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The Retro Future: Looking to the Past to Reinvent the Future
To most people paying attention to the collision between industrial society and the hard limits of a finite planet, it's clear that things are going very, very wrong. We no longer have unlimited time and resources to deal with the crises that define our future, and the options are limited to the tools we have on hand right now. This book is about one very powerful deliberate technological regression. Technological regression isn't about 'going back,' it's about using the past as a resource to meet the needs of the present. It starts from the recognition that older technologies generally use fewer resources and cost less than modern equivalents, and it embraces the heresy of technological choice, our ability to choose or refuse the technologies pushed by corporate interests. People are already ditching smartphones in favor of 'dumb phones' and land lines and eBook sales are declining, while printed books rebound. Clear signs among many that blind faith in progress is faltering and opening up the possibility that the best way forward may well involve going back. A must-read for anyone willing to think the unthinkable and embrace the possibilities of a retro future. John Michael Greer , one of the most influential authors exploring the future of industrial society, writes the widely cited blog The Archdruid Report. He has authored more than forty books including The Long Descent and Dark Age America . He lives in Cumberland, MD, an old mill town in the Appalachians, with his wife Sara.
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2017
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254 people want to read
About the author
John Michael Greer
212 books512 followersJohn Michael Greer is an author of over thirty books and the blogger behind The Archdruid Report. He served as Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America. His work addresses a range of subjects, including climate change, peak oil, the future of industrial society, and the occult. He also writes science fiction and fantasy. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 17, 2020
Capitalism is “set up to allows a privileged minority to externalize nearly all their costs onto society.” Everyone and every company should be paying the “full sticker price” for the externalities they generate, but that’s what capitalism intentionally avoids, isn’t it? Companies MUST externalize as many costs as possible for maximum profitability. When a drunkard externalizes his costs by peeing on the street, police say, “Hey! You are not a corporation!” Externalities are an obvious burden on society, yet are never discussed. When being in business means you are actively hurting others and or the planet, then maybe you shouldn’t be in business. Keeping the capitalist system going means always increasing energy consumption, never decreasing it. The planet and the people still have no economic say in capitalism, and so we are now a society “approaching collapse”. Many optimists believe technology will solve our deepest problems by conflating whether a new technology (like fusion through ITER) is “possible” with could it be “economically viable”? Corn ethanol is an energy sink. Diverting cropland to biofuels on a soon starving planet also might not be a sharp move. Fracking ain’t new, it was used in the 40’s in the oil fields. We are not supposed to notice that most complex industries are “ecocidal”. Spain’s solar sector can’t get above a paltry EROI of 2.48, so expect photovoltaic plants to go nowhere w/o crazy subsidies. American patriots are incapable of recognizing how other countries might respond differently because those countries simply have a different agenda. These patriots (who not surprisingly often never finished high school) can’t imagine enemies capable of learning. At one point, John talks about “the United States’ latest war of choice.”
Your survival in the future will depend on your mastery of one or more basic human survival skills. “Most people in the privileged classes of the industrial world, spend most of their time dealing with machines rather than living things.” Would it be so depressing if post-collapse, we returned to the world of canal boats and small family farms? The 2005 Hirsch report stated that the planet had to begin decarbonizing twenty years before Peak Oil, and that sure didn’t happen so that “massive disruptions” are headed our way. John says it takes five years to become a competent gardener; now I’ll have to become a gardener whether I want to or not, because who wants to learn how to grow food when it’s too late “to get through the learning curve”? Expect to see decline more and more around you, and see how early adopters of a retro future will be further than the rest of us along the learning curve. Why wait to purchase old technologies when “surviving specimens” will be at crazy prices? Take up technologies and lifestyles from “less extravagant years”. Rediscover “ways of being human that don’t depend on levels of resource and energy consumption that can’t be sustained much longer.” Resist the techno-bullies, as you decarbonize your lifestyle. Know that Television exists to provide you with an escape, so it’s first reason is to keep you from being active (playing Scrabble, sports, chatting and exchanging recipes with friends or learning by yourself).
