Collapse Now, or Enjoy the Rush?

The post on my daily routine will have to wait. For a variety of reasons, it isn't worth talking about yet, as my day to day life is rather unstable currently. I have a friend crashing at my place for a little, since his rent expired before his new lease starts, the oven broke, and I'm still finding a routine for class. This post will take a slightly different topic, while once things settle down I'll describe my daily routine.

This post, as the name may imply, intends to discuss a slightly odd topic. Simply put, there is a tension between two ideas, two ways of reacting to knowing we live in a declining civilization. Those two can be called "Collapse Now", and "Enjoy the Rush". Collapse Now means simplify life, prepare for the decline, and figure out what can be done to make life more like it will be later. It is a very wise approach, since it saves a lot of effort later.

Enjoy the Rush means the opposite. It means to take advantage of those aspects of industrial society that exist but won't later, to enjoy today and not worry about tomorrow. It is, logically, a terrible idea. However, it has a strong emotional appeal. There are many things that are not possible in a non-industrial society. These include easy long-distance travel, tourism, a wide range of goods and services, and more.

I understand the appeal of enjoying the rush. To provide just one example, I rather like coffee. Coffee doesn't grow here, and can't. It's a tropical crop, and so there is no way to grow it here. It's a challenge to me, because it suggests I should give it up. Yet, I resist the idea. It's hard to do. I'm not an addict, and actually I rather like the mind altering effects of it, so whenever I do use it too much, I stop. I intentionally avoid it, precisely so that when I do use it, it has a larger effect. This has always been how I handle it: I have coffee, get a rush, and then don't have more for a while.

If I have to much, the crash is awful. It's possible, however, to get the high without the crash. It's possible with alcohol to drink, enough it alters your mind, but not enough for a hangover as well.

I recently had the idea to extend this to industrial civilization: it's like a drug. Like any drug, there's a range of how much people take, the effects are strongest when done in moderation, it can be addictive, and withdrawal can be difficult.

The metaphor isn't perfect, but it's enough for my purposes now. It's enough to describe what is now in my plan. I will take the perks of industrial society, consider them, and if worth while, use it. But only if worth while. This means that while I try to simplify and reduce dependency in my life in general, in certain contexts I won't. These contexts will fit the following two rules, however:

1: I must want to do this, and plan it out, at least three months in advance. This will eliminate temptation to declare something spur of the moment and thus defeat the purpose of collapsing now, which is more important to me.

2: I must do it in a collapsed way, if possible. This means, for example, visiting East Asia, something I really want to do, is only valid if it's done in a way that doesn't add too much pollution, is sustainable (or could be), and fits with the requirements of collapsing now.

I want to be successful at collapsing now, however, I realize it will be hard. Therefore, I will also, from time to time, allow myself to "enjoy the rush" industrial civilization gives. I intend to take it for granted that it will become harder to do later, as society falls further towards collapse, so for now, this is nothing more than an idea. I would love to hear input on it, if anyone has anything to add.

PS: I want to thank the four other people who showed up for the Ottawa/Gatineau Green Wizards Group. It was a good start up meeting, and as it turns out I already knew one of them: a former professor of mine showed up. Quite the coincidence, but not a bad one.