Solarpunk Collective

"Hey Karl, over here!" The big man pushed through the bustle of the early morning market towards the man shouting his name. "I've got those boots you wanted!" "Yeah? Did you get the other things I asked for too? The big man is sweating already and it's only 6:30 in the morning. Once the sun gets up, this old converted cattle shed it going to be unbearable. Better get business over and done with quick. "Some of it yeah, but it wasn't easy. You got the stuff?" The black market trader is pawing through the pile of goods on his table, sorting things and arranging items of clothing. He seems not to be paying attention. "listen. You wanted this junk and you said you could get me what I need..." "Of course, of course. I just want to be sure we both get what we want." "..cos if you haven't got it, there are a lot of other traders here." Karl sweeps his arm around to indicate the market hall. It's r...

If there's a perfect illustration of Western society, I think it is the cheeseburger. Think about it. The cheese is Capitalism. It makes the burger tasty and appealing, but is unhealthy. Socialism is the lettuce and tomato. It gives a nod to health and lets us enjoy our yummy snack with less guilt and maybe ignore the fact that the dish is ruinously destructive to the environment. What about all the other ingredients? There's so much more to society than just capitalism and socialism. Family. Culture. Work. Study. Social interaction. Democracy. Law and order. Energy and industry. Nature... But the cheese of capitalism has melted and flowed over all the other ingredients. It's impossible to disentangle from the other aspects of our lives, and our communities. Every day I hear arguments about which is better, or more important. Which one can fix all our problems? Capitalism or Socialism? I think it misses the point. There are other issues with our mod...

Today I saw a very depressing picture on social media which seemed to show that wind turbines pose a serious danger to birds. This made me wonder about the real risks and how they compare to other dangers faced by wildlife. People are very bad at judging risk, especially lifetime risk: So let's look at the numbers: "Researchers estimate that 140,000 to 328,000 birds are killed every year in collisions with the turbines' spinning rotor blades and support towers." "The number of animals killed on roads in the United States has been estimated at a million per day ." "About 350,000 to 27 million birds are estimated to be killed on European roads each year." "Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year." Obviously, there are many things which pose a bigger risk to birds than wind turbines. So what are the lifetime dangers for birds which we could contrast with human risks above?...

Itzel stepped forward and let Quetzal enfold the command couch around her body. The nictitating membrane of the canopy snicked closed as she grasped the controls and shuffled the big bird off of the ledge. For a moment, her sensations were confused, latent human body image merging with the biomechanical ornithopter as it fell towards the jungle canopy. She had done this hundreds of times before though, and even through the conflicting signals she was able to spread her wings and arrest her flight before it became terminal. She felt the hot thermals coming up off the jungle as they buoyed her wings, lofting her upwards. Men had once built a city down there, and the ruins were still to be seen. You couldn’t survive for long without a suit or body modification now though if you wanted to slog through that jungle. “Get back here sister! You won’t beat me this time!” Akna’s voice intruded in to her inner monologue, broadcast from her own ornithopter, several hundred meters u...

Welcome to A Solarpunk Collective. Hold the phone! What is Solarpunk?? If you're looking for something like the Berlin Interpretation , get ready to be disappointed. There's no international agreed interpretation of what Solarpunk is. Part of the fun of it comes from finding out through creating a consensus of what it might be. It's not enough to oppose an old order. Something new must be put forward in its place. Solarpunk seems to be emerging as a place to try and define what that something might be. A positive vision of the future which rejects surrender and despair in favor of a celebration of the human spirit and rebellion; Where humans are the masters of machines, and not the other way around. What's this blog about then? This blog will be open to contributors who want to write about Solarpunk themes, ideas and possible solutions for the future. The posts will be light, not more than 1500 words or about 5-10 minutes of reading. Comment on the blog if ...