KunstlerCast #71: Doomers - and why Nick van der Leek isn't one [AUDIO]

SHOOT: I get the same rap as Kunstler; accused of being 'negative' and 'pessimistic' and 'alarmist'. I consider myself a realist, a humanist and an altruist. I don't believe you can write books without a deep seated desire to want to inspire, and to imbue the human spirit with something new, something greater, and possibly something hopeful or insightful.
This quote probably sums up the mindset best, by Thomas Hardy:

"If there a path to the better be, it begins with a full look at the worst."

I'm not a nihilist, although I am often tempted to be. I'm also not an apocalyptarian. I'd describe my philosophical outlook as a mixture of Expressionism, Creative Cynicism [rejection of convention], and Moral-Realism. I'd also describe myself, fundamentally, as an Existentialist, in particular the idea of being authentic, and having an authentic (thus original and honest and by implication, good) life.

What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing.

—Søren Kierkegaard, Letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund dated August 31, 1835

My book HALF FULL MOON was written from an entirely existential point of view. My belief system is probably Pantheism, though it has fluctuated between Agnosticism and Atheism. I'm not a Deist, and I'm almost convinced that there isn't a God.

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death. " - Einstein

I believe we do ourselves a disservice, and impoverish ourselves, when we seek to blame or chastise someone firstly because our views differ, and secondly, without taking similar trouble to formulate our case. I believe there is a large degree of dysfunction in society, and much of this comes from a failure to thinking critically (about others, our lifestyles, ourselves). We also suffer from a lack of discernment. When need to be told what to do, what to think, how to respond. Like sheep. We lack the ability to interpret, to see the common sense, to see the global implications, and to have the discipline and response-ability to hold ourselves accountable.

Voracious readers, researchers and scientists generally come upon a similar truth. So do the ignorant, but the truth of the mindless masses and reality are often quite different. I do wonder though, whether it should be anyone's job to remind anyone else of reality? Isn't reality your own business? Perhaps that is what reality is for. Having said that, if everyone had the attitude of 'waiting for reality' there would be no Columbus, no America, no Moon landings (or desire to try). One of the ways to discover reality to challenge whether what we know is true or not. As soon as that happens, we begin to grow, and [here's why we don't want to] are forced or at least challenged to change. Change is natural. And reality is constantly changing. Are we?

Listen to Kunstler talk on this subject - audio link below.

clipped from www.kunstlercast.com Waiting for the Storm After the Fossil Fuel Fiesta James Howard Kunstler and other commentators are often called "doomers" for their seemingly bleak outlook for modern society after the peak of oil production. Kunstler gives a brief introduction to other "doomer" authors, including Dmitri Orlov, John Michael Greer, Jay Hanson, and James Lovelock . Though Kunstler rejects the doomer label, he does believe that we are involved in a human system that needs to be severely pruned. He believes that resurrection and redemption are great themes in the human story and that civilization has a few more cycles to go. Direct Download: KunstlerCast_71.mp3 (29 MB | 31:15 mins.)