The First Industrial Revolution was the Baconian one where Bacon redirected science to improving technology. This led to square-rigged ships, newspapers, canals and canal boats, libraries, and newspapers, as well as the first Chia Pet. The Second Industrial Revolution was the Wattean one, named after James Watt who made a small change to Newcomen’s steam engine (see James Burke’s Connections series) to get all the glory. Steam gets you electricity which leads to the telegraph, Bessemer process, the locomotive, and the steamed parent when you came home late. The Third Industrial Revolution is called the Ottonian one because Nikolaus Otto invented the four-cycle internal combustion engine in 1876. And that of course brought us the Edsel and Yugo. You also get diesel-powered ships, airplanes, industrial chemistry and things like the first appearance of Mauve fabric. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is called the Fermian one after Enrico Fermi in 1942 built the first successful nuclear reactor. This gives you subatomic physics, transistors, photovoltaics, the Buchla 100 modular, and those cool solid-state Vox Amp heads w/ built–in distortion that the Beatles used during Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. Einstein did not get a Nobel Prize for his Theory of Relativity as many think; no, he got it for understanding how photo voltaic cells work.
The last three Industrial revolutions required three different forms of non-renewable energy: coal, petroleum and uranium. So only the Baconian Revolution will act as our guide in the not-distant future. Only such retro-technology can point our way to a successful energy constrained future. John wants us to “make a personal commitment to learning, practicing, preserving and transmitting that (retro) technology into the future.” Ships using coal required lots of space to store that coal. Sailing ships didn’t need that space and could carry more cargo, so one day sail transport will make a comeback as Jan Lundberg told us all for years. Originally coal ships were resupplied at ports by windjammers (sail transport). Windjammers died not because they competed against coal but because of competition from cheap highly-polluting diesel bunker fuel, so beloved by capitalism and the U.S. cruise ship industry. The story of Gustav Erikson will inspire anyone to hope the windjammers are brought back before collapse, so they can be part of the “Powerdown” (Richard Heinberg).
Without fossil fuels, there will be limits to how much you can produce of anything. Endless growth has ‘a lethal mismatch” with the natural limits of the planet. For John, the United States “cashed in its future for a temporary hegemony over most of the planet.” John then mentions how Hermann Hesse and Tolkien both asked hard questions about 20th century industrial civilization in their fiction. The average medieval peasant had many advantages we don’t have today – they worked shorter hours, fewer days, and kept more of their labor than we do. David Fleming introduced the idea of how carnivals as celebrations will have to “become a central organizing theme for the transition to the de-industrial future”. John sees the carnival drawing most of its materials from all eras and technologies – kind of a steampunk future. What makes steampunk appealing is the construction will involve re-purposed cool stuff forgotten from the past rather than “shoddy plastic junk” of today’s pretend-to-be-more-advanced culture. Hand-crafted elegance vs. “vile tackiness”. As an alternative, who wants a future of broken down plastic? Rich people in 1860 used 10% of the energy they would use today, so a viable and beautiful steampunk ethic might not be far off in practicality.
Sir Jevons in the nineteenth clearly showed how exponential growth in coal was unsustainable. In 1878 a solar cooker was exhibited in France that ran a fridge, cooked, and even distilled Brandy (a nice touch). In 1891, you could buy a commercial solar water heater. Bicyclists were in the “first wave of sustainability pioneers”. The word “barbarian” originally meant “bar bar bar” – the approximation of an idiot not speaking classical Greek or Latin, or later meaning a determined stutterer singing the Beach Boys hit, Barbara Ann. We are headed towards a dark age society where post-collapse, we will have to rely on human relationships and “the constraints of the natural world to guide” us. People in civilizations cut themselves off from nature – even in the Star Wars films you keep thinking where the fuck are the trees? Where is nature? And why does Star Wars have bars, but no restaurants?
We will have to end our nature deficit disorder lifestyles and go back to the jack of all trades lifestyle amidst nature with old school tools. Toynbee saw how dying civilizations won’t try new things and die. The death of the group Menudo is proof of that. California’s agricultural bits will turn to desert, and much of the expensive bits of the eastern seaboard will end up under water, a massive infrastructure loss, and massive migration to already crowded areas above the water. Until then, the only guarantee is that for most people, any chance for inertia will be taken. Perceptions change. After all, not long ago, it was thought mammals had fur but didn’t lay eggs - and then they found the platypus. Shopaholics worldwide will soon understand the party is over and with it their Instagram’ed orgy of consumption. Remember that renewables get a whopping unspoken “energy subsidy” from fossil fuels. This book was terrific, and John’s mind is terrific so I’m not surprised. I’ll now be reviewing more of his important books on our collective future with great joy.
Your survival in the future will depend on your mastery of one or more basic human survival skills. “Most people in the privileged classes of the industrial world, spend most of their time dealing with machines rather than living things.” Would it be so depressing if post-collapse, we returned to the world of canal boats and small family farms? The 2005 Hirsch report stated that the planet had to begin decarbonizing twenty years before Peak Oil, and that sure didn’t happen so that “massive disruptions” are headed our way. John says it takes five years to become a competent gardener; now I’ll have to become a gardener whether I want to or not, because who wants to learn how to grow food when it’s too late “to get through the learning curve”? Expect to see decline more and more around you, and see how early adopters of a retro future will be further than the rest of us along the learning curve. Why wait to purchase old technologies when “surviving specimens” will be at crazy prices? Take up technologies and lifestyles from “less extravagant years”. Rediscover “ways of being human that don’t depend on levels of resource and energy consumption that can’t be sustained much longer.” Resist the techno-bullies, as you decarbonize your lifestyle. Know that Television exists to provide you with an escape, so it’s first reason is to keep you from being active (playing Scrabble, sports, chatting and exchanging recipes with friends or learning by yourself).
The First Industrial Revolution was the Baconian one where Bacon redirected science to improving technology. This led to square-rigged ships, newspapers, canals and canal boats, libraries, and newspapers, as well as the first Chia Pet. The Second Industrial Revolution was the Wattean one, named after James Watt who made a small change to Newcomen’s steam engine (see James Burke’s Connections series) to get all the glory. Steam gets you electricity which leads to the telegraph, Bessemer process, the locomotive, and the steamed parent when you came home late. The Third Industrial Revolution is called the Ottonian one because Nikolaus Otto invented the four-cycle internal combustion engine in 1876. And that of course brought us the Edsel and Yugo. You also get diesel-powered ships, airplanes, industrial chemistry and things like the first appearance of Mauve fabric. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is called the Fermian one after Enrico Fermi in 1942 built the first successful nuclear reactor. This gives you subatomic physics, transistors, photovoltaics, the Buchla 100 modular, and those cool solid-state Vox Amp heads w/ built–in distortion that the Beatles used during Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. Einstein did not get a Nobel Prize for his Theory of Relativity as many think; no, he got it for understanding how photo voltaic cells work.
The last three Industrial revolutions required three different forms of non-renewable energy: coal, petroleum and uranium. So only the Baconian Revolution will act as our guide in the not-distant future. Only such retro-technology can point our way to a successful energy constrained future. John wants us to “make a personal commitment to learning, practicing, preserving and transmitting that (retro) technology into the future.” Ships using coal required lots of space to store that coal. Sailing ships didn’t need that space and could carry more cargo, so one day sail transport will make a comeback as Jan Lundberg told us all for years. Originally coal ships were resupplied at ports by windjammers (sail transport). Windjammers died not because they competed against coal but because of competition from cheap highly-polluting diesel bunker fuel, so beloved by capitalism and the U.S. cruise ship industry. The story of Gustav Erikson will inspire anyone to hope the windjammers are brought back before collapse, so they can be part of the “Powerdown” (Richard Heinberg).
Without fossil fuels, there will be limits to how much you can produce of anything. Endless growth has ‘a lethal mismatch” with the natural limits of the planet. For John, the United States “cashed in its future for a temporary hegemony over most of the planet.” John then mentions how Hermann Hesse and Tolkien both asked hard questions about 20th century industrial civilization in their fiction. The average medieval peasant had many advantages we don’t have today – they worked shorter hours, fewer days, and kept more of their labor than we do. David Fleming introduced the idea of how carnivals as celebrations will have to “become a central organizing theme for the transition to the de-industrial future”. John sees the carnival drawing most of its materials from all eras and technologies – kind of a steampunk future. What makes steampunk appealing is the construction will involve re-purposed cool stuff forgotten from the past rather than “shoddy plastic junk” of today’s pretend-to-be-more-advanced culture. Hand-crafted elegance vs. “vile tackiness”. As an alternative, who wants a future of broken down plastic? Rich people in 1860 used 10% of the energy they would use today, so a viable and beautiful steampunk ethic might not be far off in practicality.
