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Donkeys, Slowing Down, and Eco-Collapse with Jeff McFadden
Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast and newsletter from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth.
For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance. Subscribe to learn about rights of nature, environmental movement strategy, and stay updated on our work.
In this episode of the Truth and Reckoning podcast, we speak with Jeff McFadden
Jeff is a small farmer engaged in land restoration work in southeastern Missouri. He’s well-known in his area for driving to town in a cart pulled by one or two of his donkeys. Jeff’s political analysis is rooted in the concept of slowing down to reduce ecological impact and improve human life.
As Jeff wrote in a recent piece:
“I see a massive slowing of everything as inevitable. Speed is kinetic energy. If a mass moves, energy moves it. The faster it moves the more energy it takes.
We’ve gotten so used to talking of things in abstract terms that we tend to think that the way things are is the way they have to be. All the cars, all the noise, all the dirt, all the stuff in all the stores, all the goods and services competing for our attention and our money, that’s just the way things are. We ignore the energy. We are oblivious to the universal energy flow underlying our entire global economy and social system, what one might call our civilization. A vast flow of kinetic energy pours without ceasing across Earth, and without it none of things we take for granted would happen or appear.
An inconceivable amount of mass is moving around Earth’s land surface, water surface, low atmosphere, and close orbital space. All of that motion, all of that kinetic energy, was released from petroleum molecules by burning. That which we call civilization burns over 100 million barrels of petroleum a day. Over half of that, some fifty-five million barrels a day, goes to industry, including industrial agriculture. Over half of what’s left goes to transportation. The biggest single portion of that is ocean vessels which burn the heaviest diesel oil in the word, and that’s with over 100,000 jets taking flight every day.
There’s no place in that system where you can take out one of every five gallons and not notice it. If we lose half of it we’ll be in deep s**t.
The current economy is what it is as a result of unimaginable amounts of energy being unbound from molecules and released into the wild, into the ecosystem, into Earth, Water, and Air. Added to that, and exceeding it, excess solar energy gets caught by all the extra carbon we’ve put into the air. It’s massively not working. Everybody’s crazy.”
This is a fascinating conversation that touches on eco-collapse, overshoot, Jevon’s Paradox, restoration, social change vs. individual change, and more.
Links and Resources
* Jeff’s YouTube Channel
* Jeff’s Substack newsletter
This episode can also be watched on YouTube.
About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast
In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.
You can find the show on:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* Pocketcasts
* YouTube (video and audio)
* And anywhere else you get your podcasts (click here to find this podcast via your preferred app)
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.
Get full access to Truth and Reckoning at celdf.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By CELDFWelcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast and newsletter from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth.
For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance. Subscribe to learn about rights of nature, environmental movement strategy, and stay updated on our work.
In this episode of the Truth and Reckoning podcast, we speak with Jeff McFadden
Jeff is a small farmer engaged in land restoration work in southeastern Missouri. He’s well-known in his area for driving to town in a cart pulled by one or two of his donkeys. Jeff’s political analysis is rooted in the concept of slowing down to reduce ecological impact and improve human life.
As Jeff wrote in a recent piece:
“I see a massive slowing of everything as inevitable. Speed is kinetic energy. If a mass moves, energy moves it. The faster it moves the more energy it takes.
We’ve gotten so used to talking of things in abstract terms that we tend to think that the way things are is the way they have to be. All the cars, all the noise, all the dirt, all the stuff in all the stores, all the goods and services competing for our attention and our money, that’s just the way things are. We ignore the energy. We are oblivious to the universal energy flow underlying our entire global economy and social system, what one might call our civilization. A vast flow of kinetic energy pours without ceasing across Earth, and without it none of things we take for granted would happen or appear.
An inconceivable amount of mass is moving around Earth’s land surface, water surface, low atmosphere, and close orbital space. All of that motion, all of that kinetic energy, was released from petroleum molecules by burning. That which we call civilization burns over 100 million barrels of petroleum a day. Over half of that, some fifty-five million barrels a day, goes to industry, including industrial agriculture. Over half of what’s left goes to transportation. The biggest single portion of that is ocean vessels which burn the heaviest diesel oil in the word, and that’s with over 100,000 jets taking flight every day.
There’s no place in that system where you can take out one of every five gallons and not notice it. If we lose half of it we’ll be in deep s**t.
The current economy is what it is as a result of unimaginable amounts of energy being unbound from molecules and released into the wild, into the ecosystem, into Earth, Water, and Air. Added to that, and exceeding it, excess solar energy gets caught by all the extra carbon we’ve put into the air. It’s massively not working. Everybody’s crazy.”
This is a fascinating conversation that touches on eco-collapse, overshoot, Jevon’s Paradox, restoration, social change vs. individual change, and more.
Links and Resources
* Jeff’s YouTube Channel
* Jeff’s Substack newsletter
This episode can also be watched on YouTube.
About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast
In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.
You can find the show on:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* Pocketcasts
* YouTube (video and audio)
* And anywhere else you get your podcasts (click here to find this podcast via your preferred app)
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.
Get full access to Truth and Reckoning at celdf.substack.com/subscribe