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Climate Change Rap Song: "Hell or High Water" by Dan Bull https://itsdanbull.com/ , / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXcnVGe_Uwc...

"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

"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

Most of the mainstream press is keen to blame it on “Greed-flation” , a term coined to describe the choices of grocery corporations to...

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

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

In my mother tongue by Keren-Happuch Garba I sang the songs my own mother taught me In the language of her tongue With the rhythm of...

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

*Originally written in August, 2021. This is the beginning of the extinction rebellion week called the ‘Impossible Rebellion’. I am not...

"Survival situations suck. Do all that you can to prevent them from happening in the first place." -Cody Lundin Cody Lundin, AKA AboDude...

Seasons, Extinction by Tawanda Jazz I imagine myself as a monk a rice farmer a solitary toad Zen beside moonlit pond I rake in the heat...

The Blue Marble, II by Bruce Bond *First published on Terrain.org Dear Earth, When I think of you, I see you in the patio of the New York...

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

Something happened around 2005 or so, something that changed the way Americans (and many other first-worlders) thought about adulthood...