I
Extraction
Every new civilization advanced in harnessing energy to transform Earth's finite resources into stuff, each resulting system uniquely balancing creation and extraction with the available energy.
The slow evolution of these systems accelerated dramaticly 250 years ago when we started to tap into fossil fuels (concentrated solar energy stored over millions of years) and industrialized production. For some time energy was cheap and abundant, so we shaped our industries, infrastructure, lifestyle and mindset upon the idea that energy and resources come for ‘free’.
This enabled us to relentlessly pursue economic growth. Which now confronts us with the fact that matter on earth is fixed. We are depleting natural resources 1.7X faster than they can regenerate while our linear method of production -extract, create, discard- already created so much stuff that man made artifacts, including vast amounts of waste, now outweigh all biomass on earth.
Do we need to talk about the coming downfall of society, like all civilizations in history, as we’ve past peak oil etc?
Extraction of and exploitation of labor should go here as well no?
↓ Let’s dig a little deeper.
II
Inefficiency
Despite extracting vast amounts of energy and resources, modern industrial society has achieved only a fraction of genuine wellbeing per unit of energy—wasting it on material wealth rather than true prosperity (maybe this is next chapter), arguably making us the least civilized people in history.
Focus this piece on describing how Enlightenment resulted in our system, where we use A LOT of energy to produce economic wealth rather than wellbeing. Focus more on quantifying this (add in how hunter gatherers were philosophical, had a great diet etc. what makes blue zones people live long, happy and healthy, all things that can’t be measured economically.)
Modern industrial society is still deeply shaped by Enlightenment ideals, not only in its separation of mind and body or of humanity and nature—ideas that justified the exploitation of labor and resources—but in its focus on economic growth as the sole indicator of progress. This mindset, rooted in material measurement, promotes growth and efficiency and confuses material wealth in the form of convenience and luxury for true well-being, leading many to see modern society as the pinnacle of human civilization.
We use resources including work/labor in an extremely poor way. Industry/Commerce subject them to efficiency thinking and optimization to produce things that don’t really add to wellbeing. Instead the profit is reinvested in a system that can generate more profit as long as resources can be exploited and costs hidden or pushed onto society.
The hidden costs of this system are now impossible to ignore: climate change, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and frequent environmental crises reflect the waste and imbalance we’ve created. In converting nature into disposable goods, far from reaching the pinnacle of civilization, modern industrial society reveals its place at the bottom of the heap.
↓ So what are our options?
III
Negative Wellbeing
Under the guise of making life easier, commerce commodifies the very things that give us meaning, connection, and a healthy lifestyle, replacing them with products and services that prioritize luxury and convenience over well-being, making us disconnected, passive, and dependent.
Focus this piece on explaining what it means for the human condition to functioning in this system where you’re forced into a consumer role and conditioned to believe you need more convenience and luxury, you need to live up to the global elite. While you’re drifting further from nature and others.
If we look beyond this metric, a different story unfolds. Our wealth is overwhelmingly defined by luxury and convenience, while the immeasurable qualities that drive genuine well-being—like love, purpose, and connection—are left out of the equation. Worse, what we call prosperity often leads to “diseases of affluence,” as lifestyles driven by excess undermine both physical and mental health.
Add Example of Negative Wellbeing -> Sedentary life, Social isolation, Convenience Wall-e
an often-overlooked consequence: our disconnection from nature, from each other, and from ourselves. This disconnection both fuels and sustains our current system.
Do we talk about complexity of technology and tech dependence here? Yes
AND add that the material challenges will further deteriorate our wellbeing.
Polarization,
Consider something as simple as drinking water. Human ingenuity has taken us from drinking directly from natural sources to digging wells and public tap water systems. But industry continues to push further, maximizing transactions and profit through smart cashless vending machines, with electronic advertising, selling bottled water flown in from Fiji. This drive to add layers of convenience and profit has led to a point where not just the consumer pays a premium, but society pays for social and environmental costs. What began as a basic human need has been transformed into a high-cost, low-value commodity, adding negative value in its overengineered form.
