JMG on Ouros Podcast

[ecosophia]

It's been a busy few weeks for podcasts, and here's another one. I'm on the Ouros Podcast with host Isaac, talking about spirituality and the decline and fall of industrial civilization. Ouros is the new kid on the block when it comes to collapsitarian podcasts -- I was on the eighth show ever -- but it's shaping up to be an interesting venue, exploring the decline and fall of industrial civilization from a conservative standpoint.. You can listen to the conversation here, and check out the host's Substack essays here. 

Comments

Just a thought...

[(Anonymous)]

I really appreciate this conversation that you had. I will note that although I have never seen much community at all in the suburbia contexts I grew up in, I have noticed a lot more of it in the rural, fly over area that I now live in. I am hoping that the other poor, religious areas of the country still have the sort of community you two were talking about near the end of this conversation.

Re: Just a thought...

[ecosophia]

Suburbia's a fascinating place, in a certain bleak sense. (I grew up there too.) What intrigues me about it is that it's the opposite of community, but it's also the opposite of individualism. People there go through lives of strict conformism in isolation from one another. Go almost anywhere else and you'll find both more community and more individualism!

Re: Just a thought...

[(Anonymous)]

Not the OP, but I grew up in suburbia as well, and have lived in a city and rural areas since, an suburbia manages to combine the worst of both, with none of the redeeming features of either. It's incredible that so many people want to live that way....

Re: Just a thought...

[ecosophia]

I don't get it either -- and that's exactly the way I've thought of the suburbs since childhood: the worst features of rural and urban life, with none of the advantages.

The day collapse began

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Interesting take on catabolic collapse, more elaborate than usual.

In the podcast you say that you date the beginning of Western decline at just before WWI. I agree, and I (purely symbolically) date the precise date of the beginning of the decline at April 10, 1912, the day of the sinking of the Titanic.

disc_writes

Re: The day collapse began

[ecosophia]

I tend to date it just as symbolically to June 28, 1914, the day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, but I won't quibble about your alternative...

listed to this while the NetworkState of Facebook was down

[chaosadventurer]

so fun listening to you talk about catabolic collapse while Facebook was down for the count for most of the world.
Made me think about the efforts of the Network States (Facebook, Google, etc.) overshadowing and trying to replace the Nation States, is this an example of them fighting (China's efforts to lock out the Network States like they have with crypto currency) that is so typical of that collapse of civilizations? Time will tell if that was a fumbled change at Facebook, or an attack on them (China?) that dropped them totally off the internet (their IP range is unknown the key routers of the internet)
Entertaining if it wasn't so on the mark of where we are headed.

and I second 1912-04-15 as a good symbolic date for Peak Civilization (think sinking date being better than the Titanic's sailing date)

Re: listed to this while the NetworkState of Facebook was down

[(Anonymous)]

Alright, April 15. Checks out on Wikipedia. I misquoted the date on countless occasions, then.

This revelation prolongs the peak of Western civilization by 5 days, thanks.

disc_writes

Re: listed to this while the NetworkState of Facebook was down

[brenainn]

Network States...that's a good way of describing companies like Facebook and Google. And let me be the third to voice support for the Titanic's fateful voyage being the symbolic date for Peak Civilization. In many ways, it represents the hubris of the Cult of Progress, being a ship that supposedly even God could not sink. Then, a lowly iceberg manages the task, and exposed the stupidity of the elites as they failed to even include enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew.

Re: listed to this while the NetworkState of Facebook was down

[(Anonymous)]

There's also the fact, which somehow feels to me like an even more apt metaphor, that even during the crisis they didn't fully use the lifeboats they actually had...

Re: listed to this while the NetworkState of Facebook was down

[chaosadventurer]

I learned that term from https://axisofeasy.com/bombthrower/network-states-a-primer/ that has more than a few overlapping thoughts with those shared here. Even if parts of AxisOfEasy shows some "Belief in Progress", they are much more grounded in the rough bumps of reality. In many ways they appear to be digging into the nuts 'n bolts of the of the process of collapse of intermediation without directly being aware that is what is happening.

[(Anonymous)]

Really enjoyed the conversation and it left me with the same question as I often have when it comes to decline - what is the best advice for those of us and those of us with loved ones with chronic conditions reliant on industrial medication such as insulin. I expect it won't just run out tomorrow but what can we do to soften and protect life as best we can ...

[brenainn]

I've had a similar concern for quite some time now, and I've taken up learning as much as possible about traditional and natural healing modalities and techniques. I don't have any conditions that couldn't be treated through natural remedies (so I think, based on my research) but I have several family members who would suffer tremendously if the decline makes their medicines unavailable in the next few decades. I've taken to carefully researching their specific conditions and looking at traditional remedies. This is just prep work right now, but should it become necessary, I want to be ready.

[ecosophia]

That's a very difficult question, because industrial society has its upsides, and one of them is that some chronic conditions that are quickly fatal under other conditions are manageable if you've got factories churning out medicine. Other than exploring alternative medicine and seeing if you can help get alternative sources started, I don't have any serious suggestions.

[brenainn]

This might very well be the best of your podcast interviews that I've listened to, and that's saying something as all the podcasts that I've listened to so far have been great. And thanks for introducing me to this new guy's channel. I'm looking over his other material and I'm liking what I see. It is nice to have a fellow conservative and Christian tackling the decline and fall of our civilization. I'll have to follow his material.

[ecosophia]

Please let Isaac know how much you liked it, if you haven't done so already -- he's fairly new to this game, and making a career for himself as a blogger and podcaster. I know I could have used this kind of encouragement when I was in his position!

[brenainn]

Done! Thanks for the suggestion!