A sound assessment of our predicament, on the whole. Most people are likely to remain in denial until they face a major catastrophe in their own home towns, whether the catastrophe is climatic, economic, political, or some combination thereof. Then they will panic, and all hell will break loose.

This is entirely to be expected, given human nature; we all tend to act on the assumption that our future will be a logical extension of our past experience and present trends, and the truth--that it is all falling apart--is utterly terrifying, so people take refuge in denial, and if we force-feed them the grim truth, they will simply go into psychic numbing and resent us. So we need to find more skillful and adaptive approaches.

Here's mine: I have started promoting a Garden Guild initiative, here in Salem, Oregon where I live in retirement. And rather than doom-signaling, I am taking an invitational approach, summed up in my bumper-sticker-sized slogan: "Grow Gardens, Grow Community, Grow Awareness." Rather than creating yet another nonprofit, with all the fundraising headaches and red-tape that would require, I am intending this meme to go viral in a fairly literal sense--by finding "host" organizations that might be responsive to my agenda. These could be churches, neighborhood organizations, schools and colleges, or social organizations. The idea is that a "Garden Guild"--initiated within any one of these organizations, would be a voluntary association of members who are interested in gardening--and specifically in growing more of their own food. These would meet monthly or periodically to host potluck dinners, featuring an educational component, which could be a presentation by one of their own, a guest speaker, or even just an instructional YouTube clip on some aspect of gardening (and there are thousands of these!) These groups would be entirely self-determined, in accordance with the guidelines of their host organization. But they would form an online network, via a website, where they could keep in touch with each other and share gardening ideas.

The net effect of such an initiative would be to increase the local resilience of these neighborhoods and the community as a whole as the larger infrastructures of global industrial society break down progressively. Who knows--it might actually work, and then go viral. So in this respect, the third injunction, "Grow Awareness" becomes a rhetorical stealth vehicle for encouraging neighbors and friends to collaborate in preparing for the great collapse, without ripping apart their cocoon of denial...