Powered Down and Better Off

11/09/22 • 61 min

Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival

Learn how humanity can exercise collective self-restraint to navigate the social and environmental crises of the 21st century. The world is in overshoot. There are too many people consuming too much stuff, and we're facing climate change, biodiversity loss, and immense social inequality. We're currently on a pathway to collapse, but the future doesn't have to be bleak. We can develop communities where we take care of one another and the ecosystems we inhabit. By understanding power relationships, overhauling economic institutions, and nurturing our most honorable cultural and spiritual traditions, we can forge a happy and healthy future. Follow along with sustainability expert Richard Heinberg as he explores these topics and offers sound advice for young people who will be living through turbulent times. And don't miss Melody’s song at the end of this episode. For more information, please visit our website.

Support the show

Learn more at power.postcarbon.org

Support the show

Learn more at power.postcarbon.org

Previous Episode

Optimal Power

Overpopulation, overconsumption, and overexploitation of Earth's resources go way beyond the realm of simple problems with straightforward solutions. Instead, they are dilemmas that require tradeoffs and difficult decisions. To guide such decisions, energy and sustainability expert Richard Heinberg explores big ideas such as the adaptive cycle, resilience theory, and prudent predator theory. Heavy topics abound, from death to extinction to societal collapse, but Richard proposes the "optimum power principle" to help humanity step back from the edge. And the good news is that we have a long history of deploying self-limiting tools (even ordinary policies like taxation and rationing) to curtail our overzealous quest for power. For more information, please visit our website.

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Learn more at power.postcarbon.org

Next Episode

How to Navigate Power with Wisdom

First wisdom, then action. Richard Heinberg shares insights from his deep dive into the nature of power and power relationships. He addresses the three main "power tools": money, weapons, and communication technologies with humble and thoughtful advice on how to approach them. You’ll have the chance to contemplate how you might live your most authentic life with moderation, rationality, responsibility, and sometimes sacrifice. And you’ll learn how to evaluate potential solutions to global environmental and social problems by answering a simple question about how power is shared (or how it is not). For more information, please visit our website.

Support the show

Learn more at power.postcarbon.org

Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival - Powered Down and Better Off

Transcript

Richard Heinberg
For the rest of this century, the reality of what transpires will take place within two extreme poles. And those extremes are, on one hand, sufficient human self-limitation, and on the other extreme is human self-annihilation. Somewhere between those two poles is where we'll really come out, and the closer we can come to sufficient self-limitation, the less pain and anguish we'll actually have to endure.
Melody Travers
Welcome to Power: Limits and Prospects for Huma