[Olaf]

I don't know if this has been discussed here at all before, but I stumbled across it reading JMG's blog. I was reading through their manifesto and found it interesting and thought I'd share the web page:

http://www.dark-mountain.net/

I like this particualr quote in it:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his, then, is Uncivilised writing. Human, inhuman, stoic and entirely natural. Humble, questioning, suspicious of the big idea and the easy answer. Walking the boundaries and reopening old conversations. Apart but engaged, its practitioners always willing to get their hands dirty; aware, in fact, that dirt is essential; that keyboards should be tapped by those with soil under their fingernails and wilderness in their heads.

[Pops]

Bohemian Doomers, gotta love it!

[dorlomin]

The whole thing reeks of eco Emo.

[OilRefugee]

From the Manifesto referenced at the site.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Manifesto', '
')Few men realise,’ wrote Joseph Conrad in 1896, ‘that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings.’

[Revi]

Greer's Archdruid Report is one of my favorite Peak Oil related blogs.

I love the way he puts things. His latest is worth reading.

It's about peak oil this week.

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/

[Rod_Cloutier]

I thought that was an interesting reference reading Greer's blog today too. However, the quote you posted:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'i')s Uncivilised writing. Human, inhuman, stoic and entirely natural. Humble, questioning, suspicious of the big idea and the easy answer. Walking the boundaries and reopening old conversations. Apart but engaged, its practitioners always willing to get their hands dirty; aware, in fact, that dirt is essential; that keyboards should be tapped by those with soil under their fingernails and wilderness in their heads.

[Quagmire]

.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')s complete and udder nonsense. Is this even English?

[Pops]

<snicker>

[Revi]

I just read the whole manifesto. I like it. I know Rebecca Solmit, and have read some of the others that are mentioned. A lot of people know what's going on now, and maybe it needs a literary movement.

It's a bit like deconstructionism as an art movement. Us artists were onto this about 20 years ago. We knew that the whole civilization thing was spinning out of control.

We are all aware of peak oil. We know that it's a very thin veneer of civilization. I think a literary movement that is aware would do more to get the message out than a bunch of graphs ever could.

[Quagmire]

.
Just checked out the website...
thanks Olaf for posting this.
I'll be bookmarking it.
Good literature can change paradigms or at least offer solace when it's most needed.
.

[Olaf]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', 'T')he whole thing reeks of eco Emo.

[Olaf]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', 'I') thought that was an interesting reference reading Greer's blog today too. However, the quote you posted:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'i')s Uncivilised writing. Human, inhuman, stoic and entirely natural. Humble, questioning, suspicious of the big idea and the easy answer. Walking the boundaries and reopening old conversations. Apart but engaged, its practitioners always willing to get their hands dirty; aware, in fact, that dirt is essential; that keyboards should be tapped by those with soil under their fingernails and wilderness in their heads.

[Revi]

The Dark Mountain project is a new writers movement, like the deconstructivists in art. They see the breakdown of civilization and are reflecting on it. I would include Octavia Butler with her Parables series, Kunstler's World Made by Hand and Alex Scarrow's Last Light in the genre.

Dystopia, but this time it's real.

We all live in dystopia, as opposed to utopia. The myth of progress made us regard any imperfections in the way we live as temporary. The world was on a trajectory towards more order, more energy, more of everything. Now we're not so sure. This may be as good as it gets. From here on in it's on a trajectory to chaos and disorder. Still, we struggle on. We recycle, conserve energy and try to make our tiny part of the dystopia livable. And it still unravels before our eyes.

I think that's what they are talking about.

[Olaf]

I'll have to check out some of those authors. I'm put off by Kunstler. He strikes me as petulant in his weekly writings but he was one of the first authors I read when learning about peak oil. I haven't read World Made by Hand yet.

I have read Derrick Jensen's Culture of Make Believe and A Language Older Than Words and found them to be good, and relevant reading.

I have been swapping back and forth beween reading Marcus Aurileus' Meditations and re-reading for the 3rd or 4th time Gates of Fire; you know, for more optimistic reading (when I've got the time).

Olaf