"The ultimate hidden truth of the world, is that it is something we make and could just as easily make differently." — David Graeber

It feels very much as if human civilization itself is being battered and ripped apart by one catastrophe after another. This largely is a mess of our own making; the catastrophes are a side effect of our success as a species in being able to outsmart each natural feedback mechanism Nature has thrown at us to keep us at the scale of the ecological niche that we evolved to fill in the east African tropical savannah. Humanity has reached a kind of crossroads, where many things are converging on us simultaneously. The social structures and economy which somewhat worked even half a century ago feel like they are crumbling. But the thing is, that the track we are on now, which is quickly leading us to ruin, is not an inevitability. What is needed is a clear understanding of who we are, where we came from and the possible better futures that we can build if only we can muster the courage to set aside our fear and anger and roll up our sleeves and make them. There are no quick fixes. There are no massive government programs which will save us. Protests and mass movements are ineffective and waste time that could be better spent building instead of tearing things down. Populists and their simplistic promises of prosperity are empty shirts; little more than old corrupt elites and politicians trying to hold on to wealth and power at all costs. They can not help us because they have run out of ideas and refuse to let go of the past.

We established Chenla Institute as a way of rethinking human civilization from first principles and providing pragmatic paths towards building better possible futures. This will take time, but it is surprising how fast things can recover if they are given the opportunity. We are trying to create those opportunities.

Our flagship project is called Yellow Brick Road, and we have just launched a journal called Yellow Brick Letters were we will outline our findings and projects which aim to materially improve people's lives today, while working towards a sustainable future for everyone. We welcome everyone to join us to work together towards better possible futures.