[0] - https://othernet.is/
I've read it quite a while ago, but I certainly remember that the first few decades of 21st century, and 2015 in particular, was projected to be the "top" point in terms of overall life quality, and after that point, the humanity would slowly, but inevitably, turn backwards. "Total collapse" by this model wouldn't occur until the last quarter of 21st century, and "our present day" would be just the almost unnoticable beginning of stagnation.
Life in general does. Humans, however, seem to be abandoning this trend.
Interesting. I'll have to give this some thought. I suspect there is some truth in this and some over-simplification as well.
Agricultural efficiencies were too high for that sort of thing centuries ago and density is actually the lower in environmental impact option. It seems an idea pushed more by memes and ideology than anything practical.
The second, related part of using the internet as a way to organize people was also co-opted by the very organizations that benefit from continued consumerism, and that had more of a debilitating effect on the internet that the "eternal September" tech types like to complain about. The tipping point was somewhere in the late 90s or early 00s. That has led to the current godawful web we have today, with probably over 98% of the packets being sent for purposes of surveillance or ad-serving.
So, maybe it seems futile to some, but for someone like me who has living memories of the time before computers were common and relatives who died with basic tools of life that were more than 50 years old, it's worth discussing at least.
