[Bas]

I thought it was a very good documentary, though yeah, mostly a summary of alot of things we talk about here, though I did very much enjoy some of the wordings and way of looking at certain specific things of the "experts". I thought especially that the role of culture was very well thought out and that alone makes it worth watching.

I could say alot more about it, but I'll just say I would highly recommend to even the most hardcore peakoil/global warming/die off/ environmentalist, but really to anyone. (And it might be a really good one for "waking" people up that are still very much in denial about what we are facing)

[JohnLudi]

This is my review of this film, as posted on my site:

http://johnludi.com/whataway.htm


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This film needs to be seen by everyone on the planet, at least twice.

It is that important.

While there are many documentaries out there that focus on single topics (Peak Oil, Global Warming, etc), What a Way to Go, Life at the End of Empire, a brilliant and incredibly insightful documentary by Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson, accomplishes the impossible by taking a macrocosmic snapshot of our current condition, its germination in the dim recesses of history…and our likely destination, and distilling it down into a 2-hour tone poem-esque presentation that speaks of the probable horrors of our future in words that are lyrical, poetic, and completely and utterly reasonable.

This is possibly the most comprehensive description of the times we are living in that I have ever seen, and it delivers its ominous observations with the even and mournful tone of Tim Bennett's voice, the voice of a vanishing breed in this county (perhaps the world): the voice of the Thinking Everyman. Tim Bennett has a vocal presence that is poignant by its very nature. If you were to take Roger & Me era Michael Moore, and remove every last shred of Moore's sarcasm, smugness, self-satisfaction, and self-righteous hubris, leaving just the mild voice of the earnest middle class, middle-aged, Middle American trying to make sense of a world gone mad, you would have something of an approximation. It is a calm midwestern voice, and a voice that tugs at your heart in its earnestness…perhaps because it is the voice that so many of us wish we could speak with in a world where only harsh voices gain notice.

There are other voices here, too.

There are the voices of Daniel Quinn, Derrick Jensen, Richard Heinberg, and a whole host of other underground cultural luminaries and regular people, artists, writers and academics…and the interviews can be just as moving and insightful as the narrative.

The DVD is divided into four sections: Waking on the Train, The Train and the Tracks, The Locomotive Power, and Walkabout. I'll summarize the parts briefly, as you should probably stop reading my blathering and just buy the thing.

Part 1 (Waking on the Train) details the dawning awareness that so many (but yet so few) of us have that the world is somehow not as it should be, that life was not meant to be a non-stop orgy of mindless consumption, self-indulgence and waste. For that unhappy few of us born without that part of the brain that accounts for the massive amount of denial everyone else seems to possess in abundance, there is a sense of anxiety we feel in the world…and one that we may have felt as far back as early childhood. (I know I did.) Reaching a point in one's development where one starts to take active notice of what is actually going on in the world can tend to bring the realization that there is just and ample cause to feel such anxiety…you wake up on the train to find that it is barreling ahead at full speed…now just where is that train going?

Part 2 (The Train and the Tracks), tackles the Big Four issues that are at the head of a vast host of dilemmas facing humanity: Peak Oil, Climate Change, Mass Extinction, and the Population Overshoot of our lovely species (at the expense of practically every other species besides rats and cockroaches). It does so deftly and convincingly. Those already familiar with these issues will find this a strong and concise summary, while those who are not will have their eyes opened. Wide.

Part 3 (The Locomotive Power), goes where so few other documentaries of such topics do…into the realms of Anthropology and History. It is here where the questions of "how did we get here" are dealt with. This, in a great many ways, is where the true genius of the film lies: it takes us back 10,000 or so years to the advent of agricultural wealth division, where the roots of our current sickness grew deep into the fertile soil of a planet that seemed boundless. And coming back into the present, the psychology of our current mass mind, the mind of abuse and addiction, escapism and denial, is laid bare.

