Dmitry Orlov

The Five Stages of Collapse (eBook, ePUB)

Survivors' Toolkit

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Financial, Commercial,Political, Social and Cultural Collapse

...one of the best writers on the scene today, working at the top of his game. There is more to enjoy in this book with every page you turn, and in very uncertain times, Orlov's advice is, at its core, kind-spirited and extraordinarily helpful. Albert Bates, author, The Biochar Solution

When thinking about political paralysis, looming resource shortages and a rapidly changing climate, many of us can do no better than imagine a future that is just less of the same. But it is during such periods of profound disruption that sweeping cultural change becomes inevitable. In The Five Stages of Collapse , Dmitry Orlov posits a taxonomy of collapse, suggesting that if the first three stages (financial, commercial and political) are met with the appropriate personal and social transformations, then the worst consequences of social and cultural collapse can be avoided.

Drawing on a detailed examination of both pre- and post-collapse societies, The Five Stages of Collapse provides a unique perspective on the typical characteristics of highly resilient communities. Both successful and unsuccessful adaptations are explored in the areas of finance, commerce, self-governance, social organization and culture. Case studies provide a wealth of specifics for each stage of collapse, focusing on the Icelanders, the Russian Mafia, the Pashtuns of Central Asia, the Roma of nowhere in particular and the Ik of East Africa.

The Five Stages of Collapse provides a wealth of practical information and a long list of to-do items for those who wish to survive each stage with their health, sanity, friendships, family relationships and sense of humor intact. Shot through with Orlov's trademark dark humor, this is an invaluable toolkit for crafting workable post-collapse solutions at the scale of the family and the community.

...Orlov does us all a great service by teasing apart the kinds and degrees of collapse so that we can prepare for what is likely and "dig in our heels" to prevent what is unsurvivable. Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author, The End of Growth

Dmitry Orlov was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States in the 1970's. He is the author of Reinventing Collapse, Hold Your Applause! and Absolutely Positive, and publishes weekly at the phenomenally popular blog ClubOrlov.com.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: New Society Publishers
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Altersempfehlung: ab 16 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Juni 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781550925272
• Artikelnr.: 38406816

Autorenporträt

Dmitry Orlov is a Russian-American engineer and writer who was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He was an eyewitness to the collapse of the Soviet Union over several extended visits to his Russian homeland between the late eighties and mid-nineties. Orlov lives off the grid, sailing his boat up and down the Eastern Seaboard and commuting by bicycle. He believes that, given appropriate technology, we can greatly reduce personal resource consumption while remaining perfectly civilized. He is the author of Reinventing Collapse and blogs regularly at Club Orlov (www.cluborlov.com).

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction: Collapses in General
What is collapse?
When will collapse occur?
What are the stages of collapse?
1. Financial Collapse
The root of the problem
The wrong math
Defaults big and small
The end of money
Options for cashing out
Alternatives to money
How we did it
Chits, specie and stock-in-trade
A likely endgame
Cold-starting instructions
Beware financial despotism
Monetary mysticism
The untrustworthy and the trustful
Götterdämmerung
Case Study: Iceland
2. Commercial Collapse
Cascaded failure
Liar word: efficiency
Life upside down
The many advantages of gift
Money corrupts
Opportunities for gift-giving
Meanwhile in Soviet Russia
The new normal
A cultural flip
Case Study: The Russian Mafia
3. Political Collapse
Anarchy's charms
The nation-state fades out
National language
Taking care of your own
State religion
Life after the nation-state
The problem of excessive scale
The proliferation of defunct states
Government services disappear
Denationalization of currency
What governments are good at
Warfare becomes self-defeating
The end of law and order
The end of the welfare state
Virtualized politics
Case Study: The Pashtuns
4. Social Collapse
The limits of community planning
The new rules
Social reclamation
Religion as organizing principle
Charitable giving and taking
What society?
Case Study: The Roma
5. Cultural Collapse
Humans and other animals
The limits of language
Spoken memory
The isolated human
The primacy of family
Case Study: The Ik
Afterword
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author