詹姆斯·霍华德·康斯特勒

James Howard Kunstler is an American writer, social critic, public speaker, and blogger known for his analysis of urban development, suburbanization, and energy issues. Born in New York City to Jewish parents, he gained prominence through his non-fiction works critiquing American suburban development and predicting societal changes based on resource constraints. His most influential books include The Geography of Nowhere (1993) and Home from Nowhere (1996), a critical examination of American suburbia and urban planning, The Long Emergency (2005) and Too Much Magic (2012), which explore the potential consequences of peak oil and energy depletion on modern civilization and humanity's over-reliance on technology to solve problems. Kunstler's work has become standard reading in architecture and urban planning courses, and he has been a prominent spokesperson for the New Urbanism movement.

Throughout his career, Kunstler has authored both fiction and non-fiction works, including a series of post-apocalyptic novels beginning with World Made by Hand (2008) that envision a future of localized, low-energy communities. As a journalist, he has written for major publications including The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. His political views have evolved significantly over time, transitioning from harsh criticism of conservative politics to more recent support for certain conservative positions and skepticism of mainstream Democratic policies. While his peak oil predictions proved premature due to technological developments like fracking, Kunstler continues to advocate for sustainable urban planning, improved rail infrastructure, and preparation for what he sees as inevitable resource constraints, maintaining his influence through writing, speaking engagements, and online commentary.

Background

Kunstler was born in New York City to Jewish parents, who divorced when he was eight. His family then moved to the suburbs on Long Island. His biological father was a middleman in the diamond trade. Kunstler spent most of his childhood with his mother and stepfather, a publicist for Broadway shows. While spending summers at a boys' camp in New Hampshire, he became acquainted with a small town ethos that would later permeate many of his works.

He lives in Greenwich, a town in Washington County, New York.

Education

In 1966, Kunstler graduated from New York City's High School of Music & Art and attended the State University of New York at Brockport, where he majored in theater.

Career

After college, Kunstler worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone. During the 1970s and 1980s, Kunstler worked "a lot of odd jobs, from orderly in the psychiatric wing of the hospital to digging holes for percolation tests in housing subdivisions".

In 1975, he began writing books and lecturing full-time. Kunstler's blog states that he has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, RPI, and the University of Virginia and has appeared before professional organizations such as the AIA, the APA, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Kunstler lectured on topics related to suburbia, urban development, and the challenges of what he calls "the global oil predicament", and a resultant change in the "American Way of Life." He lectured at the TED Conference, the American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the National Association of Science and Technology, as well as at numerous colleges and universities, including Yale, MIT, Harvard, Cornell, the University of Illinois, DePaul, Texas A&M, the USMA, and Rutgers University.

As a journalist, Kunstler wrote articles for The Atlantic, Slate, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and its op-ed page where he covered environmental and economic issues. Kunstler is also a supporter of the movement known as New Urbanism.

His career peaked with the popularising of the concept of peak oil, for which he was a prominent spokesman, such as in the 2004 documentary The End of Suburbia. His 2005 book The Long Emergency became an oft-cited reference for the predicted imminent collapse of human civilisation. However, oil supplies increased due to fracking, and the collapse did not happen during the timeframe Kunstler predicted.

Political views

In 2010, Kunstler was a harsh critic of the Republican Party, describing them as "a gang of hypocritical, pietistic sadists, seeking pleasure in the suffering of others while pretending to be Christians, devoid of sympathy, empathy, or any inclination to simple human kindness, constant breakers of the Golden Rule, enemies of the common good." However, following the election of Donald Trump, he began to criticize the Democratic Party and their "underhanded attempts" to get rid of Trump, a man whom Kunstler sees as showing "strength". He was a promoter of the concept of a so-called "deep state" working to overthrow and thwart Trump. He endorsed Trump for re-election and declared that he intended to do "everything he can to prevent the Democrats from winning the election."

In an interview with American Conservative, Kunstler attacked gay marriage, describing it as "cultural mischief" that would further damage "a struggling institution". He believes that the 2020 United States presidential election was fraudulent, describing it as a "fraud-inflected election" on his website, and he suggests that the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol was the work of left-wing groups.

Kunstler now uses Patreon to crowdfund his writing.

In an interview with Doug Casey published on October 13, 2021, Kunstler called the COVID-19 pandemic a "scam", and on October 11 he published the theory that the vaccine would kill people "steadily over the weeks and months" and went on to name hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as "effective" treatments.