The book “Just Enough” describes how Japan functioned in self-imposed isolated for over 2 centuries. Not only did they reforest the country after previous environmental catastrophe, but also increased population by 2.5x during this timeframe. It is very relevant to the thought-process required to consider lifestyles and social systems in a post fossil-fuel world:
https://www.amazon.com/Just-Enough-Lessons-Living-Traditional/dp/4770030746
The other is a classic text book “Farmers of Forty Centuries”. Written around 1900 by a former American official of the USDA, who travelled extensively through China, Korea and Japan to learn how food production was so effective without artifical fertilizer.
https://www.amazon.com/Farmers-Forty-Centuries-Organic-Farming/dp/048643…
Oh, and a bonus reference - I’m assuming you’re truly passionate about this here - Do a Permaculuture Design Course! and be amazed at the possibilities of doing things much more efficiently.
Then work out how you think the world will end and what you will do to prepare and prosper. It’s an eye-opening, life-changing and fun journey!
I would love to hear her on the podcast again!
I’ve only seen answers to this like “we need to be able to lower interest rates if we have another recession”. Or “our economy is overheating”. These make no sense to me. Raising interest rates causes recessions (and stock market corrections). The inflation and employment numbers are completely made up, so therefore the fact that we are seeing “reported” increases in both, is most likely a justification for raising interest rates.
Brandon Smith’s (http://www.alt-market.com/) view makes the most sense to me. i.e. the USA’s Central Bank is merely a subsidiary of a larger entity - a global “elite”. Therefore crashing the US stock market is a step in instituting a global currency to replace the $US as the world’s reserve currency. A crashing stock market, and a falling dollar would (will) be a perfect opportunity for bail-outs and resetting to use an International Monetary Fund currency (Special Drawing Rights), followed by a global crypto-currency.
This is the only scenario that I can see which could best explain why the FED’s are raising interest rates (and reducing their balance sheet) to crash the US stock market. To set the stage for a global currency reset. Following that, the US (under the new IMF SDR currency) would become analogous to Greece under the Euro. Laden with debt, and reduced to a state of extreme austerity. Similarly the nations like China, with productive economies would become analogous to Germany under the Euro.