In the early 1970’s, several studies predicted that human civilization would end around 2050. Bootlickers responding by pointing out that the world wasn’t ending, and have continued to point out that the world isn’t ending pretty much continuously since then. However, those studies said it would happen around 2050, and follow up studies have consistently shown that we are right on schedule.
MIT Predicted in 1972 That Society Will Collapse This Century. New Research Shows We’re on Schedule. by Nafeez Ahmed, Vice News
The study was published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology in November 2020 and is available on the KPMG website. It concludes that the current business-as-usual trajectory of global civilization is heading toward the terminal decline of economic growth within the coming decade—and at worst, could trigger societal collapse by around 2040. The study represents the first time a top analyst working within a mainstream global corporate entity has taken the ‘limits to growth’ model seriously. Its author, Gaya Herrington, is Sustainability and Dynamic System Analysis Lead at KPMG in the United States. However, she decided to undertake the research as a personal project to understand how well the MIT model stood the test of time.
Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say we are right on schedule? I was mistaken. We are ahead of schedule. It looks more and more like the far right will get the Total War and the Apocalypse that they’ve always dreamed of.
“What about all these electric cars?” you might ask, or “What about all this solar and wind power?” As long as the nihilistic forces of capitalism control our world, renewable energy will always be used to increase economic growth rather than replace CO2-producing energy sources. Even though renewables continue to represent a higher and higher percentage of total energy supplies, the total amount of fossil fuels burned continues to increase. Remember, in order for humanity to survive, industrial CO2 production must become negative — it isn’t even decreasing.
Because we’ve waited so very long to do something meaningful about climate change, there is now no longer a way to move forward without a complete disruption of our way of life. We must now choose between the end of humanity and the end of capitalism.
What are your city and state doing to reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned? Nothing.
The original paper is located here, and portrays an odd division between a quick collapse and a long decline. These are essentially the same thing; Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it also took over 200 years to fall.