February 12 2019
Review of Retrotopia by John Michael Greer
(c) 2016 ; Founders House Publishing, LLC

After reading James Kunstler's very enjoyable 'World Made by Hand'
quadrilogy I was curious how other might spin a post-collapse American
tale of life after fossil fuels and climate change.

I've read several of Greer's non-fiction books which I mostly enjoyed
(I'll likely write up some of them soon) and was looking forward to
seeing what he might do in a work of fiction.

Retrotopia takes place a bit later after "the event" than the World
Made by Hand series.  In 2065 the US has been partitioned into several
republics following the 2nd civil war. Peter Carr is an emissary of the
Atlantic republic (mid-Atlantic area) sent to the neighboring republic
of Lakeland (Great lakes area) now that the borders have recently been
opened up.  Ellen Montrose, the newly elected president of the Atlantic
republic has run on a "Change" platform and is looking to make radical
changes based on rumored unorthodox ways adopted in neighboring Lakeland.
What Carr discovers is that, despite being landlocked and enduring IMF
trade embargoes, Lakeland has become quite prosperous by systematically
reconsidering foundational notions of Progress and the true cost-benefits
of technological complexity.

As novels go, Greer's story started off a bit wooden but got more
interesting as the plot unfolded.  It's almost entirely written in first
person from Peter Carr's point of view. To my ear, Greer tends to come off
a bit preachy (watch some of his Youtube lecture videos and you'll
likely agree) but he is a deep thinker and worth listening to, so I
read Retrotopia mostly to glean what the author thinks a sustainable,
post-collapse society might look like.  That said, it's an engaging
enough story that most will likely finish.

So as not to spoil the tale for anyone wishing to read Retrotopia I'm
just going to focus on the structural aspects of the Lakeland republic
and general ideas being conveyed.

Lakeland has essentially mined the past for ways of doing things with
the least amount of resource, technology and energy inputs. They also
recognized that urban areas would likely have different needs than rural
agricultural communities so they've adopted technology tiers ranging
from tier 1 (1830s level) through tier 5 (1950s level) which each county
chooses -- and pays for via taxes -- itself.  A tier 1 county doesn't
preclude residents adopting higher level technology for themselves but
they have to bear all the extra cost. For the most part the cities
have electric lights, streetcars, a phone system, sealed roadways,
and a few wealthy folks have autos (bio-diesel; taxed separately).
Rural areas tend towards tier 1 with gravel roads, no electricity, radio
telegraph communications. Farming is largely horse-powered though some
opt for powered implements at an intermediate tier level.

While the story does involve some tours of the rural counties most of
the story takes place in the capital city of Toledo which offers a more
diverse display of life in the republic of Lakeland.

Taxation:
Aside from the tier taxes, there are specific taxes which are levied
based on the principle of taxing that which is to be discouraged. Thus
private autos are heavily taxed since they pollute. Interestingly,
earned income is tax free while investment income is taxed.

Energy:
Tier 5 (cities) generate electricity from bio-gas via manure bought from
surrounding farmlands.  The leftover sludge is returned as fertilizer.
Many homes use direct solar for space and water heating, and/or wood.
Cars, trucks, farm implements use either bio-gas or bio-diesel. Beasts
of burden make up the rest.  Watercraft are either wind powered or
towed via mules (canal boats).

Transportation:
Inter-republic is via trains (bio-diesel electric?), both freight and
passengers.  Bulk shipping is done via tall sail ships on the lakes or
canal boats (mule powered). Horse cabs are used locally as well as some
trucks and cars, depending on circumstances and tax tier.  Streetcars
are common in electrified areas with higher population. 

Manufacturing:
Much is done manually as automation is considered not to be in the best
interest of society and so is heavily taxed, making labor the more
economical choice.  Interestingly, things like social security are not
bore by employers but by the government.

Schooling:
Primary education is controlled at the county level and largely focused
on what used to be called the "3Rs", reading, writing, arithmetic and
supplemented with whatever the county deems relevant.  Higher education is
largely accomplished via apprenticeships; only a few fields are considered
scholarly enough for a stint at university.  This is actually how things
were done prior to say 1900; even doctors learned via apprenticeship.

Religion:
All are allowed but all pay tier taxes and are not insulated from legal
action if they incite violence or other anti-civil actions.

News and information:
Paper-based; everyone carries a notebook and pen in their pocket or
purse. Newspapers are back and popular, with morning and evening editions
plus the occasional Extra!  Phones are used in the city, shortwave
radio and radio-telegraph are used for long-distance communications.
This is contrasted to other republics which have an expensive Metanet
which subsequently fails as satellites start smashing into each other
due to over-crowding of the stationary orbits.

Healthcare:
Most physicians are general practitioners and work on salary, hired as just
another employee by companies.  Assessment is old-school and low-tech;
treatment is largely herbal.  Serious illness is referred to specialists
like surgeons.  There is mention of health insurance but it's not clear
how it's structured.

Corporations:
No more corporate person-hood.  Corporations are of limited duration, and
must be for the accomplishment of specific goals like building a canal.
This basically the form corporations had in an earlier time.  Stocks and
bonds are issued and traded in the usual way.

Military:
Everyone serves 2 years.  Focus is on insurgent tactics, basically
low tech but effective targeting of the higher tech weaponry used by
likely opponents. Past invasions by neighboring republics were won by
bankrupting the enemy, waiting them out while targeting their drones
with anti-aircraft rocket launchers.  A good real-life example of
this strategy is the Taliban in Afghanistan who have withstood both
the Russians and the Americans.

Essentially Greer uses the story to drive home a common theme of his,
that Progress beyond a certain point become the enemy of Prosperity as
the costs of technological complexity pile up and the benefits diminish.
He also explores the idea of ideals and technologies having a finite
"notional space", i.e. what is creatively achievable within a genre of
music is subject to diminishing returns as it's notional space is filled
over time.  Greer argues that something similar is true for various
technologies and Progress in general; at some point the truly useful
and/or meaningful output is exhausted and beyond that the signal turns
increasingly to noise. It's an interesting way to look at things and
dovetails nicely with his last point, that we should view the past
as a resource of ideas to be mined rather than an irrelevance.