Sir Jevons in the nineteenth clearly showed how exponential growth in coal was unsustainable. In 1878 a solar cooker was exhibited in France that ran a fridge, cooked, and even distilled Brandy (a nice touch). In 1891, you could buy a commercial solar water heater. Bicyclists were in the “first wave of sustainability pioneers”. The word “barbarian” originally meant “bar bar bar” – the approximation of an idiot not speaking classical Greek or Latin, or later meaning a determined stutterer singing the Beach Boys hit, Barbara Ann. We are headed towards a dark age society where post-collapse, we will have to rely on human relationships and “the constraints of the natural world to guide” us. People in civilizations cut themselves off from nature – even in the Star Wars films you keep thinking where the fuck are the trees? Where is nature? And why does Star Wars have bars, but no restaurants?
We will have to end our nature deficit disorder lifestyles and go back to the jack of all trades lifestyle amidst nature with old school tools. Toynbee saw how dying civilizations won’t try new things and die. The death of the group Menudo is proof of that. California’s agricultural bits will turn to desert, and much of the expensive bits of the eastern seaboard will end up under water, a massive infrastructure loss, and massive migration to already crowded areas above the water. Until then, the only guarantee is that for most people, any chance for inertia will be taken. Perceptions change. After all, not long ago, it was thought mammals had fur but didn’t lay eggs - and then they found the platypus. Shopaholics worldwide will soon understand the party is over and with it their Instagram’ed orgy of consumption. Remember that renewables get a whopping unspoken “energy subsidy” from fossil fuels. This book was terrific, and John’s mind is terrific so I’m not surprised. I’ll now be reviewing more of his important books on our collective future with great joy.
June 3, 2020
“The beliefs that more technology is always better, that every problem must have a technological solution, and that technology always solves more problems than it creates, are among the prevailing superstitions of our time” (p.6).
The book opens with topics familiar to most of Greer's audience: diminishing returns, externalities, and the mythology of progress. There are the same examples we’ve seen before, like the concord, space travel, nuclear fusion, corn ethanol, etc. In fact, entire sections seem to have been copied out of earlier books, like the part about prosthetics vs tools.
Much of the rest of the book can be summarized by Greer’s suggestion to "collapse now, and avoid the rush" (p.54), in a process that he calls retrovation: “an active process of searching through the many options the past provides, not a passive acceptance of some bygone time as a package deal” (p.206). The chief assumption is that “lacking fossil fuels, there are hard economic limits to how much of anything you can produce, and increasing production of one thing pretty consistently requires cutting production of something else” (p.115). In the future, we will have to choose what technologies we keep.
He briefly identifies seven sustainable technologies that could be useful in the dark age and subsequent rebuilding: organic intensive gardening, solar thermal technologies, sustainable wood heating, sustainable healthcare, letterpress and related tech, low-tech shortwave radio, and computer-free mathematics. I’m sure these are discussed more in depth in Green Wizardry which I haven’t read yet. He predicts the return of windjammer sailing vessels for hauling deep-water cargo once it becomes economical.
There were a lot of references to science-fiction and fantasy novels to illustrate his points. Steampunk, for example, as a method of imagining what could happen if we advanced in other technological suites. Civilizations can also choose to value things outside of progress and scientific advancement, as shown in the Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse.
Ultimately, I think I’ve ironically reached a point of diminishing returns with Greer. Despite his ideas having helped me plan for the future, I recommend this book only if you haven’t read his other non-fiction works, due to the redundancy.