Part 4 (Walkabout), avoids the easy answer of the techno-fix or the "if we only just do this, that, or the other thing" type of tripe that usually caps off similar works, and instead urges us to get off that speeding train in our own ways, individually and collectively…knowing full well that that train is going to crash and there is really little that can be done to change that inevitability. In it's own way though, there is hope presented here…just not the hope that we can continue to live in any of the ways we have grown accustomed to. But for the few who are brave enough to step off of the train and find their own way through the coming darkness to a far simpler world on the other side, that is the best kind of hope there is.

All good art presents us with a reflection of ourselves on some level, whether by direct commentary or by indirect abstraction. What a Way to Go offers both a reflective indictment of our collective folly for the uninitiated, and gives that small attentive minority who are looking at the same facts and evidence and reaching the same conclusions the reassurance that we are not crazy. It's the "masses" that are actually crazy…believing in nonsensical and unsustainable "stories" that are as addictive as they are ultimately unfulfilling and soul-killing. Bennett comes across as an eminently sane individual, both on film and in person, definitely not a wild-eyed loon preaching the gospel of the End Times. This gives his calm and reasonable voice the authority needed to convey the urgency of our situation without descending into shrill alarmism.

So you should listen to him. And you should get a hold of this DVD and share it with the people you love and make whatever plans you can.

Time is running out.

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[Nicholai]

Does anyone know where I can find the script?

[kpeavey]

Tonight its dinner and Doomer Porn: What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire. Link is to part 1 of 13 on youtube.

Where is civilization, how did we get here, what problems we face, can we solve these problems, overpopulation, overshoot, peak oil, climate change, it's all in here. Well put together, several noteworthy speakers. Comes off as being a bit holistic at the start but stick with it. 120 minutes.

[eastbay]

279 views in 9 days. Too bad. I'm now on #3 and it's pretty bleak. Not bad!

[cipi604]

saw it 1 year ago. it's a good one

[Armageddon]

I am enjoying it so far. I have watched 3 so far and maybe another couple tonight, then the rest tomorrow.

[gandolf]

I have just watched all 13. I now realise that there is no solution that we can implement.

We will need nature to solve the problem and that will not be pretty.

Already 10,000 kids die of starvation each day in africa and that dosent even make the news. Well I feel it is going to get a whole lot worse.

I just hope there are enogh left to bury the dead

[ReverseEngineer]

Already 10,000 kids die of starvation each day in africa and that dosent even make the news. Well I feel it is going to get a whole lot worse.

I just hope there are enogh left to bury the dead

These are the kid of stats that convince me the Die Off is already underway and that in truth the Planet will never reach 9B people, or really even surpass 7B.

I cannot see in any logical fashion that someone could defend the idea the population of the Planet is INFLATING anymore while the Economy is DEFLATING. The economy just represents what is happening with the people, and its in fact a trailing indicator not a leading one.

Africa will not be getting Food Aid from the US next year, heck its even questionable whether AMERICANS will get Food Aid from America next year. Nobody lives too long with a scarcity of food or the money to buy it of course.

The MSM doesn't report on the Die Off really, rather instead you get warning of further population increases. This is a revers psychology mechanism to convince people we are doing OK, must be if the popualtion keeps increasing, right?

I don't think it is, not anymore. You will have to wait years for any real stats to come out, if they ever do, but IMHO the Year 2008 will be marked as the Year the Great Die Off began on the Planet Earth.

Reverse Engineer

[gandolf]

The thing I find really obscene is that in Australia the government pays a $7,000 baby bonus for every baby born (No restrictions at all). This is to encourage population growth.

Australia has a population of only 21 million in an area the size of America.

The problem is that now all the drop kicks of society are having more kids to get more beer and smoke money. These people will not add to the community well being and in fact will be a drain on it in years to come (Prison's cost money).

People have no Idea what is comming and we are being lead to our own destruction by the people we elect to represent us...

