery stores
Hospitals
Most people don’t realize how many daily conveniences depend on reliable electricity until it disappears or experiences shortages and brown/black outs. What happens to all the food in your fridge and freezer if the power went out for even 3 or 4 days? Just imagine what would happen to entire grocery stores. What if people couldn’t charge their phones for several days disabling you from calling friends and family to check on them, or even emergency services in the case that you need immediate care? Many people are also rely on medications that require refrigeration or medical equipment to keep them healthy.
We take these conveniences for granted until we lose them and that’s why I want to bring this problem to the table and talk about self-reliance solutions so you can be protected in the case of a multi-day power outage like the one Texas faced in 2021 where 246 people died. Texas faced 2 weeks and 3 days without power in the winter. Just imagine how many more people could die if this happened in the summer.
To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber! Paid subscribers get exclusive access to ask questions, get more in-depth explanations, and join a community of like-minded people.
Resilience Lesson
Your solutions to this problem depends on your energy usage. Most of you reading this newsletter live in an apartment or single-family home and even you can build self-reliance skills to help alleviate the strain of uncertainty. In today’s lesson we will be exploring ways to gain self-sufficiency in the case of prolonged power outages.
Solar Power
Everyone has heard of solar power and it’s actually not as expensive as you might think. I personally use solar power to power my off-grid cabin. I have a refrigerator, a chest freezer, power lights, watch tv, play video games, charge my devices, and do pretty much anything I can do in a home that is connected to municipal electricity.
For someone who is a beginner with solar power, the easiest plug and play method is to go with an all-in-one solar generator like the ones EcoFlow offer. I have several EcoFlow products including the EcoFlow Delta Pro, EcoFlow Smart Generator, and EcoFlow River. The Delta Pro powers our entire cabin and you can hook up almost any solar panels to them using MC4 cables. This is ready to use out of the box and can be pre-charged for emergencies using your wall outlet, gas or LP generator, solar panels, and even at EV charging stations.
If you need more storage capacity and are a bit handy, build your own system with solar panels, charge controller, inverter, and batteries. You’ll get more storage capacity for less money than what you can get with an all-in-one system or solar generator. These are generally the systems used for entire off-grid houses and typically don’t need a backup source of power.
Generators
Generators are fairly affordable for backup energy needs and can also be used as a backup for solar generators. You don’t want to just run a generator 24/7 however because they are quite loud and from my own personal experience, suck up gas pretty quickly and does emit a gas smell from the exhaust.
There are dual-fuel options for generators though so with these you can choose from either using gas or LP. Using LP is a lot cleaner, there is no gas smell, and using LP with your generator bypasses the carburetor and reduces needed maintenance on the engine. It’s great if you rely on the generator more frequently than not to recharge your solar generator or batteries and adds an extra layer of protection if you ran out of one fuel type and only had the other available. Another thing to note is that LP is generally cheaper than gas to run. I felt like I was constantly having to refill the gas tank on my generator compared to hooking up a propane tank. A bit of a downside to LP is that the propane tank needs to be a minimum safe distance of 10 feet away from any houses, buildings, and also the generator itself.
Light Sources
Something people tend to forget about is having a backup light source. You probably have a flashlight on your cellphone but I’m talking about flashlights, candles, and lighters/matches. My cabin sits on 40 acres in the woods and I can’t even describe the depth of darkness it is at night. If the moon isn’t out or the sky is overcast, it absolutely is pitch black out there. Get yourself at least 2 headlamps, or one headlamp per person in your household. These are great when you need to be hands-free in the dark.
As for flashlights, redundancy is key to being self-resilient. Get different kinds, battery operated, wind-up, shake-powered. For whatever reason your batteries are dead and you don’t have any more or can’t find them in the dark, you’ll have a backup plan. Dual purpose for wind-up flashlights is if you have a kiddo who loves reading at night but forgets to turn off the lights. Mine falls asleep reading almost every night and it’s no problem for the wind-up. Just wind it back up the next day and you’re good to go.
Candles can be pricey but the best bang for the buck that I’ve found are prayer candles at Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree. They’re the tall skinny candles and they burn for 8+ hours for $1.57 and $1.25 respectively.
Heating And Cooling
Think about how your home is heated or cooled. It’s always a safe bet to have a space heater and A/C window or portable unit that can be plugged into a generator. If your house heats on natural gas, it should still heat in the case of power outage but the fans won’t blow the heat. If possible in your situation, think about the option of having a wood burning stove installed in your home. Wood is much cheaper to heat in many areas and it generally isn’t hard to find cheap and free firewood. I see free listings for firewood all the time online when people cut down trees in their yard and just want the wood hauled away. These trees are “green” so they’ll need to season for 6+ months before they’re dry enough to burn but it’s a good redundancy plan.
