"Rattling The Establishment‘s Cage: Short Essays & Notes on Unorthodox Views of...

 Environment, Economics, Ethics, Politics, War, Spirituality, and More"

The hardcover format of my third book is now available.  Paperback version will be out within a few days.  I'll try to get the eBook up and running within two weeks.  This book contains many of the most-read posts from this blog.  Here's the book's Description on Amazon---  [there's a link below the Description]

My primary academic and practical interests in a relatively long life have been (and still are) in the subjects of ecology, agriculture, economics, politics, and ethics. For this third book - which is a fairly short and easy read - I've included secondary interests as well. See the book's subtitle for the additional subjects. Also take notice of the words UNORTHODOX VIEWS in the subtitle. For the most part, you will not find these ideas in the mainstream, corporate media. The "Establishment" seems to prefer to ignore such concepts. For example, are you aware of the following? Twenty countries (including the USA) have agreed to expand fossil fuel production for twenty-six more years. Details are in this book. Another example: Are you aware that in only the last thirty years we've used more energy than in the previous 150 years, and why we must transition from a high-energy-use society to one of low-energy use? You won't find that in the Establishment's public information output, but you will in this book.

For multiple decades, the Establishment (both public and private) has been wildly successful in influencing us to accept concepts, policies, and actions which favor the Upper Crust of society at our expense. But in the last ten years or so, everyday working people have decided enough is enough. Genuine change is in the Big Picture now, and education - both formal and informal - is the key. This short book can help to overcome the Establishment propaganda, and point the way to a sustainable and meaningful existence.

Many of these essays were written for a blog I’ve maintained since 2007, IndividualSovereignty.blogspot.com; others were penned this year, 2024, and are not on the blog as of this writing. All have been written by me (no A.I.), are some of the most popular on the blog, and all were edited for this book. Each essay is on its own page (some are two or three pages in length), and for context, I’ve included the year it was written.

https://www.amazon.com/Rattling-Establishments-Cage-Environment-Spirituality/dp/B0D258YK58/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RHAX2MAHFJMF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.wBx0AXWwliw6AIX3UriJ-Q.XKisvXnGAbI93CJd9U3zKaklPIVVI-fDNisvcLUmp0g&dib_tag=se&keywords=Rattling+The+Establishment%27s+Cage%3A+Short+Essays+and+Notes+by+Scott+C.+Haley&qid=1714283549&s=books&sprefix=rattling+the+establishment%27s+cage+short+essays+and+notes+by+scott+c.+haley%2Cstripbooks%2C134&sr=1-1

OR---

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D258YK58?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

OR---

If neither link works, In the Search box at the top of any Amazon page, select the  category "Books", and in the box type "Scott C. Haley" (no quote marks are needed).  All three of my works should appear.

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Thanks for your consideration.  Be Well 

The Mother of All Feedback Loops re Human Society

A short while ago, I posted the following as a small part of a new book description---

"the complex feedback loop involving constant economic growth, which requires more energy, which then creates more complexity in society, which then requires more energy, which then creates even more complexity, etc. is ruining our habitat;".

This essay is an expanded view of that concept.

In our past (and ongoing) pursuit of infinite economic growth, we've created a System, a "Superorganism" according to the ecologist, Nate Hagens.  This System is so large, so filled with complexity, and so out-of-control that a) it can't be fully described, and b) it can't be reined-in, and c) it's ruining the ecosphere.  It's the ultimate Rat-Race.  It's a primary cause of our ecological overshoot.  It's a runaway machine with no one at the helm.  It's literally killing us, not only with pollutants, but also with food insecurity, the stress of job insecurity, inadequate health care facilities, wars, inequality and inequity, declining democracy, and the like.  About twenty percent (maybe less) of Earth's human population are managing to stay afloat in the ongoing energy binge; the rest of us are in a slow descent to subsistence living.

[The twenty-six richest people on Earth own as much wealth as HALF the entire world's population combined.  In a civil society, that's an obscenity.  It's most likely also why the Rich and Powerful (perhaps with a few exceptions) want the runaway System to continue.  They appear to not be long-term, comprehensive, holistic thinkers.]

