Coping with Collapse

Charles Shaw

There has been a lot of talk about various forms of “collapse” lately—economic, ecological, political--and many of us are involved in ongoing conversations, arguments, debates, and the like about said same.

Well, whether or not you’re talking about it, you’re more than likely thinking about it. Here are four articles that address, in some form, the main “collapse” themes we have been discussing over the last six months, and how we might want to respond to these growing realizations. They contain incredible nuggets of wisdom and information. Each presents a very different kind of approach about coping with our current predicament, along with unique, honest and certainly surprising perspectives on hope and optimism. I don’t agree with everything that is said here (particularly in the Gitlin/Monbiot interview) , but I think these are honest and say a lot, and I have found them incredibly helpful. I hope you do too.

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“Economic and planetary collapse: Is it a therapeutic issue?” by Kathy McMahon, Psy.D.

A study of Panglossian Disorders and Their Subtypes (“Panglossian Disorder” - (n.) “The neurotic tendency toward extreme optimism in the face of likely cultural and planetary collapse)

 
"Recession, Depression, Collapse: What's Fear Got To Do With It?"
by Carolyn Baker 

 
"The Waking Up Syndrome"
by Sarah Anne Edwards and Linda Buzzell

"How to be Radical? - An interview with Todd Gitlin and George Monbiot"
Here, leading voices of different generations – Todd Gitlin (‘Letters to a Young Activist’) and George Monbiot (‘The Age of Consent’) – discuss activism, nationalism, violence, and world government in an interview with Anthony Barnett and Caspar Henderson of openDemocracy.