u/HuckleberryPee

I ask about the UK as that's where I'm from and the country I know most about.

Just seems like we have a lot going for us and a lot against us.

Pros: small, defensible island, temperate weather, decent economy by global standards.

Cons: aging population, low birthrate, mass panic about illegal immigrants (haven't even experienced climate change refugees yet), increasingly unpredictable weather, extremely densely populated island, not food self sufficient, increasingly politically polarised, economy stagnant, etc.

How do you think this island will fare going forward? Especially compared to the rest of Europe and the wider world?

I do like the principles of anarchy and support the removal of hierarchical systems. I also like the idea of communes. I know they can and do work on a small scale at least.

Say there is some huge collapse, and out of the ashes emerges some form of anarchy on a national or global scale, I still struggle to see how it would survive long-term.

I could imagine a commune going through a period of great hardship, maybe a drought, wildfire, disease epidemic, whatever. When people are desperate they do seem to be drawn to strong people who they think may be able to fix things. I don't know if that's a product of our current hierarchical thinking or if it's something more fundamental in human psychology.

Regardless, an intelligent, charismatic man/woman, perhaps of a psychopathic or narcissistic flavor has greater personal ambitions and uses the present calamity to take greater control for themselves over the commune. How/why would this ever be stopped from happening?

Same could be said for a cult. People do seem to gravitate towards cults. no matter how illogical the cult's beliefs are, there's always psychologically vulnerable people who can be taken in and weaponized for the cult's "greater good" or whatever.

Tldr: Is there not an ever present risk that an anarchist society could turn towards a power hungry individual during times of hardship?

Renewables have been growing their share of global energy generation steadily for years now. I'm sure we've all seen the huge solar fields going up across China, but Europe has also made serious progress with solar and wind, with balcony solar and solar panel fencing even becoming commonplace (although I can't say I've personally seen this in my region yet).

Even deprived countries with unreliable grid infrastructure, like India, Pakistan, Syria and South Africa have been buying up cheap Chinese panels and batteries to power homes independently of the grid.

The instability around oil driven largely by the Iran crisis seems like it may accelerate this shift, with reliance on imported oil increasingly being realised as a geopolitical liability rather than just an environmental one. And with renewables cheaper and easier to install than ever, the economic argument is becoming harder to ignore even for those who don't care about the climate side of things.

What I'm less clear on is the timeline. Month by month renewables grow as a percentage of total energy generation, but "mostly off oil" still feels a long way off. How long does transition actually take at scale? Are we looking at 10 years, 20, 50?

I'm also uncertain about climate tipping points... whether we've already locked in something catastrophic, or whether we're heading for a future that's deeply unstable but still livable for most people.

And yes, I realise climate change is only one facet of collapse and I'm ignoring rising wealth inequality, the demographic collapse, political instability, future pandemics etc. But for this I'm just focusing on climate change as it's one of the most unfixable threats.

Thoughts?