There was a time when many people believed that Governments were the ultimate safety net. Many of us, including myself, believed that, despite all their faults and inefficiencies, governments, at least the so-called “democratic” ones, were better than no government at all. We believed that the government was a place where big, important, and intelligent … Continue reading Catastrophe Ballet
Entertainment is the experience of watching or attending an event, whether real or not, current or past, and relishing the fact that you can be “present” from a safe distance. The one being entertained usually has an intense curiosity about the subject matter: they want to get as close as they can to “the scene”, … Continue reading The Entertainment Death Trap
Every ecosystem takes steps to curb species that over-proliferate. Those with long arms who continuously eat more than their fair share are always brought to justice and pay a hefty population price. As the population of the species explodes, alarms go off. The ecosystem senses a bottleneck in the food chain, an expanding bulge, like … Continue reading The Curse of the Self-Destructive Predator
A spark, a hiccup. That’s all that humanity ever was on the planet’s geological timescale. A brilliant colorful flicker, a burnt fuse, then time carries on. As they grow and expand, all civilizations are easily deceived by their own momentum. After reaching a certain size, they become arrogant enough to call themselves “empires”. A web … Continue reading The Arrogance of Empire
While nature gradually goes dark during the winter months, and plants and animals decrease their metabolic activity almost down to zero, there is one species that represents a bizarre aberration to the planet’s seasonal metabolic patterns. Humans continue to consume throughout the winter, their energy use increasing while most other species go into hibernation. Dependent … Continue reading The Lie of Clean Energy
Although “sentience” is defined as “being able to perceive or feel things”, nowadays the term seems to be used exclusively in the context of comparing humans to animals, or to artificial intelligence applications. There is a desperate effort to prove, once and for all, that humans are the only species, or machine for that matter, … Continue reading The Absurdity of Human Sentience
There was a time when humans were foragers. There were no supermarkets, not even agriculture – in other words, there was no “food production system” as such. The system was Earth itself, and it was the level of food supply that moderated demand, which in turn, controlled population (and this further limitted demand). As long … Continue reading The Myth of a Sustainable Humanity
“And on the 8th day of creation, humans took over from God and created capitalism. And capitalism took over from humans and looked down at them and said: “you are mine now”. And humans looked down at their wallets, and they were full of money. And they bought everything they could buy, and killed everything … Continue reading The Plague of Consumption
(from the Untitled new novel) With unwavering tenacity and determination, the seeds continued to push with whatever strength they had against the infinite, pitch-black darkness of the heavy, moisture-laden soil up above. While their persistence and courage were admirable, the truth was that none of them had even the faintest idea of where exactly they … Continue reading To Believe
104 years ago my grandparents were refugees. They were civilians fleeing their lush, beautiful ancient homeland on the Black Sea, following a treacherous path on foot through Asia Minor and into the safety of Greece. They were among the lucky ones narrowly escaping the Turkish army who was on their heels, and facing a new … Continue reading We Are All Refugees
George Tsakraklides 