Facing the Future Wisely  Perilously Persistent Cargoism  It is
essential to see the profound peril in continued flagrant
misperception of the very nature of the human situation. That
peril compelled me to write this book. Misperception is the
problem to be overcome by a paradigm shift, and only a paradigm
shift can overcome it. Misperception will tend to motivate
efforts to pursue ostensible "solutions" that will, when the
circumstances are so much different from what people suppose
them to be, make matters worse instead of better. In this
concluding chapter, therefore, I want to highlight the contrast
between prevalent presuppositions about our situation (and about
our options) and the actual ecological circumstances that need
to be recognized and with which we must do our best to cope.
During the debate on energy policy, one ominous sign of the
prevalence of mistaken assumptions was the fact that Cargoist
expectations could pass for Realism. [Realism: recognition that
the Age of Exuberance is over and tha