How can I contribute to a better future?

energy&stuff wants citizens to engage, no matter if you do this with us, in your community, in an organization, or in politics. If societies are going to master the challenges of the future, a large number of people need to better understand the dynamics of the world we live in, begin to change their thinking, their talking and their behaviors. We think that process looks something like this:

1. Check and admit: Look at your own family and the ones around you. Is everyone, after applying their personal inflation rate, making more money than they did 5, 10 or 15 years ago, and experiencing a better quality of life? Unless you're very lucky or went through a series of promotions, you probably will acknowledge that your money buys you less than before. This confirms - in a personal way - the increasing eveidence of shrinking personal incomes.
2. Understand: Please take your time to understand what we are saying about the future. The core message, based on abundant evidence, is there is no way that humanity can experience economic growth like it was used to in the 20th century. The realities of a finite planet simply don't enable that. Also, we need to admit that "techonology and innovation" are very unlikely to solve that problem, even though many people wish to imagine such a development.
3. Accept: Unless you're in the lowest income brackets and have already seen an erosion of your family's income to 1970s or 1980s levels, please accept that the consumption you have added since the 1990s will likely have to go away sooner or later (more information on this coming shortly.)
4. Change For now, you can just change a few small things in your life. Unless you're in the lowest income levels, try reducing your overall consumption by 30%. Keep things longer, buy only what you need, take one long-distance trip less a year, use your cars consciously. Spend more time with your children and grandchildren witha activities that don't cost money or involve long trips. Train your brain to experience the free or low cost things in life that don't require fancy gadgets.
5. Experience: Check if moving that way makes you feel worse of better.
6. Talk: Talk to other people about what you know, ask your local and state politicians about these topics. Share our website. Support our work.

If you are part of an organization, plese think further. How will a reduction of overall GDP by 30% affect your institution? Would it be ready to deal with it? What programs, products or activities would be more and less important?