October 23, 2017
I was only marginally aware of the archdruid report before I started reading this, having been forwarded a couple blog posts by a friend in the past, and I found myself wanting to dismiss parts of the book with that current meme "old man yells at cloud". But that would be completely inappropriate and a disservice to the ideas that Greer presents here. They are incredibly persuasive and well reasoned, and unless you are a fanatic of the cult of progress, I don't see where your can argue that, yes, our current civilization is built on fossil fuels and once those resources are depleted, so will be our current civilization and way of life. I appreciate the questions he presents about if progress really is inevitable and constant and what are the actual plans for our continued future. I will have to read his other books as I prepare for my escape away from civilization and it's impending descent.
February 26, 2019
Thought Provoking
I am not as pessimistic about the future as the author is, but the book is very thought provoking and deserves a wide audience. I think our civilization should seriously mull over the many good points made by J.M.Greer about what our civilization is and where it is heading if we do not pause and reflect on the alternatives. Right now it is as if our civilization is on autopilot and nobody wants to think about alternatives.
I am not as pessimistic about the future as the author is, but the book is very thought provoking and deserves a wide audience. I think our civilization should seriously mull over the many good points made by J.M.Greer about what our civilization is and where it is heading if we do not pause and reflect on the alternatives. Right now it is as if our civilization is on autopilot and nobody wants to think about alternatives.
September 6, 2017
Having read Green Wizardry, I spent a lot of time tabbing between this and Retrotopia (which seems to be more of an allegorical application of the concepts). After paging through the Kindle sample, I worried (perhaps unjustifiably) that Retrotopia would read a bit like Kim Stanley Robinson's utopia in Pacific Edge, with a plot that might start to get tedious with its limited character development and cursory treatment of the limitations or tradeoffs this new more sustainable way of living might create.
The Retro Future falls in mid-pack for me, but not because I am in some stage of Kubler Ross denial about the implications of civilization decline. Rather, because Greer's perspective is so consistent across his prolific body of work that these pages didn't seem to add much marginal perspective beyond the core premises contained in his other works like Green Wizardry.
I had hoped this book would be a little lighter on theory and heavier on practice-- more examples of individuals rediscovering and adopting retro tech, more concrete analysis of the pros/cons of previous tech that could address contemporary problems we rely on brittle, dependency-heavy high tech to take care of for us, perhaps a more fleshed out appendix of retro movements to explore for inspiration.
That said, I found several great ecology and appropriate tech resources suggested in Greer's other book, Green Wizardry and would suggest readers interested in the topics of resilience and ecology start there instead... and when I'm looking for a lighter beach read, I'll probably still revisit Retrotopia to see if it eclipses Pacific Edge.
The Retro Future falls in mid-pack for me, but not because I am in some stage of Kubler Ross denial about the implications of civilization decline. Rather, because Greer's perspective is so consistent across his prolific body of work that these pages didn't seem to add much marginal perspective beyond the core premises contained in his other works like Green Wizardry.
I had hoped this book would be a little lighter on theory and heavier on practice-- more examples of individuals rediscovering and adopting retro tech, more concrete analysis of the pros/cons of previous tech that could address contemporary problems we rely on brittle, dependency-heavy high tech to take care of for us, perhaps a more fleshed out appendix of retro movements to explore for inspiration.
That said, I found several great ecology and appropriate tech resources suggested in Greer's other book, Green Wizardry and would suggest readers interested in the topics of resilience and ecology start there instead... and when I'm looking for a lighter beach read, I'll probably still revisit Retrotopia to see if it eclipses Pacific Edge.
April 29, 2021
a bit shallow sometimes but definitely yes people have irrational faith in progress good points about nuclear energy too
October 27, 2020
My favourite of JMG´s books -- and that´s saying something, as he is one of my favourite writers.
Like all his books, wide-ranging and deep diving. It contains among many gems too numerous to list, the most insightful examination of what civilisation is, and why it always seems to produce mass psychoses, that I´ve encountered -- in its discussion of the negative feedback mechanism by which false ideas are ruthlessly corrected by nature, and the ways in which the positive feedback mechanisms of artificial environments short-circuit this process in ever more deranged ways.
A scathing deconstruction of the false promises of progressivism and the most convincing argument yet that there may well be reason to celebrate the dreaded collapse of modern civilisation -- not as an apocalyptic obliteration of the wicked -- but as a return to more fulfilling, enriching, and beautiful ways of life -- somewhat in the vein of a latter-day William Morris. His list of technologies that will be worthy and possible of preserving in an energy-descent future is a fascinating exercise, and worth comparing critically to the Global Village Construction set of Marcin Jakubowski.
