So I spent most of this weekend thinking about the end of the world (cheery, I know–but more on that later…)

In the course of researching possible doomsday scenarios, I happened upon a couple of New Scientist articles that are particularly relevant in the face of this ongoing global economic collapse which is, so we’re told, the worst thing since the Great Depression.

The articles (HERE and HERE) deal with the (un)sustainability of our current capitalist-consumerist economic model, and with the possibility that the collapse of civilizations might be hardwired into civilization itself–every civilization the world has ever know has collapsed, so why should ours be any different?

The question seems to be at what point is our current model no longer viable (probably long since passed) and whether with the increasingly complicated technological nature of our society we’re really that adaptable to sudden crisis and/or change.

But not all is doom-‘n-gloom! This article, and this special report presents a good case for the need for a ‘steady-state’ economy, and not one that relies (as our current model does) on ever-increasing growth and consumption for success.

Here’s hoping we can pull ourselves out of the mess we’ve made…

– S.