The Great Transition

The ecosystem and civilization are unraveling in this decade. As the power of Nature becomes more evident, so does the call for the citizens of wealthy nations to make profound lifestyle changes.
Our adolescence is over. Maturity must come, either by choice, or through sorrow and grief as societies and living systems collapse in the decade ahead. #ClimateChange is upon us.

The future holds great challenges, pushing us to recognize the value of community, and a new paradigm in which consuming is no longer the basis of society. Instead, as citizens of a resilient, living universe, on a planet with limited resources, we must choose to respect and care for the Earth, our only home. #VoluntarySimplicity, as proposed decades ago by #DuaneElgin, is now essential for survival.

The video, Facing Adversity, Choosing Earth, Choosing Life, produced by Coleen Elgin,

For more information on the state of our planet visit the FacingFuture Library at

[camus]

The problem is human overshoot and the symptoms are leading to civilization collapse and on a the great transition Extinction! Hopium will not save us or mature us. Our civilization is all about me, me me. Love in the collapse.

[kathleenshannon]

No comments as yet, huh? Do you think people believe in earth transitions and or climate change? I am old enough to see the changes first hand, I remember going deep sea fishing, while doing so, I could see the blue clear water sometimes to the bottom. (Not happening today). Greed drives the world....self-centeredness.

[treefrog]

As heretical as it may sound, an objective overview of human civilization leads me to recognize humanity as a pernicious invasive species. If humans had never emerged into the biome, the Earth would be pristine at this very moment. Humans, and humans alone are the cause of our current dilemma. If you truly have as much awe and respect for the Earth as I do, you might be able to acknowledge that our disappearance may actually be a "good thing" on a cosmic scale.

[NeverCryWolf]

Unfortunately we are not moving from adolescence to adulthood. Our species has moved from elder hood to adulthood to adolescence. We are being toddlers now. Nietzsche was right. We are devolving.

[gordonmilligan]

The problem here is this. It’s a nice story, a nice comparison to suggest a narrative for people to follow. But it has no further meaning than that. Actual adolescence and growing up is rooted in human biology and psychology, these are scientifically knowable phenomena that can be demonstrated. There is absolutely *zero* scientific evidence for any such thing at a species level. Rather the opposite - human society exploits and destroys its habitat and then tries to move on somewhere new.
So it’s a nice allegory to preach from the climate pulpit - but it’s not rooted in any science and the signs are sadly that it’s not likely to change anything. I wish it were otherwise 🤷‍♂️

[unclepete]

We’re behaving like spoiled toddlers with zero understanding of our destructive nature

[htpm]

Great discussion. I think it is worth pointing out that there are too many narcissists in the corridors of power. Narcissists never mature past the emotional level of 4 year olds. This makes it impossible for civilisation to be at the adolescent stage nevermind the young adult stage.
Not only do we have to battle all the things in this discussion but also the narcissism of our current society that nobody acknowledges, discusses or is even vaguely aware of.
Peace!

[EvolutionWendy]

Important to those who produce these videos, the red line you put around the video card makes it impossible for me to tell which videos I've watched & which I haven't because YouTube uses a red line along the bottom to show user progress

[publicdomain]

KISS principle is the most practical and doable way of adapting into a sustainable existence. Measure twice, cut once, waste not. ShakeUp XR

[jet]

I don't think humanity can get past their innate narcissism.

[starcrib]

Absolutely on Point- Especially all Paradigms of the 20th Century. We are the Extinction Level Events. ? 🦖 ☄️

[elsajohnson]

Unfortunately collapse will likely occur very rapidly with C02 emissions and methane, high wet bulb temp, lack of food and water, system breakdown, etc leading to violence and overheating, starvation, water scarcity. It will be like a snowball effect, once the feedback loops have all been reached there will be no attempting to fix it at that point, we will be too busy dying and the rich will too.

[geralldus]

Unfortunately human beings seem more prone to withdrawal into a tribal mind set when face with threats, this tends to provide a simpler solution as then the other tribes are always to blame. An alternative scenario arises if a charismatic leader emerges, which has happened many time before, as the situation becomes more dysfunctional I would expect this is a more likely outcome but that won't end well!

[lacha]

The metaphor presented seems to be a false equivalency. Unfortunately, there is a difference between the stages of maturity of an organism and the the nature and characteristics of a particular species. A species embodies, expresses and is characterized by a collection of traits. Species evolve and change over very long periods of time based on what genetic mutations allow them to succeed in their environment. They do not go through a maturation process as an organism does. Our species seems biologically limited to a social structure in which a relatively small number of sociopaths and psychopaths manipulate, control and exploit the majority of the population, ecosystems and environmental resources they have access to, to the greatest extent to which they are able. If this is, indeed, an essential characteristic of our species, as it does seem to be, our destructiveness would seem to be inevitably outpacing any potential we might possibly have to evolve into something less destructive... Just responding to the intro, at this point. Haven't heard the rest yet. But I would imagine that Duane's lack of scientific grounding may play a role in this blind spot on his part.

[MediaFaust]

Overtly optimistic. I see humanity as a patient who's suffering from Alzheimer's senile dementia and thinking we are teenagers is part of the symptom complex. I don't really see any way around the apocalypse because there's no cure for Alzheimer.

[remicaron]

Where is the utopian city you guys have built to show the world how we could change our ways? Maybe there isn’t one and we will simply war and starve to extinction because that’s the way it goes.

[juliebarks]

Sometimes adolescents do things that can not be put right. The only thing they deserve is punishment. And we will be punished for what we have done. We have already been sentenced. We are a delinquent species.

[millennialmindset]

I am a millennial engineer. I have been looking at economic channels for more than 6 months now. People are hopelessly asleep and don’t have a clue on what is going on - only lately people have been waking up. We can’t solve any climate crises without addressing the economical crisis first. We have to abolish the Federal Reserve system, default the debt bubble, and return to free markets - and don’t trust the same people that got us in the economic predicament in the first place to solve this new financial crisis the world is entering into head first. However, this won’t happen. We can’t fix anything that is doomed to be enslaved by the elite’s digital CBDC, rationing card, bug eating, global famine, energy shortage plans for humanity. We will either enter a wasteland or a new enlightened period - the last won’t happen, people think wind power, EVs and solar panels will save the planet and that politician’s are the best decision makers.

[treefrog]

Using the analogy of "adolescence", the human race is the equivalent of a drunken 16-year-old, high on PCP, hurtling down the highway at 100 miles per hour. The momentum of that speeding vehicle precludes the possibility of a "safe arrival".

[leskuzyk]

As an analyst on the save the world file for a lifetime, and highly focused on the same project the last 15 years, I argue one way to make it through a functional extinction could be finding and or developing intentionally a refugia ... I'll be working on that going forward, tracking several indicators of the global condition