Like all his books, wide-ranging and deep diving. It contains among many gems too numerous to list, the most insightful examination of what civilisation is, and why it always seems to produce mass psychoses, that I´ve encountered -- in its discussion of the negative feedback mechanism by which false ideas are ruthlessly corrected by nature, and the ways in which the positive feedback mechanisms of artificial environments short-circuit this process in ever more deranged ways.
A scathing deconstruction of the false promises of progressivism and the most convincing argument yet that there may well be reason to celebrate the dreaded collapse of modern civilisation -- not as an apocalyptic obliteration of the wicked -- but as a return to more fulfilling, enriching, and beautiful ways of life -- somewhat in the vein of a latter-day William Morris. His list of technologies that will be worthy and possible of preserving in an energy-descent future is a fascinating exercise, and worth comparing critically to the Global Village Construction set of Marcin Jakubowski.
July 18, 2025
This is a book worth reading, regardless of whether you're sympathetic to Greer's point of view or not. I found myself agreeing with the thrust of Greer's argument, though I had minor quibbles with a few of his points and I think his timeline for the decline of industrial civilization is too early and fails to take into account how proven reserves of oil, gas, and other natural resources are accounted for.
The main weakness of this work is Greer's tendency to make arguments that appeal to the biases of the majority of his readers. He routinely puts down politicians and industrialized processes like fracking with a snide comment, and though these are often justified and correct, he doesn't provide any evidence for them other than his own claims. This weakens his argument and gives his critics something to latch on to. Nonetheless, The Retro Future is worth engaging with and reflecting on. I found it caused me to rethink some of my lifestyle choices and I intend to change some of the ways I spend my time and energy as a result.
The main weakness of this work is Greer's tendency to make arguments that appeal to the biases of the majority of his readers. He routinely puts down politicians and industrialized processes like fracking with a snide comment, and though these are often justified and correct, he doesn't provide any evidence for them other than his own claims. This weakens his argument and gives his critics something to latch on to. Nonetheless, The Retro Future is worth engaging with and reflecting on. I found it caused me to rethink some of my lifestyle choices and I intend to change some of the ways I spend my time and energy as a result.
May 3, 2020
The author presents some engaging and unique ideas, however too many of his arguments assume his premise: "technology is resulting in new products that are worse than the previous generation". While that may be true for some people (who really wants or needs a smart refrigerator?), the author assumes this applies to all products and technology innovation. Indeed as much as he assaults technological "thought stoppers" such as "they'll find a solution for that", he has several of his own. Ultimately, this significantly undermines the books purpose. Perhaps the author intended only to sermonize to those who believe, but this reader remains unconvinced.
April 8, 2018
This book is built on the material John Michael Greer has published over the lifetime of his, now finished, blog The Archdruid Report. The blog had a few threads of thought going through it that were slowly developing over the years. This particular cluster of ideas took a while to come around and now it is published as a coherent book rather than a set of multiple essays that would otherwise take a reader quite a bit of an effort to string together into a single vision.
In his unique style of writing with rather loaded sentences that are nevertheless easy to read and understand, John covers a lot of ground on how the habitual linear thinking about technological progress drives us into problems and at the same time restricts us from seeing them. At the first glance, it may seem that he is painting a pessimistic picture of the future. However, it can only be taken as pessimistic when the only future we are ready to accept is the one where technologies have solved all the problems we've ever faced. That future is not coming and in this book John talks a lot about the delusion of infinite linear progress, hinting on how open the future is to alternatives that we can't even start to imagine. For me personally, following the unfolding of John's ideas over the last decade or so helped me to become optimistic about what's to come. And this book sums his thinking up very nicely.
The only problem I see with The Retro Future, and hence the 4 stars, is that it relies on a reader to know and understand the arguments behind some of his loaded statements. It does look like John is preaching to the converted when he doesn't pause to explain why exactly solar, wind, or nuclear electricity is not going to be enough to satisfy the current levels of energy consumption, or when he casually drops that medieval peasants had better working conditions than the typical office employees. He has developed these arguments elsewhere in great details but I am guessing it is going to be difficult for someone unfamiliar with his ideas to follow his line of argument here in this book. I would also love The Retro Future to be more grounded in the practical examples than it is.
