Post-Peak Liberal: Recovery, Collapse, or Transition?

Post-Peak Liberal

....... Life on the Downslope

Recovery, Collapse, or Transition?

For most of us, the Ark of Economic Collapse has been pried open. We stand, like Dr. Jones, strapped to a pole with our eyes closed, waiting for the shrieking wraiths of destruction to finish their cleansing task, after which we can resume our heroic stroll into the sunset of the American Dream. The evildoers who will reap the whirlwind of this economic rightsizing are various, depending on your political leanings. Conservatives envision the unwinding of New Deal, entitlement-fattened arrogance and dependence, while liberals dream of righteous comeuppance for an exploitative and rapacious 1%. But in all scenarios dreamed of by pol and pundit alike, we will somehow overcome this latest challenge, albeit an epic one, to eventually reach the far shores of recovery and growth -- as we always have.

But there are subterranean, relentless, algorithmic trends out there, and they point to a future that is very different from the recent past. 'Recovery' is no longer a feasible option, considering the weight of these macro-trends. Our difficult but unavoidable choice now is between transition and collapse, either a gradual adjustment to a new reality or an abrupt cliff-dive into misery. Denial of the epochal changes afoot will continue to produce surging levels of anxiety, anger, frustration, and delusion. As we flail around for the magical path to recovery, we will continue to point fingers at the malevolent Others who block our way, and political power will swing pendulously between Right and Left as plan after plan runs aground on the unyielding shoals of unpleasant reality.

Paradoxically though, if we can shake off the mirage of recovery, and the shibboleth of Growth which underlies it, then we can let go of the bulky baggage that comes with what Jim Kunstler calls "the psychology of previous investment." We can release the terror and uncertainty that comes with obsessing over a way of life that is not coming back, and we can get on with the business of transitioning to the next chapter of the American Experiment. To update FDR with much less grace: the only thing we have to fear is the fear of not returning to something that is unrecoverable.

So what would opting for transition instead of recovery look like? What kind of future should we be preparing for? Well, the first characteristic of the emerging lifestyle is collective living. As the Great Recession drags on and on, and the new 'normal' becomes 1-in-10 of us without enough formal work, the old dreams of careerism and nuclear family self-reliance will fade away. As covered many times before in this blog, the old algorithm of One-Person/One Job and One-Family/One-Dwelling will not hold. The upward shunting of wealth and power that comes with mature capitalism is shredding the quaint ideals of gainful employment and virtuous vocation. The current wake behind our economic system is kicking out waves of protest (Occupy Wall Street) and depression, as expensive educations flounder on the shoals of cyclical and systemic unemployment. Graduates are being forced to live collectively anyway, because they have to move back in with their parents.

Similarly, the elderly and retired are also taking a beating. The conventional expectation of comfortable (if not luxurious) golden years is being blown to bits by collapsed housing equity and dried up pensions. Retirement living facilities are proving elusive and overly expensive, with straight-up poverty or moving back with adult children the main realistic options.

In essence, with careerism, upward mobility, and comfortable retirement all being squeezed out as viable future scenarios, people need to start organizing into what could be called domestic corporations, or domestic co-ops. The language might seem offputting and misleading at first. After all, aren't we just talking about communes or co-housing? Well, yes and no. Communes, co-housing, and other forms of 'intentional community,' in the parlance of the movement, are usually formed around shared ideals and goals. You can see this style on exhibit with the Occupy Wall Streeters, and their talk of consensus, team-building, motions, points of order, etc. This might seem enticing and noble, because it's so egalitarian and empowering and all that. But the immanent collapse of the whole ball of wax really necessitates something much more ruthless, single-minded, and ultimately pessimistic. We're not going to be able to alter the trajectory of capitalist civilization with any kind of democratic activism. That ship has sailed. The goal of collective living now needs to be the construction of oases of survival, as the rest of the system slides down the slope of the Long Emergency.

Transition means getting ready for scarcity and devolution. It means creating small groups and equipping them for survival, mobility, flexibility, and innovation, which are all hallmarks of corporations.

Admittedly, this is a sloppy post. Next time, we'll look at corporations a bit more closely.