IV
We need a better story
At uncivilize we’re far from satisfied with the options on the table. From tech billionaires looking to shift resource exploitation off-planet, to preppers and others using their priviledged position to opt out, to “green growth” advocates hoping to sustain current lifestyles by just “doing less harm”—these paths miss the core issue.
Degrowth has the right idea, but focuses on what we need to give up. Yet in moving away from excessive luxury and convenience, we stand to gain something far more meaningful: true connections with others, a renewed relationship with nature, and a grounded sense of purpose. It’s not about reducing consumption but about rediscovering resilience, building communities, and reclaiming the joy of hands-on, meaningful work
As we let go of luxury and convenience, there’s a silver lining, we may regain some of the things that make life worth living.
We need to realize (hard to deny) that we’re on a path that can’t be sustained. We need to change our way of life. We think we can do this best by discerning what’s essential, what stimulates wellbeing -just like the Amish are critical to new technologies. All the energy and resources we used up brought us many good things, lets keep what we really need. But also let’s realize the dark path that commerce and industry have put us on, and realize what we’ve lost both in terms of things that define our humanity and wellbeing as the exploitation of nature that’s so critical to our prosperity.
If in addition to being more discerning as consumers, we can also reconnect with ourselves, others and the planet, we can lead simpler lives more in touch with our communities and the natural environment, do more with our hands, care for the people around us, have more leisure, more attention, develop contentedness, etc. etc, all the things that stimulate wellbeing that you receive by swithing to the alternative modes.
Returning to simple, local solutions like tap water offers an immediate boost to wellbeing: we engage actively, reduce dependence on industries, and limit commercial influence. Better yet, by building sustainable local water systems, collecting rainwater, or even restoring natural sources, we become more connected to the essentials, free from unnecessary industry, and more aware of what truly sustains us.
V
The Uncivilize Method
Uncivilize proposes a discerning use of the industrial mode, while stimulating alternative modes, for genuine wellbeing with low impact.
We’re not calling for a return to the past, but rather a recognition that human societies have never discarded their previous ways of living—instead, they’ve adapted and evolved by layering new modes on top. Today, global industry dominates, not because it works best, but because it generates the most measurable economic value and fuels endless growth.
Yet, alternative modes still exist in plain sight: in hobbies like gardening and pottery, in lifestyles like off-grid living and homesteading, and in cultures like the Amish or indigenous groups like the Hadza. What if we reframed these modes through a modern lens, combining their time-tested wisdom with new solutions to today’s challenges?
We've identified four modes that shape the way we live: Consumer mode is the current global system, rooted in mass production, high consumption, and GDP-driven growth. Farmer mode echoes sustainable, community-oriented practices from agricultural societies, where local food production and resource management take center stage. Gardener mode, inspired by self-sufficient horticulturalists and herders, values smaller-scale, hands-on living, focused on regeneration and sustainability. Finally, Forager mode reconnects us with nature, mirroring hunter-gatherer societies’ focus on ecological restoration and direct interaction with the land.
What would happen if we critically examined our lives in Consumer mode, stepping outside the industrial frame to ask: which aspects genuinely enhance well-being, and which are unnecessarily harmful? Could we live differently—perhaps in Farmer mode, where local solutions and self-sufficiency shape our world? Or Gardener mode, where we embrace resourcefulness and nurturing practices? Or even Forager mode, where we restore nature itself?
By combining insights from these alternative modes, we open the door to a future where we thrive within our ecological limits, balancing technology with sustainability, and reconnecting with the world in a way that prioritizes well-being over growth. Let’s explore these possibilities through a modern lens, discovering how we can rebuild a more resilient, fulfilling life for all.
The Uncivilize method lets you see modern industrial society from a new perspective—revealing the hidden costs of high-tech solutions and how they can impact well-being. Explore alternative approaches that are simpler, more sustainable, and ultimately more fulfilling.