David Rauschenbach ("Leader by default")

Simon Black recently recommended a book to his readers titled Emergency, by Neil Strauss. The recommendation was this:

“Neil tells an important story that we are all completely dependent on a functioning system of complex infrastructure.

We don't think about, for example, whether or not the lights will turn [on] when we flip the switch. We don't think about whether or not water will come out of the faucet, if the toilet will flush, if the grocery store down the road has food in stock, or if the gas station will be pumping fuel tomorrow. We take these things for granted... Emergency tells Neil's story about making this realization, ...”

I call this coming to one's senses, which happened to me at some point.

And as complex as the issue is, I think it can be reduced to a single question: “What is the ideal place to live?”. The relevance might not seem apparent on the surface, but bear with me.

I just found myself recommending the Stockman Grass Farmer again, this time to an acquaintance I met in NYC a few weeks ago who is researching small-scale closed agricultural systems. My standard line about this publication is that Allan Nation, its editor, is a collector of the world's very best agricultural R&D, which seems to be predominantly coming out of New Zealand and Argentina. If you want to grow something profitably, I could not imagine ignoring the wealth of information coming from this outlet.

Every quarter I stop through Berlin for a week of business, and I'm reminded of what Germany does best. This breakfast spread is fairly representative of how you will be served breakfast at the average humble hotel.

Last night I retrofitted my Ikea Galant corner desk with the GeekDesk adjustable height desk frame, enabling me to switch from sitting at my desk to standing at my desk in 18 seconds. Total cost of the retrofit: $634, plus 2 hours of labor.

At the 2009 Singularity Summit, Peter Thiel presented his views on the current global macro-economic situation, and made the case that, assuming the status-quo is to be preserved, new exponential growth in knowledge and technology would be required, in order to carry the growth requirements of the global economy.

On the one hand, knowing that Peter is a libertarian, he may have simply been making the case that the burdens of goverment and banking are a crippling factor, and dragging the economy into the abyss.

But on the other hand, what if the problem is not solely caused by the burdens of compounding interest and the stifling effects of the rise of the meddlesome state? What if we are witnessing a "peak technology", caused by a limited modern view of rational science, which as a result of its limited scope, has run its course?

My wife and I had dinner with a nice woman in Argentina last year, who at one point in the conversation asked about my world view. I answered that I am a reluctant participant in this world, and that, for the most part, what passes for "business as usual" on this planet turns my stomach, and makes me want to leave.

I am continually surprised to the extent that this theme recurs in both modern and ancient literature, some of which I will try and collect here in this living document.

I flew into San Francisco for a few days to attend the Mobile 2.0 Conference, where telcos and mobile app developers got together to discuss the future of mobile phone platforms, app stores, and monetization.

For some years now, I have been a great admirer of Ray Swangkee and his website ThePeacock.com, where he promotes fortress living as a reasonable alternative to society's most massive problems.

Although fortress living appealed to me from the start, I have found it incredibly difficult to communicate its numerous advantages and aesthetic appeal to others. While it is one thing to point out that peak oil and global economic collapse will strain existing infrastructure, institutions, and planned-obsolescence practices beyond their tipping point, it is quite another to clearly articulate a positive and workable alternative.

Ray once fasted while asking the universe for reasonable solutions to such massive problems. That opened up a channel, and over the course of a few decades, resulted in original material spanning several thousands of pages, collected into 200+ books, all free for download on his website. My assessment is that he received his answer in spades, but, aside from “nutty” readers such as yours truly, expecting the average person to wade through all that stretches the imagination.

So while I strongly desire such secure, sustainable, intentional, and communal “condo” living for own family and like-minded friends, I have generally been unable to connect the vision with others, because the material is just too abstract, and examples are too lacking in the western world. Which is why I was ecstatic when I plugged in Diznee'z “Yung Blak Stalyun” for movie night with the family, and saw their glorious recreation of an Afrikan Kasbah, which seems to be exactly what I had in mind, for starters.

(Phonetic English used above to confuse copyright robots)

A number of respectable men have recently pondered the fascist takeover of America, and have wondered where it is all headed. These men include Peter Schiff, Doug Casey, Glenn Beck, William Buckler, and numerous other personal sources of an intelligent and thoughtful nature. 

WHY did this happen? My opinion is that things are just as they must be. All cycles have a period, and the height of any peak merely forecasts the depth of a coming trough. Just as nature is said to despise a vacuum, so do all other natural laws conspire to restore imbalances (physics, gravity, karma, etc), where balance is temporarily lost.

Now the interesting part of the discussion is HOW and WHEN such balances are restored, because in this life, therein lies our opportunities. It is an interesting subject, and certainly worth pondering.

“Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.