Green Merlin

John Michael Greer is a prolific author, blogger and independent scholar whose interests span a large number of subjects. He has authored books on everything from ritual magic to peak oil, and also edited science fiction collections.

Greer's latest book "Green Wizardry" isn't really a book about magic, however, the wizard moniker being mostly a way to make the work stand out in the crowd. Nor is it a "hands-on" guide to sustainable living, although it does contain some general advice on the matter. Rather, "Green Wizardry" is an introduction to the philosophy behind the Appropriate Technology and organic gardening movements of the 1970's. As modern civilization stumbles towards its inevitable fall, Greer believes that a return to the ideas and practices of the "small is beautiful" experimenters of that idealist decade is our last and best hope for survival. I'm old enough to remember an obscure Swedish book on similar matters, published around 1978. Even as a child, I found it extreme. It actually mentioned peak oil and similar stuff. Could the oil really run out? Naaah. Greer drew the opposite conclusions, and here we are today, with cheap oil actually running out. Ooops.

One of the main points of "Green Wizardry" is to drive home the point that our civilization is unsustainable, and that we passed the point of no return. Entropy, the difference between efficiency and resilience, the concepts of flows and funds, and the general idea of peak oil are some of the theoretical (or "theoretical") topics dealt with in the book. Other terms the reader will meet are "dissensus", "retro-fitting" and "the down home funk option". Woven throughout the narrative, are Greer's ideas about how the collapse of civilization will unfold.

While I wouldn't consider "Green Wizardry" to be a how-to guide on organic farming or renewable energy for your home, the book does contain introductory chapters on such subjects, presumably to give the reader a feel for what waits ahead. Composting, storage, raising animals in your back yard, hayboxes, sunboxes and wind power are some of the topics covered. Greer's main line of argument is that we all need to learn how to get by on much less, grow our own food, and become self-reliant in general. People should start already today, before the crisis really hits. The perspective is somewhat individualist. Greer advises his readers to stay clear of the hard social conflicts that will erupt in the near future as society plummets to its doom. In one unguarded moment, however, the author admits that he thinks a revolution is likely in the United States, a revolution in which the rich will loose most of their fortunes and power...

Otherwise, Greer says very little concrete about the rough times ahead, instead concentrating on expositing the philosophy and practice of self-reliant living. The book contains extensive bibliographies for those who want to learn more before its too late. On the theoretical side, Greer's favourite book is William Catton's ultra-pessimistic "Overshoot", with "Limits to Growth" by the Club of Rome as a good second. On the practical side, it seems a shopping round to used book stores might be in order, since much of the appropriate tech books went out of print around 1980 or so. (Maybe Amazon can help?)

Long-time fans of JMG will probably find little that is new here, but "Green Wizardry" is a good complement to "The Long Descent", "The Wealth of Nature" and "The Eco-Technic Future", John Michael Greer's three main books on the peak oil crisis and its ramifications.