The ever-increasing complexity is causing significant problems in the arenas of:  global supply chains, manufacturing, transportation, consumption, extraction of natural resources, generation and distribution of electricity, health care equity, income inequality, institutional functioning, and more.  As society becomes more complex, the need for more and more energy increases.

Even a High School biology student could tell you with a high degree of certainty that such a scenario is unsustainable on a planet with finite resources.  Unfortunately, it appears most (not all) of the Powers-That-Be are relying on ideology, not science, to navigate through this current Crisis.  They appear to believe the benefits of our 150-year energy binge are the norm, but fail to see the Mother of All Feedback Loops, and the negative externalities of fossil fuel use.  They also don't seem to grasp the looming minerals problem relative to our necessary transition to Green Energy.  Never mind the soil crisis and the impending food supply shortage.

According to the mining engineer and geologist, Simon Michaux, in about only five years there will be serious problems regarding necessary minerals for Green energy.  In about ten years, agriculture also will be having significant problems.  It all revolves around energy.

If we don't voluntarily reduce our energy use, we'll be forced to by lack of cheap, easily available, and abundant fossil fuels AND lack of cheap, easily available and necessary minerals (about 70 of them) for renewables.  Less energy use will lessen eco-overshoot by leaps and bounds.  It also will slow down the Rat-Race by lessening societal complexity.  This all can happen if we phase out of infinite economic GROWTH, and phase into economic development in a steady state economy.  [See https://steadystate.org/ ]

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well, and Be Aware

"The System" is a Superorganism, & it craves GROWTH at any cost

  "The System" is a Superorganism which started about 10,000 yrs ago with the advent of the raising of annual grains which could be stored.  Ag surplus made division of labor possible, and that yielded hierarchy and inequality.  No conspiracy, just social evolution.  The System kept growing and expanding until eventually it was a runaway machine...with no one at the helm.  Exactly what we have today.  And it just keeps expanding.  It ignores biophysical limits, which means it's bound to collapse.  The only thing in question is "when".

Constant "Growth" requires ever more fossil ENERGY.  The problem is:  "easy energy" (cheap in cost and easily extractable from the ecosphere) - for all practical purposes - is gone.  Never mind (not really) the environmental damage caused by fossil energy; soon the "Energy Return on Investment" (EROI) will discourage investors.  Plus, compounding the problem, manufacturing renewable energy at the required scale requires:  (1) massive amounts of new mining and refining of dozens of metals and other minerals, many of which also are no longer "easy"; and (2) a huge expansion of power transmission lines, the "energy grid".  Both (1) & (2) require significant amounts of time and investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undp6sgCIX4

Growth requires more energy, and more of that enables our society to become more complex, and then more complexity requires even more energy.  Establishment thinkers believe such a situation can continue without restraint.  Infinite Growth.  They appear to think Technology and increasing efficiency will allow such to continue.  The Laws of Nature (especially in Physics and Ecology) say otherwise.  We must convert from high-energy use to low-energy use if we are to survive and thrive.

BOTTOM LINE---  Growth of "The System" needs to be not only reduced, but also eventually eliminated.  We humans have used more energy in the last thirty years than in the prior 150 years, and demand for energy still is increasing.  Such a scenario simply is not sustainable.

RELATED NOTE---  Growth also can be one of several causes of war:  https://steadystate.org/the-crisis-in-the-middle-east-is-a-crisis-of-growth/?blm_aid=122634 

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

How most billionaires damage the economy

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Mx1koLOGc

Unfortunately, too many people believe the myth that billionaires help the economy.  This short clip (7.5 minutes) from Wired magazine explains why a "wealth tax" is necessary.  [As I stated in the previous post, the first permanent Income Tax in the USA was such a tax.  It applied to only 2% of the population.  Not long after that, legislators were lobbied over & over by the Rich, and we wound up with the current set-up.]

There's nothing wrong with being rich if one acts responsibly and helps society by paying their fair share.  To get where they are, billionaires stood on the shoulders of society via education, infrastructure, networks, communication, civility in our habitat & relations, etc.  In addition, perhaps they had a bit of luck:  maybe born on third base, maybe smarter than the average person, or taken under the wing of someone with wealth/influence/power.  In any case, there's no such thing as a "self-made" billionaire.  That's another myth.  

Any super-rich person should be willing & happy to help out society by means of a wealth tax.  Humans are a social species, and that includes those in the Upper Crust. 

Watch the clip at the link above; see if it makes sense to you.

From Inequality.org---

67%.  Now, someone please tell me how anyone still believes our elected politicians in DC represent the Will of the People.  It doesn't appear they do in this instance.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The horrible side of the High Tech Industry FAR outweighs the good side

Below is my reply - edited quite a bit - to an email which suggested the term "Tech Whiz Kids" (which I often use in writing & speech) is somewhat inaccurate because many of those people now are much older.

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I have no problem with you or anyone substituting some other term for "kids" in "Tech Whiz Kids" (TWK).  But for me, they're all TWK, regardless of age.  "Kids" is not meant to be taken literally.  For me, it denotes an attitude.  In general, they are "playing with fire" when they develop things which atomize our society, & they don't even think about the unintended consequences.  By "atomize our society", I mean: depriving us of meaningful relationships with others (which, admittedly, usually is done by higher-ups in the Corporatocracy re things like labor unions) via luring us away from those relationships, or damaging them with gizmos designed to make each of us an island unto ourselves.  So, only one of many examples: some younger people think their 7,000 "friends" on some "social" medium actually are significant.  Why go out into the world & meet with real friends when I have my gizmo right here in the house with 7,000 "friends" on it?  

[Kids sometimes play with fire.]  

The adult TWK act irresponsibly also when they build-in obsolescence into their products.  It takes 500 lbs of raw materials to make one cell phone.  I don't know how many pounds it takes to make some of their larger crap which also has a short lifespan.  [Kids sometimes/often act irresponsibly.]

Their companies, usually run by TWK who moved up the corporate ladder, are often deceitful beyond belief.  One example:  I think it's Apple who claims to be 100% "Green".  In fact, they farm out the manufacture of products to other companies located in places with few to no environmental regulations.  Those other companies generally have egregious practices when it comes to pollution, etc.  But Apple technically can claim to be "Green".  [Kids often are deceitful.]

Bottom line:  I believe the High Tech Industry - despite the good & useful things it has done - has pretty much ruined our society, both physically/materially, spiritually (in a generic sense), and culturally.  It has atomized us, stolen our privacy, polluted the ecosphere, gobbled up natural resources, enabled dictatorial governments & oligarchs (with undemocratic, egregious surveillance programs/gizmos), enabled wars being fought with no soldiers (except drone operators, making illegal wars more numerous), promulgated infinite growth on a finite planet, & more.  I believe High Tech is in the top 5 worst industries in the history of our species.  As far as I can tell, the majority of TWK act just like spoiled, irresponsible, destructive kids.  They've contributed greatly to the ruination of our kids, our society, and our planet.  It seems their primary goal is to get rich...at almost any cost.

Just my opinion, & it won't change.  I think the "bad" side of High Tech far outweighs the "good" side.  Congress could change things for the better, but probably won't.  Except for a very few, most of our elected officials in the Fed Gov't favor the corporatists, not Main Street.  [Corporatism is not Adam Smith capitalism; essentially, it's fascism - the marriage of the power of the State to the power of Mega Biz.]  The good things about High Tech should be supported; the bad things should be boycotted.  Only consumers can significantly put High Tech on a better path.  The Fed Gov't has shown over & over it will do little to such effect.

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Not only my opinion, & Everyone Be Well

TRIBALISM: the Good, the Bad, the Beautiful, & the Ugly

The following is from the soon-to-be-published book, The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and HOW TO GET OFF IT - Notes on a Paradigm Shift.

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Ever since the beginning of Homo sapiens, we have adhered to the concept of tribalism. Even today, it’s a way of life among humans. It’s a philosophy and practice which more often than not provides solidarity, cooperation within the “tribe”/group, security, purpose, friendship, shared values, and stability. Modern-day tribes are numerous and varied. They are found in the arenas of religion, Race, ethnicity, economics, philosophy, nationhood, regionalism, vocation, academics, science, politics, ideology, and on & on. Often they overlap to one degree or another. A person easily can belong to more than one tribe. It appears, though, usually there’s one which is the most influential in a person’s life, and that can vary substantially from person to person. With any one person, it also can vary during different stages of an individual’s life. Unfortunately, there’s also a dark side to tribalism.

Hypothesis: one of the main causes of our social ills is the dark side of tribalism – intolerance of other groups, and arrogance relative to the virtues of one’s own group. Especially when members of any “tribe” feel threatened, those aspects spring forth. It may result from a perception or misperception that the group’s culture is slipping away or being assailed by some other faction. Prejudice follows, and discrimination. Social disharmony follows. Uncivil and unethical behavior follow. Sometimes, violence results. Intolerance and arrogance disrupt society in innumerable ways.

What can be done about it? What’s the solution to the problem? For centuries, probably for a few millennia or more, enlightened people have been trying to promote this idea: the most important human group we all belong to is Homo sapiens. [Not only that, but the most important planetary group we’re in is the Web of Life.] Relative to their efforts, some progress has been made… but not enough. One even could argue that for the last fifty years or so, we’ve been regressing.

For us to survive and thrive as a species, every one of us should look deep within and make a herculean effort to overcome intolerance. Such would involve countering the indoctrination we may have received from parents, other family members, friends, groups, institutions, and the like which has shaped our worldview. Entertain this probability, or at least, this possibility: in general, we humans have become a massive number of specialists in various ways. Apparently, to some degree we’ve lost the ability to think comprehensively about each other and our habitat. That seems to have resulted in many people developing a fear of losing their way of life, their culture. Intolerance grows in such a scenario, perhaps even hate.

For all their good works and best intentions, even religions at times exacerbate the situation. All across the spectrum, political groups often do the same. To be an ethical human, one has to look deeper than the surface of institutions and their ideologies. There’s a fine line between “truth” and opinion. Even some theoretical physicists have stated: we humans barely have scratched the surface of Reality. We don’t know nearly as much as we think we do. Question everything.

Bottom line: intolerance and arrogance increase the chances of a miserable human future, and ultimately, human extinction. That’s a well-founded opinion. In your own life, be rid of the dark side of tribalism. Then humans and the entire Web of Life have a great chance to flourish.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"HOT MONEY"...

 with General Wesley Clark & his son, Wes, Jr., & directed by Susan Kucera ("Living in the Future's Past", narrated by Jeff Bridges).  Too bad Clark Sr. wasn't elected President when he ran awhile ago.  It's on Amazon Prime, not the best production for a doc, but the content is on the mark.  It shows precisely why:

1.  the global financial world is so fragile, & why mega banks should be broken up ASAP;

2.  there's so much economic & financial inequality;

3.  most national gov'ts (including ours) are not seriously addressing Climate Change [only some cities & States in the USA are, & that's insufficient];

4.  mostly, the transformation to clean energy is going at a snail's pace;

5.  Climate Change already has started the destruction of the worldwide financial & economic systems;

6.  the new normal will involve mass human migrations never seen before;

7.  too many people apparently fail to recognize the paradigm shift in values which must occur if we are to survive & thrive in the future; and

8.  too many people are wrong when they believe that Tech will save us in time, therefore to them, there's no urgency about any of this, no need to drastically alter politics, the economy, or the financial system...much less our values.

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I imagine this documentary is found not only on Prime, but elsewhere online as well.  Look for it if you really want to understand what's going on currently, and what's required to avoid complete catastrophe.  Off & on, I've been studying this for about 50 years (started in 1972 at Arizona State U.), so please believe this:  humans are facing the greatest Crisis in our history, and climate disruption is only a part of it.  The "experts" think we have until 2050 to mitigate the problem & thus avoid total societal breakdown.  In all probability, I believe that benchmark should be moved to the year 2035.  Why?  Because much more than climate is involved.  

It's time for all of us to take this seriously.  Much can be done on the micro scale, & much "lobbying" (of sorts) needs to be done on the macro scale.  Politicians will engage in window dressing efforts unless there's an outcry from the ground up.  History has proven such.

Best of Due Diligence to Everyone

p.s.  STEP 1:  stop believing the Edward Bernays style propaganda put out by most of the Powers-That-Be.  For example, it will take much more than Tech to avoid catastrophe.  Don't believe anyone who says otherwise.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

NOTE:  After more than a year of being gone from this blog, I'm returning on a sporadic basis.  Why?  Because I appreciate the fact that, in my absence, many people visited this site even though there weren't any new posts.  Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the once-in-awhile future essays.