Category Archives: Modernity

There is no New World Order conspiracy

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Rick Altman

This post was therefore not published yesterday (i.e. International Workers’ Day). Since publishing my book, I have been contacted by a number of academics in a variety of countries who are doing – or have done – research into climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognitive Dissonance, Ecological Modernisation, Economics, Environment, James Delingpole, Limits to Growth, Merchants of Doubt, Modernity, Politics, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

Can technology save us?

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Rick Altman

I happened to stumble across a BBC TV Horizon special, entitled ‘Tomorrow’s World’ last Thursday. It begins with a fascinating review of humankind’s history of – and propensity for – invention. It also explains some truly fascinating – and inspiring … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Capture and Storage, Climate Science, Consumerism, Economics, Energy Crisis, Environment, Financial Crisis, Growthmania, Hydraulic Fracturing, Intergenerational Injustice, Mass Extinctions, Modernity, Politics, Renewable Energy | Tagged , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Who says the Bible is irrelevant?

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Rick Altman

Please do not worry that I am suddenly turning all Evangelical on you. Far from it. I just cannot get over how relevant the following words seem. They were written by former Pharisaic Jew, Saul – known to Christians as … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Ethics, Intergenerational Injustice, Modernity, Religion, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

How can resource depletion be sustainable?

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Rick Altman

(In conversation with a “technological optimist”) I was so impressed by the ‘Growth Delusion’ article by Nick Reeves (published on this blog on Monday), that I decided to bring it to the attention of members of my extended family and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Cognitive Dissonance, Denial, Economics, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Growthmania, IPCC, Modernity, Politics, Psychology, Renewable Energy, Scepticism, Sustainable development | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

What on Earth are people protesting about?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Rick Altman

It seems to me that an awful lot of people are protesting about the wrong things: People protesting about solutions In the course of yesterday’s post, ‘Ignorance is the enemy of humanity’, I linked to an item on Climate Denial … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Disorder, Civilisation, Climate Science, Denial, Economics, Energy Crisis, Environment, Financial Crisis, Fossil Fuels, Growthmania, Mass Extinctions, Modernity, Politics, Renewable Energy, Scepticism | Tagged | 10 Comments

Boeing’s 787 Dreambender

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Rick Altman

Hello my name is Rick. I am a recovering flightaholic. Let’s face it, cheap air travel is a modern obsession. For most of us it is not essential; it is a luxury. The trouble is air travel is too cheap. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Consumerism, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Growthmania, Modernity, Sustainable development | Tagged | 10 Comments

Collapse or Ecocide – which will it be?

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Rick Altman

Collapse = An end to modern human civilisation as we have known it. Ecocide = Unintended ecological suicide (mass extinction of all complex life on Earth). Do we have a third option – Survival? I have recently started reading Jared … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Disorder, Civilisation, Climate Science, Collapse, Energy Crisis, Environment, Growthmania, Limits to Growth, Mass Extinctions, Modernity, Optimum Population, Photography, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

What’s wrong with a consumer society?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Rick Altman

On the BBC’s breakfast-time TV here in the UK on Monday, there was a brief discussion about the pros and cons of electronic books compared to conventional ones. Two invited studio guests, both published authors, debated all the usual points; … Continue reading →

Posted in Capitalism, Consumerism, Ecological Modernisation, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Growthmania, Intergenerational Injustice, Limits to Growth, Modernity, Sustainable development | 21 Comments

Green politics in a nutshell

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Rick Altman

Green politics is not seeking worldwide Socialist government. Sure, social justice is common to both (hence people like James Delingpole can write stupid books like Watermelons) but, Green politics is also about promoting grassroots democracy and the empowerment of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Cognitive Dissonance, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Growthmania, Limits to Growth, Modernity, Politics, Scepticism | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

All things are still connected

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Rick Altman

Apologies for the dearth of blog posts recently, which is due to Anthropocene Reality being affected by a lack of health: I have not known an illness like it for some years and, although I am beginning to feel a … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropocene, Carbon Capture and Storage, Civilisation, Climate Science, Ecological Modernisation, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Fossil Fuels, Growthmania, Limits to Growth, Modernity, Politics, Scepticism, Sustainable development | Tagged , , | 2 Comments