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Bill Ryerson: The Challenges Presented by Global Population Growth

As we embark on a new year, it's important to keep the really big elements of our global predicament squarely in mind. To that end, we're surfacing this excellent discussion on population growth that Chris recorded in 2012 with Bill Ryerson of the Population Institute.

At the heart of the resource depletion story that we track here at PeakProsperity.com is the number of people on earth competing for those resources.

The global population is more than 7 billion now and headed to 9 billion by 2050. If world population continues its exponential growth, when we will hit planetary carrying capacity limits with our key resources (or are we already exceeding them)? What are the just, humane, and rights-respecting options that are on the table for balancing the world’s population with the ability of the earth to sustain it?

Bill Ryerson: The Challenges Presented by Global Population Growth

by Adam Taggart

As we embark on a new year, it's important to keep the really big elements of our global predicament squarely in mind. To that end, we're surfacing this excellent discussion on population growth that Chris recorded in 2012 with Bill Ryerson of the Population Institute.

At the heart of the resource depletion story that we track here at PeakProsperity.com is the number of people on earth competing for those resources.

Lester Brown: The Sobering Facts on Global Resource Scarcity

by Adam Taggart

Environmental analyst Lester Brown has made a lifetime career of tracking declining supplies of global resources. He is the founder of the Earth Policy Institute and author of the book Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization, both of which provide massive data sets on the precipitous drop in key natural resources as well as urgent policy recommendations for addressing them.

In today's podcast, Chris and Lester discuss the global depletion themes that concern Lester most greatly, including population growth, water usage, limits to food production, and climate changes. In many of these areas, the picture painted by the data is alarming. Our future choices are quickly being limited to when these constraints will limit our way of life, not if.

Lester Brown: The Sobering Facts on Global Resource Scarcity

by Adam Taggart

17+ Ways To Become Self-Sufficient Before ‘The Crunch’

by JW

A simple list of basic skills and resources to acquire before they become more difficult to learn or get.

http://www.survivallife.com/2013/07/26/17-ways-to-become-more-self-sufficient-before-the-crunch/

Also check out the recent Peak Prosperity WSID article on What Can I Do? (Understanding your level of preparedness).

17+ Ways To Become Self-Sufficient Before ‘The Crunch’

by JW

A simple list of basic skills and resources to acquire before they become more difficult to learn or get.

http://www.survivallife.com/2013/07/26/17-ways-to-become-more-self-sufficient-before-the-crunch/

Also check out the recent Peak Prosperity WSID article on What Can I Do? (Understanding your level of preparedness).

The Dead Weight of Sluggish Global Growth

by Gregor Macdonald

Global Slowdown

The U.S. economy weakened appreciably in the first quarter of 2013. But what if this weakness persists into the second quarter just completed, and worsens still in the second half of this year? Q1 GDP, as reported on June 26th, was revised lower to just 1.8%. And various indications suggest that Q2 could come in slightly lower still, at 1.6%. Might the U.S. economy be guiding to a long-term GDP of 1.5%? That’s the rate identified by such observers as Jeremy Grantham – the rate at which we combine aging demographics, lower fertility rates, high resource costs, and the burdensome legacy of debt. Well, after a four-year reflationary rally in just about everything, and now with an interest-rate shock, the second half of 2013 appears to have more downside rather than upside risk. Have global stock markets started to discount this possibility?

The Dead Weight of Sluggish Global Growth

by Gregor Macdonald

Global Slowdown

Fixing the Mess We’ve Made

PREVIEW

by JHK

Executive Summary

The prevailing trends of the next several decades: contraction, down-scaling & re-localization
How these trends will manifest in commerce, politics, employment & infrastructure
Those who adapt now will be positioned to thrive
Act now – ask forgiveness, not permission

If you have not yet read Part I: We've Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

We may never again restore trust in giant institutions ranging from the U.S. government to Harvard University to The New York Times. They have probably squandered their credibility and their legitimacy.

Anyway, the trends now moving human affairs are taking us away from both gigantism and the growth imperative that these things represent. The trends of the present moment in history are contraction, down-scaling, and re-localization.

Managing contraction is the only safe reality-based political response to the situation, and there is no constituency for it – though contraction is emphatically underway whether we like it or not, and it would be advantageous if we could manage our way through it rather than let it become a disorderly rout in which people starve and the rule of law disintegrates altogether.

As for re-localization and downscaling, there is a highly visible, easily identifiable constituency…

Fixing the Mess We’ve Made

PREVIEW by JHK

Executive Summary

The prevailing trends of the next several decades: contraction, down-scaling & re-localization
How these trends will manifest in commerce, politics, employment & infrastructure
Those who adapt now will be positioned to thrive
Act now – ask forgiveness, not permission

If you have not yet read Part I: We've Dug a Pretty Damn Big Hole for Ourselves, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

As for re-localization and downscaling, there is a highly visible, easily identifiable constituency…

The Arrival of Japan’s Sunset

by Gregor Macdonald

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. ~ Richard Feynman

Waiting for Japan's economy to make a strong recovery has been an ongoing game since 1990. Shall we play that game one more time?

The Arrival of Japan’s Sunset

by Gregor Macdonald

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. ~ Richard Feynman

Waiting for Japan's economy to make a strong recovery has been an ongoing game since 1990. Shall we play that game one more time?

James Howard Kunstler: The Dangers of the Age of Delusion

by Adam Taggart

It’s characteristic of the time that we’re living in that there simply is no sense of consequence. And that’s exactly what you get when you have a Federal Reserve that’s out of control and a public that is filled with technological narcissistic visions of Santa Claus delivering rescue remedies on demand. And so there’s no general sense that when you do things, bad things can happen.

James Howard Kunstler is concerned. Sure, he still has the same issues with the West's highly energy-consuming suburban lifestyle that he famously brought to light in his books, The Long Emergency, the World Made by Hand series, and Too Much Magic. But beyond our decaying fundamentals, he's distressed by society's unwillingness to be honest with itself about the issue's it's facing.

James Howard Kunstler: The Dangers of the Age of Delusion

by Adam Taggart

It’s characteristic of the time that we’re living in that there simply is no sense of consequence. And that’s exactly what you get when you have a Federal Reserve that’s out of control and a public that is filled with technological narcissistic visions of Santa Claus delivering rescue remedies on demand. And so there’s no general sense that when you do things, bad things can happen.

Don’t Worry; Be Resilient

by charleshughsmith

At some point, absorbing more information about the unsustainability of the Status Quo yields diminishing returns; it becomes emotionally draining and thus counterproductive. Part of this exhaustion results from recognizing our powerlessness within the Status Quo, where independent thinking and structural innovation are winnowed out as threats to existing institutions and industries.

Don’t Worry; Be Resilient

by charleshughsmith

Adam Werbach: The Future of Sustainable Business

by Adam Taggart

Adam Werbach has been at the vanguard of the sustainability movement since high school when he founded a national organization of over 30,000 student volunteers who mobilized around environmental projects. A few years later, at the age of 23, he was elected the national President of the Sierra Club – the youngest in its 100+ year history.

In 2004, Adam turned the environmentalism movement on its head by publicly decrying its outdated thinking and lack of progress, given the scope of its mission. He challenged its followers to link their goals to other broad social and economic ones in order to have more impact.

He led the way, controversially, by working with Wal-Mart in 2006 to help them integrate sustainable practices into their supply chain and operations – a model he subsequently brought to many of the world's largest multinational corporations in over 80 countries.

In this interview, Chris and Adam discuss the "sustainable business" movement and its future prospects, including such questions as What does sustainability really mean? What are the key success requirements? What models show the most promise today?