charles hugh smith-What's Cooking at our House: Peach Pies

The peach tree is yielding a bumper crop this year, necessitating the baking of peach pies.

The tree, which is about 20 years old. I had to prop up the branches to keep the tree from self-pruning via branches broken by the weight of the fruit.

One of the finished pies. We baked nine small pies and shared eight with friends and neighbors. We enjoyed the ninth, and I think it was one of our best efforts.

Things are falling apart--that is obvious. But why are they falling apart? The reasons are complex and global. Our economy and society have structural problems that cannot be solved by adding debt to debt. We are becoming poorer, not just from financial over-reach, but from fundamental forces that are not easy to identify or understand. We will cover the five core reasons why things are falling apart:

1. Debt and financialization
2. Crony capitalism and the elimination of accountability
3. Diminishing returns
4. Centralization
5. Technological, financial and demographic changes in our economy
Complex systems weakened by diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. If we cling to the old ways, our system will disintegrate. If we want sustainable prosperity rather than collapse, we must embrace a new model that is Decentralized, Adaptive, Transparent and Accountable (DATA).
We are not powerless. Not accepting responsibility and being powerless are two sides of the same coin: once we accept responsibility, we become powerful.

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