He has the multidisciplinary smarts to deeply understand our human dilemma as we stand on the verge of the inevitable collapse of industrialism. And he wields uncommon writing skills, making his diagnosis and prescription entertaining, illuminating, and practically informative. Not to be missed.”—Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute and author of Peak Everything“There is a great deal of conventional wisdom about our collective ecological crisis out there in books.  The enormous virtue of John Michael Greer’s work is that his wisdom is never conventional, but profound and imaginative.  There’s no one who makes me think harder, and The Ecotechnic Future pushes Greer’s vision, and our thought processes in important directions.” —Sharon Astyk, farmer, blogger, and author of Depletion and Abundance and A Nation of Farmers “In The Ecotechnic Future, John Michael Greer dispels our fantasies of a tidy, controlled transition from industrial society to a post-industrial milieu. The process will be ragged and rugged and will not invariably constitute an evolutionary leap for the human species. It will, however, offer myriad opportunities to create a society that bolsters complex technology which at the same time maintains a sustainable interaction with the ecosystem. Greer brilliantly inspires us to integrate the two in our thinking and to construct local communities which concretely exemplify this comprehensive vision.” —Carolyn Baker, author of Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization’s Collapse, and publisher/editor, Speaking Truth to PowerIn response to the coming impact of peak oil, John Michael Greer helps us envision the transition from an industrial society to a sustainable ecotechnic world—not returning to the past, but creating a society that supports relatively advanced technology on a sustainable resource base.Fusing human ecology and history, this book challenges assumptions held by mainstream and alternative thinkers about the evolution of human societies. Human societies, like ecosystems, evolve in complex and unpredictable ways, making it futile to try to impose rigid ideological forms on the patterns of evolutionary change. Instead, social change must explore many pathways over which we have no control. The troubling and exhilarating prospect of an open-ended future, he proposes, requires dissensus—a deliberate acceptance of radical diversity that widens the range of potential approaches to infinity.Written in three parts, the book places the present crisis of the industrial world in its historical and ecological context in part one; part two explores the toolkit for the Ecotechnic Age; and part three opens a door to the complexity of future visions.For anyone concerned about peak oil and the future of industrial society, this book provides a solid analysis of how we got to where we are and offers a practical toolkit to prepare for the future.John Michael Greer is a certified Master Conserver, organic gardener, and scholar of ecological history. He blogs at The Archdruid Report   (www.thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com), and is the author ofThe Long Descent.

    It's also one of the three legs of the stool I recommend for grokking said human predicament (as perhaps best defined by John Michael Greer in The Long Descent, also recommended). The three legs are Catton's book, Overshoot, Albert Bartlett's talk on Exponential Growth, and the documentary What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire. Toss in some Daniel Quinn, Derrick Jensen and Richard Heinberg, and you'll really be up to speed. But start with that solid three-legged base.

    Albert has been living a post-collapse lifestyle since the 1970s, and, as Director of the Ecovillage Training Center at The Farm in Tennessee (a legendary intentional community exploring the frontiers of creative solutions to environmental and social problems), has taught subjects ranging from straw-bale home-building and mycoforestry to Permaculture and urban village design."In a typical stroke of mad genius, Albert chose to make this a cookbook as well as a survival guide. There is nothing more basic to human life than eating, and the transitional period will require some serious adjustments in how we feed ourselves. But what good is mere survival if we cannot find enjoyment as we go? Self-sufficiency and relocalization of economic activity will require creativity and humor as well as serious planning and hard work.As Albert says of his latest work:"There is a kind of slow fear - not the kind of fear you feel when you are up high on a ladder and it shakes, or there is a deer in the headlights at 70 miles per hour. Those are sudden adrenaline rush types of fear. There is also a slow fear."Half a million people in the USA are being laid off each week now. They have watched their homes become worth less than their mortgages, their cars repossessed, their retirement savings vaporize, and their dreams of college for the children and a soft retirement vanish. They are staring at future involving working until they die, downsizing to a small apartment in a poor neighborhood, and giving up the car, if they are lucky."That sense of slow fear is gripping many of us now; a stone in the pit of the stomach, a sweat on the brow, a concern for our children and elderly relatives, and for where our food and health care will come from."There is standard advice for fear. We know it well, and Albert Bates been preaching it for many years now, in books, workshops, and advice at seminars."The advice is simple. Prepare yourself. Prepare your family. Prepare your community."It starts with having cash on hand. Not a checkbook or a credit card. Cash. Then there is the 3-day jump kit. Then there is one's personal supply of water, repairable shelter, camping gear, first aid, and food. Have a garden, even in the city. Don't panic. Learn to embrace uncertainty with humor, and shape up. You know all of this."But the slow fear is about something more insidious, something for which none of that preparation really matters."What has to be done with my slow fear, and with everyone's, is not to ignore it. Even if one thinks one is prepared, nobody is. So keep preparing. Go for those things that count. Get trained. Get centered. Shape up. This book could be the most valuable investment in your future you could make."The Financial Collapse Survival Guide also has something everyone should have on their Kindle: the complete International Red Cross guide for first aid and emergency medical care in any situation. If you don't yet have this in your purse or briefcase, you can now.Here is information that's helpful to have on the home bookshelf, on the plane, on the street, and in the office. Start living a prepared-for-anything lifestyle now and avoid the rush.This book is like a Swiss army knife, which you may need in the next five minutes or five years from now. - Dr. Valentin Yemelin, climate scientist, UN Environment P