[Madpaddy]

I don't know gandolf,

You may need all those babies in 15 or 16 years to fight off the Indonesians.

[MrMambo]

Watched it. A personal perspective on the human condition. His analysis of the current failed path we are on is pretyy good. But I don't agree with all the parts of his analasys.

He sort of disregards the good results and potential of complex society, science and technology, and dismisses science and technology as tools that could be employed to put us in balance with nature.

He doesn't like in the happy chapters, where smart people tell us that there are ways we can get out of the hole we have dug.
Instead he opts for go for a romantic spiritual relationship with nature, he has presented this vision in an artistic audio visual presentation created with digital cameras, computer edited, presented on youtube, where viewers log on to the largest machine buildt by humans, the internet.

The knowledge of the thinkers and writers he has interviewed in this fossile fuled powed traintrip around the country, he has gotten through industrial produced magazines, television and the internet.

I think the creator of this movie has deviced his own personal romantic fantasy to be trapped in and that doesn't necessaraly lead to a better condition for humans. Many animals are capable of using technology. You can see chimps using tools in the natural world. Most species engage in some sort of manipulation of their natural environment. Humans differ in the extent of our ability to quickly change the way we interact with our nature. We can build new tools and new cultural patterns of behaviour that leeds to new outcomes for both ourselves and our environment.

If we disregard the current level of scientific understanding of our own predicament and hope that we by doing this will end "the empire" of civilization by returning to some permanent romantic hunter gatherer state we don't understand the nature of nature, wich is always changing evolving and making new innovations and adaptions.

Because if we do go that romantic vision either by choice or by catastrophic breakdown and become hunter gatherers and loose our complex culture and scientific knowledge, we will fragment into different tribes, governed by all sort of mystical spritual nonsensical beliefs, and some day one or more tribe is bound to rediscover agriculture and start recreating modern civilization. And we will once more face most of the same predicament we are in to day, even though oil, coal, gass and mineral resources will not be as easy to extract.

Modern society, science and technology and aspects of our hunter gatherer nature brought us were we are. We are in deep shit. But we should really not dismiss the fact that we could help ourselves and the planet by thinking in rational scientific ways about the nature of our problems and acting in rational scientifically based ways to get to a sustainable way of life.

I'm not prepared to go on a path where our great grandchildren doesn not have access to modern medicine and can not learn the science of genomics, astromomy, electronics, and instead learn that the moon and the sun is a mystical being or god, and that a disease are caused by bad spirits.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

what a freaking waste of time!

[mos6507]

279 views in 9 days. Too bad. I'm now on #3 and it's pretty bleak. Not bad!

You hadn't already seen it? It's mandatory viewing for doomers.

[mos6507]

what a freaking waste of time!

Care to explain WHY you felt it was a waste of your time?

[mos6507]

I think the creator of this movie has deviced his own personal romantic fantasy to be trapped in and that doesn't necessaraly lead to a better condition for humans.

This movie is really only good for describing the problems humanity faces and illustrating the psychological burden it places on doomers. On that level, I think it does a better job than 11th Hour and Inconvenient Truth and any other "we're f*cked" documentary combined. (When I decide to finally 'come out' to my mom and dad, I am going to have them watch this movie. Unfortunately, with oil so cheap right now, it will lose some of its impact.)

It falls down when it tries to write out a prescription for humanity, because that's where there is so much disagreement, even within the doomers themselves.

The only thing I took away from this as far as personal advice was to decide where you want to make your last stand and have the courage to stay put. So that's what's motivated me to move back to the east coast, and to put so much importance in my property search, because I do not want to be one of the wandering refugees when TSHTF who are deluded into thinking sanctuary is around the next corner. I want to decide where I belong, shore up a community, and defend it to the end.

[Ludi]

You hadn't already seen it? It's mandatory viewing for doomers.

I'm pretty darn doomeristic and I haven't seen it, nor do I intend to. I get all the doom I need right here on po.com!

