Archive for February, 2008
James Howard Kunstler
One of my favorite topics to think, discuss, and write about is the geographic framework of modern America. (Suburbs). A major contributor to my interest obsession with this topic is James Howard Kunstler, author and lecturer extraordinaire. I saw Jim give a lecture once in Madison and was struck by how succinct and logical his thesis is (it helps that he’s an entertaining speaker). I followed up by reading a few of his books and I’ve been sold ever since. His main points are thus:
- Our current preferred habitat (suburbs) are not designed for humans. They are designed for autos. This is foolish, ugly, and causes psychological unrest.
- The American auto-culture is unsustainable due to oil scarcity and environmental destruction and we need to re-learn how to live in a lower energy intensity mode.
Of course there is more to it, but you should really do yourself the favor of reading one (or more) of his books. I suggest The Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency. If you want a quick fix, go read his blog, Clusterfuck Nation. It focuses more on #2 than #1, and is rather pessimistic (rightly so?) but it’s fun to read. Jim has a great writing style and uses delightful phrasing.
But don’t take my word for it. Check him out!
Filed under culture, energy, suburbs : Comments (6) : Feb 4th, 2008
Hot news : thevicenarian.com
Extra! Extra!
My blog empire is expanding. I have teamed up with a group of fellow vicenarians (aka 20-somethings) to write www.thevicenarian.com.
The goal of this site is to write about all the important financial/economic/investment/social topics that my demographic needs to know about but is rarely taught in school. The goal is to help my fellow vicenarians navigate this critical period in life : the first career-type job, the first big paycheck, the first time dealing with things like 401(k)’s, Roth IRAs, and health insurance (eek!).
Check it out! Even if you’re not in your 20’s, you might find it useful. And of course I love it when you ad comments.
In addition, you’ll notice a new box on the right side of this page. It’s a handy Feedburner widget that will give you the latest headlines from thevicenarian. How convenient.
Filed under economics, work : Comments (0) : Feb 3rd, 2008