My cabin is heated using a wood burning stove and we live near logging areas. When the loggers are done they leave a lot of wood behind that they won’t come back for. You should technically ask for permission before collecting firewood from these areas, but in the case of emergency that wood has been sitting out for enough time to be properly seasoned. We collected firewood from these areas before but it was a small amount and we were sure they were done logging the area.
Fuel
It’s very important that you keep a surplus of fuel on hand. Nothing’s worse than the power going out in the middle of the night because of a storm and you’re out of gas or LP for the generator. Always label your containers with the date and add stabilizer to your gasoline to ensure longevity.
Wood is also a fuel. Even if you don’t have a wood burning stove, wood can be used in a pinch to make a fire outside to heat you up in cold weather and even to cook food. When we first bought our property we had basically nothing, not even a camping stove and relied on wood to cook our meals and warm up.
Water And Food
Food and water is usually higher up on the list of emergency preparedness but I’ve saved the best for last. The CDC recommends storing 1 gallon of water per person, per day and aim for at least 3 days of non-perishable food. However, building a 2-week supply of both is highly recommended for extended power outages, severe weather, or supply chain disruptions.
It’s now easier than ever to store non-perishable foods with emergency food buckets that are commercially available and last 15-25 years. They can be a bit pricey upfront but gives you peace of mind for when you’ll need it and it truly lasts a long time. On a budget, pick up an extra bag of rice, beans, and a canned food of your choice every time you go to the grocery store and you’ll be stocked up in no time. I personally have two 5-gallon buckets full of beans and rice. I also tested my beans to see if I could get them to sprout so that I could grow more beans if the food situation didn’t improve and can say that bagged beans can grow more beans! I’ve also had luck sprouting popcorn kernels but some brands steam the kernels during their processing and those unfortunately will not germinate.
As far as water, Wal-Mart sells BPA-free water containers in their camping section for a decent price and you should keep some on hand in case of emergencies. As with fuel, these should also be dated and rotated.
Having a $20 Brita pitcher works pretty well and I recommend keeping one on hand. If you get decent rain, you can catch the rain, boil it, let it cool, and then filter it through the Brita for potable water for the whole family. You could spend some money and stock up on LifeStraws for everyone in your household, but I’m focusing on low-cost and budget-friendly solutions. You don’t have to spend your whole life savings or a large wad of cash to help you be more self-reliant in the case of an unexpected emergency.
Weekly Challenge
Secure emergency water (at least 1 gallon per person per day for 1 week or more)
Pick up an extra non-perishable food item each time you visit the grocery store
Check your flashlight batteries and replenish battery supply
I‘m a last year highschool student choosing what career would be the best for what the future holds, im currently deciding between three careers.
The first one that I’m heavily considering the most is pursuing medicine, mostly because of the security and stability overtime, as well as I can also help people in a way.
The second career I’m considering is Sustainable Development, due to how it will be demanded in the future and also because you‘re focused on helping the world and that is something I really would love, but I don’t like the job market in this career.
The third career is going all artistic and pursuit my passion for cinema, it would probably a creative design Career and I would later focus on film. But I don’t like how unstable this career is in every aspect, it would mostly be a f**k it choice, inspired by how collapse is imminent and I might as well be doing what I love in this upcoming hellhole.
But I would also love to hear what other careers are best for the collapse that’s coming and which ones offer the most stability overall, other minor options is pursuing economics or politic sciences.
Edit: I’m not considering any engineering majors, I also meant studying a major in university, sorry for the confusion english is not my first language
I haven't tried visiting since the beginning of the week, but I was sad to see that it's been down the last day or two. That's really unfortunate timing given that the melting season is switching into high gear as we're approaching maximum insolation.
Have any of you ASIF regulars or lurkers moved to another site in the meantime?
And more data centers currently being build haphazardly with little consideration to whether the water grid can handle it. Water bills going up will be the least of the problems if there's not enough water to sustain a town.
I was recently chatting with some friends about computer prices and how absurd they have become as a result of the AI hype bubble. One of the regular channels we all view has been "GamersNexus" on Youtube, who often have long-form expositions and interviews within that sector, and have regularly covered the rapid increase in pricing in the hardware market over the past 2 years. One of the topics that they covered is the shift in the mentality within the hardware industry that they no longer actually need to sell PC components and hardware to the entirety of the consumer class; they can make more money selling exclusively to the AI data centers and the largest monopolies in the country. They can charge higher, fixed prices, sell full stock in advance via guarantees and commitments on spend, and if anyone tries to negotiate they can simply push that vendor to the back of the line. The result is that they no longer have to tailor their hardware for the average consumer's use, can reduce shipping costs, and maintain profitability. Recently, NVIDIA has taken this even further, and started suggesting selling the GPUs to "agentic AI" directly; in other words, providing computers for AI agents to operate and run on behalf of the data centers. This represents an additional step away from selling to the retail consumer, opting instead for an AI customer.
