In Montenegro on the Adriatic,

# 2938

Here I am in Montenegro. Living on the Russian River was too remote from the unfolding reality of climate and society interaction.  The place is intimate , the mountains kiss the Adriatic. Today the weather is perfect, about the same as the Russian River, daytime 68 night 50. But it is expected to be very hot this summer, perhaps hitting 108 F. What are people talking about, how are they anticipating coping? What thoughts about water and food? Tonight I am going to a local Crypto meting, which suggests who is here. Refugees from the war in Ukraine, and retiress from the US and young people from Europe having a great vacation mixd in with the traders in anything. Real Estate is formally expected to be heavily traded, but I am looking for ways to experience the thouht that go beyond “We are expecting to sell for 2 million but with climate change, we better hurry.”

On the plane, Turkish Air out of San Franciso, I noticed with sorrow that all the screens on the seats around me were showing movies of violence: cars, guns, explosives and karate.

My first new thought after a night in an elegant restaurant is that rich want to spend their money without interference. “Sure I expect climate problems, sooner than most people think, but in the meanwhile I want us to live.” Yachts, restaurants, cars, homes touching the water (here the Bay of Tivat. ). So they seem to be entering into an end of times high end consumerism. Net result is their self removal from coping with climate and its politics . They will not be actors. Thy are removing their wealth from the game of winners and losers, just wanting to spend as they wish with wht they have supported by necessarily diminishing, if not now, soon, portfolios of threatened assets. This pattern seems to be near universal according to Jospeh Tainter’s The collapse of Complex Soceieties.