[rangerone314]

Name one culture in world history that successfully changed their cultural paradigm to adapt in time enough to prevent the collapse of their society.

If you think the US will BE that first culture, then name reasons why we will be the exception.

[Revi]

I think there are micro cultures that can adapt. The Amish have almost doubled in population since 1990, and they use very little fossil fuel.

I lived with a couple of cultures that could not make the switch. The Mayans pushed themselves over the brink, but are still around.

Here in Maine I live in a culture where most people drive huge trucks they can't really afford and make payments on snowmobiles and four wheelers that they don't need, but their culture adores.

There is another micro culture around here that is doing very well, and that's the Farmer's market people. They seem to be making a living on small farms and growing even as the larger culture is sinking into a morass of gas toys and payment plans.

It's hard to tell how the culture as a whole will fare, but maybe these microcultures could make the bridge to a future with less fossil fuel. Maybe...

[SeaGypsy]

From wikipedia
"There are 6,000 Torres Strait Islanders who live in the area of the Torres Strait, and 42,000 others who live outside of this area, mostly in the north of Queensland, particularly in Townsville and Cairns. [1]
Culture
The indigenous people of the Torres Strait have a distinct culture which has slight variants on the different islands where they live. They are a sea-faring people, and engaged in trade with people of Papua New Guinea. The culture is complex, with some Australian elements, some Papuan elements, and Austronesian elements, just like the languages. The Islanders seem to have been the dominant culture for many centuries, and neighbouring Aboriginal and Papuan cultures show some Island influence in religious ceremonies and the like.

Archaeological, linguistic and folk history evidence suggests that the core of Island culture is Austronesian. Unlike the indigenous peoples of mainland Australia, the islanders were traditionally agriculturalists although they supplemented their food supplies through hunting and gathering.[citation needed]

Their more recent, post-colonization history has seen new cultural influences, most notably the place of Christianity (particularly of the Baptist and Anglican strains) which caused major shifts in cultural paradigms, as well as subtler additions through the influence of Polynesian (particularly Rotuman) pearl-divers brought by black-birders in the 19th Century."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islanders

From Wikipedia,
The history of the Aeta continues to confound anthropologists and archaeologists. One theory suggests that the Aeta are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines, who, contrary to their sea-faring Austronesian neighbors, arrived through land bridges that linked the country with the Asian mainland about 30,000 years ago. Unlike many of their Austronesian counterparts, the Aetas have shown resistance to change. The attempts of the Spaniards to settle them in reducciones or reservations all throughout Spanish rule failed.

While resisting change from the other society for hundreds of years, the Aetas have adjusted to social, economic, cultural, and political pressures with remarkable resilience; they have created systems and structures within their culture to cushion the sudden impact of change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeta

Having been around the world a few times these are the only 2 cultures I have found at all fitting your requirements Ranger. The Torres Strait islanders are doing very well, they are by far the most successfully adapted aboriginal culture in Australia. The Aeta of the Philippines are very interesting, they struggle but they are still a real culture in the area of my home there. These 2 examples are polar opposites in that the TI people are within one of the richest countries in the world and won land rights before any mainlanders did. The Aeta are dirt poor and have no land at all, but they still farm the river beds in the dry season and hunt deer in the mountains. They also collect wild honey.

The second challenge. Can't see it. I can't see any western paradigm shift in time to adapt to what's on the event horizon, But then I don't think of the USA as a culture. Modern English is a made up language, not really a culture, so is the legal system. Can the mongrels outlast the purebreds? Can the hybrid reinvent itself into something never seen before? There is a relative newness about the kinds of humans these days which is not easily defined and has never been really tested in it's ability to survive hardship.

[mos6507]

The Amish have almost doubled in population since 1990, and they use very little fossil fuel.

The only adaptation the Amish will have to do post-peak is to STOP doubling its population.

[Ludi]

The Amish have almost doubled in population since 1990, and they use very little fossil fuel.

The only adaptation the Amish will have to do post-peak is to STOP doubling its population.

The increase of their population may be having a negative impact on their culture, as the farms are not large enough to divide among the offspring so young people have to go get jobs off the farm. So I'm not sure if the Amish are actually retaining their society over time or if it is being absorbed by the larger culture which is likely to collapse. A population which doubles in such a short time doesn't seem likely to be sustainable, but then I've mentioned a few times before how I don't think the Amish society is sustainable and should probably not be seen as a model for appropriate behavior. In my opinion. Sorry, I know people love the Amish, but that's the way I feel.

[SeaGypsy]

Don't the Amish still have the ability to aquire more land? Ok they can't keep doubling their population of course, but what if it's a response to the writing on the wall? It appears they will have good opportunies for buying out more farms over the next few years.

[Ludi]

Don't the Amish still have the ability to aquire more land?

With what? As far as I know they generally aren't loaded with cash, and traditionally they do not engage in usury.

I was checking land prices in Lancaster County PA and they are outrageous.

[SeaGypsy]

Are the Amish still landlocked in PA? I was born on the Susquehana river and I remember the Amish from my childhood, but I haven't heard much about them since. It seems they are mostly on prime agricultural land; which may hold it's value or exponentially grow in price in coming years. I wonder are there any Amish communities operating in marginal farming areas? I know there are some places which look pretty nice for cheap as at the moment. Land in marginal areas of the USA is bargain basement compared to anywhere else in the world.

[Ludi]

Amish live in other states besides PA. But one of the reasons they are able to continue as a society is because of the close-knit nature of their communities, so they tend to stay in the same areas they have been for years, I think. I don't know if new communities are springing up in cheaper areas of the country with more marginal land. Probably a great deal of their success as farmers has been their tendency to settle in good farming areas, which now tend to be very expensive. I would be interested how they would fare in, say, West Texas.

Does anyone know if Amish are starting communities in non-traditional locations?

[Ludi]

Name one culture in world history that successfully changed their cultural paradigm to adapt in time enough to prevent the collapse of their society.

Great Britain

Maybe I'm not sure what everyone means by "cultural paradigm."

[mos6507]

You also have to define "collapse of society".

Sheer survival (at a regional or species level) is pretty easy to accomplish even with a BAU approach. The maintenance of a world that an individual living today (even the advanced doomers among us) would feel worth living in (assuming the odds even allow you to survive) is a different matter entirely.

[Revi]

The Amish are to be encouraged in my opinion. They are growing in numbers because they are buying up farms and forming new communities. Four of them came up to my area looking for farms a couple of years ago. I was selling real estate and found them some, but the price was higher than in Northern Maine, so they went there instead. They were going to pay cash for the farms, because they borrow from each other and not banks.

They seem to be able to revive farms and start up an agricultural economy where they settle. Farms around Unity, Maine that were formerly repositorites of old snowmobiles and weeds are now back to work. If you go to the Commonground Fair check them out on the way in.

I think they are adapting to changing times.

All the farmers I know are doing well despite these changing times.