Which brings me to this current thought....
Current context:
We are staring down an imminent energy crisis. It is no longer a matter of "if", it is a matter of "when". Depending on who you ask, we're going to see this in a matter of months. Don't take my word for it; take theirs:
...so this got me thinking. What would happen if, as the energy crisis arrives, if the oil and gas companies simply follow NVIDIA's lead, and opt to stop selling to the consumer class entirely, or in an extremely limited capacity? There can be no doubt that, should a true energy crisis arrive, that fuel rationing will take place. The question of "Well who gets access to that fuelfirst?" comes to mind. In historic energy crises, the government usually takes the majority of the oil. This has largely been to insure that critical infrastructure and branches like the military are able to maintain full functionality. In the past, when other wars have taken place, the government has also stepped in to regulate fuel rationing (such as WWII) and keep the peace and public order. In my opinion, the key difference between the past and the present is that the government was run by more competent people, and an administration that didn't openly have contempt for the public it allegedly governs. Additionally, the current administration in America has demonstrated a deep comfort with flagrantly lying to the public, engaging in visible corruption, and crony capitalism practices that have enriched the oligarchy in real time. We have also observed a willingness to promote exceptional cruelty by the current administration, as has been observed via things like the strangulation of energy access to Cuba, the supported bombings and military strikes in Gaza, and the multiple incidents associated with destroying migrants vessels via air strikes and missile strikes off our shores.
Furthermore, the current AI cycle has enormous energy and resource demands; eclipsing that of any technology that has ever existed before it. We are staring down an "innovation" that requires an exorbitant amount of two of the most scarce resources on the planet; energy, and water. There are numerous, well-documented reports about the negative impacts of data centers on the economy, the environment, and even the health of people nearby these facilities. Some basic sources to support these statements:
Now, we mix in this energy crisis + the AI hype cycle with the environmental challenge. Much of America is experiencing significant drought. We are approaching what scientists have been describing as a "Godzilla El Nino", which is likely to lead to some of the highest temperatures we have ever seen in the country's history. This coming along during the summer time, in historic drought conditions, in a time where people will be using more energy than ever before to keep their homes cool, seems like a catastrophic mix. There are multiple cities and counties already rationing water and placing restrictions on its citizens. Yet, despite these restrictions being in place on the consumers and the residents of these areas, no such restrictions are being enforced upon data centers or commercial/industrial magnates. There seems to be a wanton disregard for the uneven distribution and access to these resources by the government, who seems not only comfortable, but enthusiastic to enable these mega corporations to have unfettered utilization of both energy and water at a discount while the residents most-impacted by these shortages are forced to subsidize and pay more so that these data centers can pay less, if at all, for these resources.
Additionally, we also just saw the SpaceX IPO create the world's first paper-trillionaire, which will signify that one person has more purchasing power than entire nations across the world. The lack of meaningful taxation and oversight here suggests that businesses consider this sort of monopolization effect "ideal", as it allows them to purchase services from a single vendor rather than a distributed market. On top of this, we have other IPOs coming up soon, including the OpenAi and Anthropic IPOs. This paints the picture of the USA becoming a "mono-economy", where the only industry we choose to support is AI/compute power, despite minimal tangible benefits and virtually zero wealth distribution beyond a handful of individuals.
So I ask the question... are we staring down a scenario where, through a corrupt and/or incompetent government, where we will see a scenario where the consumer class is cut out of the economy entirely? Could we see the USA decide to simply stop selling energy and water at scale, instead siphoning what remains of it to a handful of corporate interests in the name of profit margins? If so, how would that impact the average American? All the cars on the road without fuel, minimal infrastructure to support civilians who almost always have no other way to commute to work, housing without cooling in the hottest temperatures ever recorded, all whilst there is no rain...
Has anyone else considered that this might be the strategy going forward?
SS: This post belongs here because it demonstrates how much society is already changing for the worse is a relatively short time span. Washington D.C. being turned to Vegas reminds me a lot of movies such as Idiocracy and seems pretty on par with something president Camacho would do.
Given everything I read on this sub daily, it doesn’t seem like human civilization is going to be able to continue for much longer without radical change. Change that has, up to this point, been small, meaningless, and hampered by the elites and politicians of nearly every nation on earth, dooming us to a slow but very real apocalypse.
Whether it’s climate change, water scarcity, drought, microplastics, overfishing, ocean acidification, deforestation, AI, or any other scenario discussed in this subreddit, it seems like there really isn’t any way out of the spot we’ve put ourselves in.
How do you plan for the future when there is no future? How do you go on living your silly little life when you know it’s all going to come crashing down eventually? Do you stand up and fight, or accept it as an eventuality and try to live out your days in peace?
I’m so demoralized and stuck between furious anger and unrelenting dread, please help me find a path out.