In his unique style of writing with rather loaded sentences that are nevertheless easy to read and understand, John covers a lot of ground on how the habitual linear thinking about technological progress drives us into problems and at the same time restricts us from seeing them. At the first glance, it may seem that he is painting a pessimistic picture of the future. However, it can only be taken as pessimistic when the only future we are ready to accept is the one where technologies have solved all the problems we've ever faced. That future is not coming and in this book John talks a lot about the delusion of infinite linear progress, hinting on how open the future is to alternatives that we can't even start to imagine. For me personally, following the unfolding of John's ideas over the last decade or so helped me to become optimistic about what's to come. And this book sums his thinking up very nicely.
The only problem I see with The Retro Future, and hence the 4 stars, is that it relies on a reader to know and understand the arguments behind some of his loaded statements. It does look like John is preaching to the converted when he doesn't pause to explain why exactly solar, wind, or nuclear electricity is not going to be enough to satisfy the current levels of energy consumption, or when he casually drops that medieval peasants had better working conditions than the typical office employees. He has developed these arguments elsewhere in great details but I am guessing it is going to be difficult for someone unfamiliar with his ideas to follow his line of argument here in this book. I would also love The Retro Future to be more grounded in the practical examples than it is.
January 28, 2023
Has some good, eye opening points but overall a little wary of the tone and writing style. To put it one way… reading this book kind of feels like when you’re at a party and you’re cornered by that guy who’s really pushing his ideas on you and sometimes there are a couple of claims you wanna challenge (“most of us know perfectly well that every software “upgrade” these days has more bugs and fewer useful features than what it replaced, and every round of “new and improved” products hawked by the media and shovelled onto store shelves is more shoddily made, more loaded with unwanted side effects, and less satisfactory at meeting human needs than the last one.”) but you just can’t get a word in cause they’re on to the next chapter of their presentation on the importance of techno-regression.
I will say I do completely agree that we should all be considering externalities in every decision we make and that technology for the sake of progress shouldn’t be what guides our future. Sometimes simpler (low tech, fewer materials, locally made) is better! The future doesn’t have to be all glitzy and tech-driven, we can harken back to past systems to ensure a more sustainable way to co-existing with the planet. Just cause something’s been phased out for a while doesn’t mean it can’t make a comeback, right?
I will say I do completely agree that we should all be considering externalities in every decision we make and that technology for the sake of progress shouldn’t be what guides our future. Sometimes simpler (low tech, fewer materials, locally made) is better! The future doesn’t have to be all glitzy and tech-driven, we can harken back to past systems to ensure a more sustainable way to co-existing with the planet. Just cause something’s been phased out for a while doesn’t mean it can’t make a comeback, right?
March 21, 2018
I enjoy Greer's work but this one was a little redundant, both within the book and across his other work. Regardless, he is one of the most thoughtful and knowledgeable philosophers on the subjects inter-related in our rush toward a future with severe limits.
January 5, 2023
Like minds... finally
At last I have found someone who not only shared my views about our current culture, but also puts forth some concrete suggestions about where to go from here. Sustainable Life Skills are my new goal and sharing them is heretofore my mission!
At last I have found someone who not only shared my views about our current culture, but also puts forth some concrete suggestions about where to go from here. Sustainable Life Skills are my new goal and sharing them is heretofore my mission!
September 19, 2017
If you have been a reader of the Archdruid Report (now suspended) or of Greer's other works the territory covered here will be very familiar.
July 29, 2022
Another excellent production by J.M Greer.
Many great points and takeaways.
I'm particularly interested in the possiblities of pneumatic and steam powered tech.
Worth archiving.
Many great points and takeaways.
I'm particularly interested in the possiblities of pneumatic and steam powered tech.
Worth archiving.
December 28, 2024
Great read! I even learned something new and that's saying quite a bit because I'm getting pretty well versed in the subjects the book addresses.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews