I scan the online press daily. Perhaps, many times a day…I notice the sceptical assesssments (And generally grind my teeth at their wilful stupidity) and the counter-arguments…

Yesterday I found two articles I think are worth a read. One discusses some scientific data relating to average temperatures, and cross-reference these with industrial developments…Of course, the correlation in the graphs could be

1. Falsified
2. The result of manipulated data
3. The result of manipulated graphical presentation
4. True

I tend not to suspend my incredulity, or judgement, and so, I hope that option 4 is right. Perhaps hope is a strong word, gicen the implications, but I believe the data to be accurate.

So, take a look…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/20/global-warming-study-climate-sceptics

The second article which caught my eye was from the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15341651

This article focuses upon the potential issues surrounding human migration emerging from anticipated changes in climate.

The plan I have for this site is to explain a series of ideas which I have learned of in the last few years, and the connections between these ideas. Once you see the connections, I anticipate a degree of panic, so do stay calm!

I intend to follow the overview of doom with a scenario, and a range of choices, by which one can get through it all…

Briefly then the ideas I have studied, for several years now, are:

Peak Oil: The idea that oil, something our civilisation is utterly dependent on, is being used faster than it is being discovered, and produced. The time of cheap, abundant oil is gone, leaving a diminishing reserve in a variety of mostly unstable, unfriendly countries. Read more here…

Climate Change: The trend of the global climate is of an increase in temperature. There are many reasons why if, for example, you are in England and rain is falling outside, you might imagine that the whole “Global Warming Malarkey” is nothing to be concerned with. I will demonstrate why there is plenty to worry about.                                                                 Read more here

Economic Crisis: I shouldn’t need to tell most of you that we are in trouble. “We” could be English people, like me, US citizens, Europeans…but, no, my concern extends globally. The banks, and other reckless folk have lead us down a path to self-destruction for a long time. It began to be obvious to people in 2008 with something of a financial meltdown. The symptoms though have been treated, not cured.

Justice: The poverty gap, the ever increasing gulf between the absolutely-staggeringly wealthy, and the rest of us, has grown, and continues to grow. I will detail some of what I have learned about this.

Solutions:

I could have taken one of several routes, upon learning of the dangers that lay ahead of us, collectively as a disparate, loosely affiliated group of people sat upon this lonely planet.

One route was to deny everything. Nothing to worry about.

The second would be to panic, like a headless-chicken.

Third, I could study to determine if there was a sliver of hope…

Fourth, I could plan for the worst.

I took options three and four. And, I am happy to say, that the final option provides us, not only with a route which can be followed by many of us – certainly those willing to try – to survive, but that the consequences of doing so can potentially resolve a malaise that has set in, particularly in the Western nations, and restore to us lives with purpose, meaning and – maybe – some joy! See here

I intend to add a section devoted to opinions and current events. In that I might include a ‘manifesto’, a series of proposals for how to resolve certain issues which plague society. This content, while connected to the rest, is likely to be of a much more wide-ranging nature, but there you have it.

The Final Section should provide reviews of books to read, products which might prove to be of value, courses to study – in short practical steps you can take to shield yourself, and those dear to you, from anything nasty that may be just around the corner.

I hope that this is of interest, is helpful and informative, and ultimately that you engage with me, and others here.

Maybe we can create a better future together.

A like box for the facebook ‘fan’ page. (So Social Media Savvy me!)

And so it takes shape.

Slowly, through the swirling, virtual, mists of cyberspaces dim and distant frontiers, we see a new blog emerge.

Today I have been refining the pages within my site. I have added more links and some reviews, and tidied those up so that they connect the way I want them to.

As to today’s reviews, well both relate to catalyst items. That is to say, items which have caused something of a paradigm shift for me, and caused me to change the way I perceive the world and the way that I approach my life in it.

The first review is of the book which inspired me to get on my backside and create a website. I cannot commend it highly enough. See my review here

The second, is of a film I watched some years ago which made me realise that most us – including me, and nearly everyone I knew, were heading off the edge of a precipice. While we might not be personally directing the fatal direction in which we are headed, we nonetheless have options that we can personally exercise to avoid (a) being part of the ‘doomed’ stampede and (b) to perhaps realise a change in perceptions collectively which permit us to help slow, and then re-route, the stampede. See my review here

Given the premise of my website, the notion of progress sticks in the gullet somewhat…but I am not trying to develop some new, terrible weapon – whatever the truth to the phrase “The Pen is mightier than the Sword”. I am advancing the objectives of my site – to inform others as to the shape of our near-future and how to maximise our chances of coping, surviving or thriving.

So here it is…(merry Christmas)

It may not be Christmas for a few months, however this is my first post, of my first website, so allow me to bid you welcome.

In the coming few days, months and weeks I hope to open your eyes to an astonishing reality, and to the possibilities, challenges and pitfalls which lie ahead of us all.

In creating advertising content a classic question asked might be, “Who are your target audience?”

Well, provided you are sentient, breathing, and capable of reading then my target audience is you. In short, what I have to tell you, what I have garnered from years of research and hope to collate for your consideration here, is relevant to every single person on the planet.

Before I sign off let me address why I chose the name “Backtotheolddays”.

As shall become clear, I have examined the general motion of human development. Many would argue that we have been making forward progress. Indeed, I would agree that much of this progress has assisted us, in terms of our quality of life – cures for diseases and so on. At the same time, much that is brought to us in the name of progress, and many of the consequences of progress, have served to do little other than to alter the scale at which we can be inhuman to one another, or have brought us to a scenario in which one can easily envisage the rapid decline of our species (and others) as we rape and plunder our planet. One could argue that the direction of humanity is, increasingly rapidly, performing an abrupt volte face. Life as we have known it, looks set to change irrevocably. I hope to assist you in understanding this, and in choosing to address it.