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Here is a rule that applies to everyday life, and also to the life in which the remains of civilized society unravel like a sweater's thread: movement and flow, strength and flexibility, and the ability to adapt are absolutely necessary. The laws of nature show us that water is both the gentlest and strongest force on earth. But society encourages us to be like small, brittle rocks, blown from here to there. Worn down by external forces. Crumbling at the least bit of opposit

"Hospital", by Maxime Delacambre is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND-3.0. “We have never seen health as a right. It has been conceived as a privilege, available only to those who can afford it. This is the real reason the American health care system is in such a scandalous state.” — Shirley Chisholm In part 1 of this article (published last year), I wrote about how to take care of your own health as prescriptions become harder to get and doctor appointments are booked out for the

"W henever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." —Mark Twain Street art by Morley. We are living in a scary time —  a time when all we know is slipping away, bit by bit. Our knowledge itself is being compromised; we are trading brain cells for convenience because of the fear of silence, of boredom. Rather than making our brain functioning a priority, we are outsourcing. Outsourcing our tasks, our choices, our ability to think . AI, t

"Return to the state of the uncarved block. When the block is carved, it becomes useful. When the sage uses it, he becomes the ruler. Thus, 'A great tailor cuts little.'" -Lao Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching I have had the Tao Te Ching in my book collection for years, and I have read it a few times — but today, I opened it up to the passage above and realized that I never really got the Tao Te Ching . Not that

I am no stranger to worrying about the future. In fact, it's almost impossible, in our day and age, to always be in the present moment, never thinking about the past or the future. Almost . In chaotic, difficult times, we must see to it that we are living deeply. Not simply on autopilot, gliding on the surface of life. It is easy to get lost in the details and drama of everyday life, forgetting that life exists outside of work, beyond appointments and plans and responsibili

The future is now. Rather than an abstract sense of "later", some unknown point far from today when scenarios like those portrayed in Black Mirror play out, our concept of "the future" is currently happening. All the sci-fi books that told of the sacrifice of privacy in the name of progress, the blurred lines between humanity and technology, dictators and madmen creating an authoritarian world — these are happening now . The Umbrella Corporation of Resident Evil is Google, Am

"Our days are numbered. Passionately pursue a life of excellence" —Guy McPherson S065 by Igor Morski. http://www.igor.morski.pl/ After discovering The Limits to Growt h nearly a decade ago and watching how the effects of climate change have drastically changed our world, I have come to accept that the collapse of civilization due to the damage that humans have caused had begun. What was it that first woke you up in this respect? After taking a couple of college courses in bi

In the United States of America, there has been a long tradition of trust—especially among the groups of people who haven't been systemically marginalized and discriminated against. Trust in this country, this government — trust that through all the tragedies, slavery, wars, economic depressions and recessions, that somehow, it will all turn out okay in the end. Trust that perhaps there is no end — that we are an immortal, endless empire, a country of vampires. But over the

#1: Adaptation vs. Accumulation "If you want to become full, Let yourself be empty. If you want to be reborn, Let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, Give everything up." --Lao Tzu, in the Tao Te Ching   In both minimalism and Taoism, much is said about letting things go: — things , as in tangible, physical things that we most likely purchased, or things such as the need to feel secure, the need to control. And at a time like our current time, when all we know

The world economy is at a major turning point, which is why we should brace for rapid changes in the economy. The world is moving from having enough goods and services to go around to not having enough to go around. The dynamics of the economy are very different with not enough to go around. The hoped-for solution of higher prices doesn’t fix the situation; after a point, adding more buying-power mostly produces inflation. Other solutions are needed. The world economy is re

Nicole Nicole is pulling goddamn fucking field bindweed  out from her bed of arugula and bok choy when her mostly zen garden time is interrupted once more by thoughts of apocalypse. Her hands and fingers are tamping down the earth and grasping scissors to cut fresh arugula and place in it a colander for washing. Her mind is in a bright red nightmare of a burning sun, blistering skin, unstoppable viruses and fires—and then her vision shakes, as she imagines the biggest earthqu

Humans like to think of ourselves as separate from the animal world—as if, by evolving to walk on two legs and write, invent, build, that we are somehow a higher life form than other animals. That our  use of machines somehow separates us, elevates us. The agricultural and the industrial revolutions, both arising as a result of the booming population of earth, the gathered people in cities, the invention of modern civilization— did  move us further away from our natural roots

In the Galapagos Islands, about 600 miles from the South American country of Ecuador, there are Finches that drink blood. Yes, those Finches, the cute little ones that flutter around in your yard. Let’s back up. The Galapagos islands have been studied for centuries (Charles Darwin is one of the most well-known explorers) because of the extreme biodiversity of the island’s creatures and plants, on isolated islands that don’t have many resources available.  One of the resources

Ah. Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs.) When was the last time you saw yours? Was anything solved? Are you on prescription drugs with side effects that are worse than the original problem? Just call in and make an appointment, although the next available may not be for 6 months or a year. Don’t be pissed at the doctor, though. This situation we are in is not the fault of medical practitioners themselves. An economic system in a downward spiral, worldwide pandemics, and a broke

Jem Bendell made his name five years ago when the frustrated climate scientist posted a fifty-page PDF  on his website, Deep Adaptation , about how even with the revolutionary rise of bamboo toothbrushes and fair trade silver bellyscratchers, we probably can't avoid the collapse of the climate and therefore society, so it's worth thinking about how we can prepare for it. Importantly, it is not a question of dealing with a severe crisis in the functioning of a society that la

Some people out there have looked at the science, thrown their hands up and said “Oh well, it’s all over. I now have an excuse to do nothing and complain all day, because the world is ending.” Even more unfortunate is that some of these people are calling themselves Doomers, which I take offense to. I like Jem Bendell’s “Doomster”, and I find it to be a good way of replacing a word that has been used in a derogatory way to describe us—a  subculture of people who have decided

The earth is grossly overpopulated. Natural disasters are increasing in numbers and also in severity. If you just take a moment to look up from your phone, you will see a large part of society in straight-up, glassy-eyed denial. Simply paying attention to the news stories we see everyday is now ridiculed and called “doomscrolling” (unless we’re reading fluffy celebrity, sports , or political news). Doomsters are often compared with preppers, ignoring the big, glaring differen

Zombies. Just take a look at cinema—not just American, but Asian, European, what have you—and you can see our strange fascination with the undead. The Walking Dead, Z Nation, any movie ending with “the Dead” (i.e., Dawn of the Dead”), Resident Evil, Train to Busan—the list goes on and on. There is a list of Zombie flicks on IMDB that lists over 400 zombie shows and movies, and there are probably more. Bumper stickers that say “Zombie Attack Vehicle” abound, and there are for

Editor's Note: With all respect to Jem Bendell, the use of AI as part of this interview was done at the request of the interviewee, and is not a reflection of the values of Tawanda Jazz or Dilate Magazine. While searching the web for ideas for increasing my own climate change resilience about a year ago, I came upon a video of Professor Jem Bendell discussing "Deep Adaptation", an idea that I hadn't heard of at that point. I had been struggling with how to react to our curr