Chris Martenson is a trained scientist that realized that some things were not quite right in the economy and the way man was conducting his affairs, seemingly unaware of what was going on. He dedicated the last years educating himself and creating invaluable artifacts that are of great help in raising one’s awareness to what is happening all around us and that no-one in the mainstream media is reporting. We are helping Chris spread the message.
One of these artifacts, created by Chris Martenson, is “The Crash Course”. It consists of a serie of 20 short movies that are addressing the imminent threats to mankind – bear with me, it is not terrorism, outer space meteorites nor some fancy conspiracy theory, or the possible rise of the oceans – Chris is explaining in a very concise, simple, yet complete and clear manner that humanity is facing a clear and present danger, borne from our ways of living, our very habits and ways of apprehending our future.
As Bucky Fuller wrote in the first line of the introduction to Critical Path in 1981: “Humanity is moving ever deeper into crisis – a crisis without precedent.” With the permission of Chris Martenson, please discover the nature of this crisis.
Crash Course – 1 – Three Beliefs.
It’s very important to distinguish between facts, opinions, and beliefs. So let me be right upfront about this. I hold three beliefs, which I’m going to share with you and then spend the rest of our time showing you how I got to these beliefs.
The first is that the next twenty years are going to be completely unlike the last twenty years. Second, I believe that its possible that the pace and/or scope of change could overwhelm the ability of our key social and support institutions to adapt. Third, I believe we do not lack any technology or understanding necessary to build ourselves a better future.
Crash Course – 2 - The 3 Es, Economy, Energy, Environment
Massive change is upon us. To understand the nature of this change, we need to understand the three “E”s – the Economy, Energy, and the Environment – which is where we’ll spend the rest of our time in the Crash Course.
The first “E” is the economy, which is the lens through which the Crash Course looks at everything, specifically exponential money, the first-ever collapse of a global credit binge, an aging population, and a national failure to save.
The second “E” is energy. We will explore what Peak Oil implies for an economic system that is based on continual expansion.
The third “E”, the environment, will be exerting its own unknowable but certainly significant economic burdens due to shrinking resources and other systemic pressures while the other two “E”s are clamoring for your money and attention.
Crash Course – 3 – Exponential Growth
In the Crash Course we will learn a few foundational Key Concepts. None is more important than exponential growth. Understanding this will greatly enhance our chances to form a better future.
Once an exponential function “turns the corner,” even though the percentage rate of growth might remain constant and possibly quite low, the amounts do not. They pile up faster and faster.
Oil consumption, the US money supply, world population, worldwide water use, species extinction, and other critical areas all follow an exponential curve in their growth, and all have turned or will soon turn that critical corner.
Taken one at a time, any one of these areas could command the full attention of every earnest person on the face of the planet, but we need to understand that they are, in fact, all related and connected.
Crash Course – 4 – Compounding Is The problem
In order to understand the urgency I feel about the issues covered in the Crash Course, you need to understand the power of compounding. If something, such as a population, oil demand, a money supply, or anything else steadily increases in size in some proportion to its current size, and you graph it over time, the graph will look like a hockey stick.
Said more simply, if something is increasing over time on a percentage basis, it is growing exponentially. With exponential functions, the action really only heats up in the last few moments. There is simply not a lot of maneuvering room once you hop on the vertical portion of a compound graph.
Crash Course – 5 – Growth vs. Prosperity
Growth is good, right? A growing economy means that we are becoming more prosperous…growth offers opportunities. So many people would say that growth equals prosperity. But is this actually true? And what if it’s not?
For the past few hundred years we have been lulled into linking the two concepts, because there was always sufficient surplus energy that we could have both growth AND prosperity. But what’s going to happen when 100% of our surplus money or energy is being used to simply grow? And what happens if there’s not enough surplus to even fund growth alone?
This, then, is the greatest challenge of our times – properly recognizing where we want our remaining surplus to go and getting that story out. We place a great deal at risk if we allow ourselves to do what is easy – that is, take the path of least resistance and simply grow – instead of doing what is right, which is directing our surplus towards a more prosperous future.
- Courtesy Chris Martenson.
The chapters of The Crash Course take over 3 hours to go through and give you an overall understanding; we have broken the learning down into 5 postings. This is the first installment; next, we will review the nature of money, money creation, the role of the US FED (Federal Reserve System), and a brief history of US money. Following will come inflation, debt, savings, the calibration of a trillion, demographics and bubbles; we will then move on to energy, peak oil, the role of energy in our society, and the improbable existence of civilization without energy; last, we will measure the impact on the environment, the coming shock, and engage in a discussion about what we can do and who we must be to change this course of events that humanity has unwillingly set for itself.
The other parts of The Crash Course can be accessed following the links below:
Crash Course Part 1, The nature of the crisis: 3 Beliefs; The convergence of Energy, Economy & Environment; ExponentialGrowth, Growth vs. Prosperity.
Crash Course Bonus Audio: An Interview with Chris Martenson.
Tags: awareness, Chris Martenson, cosmic cost accounting, crisis, critical path, economic cycle, Economy, energy expenditure, Environment, Future Of Humanity, inflation, integrity, life sustenance, malthusian limit, mind, sense of urgency, the Crash Course, think, truth, universe
Subscribe via email or RSS
Hey Brent,
I have spent every spare minute over the past 3 days and nights taking the crash course you sent. Once I started it, I held off any further communication with our group until I could finish and absorb the full impact of the material. Thanks so much for that information. While much of it is a review and a reinforcement of what we have learned recently in GRUNCH and Creature, the way it was presented anchored some of the principles, especially his thoughts about earth’s resources, in new and I think important ways. His presentation is also excellent. I will pass it on to anyone who is willing to listen to it.
Thank you for your continuing contribution to our journey.
wlp