[mos6507]

I'm pretty darn doomeristic and I haven't seen it, nor do I intend to. I get all the doom I need right here on po.com!

It's really more for showing others, but I really did gain some comfort in watching it to see my doom anxieties expressed in such a clear and oftentimes poetic way. If he hadn't made this movie, I probably would have.

[Narz]

Watched it. A personal perspective on the human condition. His analysis of the current failed path we are on is pretyy good. But I don't agree with all the parts of his analasys.

He sort of disregards the good results and potential of complex society, science and technology, and dismisses science and technology as tools that could be employed to put us in balance with nature.

He doesn't like in the happy chapters, where smart people tell us that there are ways we can get out of the hole we have dug.
Instead he opts for go for a romantic spiritual relationship with nature, he has presented this vision in an artistic audio visual presentation created with digital cameras, computer edited, presented on youtube, where viewers log on to the largest machine buildt by humans, the internet.

The knowledge of the thinkers and writers he has interviewed in this fossile fuled powed traintrip around the country, he has gotten through industrial produced magazines, television and the internet.

I think the creator of this movie has deviced his own personal romantic fantasy to be trapped in and that doesn't necessaraly lead to a better condition for humans. Many animals are capable of using technology. You can see chimps using tools in the natural world. Most species engage in some sort of manipulation of their natural environment. Humans differ in the extent of our ability to quickly change the way we interact with our nature. We can build new tools and new cultural patterns of behaviour that leeds to new outcomes for both ourselves and our environment.

If we disregard the current level of scientific understanding of our own predicament and hope that we by doing this will end "the empire" of civilization by returning to some permanent romantic hunter gatherer state we don't understand the nature of nature, wich is always changing evolving and making new innovations and adaptions.

Because if we do go that romantic vision either by choice or by catastrophic breakdown and become hunter gatherers and loose our complex culture and scientific knowledge, we will fragment into different tribes, governed by all sort of mystical spritual nonsensical beliefs, and some day one or more tribe is bound to rediscover agriculture and start recreating modern civilization. And we will once more face most of the same predicament we are in to day, even though oil, coal, gass and mineral resources will not be as easy to extract.

Modern society, science and technology and aspects of our hunter gatherer nature brought us were we are. We are in deep crap. But we should really not dismiss the fact that we could help ourselves and the planet by thinking in rational scientific ways about the nature of our problems and acting in rational scientifically based ways to get to a sustainable way of life.

I'm not prepared to go on a path where our great grandchildren doesn not have access to modern medicine and can not learn the science of genomics, astromomy, electronics, and instead learn that the moon and the sun is a mystical being or god, and that a disease are caused by bad spirits.

Nice post.

The movie had some decent parts but could have been about 1/5th the length. The narrator was overly verbose (to say the least) and the final scene (monologue) drags on... and on... and on.

Props for the effort though, obviously a labor of love.

[Sixstrings]

Good documentary for the most part.

It gets a bit esoteric at times though. For example, the filmmaker suggests that the planet, plants and wildlife have rights in and of themselves.

"Human rights" are just that -- human. Nature is cruel and efficient, and the concept of "rights" exists only in the human mind.

The only use the natural world has is whatever use we have for it; whether that be asthetic pleasure (cute panda bears), food, or products.

It's a small point, but I'd prefer we not be so "new-agey" about the Earth. A clean and balanced environment is ideal because those things are good for us -- health wise, and asthetically. But please, let's spare ourselves the notion that evil humans are hurting good Mother Earth. The Earth really doesn't care, it would be just as happy if it looked like Venus or Mars.

I guess that's my only bone to pick with the tree-hugging "oh we are hurting the Earth" crowd. They seem to place a value on the natural world that is higher than the value of humankind. This leads to situations where people get far more worked up over dogs and cats suffering than their fellow man.

It's ok to love the natural world, just don't forget that people come first.