What is the crowd's opinion of Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update?

From 3.5 billion comments

it's a real problem, especially in times where people are desperate for security. I find myself equally desperate to help, but then can't follow through with their expectations. It really is a testament to how shitty things are that you can't tell someone how much they matter to you without gaining a dependent or crushing them with rejection.

I'm having a hard time engaging with the world right now. I'm sure, being an empath, you're feeling the pain in the world too. You can practically taste it on the air. I'm so entirely overwhelmed with how poorly people are managing this hardship that I've basically removed myself from it. Not healthy, to be sure, but as a mechanism of self preservation I decided it was necessary.

The most important book for any of us to read, in my opinion, is Limits to Growth. The authors published a 30 year update of the model in the early 00's so they had 30 years of data to prove how accurate their model was... which, given the time and sophistication of computing, was remarkably accurate. The best version to read is the 30 year update but the old one is only wrong on the exact numbers, not the trends. They also assumed that China would be less effective in controlling their population. ANYWAY, when I read that when I was 16, it became completely clear that we were going to hit the wall in 2020 and that we needed to prepare. Trips I've taken to latin america since then have only underscored exactly how much we're overshooting our carrying capacity. I tried to convince people I loved not to have kids and lost them as friends as a result. I expected that I might, but I wasn't expecting how hard it would be to lose my tribe or find a new one that I could trust.

From my read, the only way to enjoy the next 10 years is to figure out exactly what you need to be happy and work to preserve ONLY those things. Ideally, you give everything else away, but even when you don't, it will be taken from you through the processes of what we've created; COVID is the tip of the iceberg.

I live in Canada and was hoping to convert my property into a climate refuge for citizens of other countries that are good people. This would take the form of "tiny houses" with a bit of community thrown in, hopefully a few kids running around because, even if our species is slated for extinction, we have a toxic legacy that we cannot afford to leave to nature to manage on its own. Kids are needed, both for mental health and to do the cleanup that we aren't doing now. It's a shit legacy, but it's better than starving in a city somewhere.

If the US ever gets too much for you, and the idea of a science based commune of specifically good people appeals to you at all, consider this an invitation. Over PM we can work out a way to get the location if things go to shit. It's a mushroom based ecosystem that uses the adjacent woodlot as the caloric input, and then a permaculture model to turn that into a balanced diet. Either way, there will be food, water, and hopefully a reliable "family" of people that would die for each other, or at least love each other in the way we're talking about.

I know how crazy this sounds, and I truly hope it is crazy. I don't want any of this stuff to be happening. The one thing I want less, though, is not having a plan for it and constantly being "surprised" by consequences scientists have been warning people about since the 80's. I can tell from that video that you're one of us and would make a valued member of the family/team. Trying to stay away from rules, but the basic goal would be something resembling a hunter/gatherer tribe using as few non-renewable resources as possible, and focusing on making practical plans for managing future crises and spreading those plans as far and wide as possible. Also, no violence and no guns, though archery and hunting are part of the model. Definitely no leadership and, provided there is some commitment to contribute, I'd be willing to offer a share of ownership in the property to give you the security of not being at the mercy of some petty tyrant.

Got so many projects in the pipe I'm spinning right now but this will not be a "hippy" thing, with crystal worshiping bs (cool if you're into it, not cool to share with the kids if it's not scientifically vetted), though I do hope it evolves into a functional, happy community on top of being a safe and reliable respite from a world that's sadly lacking in both functionality and happiness. Think of Amish but no dress code, religion, or beard crimes.

No pressure or expectations, just something to keep in your back pocket for emergencies.

Hope you're safe and as ok as can be expected.

Love ya, bud! take care out there!

> Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update

See also http://www.amazon.com/Limits-Growth-Donella-H-Meadows-ebook/dp/B007EDYJDA/

and http://www.amazon.com/2052-Global-Forecast-Forty-Years-ebook/dp/B008674K64/ which I consider too optimistic.