I'm a maker, outdoor person and dad, leading a design and innovation studio for a global tech company.

I studied industrial design, expecting to bring positive change, but came to realize there is no way to create anything truly sustainable within our global industrial system. A system built on the belief that humankind is separate from nature, where fueled by access to abundant and cheap energy we've come to feel entitled to progress. I joined Marieke -my better half- in her research of how we got to this point and the multitude of crises facing the world. We now understand that the system we created is not inevitable and that there are alternatives. Even now that the global north is being confronted with the devastating impact of our lifestyle it remains impossible for us to see solutions beyond this system we created. So this website aims to uncover alternatives by looking at the history of our species to show our current mode of living is not inevitable or even logical and that there are more desirable alternatives. We may need to give up some luxury and convenience but in exchange we will get greater freedom, connection, satisfaction and leisure. Not by going back to old ways, but by using modern insights to learn from the past and reinterpret alternatives that present a better way forward. The tool we share is an invitation to start thinking about what ways might work for you

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I have a partner who likes asking questions, to do research, ponder big life questions. I like solving things and want to provide help or an answer.

But starting to formulate an answer to the questions on this website took a bit more time and made me question pretty much everything.

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We’re all idiots. I’m an idiot, you’re most likely an idiot too. We’ve been fooled into a lifestyle that destroys life. A lifestyle that we feel we can’t give up because it’s supposedly super awesome. But it doesn’t feel awesome. It feels a bit empty.

I’m not going to say things will be alright. Or that we have time to fix things. We need to act. But even when -like myself- you’ve researched the many crises we’re in and start to understand why all this is happening. It still is hard to act. Because acting means changing your behavior, giving up what we’ve been taught, things that are hardcoded into our brains, things that are continuously reinforced by advertisement, laws, parents, friends. Things we consider necessities and positive things to strive for.

Things like saving for retirement. But no amount of money will get you the life you imagined after work when these crises truly unfold. I personally have a hard time giving up a job that feels more like a bullshit job the more I educate myself. But it makes sure I’m comfortable, that I can have and provide for the things we’re supposed to have and that I’m saving for later.

It would be far better to invest in restoring nature. Making sure the essentials for life are available. Not by building a life raft for me and my family but by fixing the he big boat that we’re all on.

That’s Uncivilize. It’s not about telling you things will be okay or that human ingenuity will deliver a magic technology fix. Instead it’s providing a set of different perspectives that allow you to imagine new ways of living that are practical and hopeful and that you can start with today.

We will be using these new perspectives to change our lives. Exploring what works for us and how we can change our current way of living in such a way that we get more of what we really love and get energy from and do away with the negatives.

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