What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire

"A middle-class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the American lifestyle."

Oct 21 2007 N/A 2h 3m
Documentary

Tim Bennett, middle-class white guy, started waking up to the global environmental nightmare in the mid-1980s. But life was so busy with raising kids and pursuing the American dream that he never got around to acting on his concerns. Until now… Bennett journeys from complacency to consciousness in his feature-length documentary, What a Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire. He reviews his Midwestern roots, ruthlessly examines the stories he was raised with, and then details the grim realities humans now face: escalating climate change, resource shortages, degraded ecosystems, an exploding global population and teetering global economies.

Plot

Conceivably, WaWtG:LatEoE (or, "whatgulateoe") is the most important film of our time. As other reviewers comment, it is not necessarily the most well-crafted film. It isn't. The editing is flawed; the pacing, disjoint.What it is, however, is the most ruthlessly honest film ever put to cinematography. From the earnest poetically hushed script-writing and narrator delivery to the relentless, factual interviews with scientific luminaries, authors, and journalists, WaWtG:LatEoE weaves the sordid story of... collapse. From the weft of everyday intuition and despondency, it incrementally and with examined force unravels the mass predicaments of industrial civilization. In no order, these are:* Peak oil. Global oil production peaked at 74.87 mbpd (million barrels of oil per day) on July 11th, 2008 - our so-called "Peak Oil Day," in hindsight.* Climate change. (I don't believe we need to discuss this one...)* Biodiversity loss. Anthropogenic species extiction is roughly 10,000 times the background rate, at an estimated 100 species per day. By contrast, the sum number of distinct species on Earth is estimated at only 10,000,000 species. Do the math.* Human overpopulation. The human population is currently growing at 94,000,000 humans annually. Human population growth has obeyed an exponential curve for the past 13,000 years: the so-called "Holecene." Unfortunately for the human population, the Earth is a finite planet.* Economic depression. At the tail end of quarter one of 2010, gross sovereign debt of the United States of America is an estimated 87.3% of GDP. If you think this is a sustainable trajectory, I have a Nigerian banker who would like to speak with you.In sum, the prognosis is bleak. If the 20th century was the Age of Exuberance, the 21st century will, with all likelihood, be the Age of Consequences. And the unpaid debt on those consequences is coming due.Humbly yours, Cecil Curry [ http://raiazome.com ]

Written by

Timothy S. Bennett

Directed by

Timothy S. Bennett

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
150
Average Rating
7.6 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA