[Note: I have “translated” this file from the book’s PDF format galley proof into html format. Consequently, alignment of page numbers may not be perfect.]

Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................... xiii

A Call to Arms .................................................................................................. xiii

My Purpose ......................................................................................................xvi

My Ways ..........................................................................................................xvi

My Partner ...................................................................................................... xvii

Part I: Concepts and Problems

Chapter One: Peril and Promise ...................................................................3

Ignorance Is Not Bliss—It’s Suicidal ......................................................................3

Realists and Deceptivists .....................................................................................4

Messiah, Market, or Mind .....................................................................................5

The “Three R’s”: Responsibility, Renewability, Reciprocity ......................................6

The Evolution of Revolution .................................................................................8

Story: The Secret Prince .....................................................................................12

Opportunity and Challenge .................................................................................18

Chapter Two: Concepts ...............................................................................19

Crisis ................................................................................................................19

Crisis Defined ....................................................................................................20

Learning .............................................................................................................20

Thought by Association ......................................................................................20

Crisis Compels Change ......................................................................................22

Story: Euphrates Epiphany .................................................................................23

Crisis and Learning ............................................................................ ................25

Poem: Reality ....................................................................................................26

In a System You Can’t Do Just One Thing ...........................................................26

Properties of Systems .......................................................................................27

Comparative Advantage......................................................................................28

Positive and Negative Feedback .........................................................................29

The Course of History .........................................................................................30

Trajectories and Strange Attractors ......................................................................30

Chapter Three: Problems .............................................................................35

First Word ..........................................................................................................35

Peak Oil and Hydrocarbon Resource Depletion ....................................................35

Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) ......................................................38

Energy and Wealth ..............................................................................................39

February Is the New April: Global Warming and Climate Change ............................40

Dismal Harvest: Famine, Disease, and Pestilence .................................................43

Corporate Takeover .............................................................................................46

Political Meltdown ...............................................................................................48

Economic Failure ................................................................................................49

Information Control .............................................................................................50

Co-optation of Religion .......................................................................................51

Endless War .......................................................................................................52

We’re in Big Trouble ............................................................................................53

Story: Après le Déluge .........................................................................................55

Part II: Insights and Strategies

Chapter Four: How Bad Are Things Really? Part I ....................................61

Choosing a Course of Action ...............................................................................61

Climate Change ...................................................................................................61

Hydrocarbon Depletion: No Rabbits in This Hat ....................................................63

Corporatism and Failed Government ....................................................................66

Rigged Elections: All Rabbit, No Hat ....................................................................68

A Government of, by, and for the Profiteers .........................................................71

Chapter Five: How Bad Are Things Really? Part II ...................................73

Corporatism and Christianism ..............................................................................73

Cultic and Corporate Heresies ..............................................................................73

Dispensationalism ...............................................................................................74

Reconstructionism ...............................................................................................79

Dominionism .......................................................................................................80

Beware of False Prophets ....................................................................................81

The Howling Hagee Hounds of War .......................................................................84

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Weighed and Found Wanting ...................................85

Corporate Heretics ...............................................................................................86

Render Unto Caesar: Fascism Comes to North America .........................................88

From Communism to Corporatism ........................................................................90

History Repeats Itself: Tyranny Is Back .................................................................91

Into the Whirlwind ................................................................................................93

Humanity’s Bottom Line .......................................................................................94

Chapter Six: Life, the Ultimate Treasure .....................................................96

The Miracle of Life ...............................................................................................96

Location, Location, Location:

The Earth as Prime Real Estate in the Universe......................................................98

Gaia’s Tough Love .............................................................................................100

Spiritual Evolution ..............................................................................................103

Life Hangs in the Balance ...................................................................................105

Poem: The Choice We Face ...............................................................................107

Chapter Seven: Threats and Opportunities ..............................................109

Stupid Is as Stupid Does ...................................................................................109

Caveat Emptor: Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth ..............................................112

Lowell Wood Pleads Planetary Insanity ...............................................................113

Bugged Out: If the Birds and Bees Don’t Do It, We’re Screwed ............................115

Mars Initiative or Battlestar Galactica? .................................................................116

Pick Your Poison: Acid Rain and Acid Soil .........................................................118

Global Dimming ................................................................................................120

Some Techno-Optimism for a New Age ..............................................................122

Pi in the Sky .....................................................................................................125

Rays of Hope ...................................................................................................130

Fuel for Thought ...............................................................................................131

Story: Dancing in Infinity’s Rainbow....................................................................132

Part III: Revolution and Renewal

Chapter Eight: Survival Strategies .............................................................139

Know Yourself ...................................................................................................139

Become an Agent of Change ..............................................................................142

Find or Found a Sustainable Community .............................................................145

Get Involved ......................................................................................................149

Be Prepared ......................................................................................................149

Organize a Local Energy Co-op ..........................................................................151

Plant a Victory Garden .......................................................................................153

Seeds of Rebellion: A Perspective on Growing Your Own Food ...........................153

Permaculture .....................................................................................................156

The Good Earth .................................................................................................160

Let’s Get Started! ...............................................................................................165

Chapter Nine: A World Reborn ...................................................................166

Into the Abyss ....................................................................................................166

Picking Up the Pieces .........................................................................................167

We Are Agents of Life .........................................................................................170

World Without End ..............................................................................................172

Story: A Letter From the Future ............................................................................172

Chapter Ten: A New Direction .....................................................................176

Making Lemonade ...............................................................................................176

Putting the Pieces Back Together .........................................................................177

The Promise of New Industry ...............................................................................178

Shackled Feet Can’t Jump: The Human Rights of Women Are Essential..................180

Plan for Action ....................................................................................................183

Splitting the Difference ........................................................................................185

Throw Off the Yoke of Corporate Personhood ......................................................185

Build a World-Spanning Energy Sharing System ...................................................186

Organize Locally and Globally ..............................................................................186

Tune In (to yourself); Turn On (against the corporate Deceptivists); Drop

Out (and create a new reality) ...............................................................................187

Playing a Three-Level Game .................................................................................187

Moving the World ................................................................................................189

Rules for a Transformed Society ..........................................................................190

Five Principles for Government ............................................................................191

The Ten Commandments for Corporations ............................................................192

Ideals for the Renewal ..........................................................................................193

Epilogue ..........................................................................................................197

Knowledge Is Power ............................................................................................197

Lessons Learned .................................................................................................199

Coda .................................................................................................................201

Ten Millennia Ago a Seed Was Planted .................................................................201

Let’s Get to Work! ................................................................................................204

Notes ................................................................................................................207

Index .................................................................................................................229