Getting past Cassandra: 21 C Slaughter

Abstract

This is a review of 10 articles of Richard Slaughter over a 25 year period that address themes related to overshoot and collapse futures. The articles are principally from the 21 st century and primarily deal with the responses, or the lack thereof, to the acceleration of global warming and the peak oil crisis. The articles reflect a growing despair that too little is being done too late to avoid catastrophe. Subthemes include the MIT Limits to Growth modeling, integral thinking and design, institutions of foresight, critical futures, complexity and uncertainty, and the importance of long-term thinking, alternatives to the growth economic paradigm, and foresight education are emphasized. Slaughter’s influences on the reviewer are also discussed.