How to Save the World (or Not)

I'm late posting because we have family visiting and they're more fun than the computer. Sorry.

I read a very interesting post about how to save the world the other day over at Chris McKitterick's LJ. I think the Rifkin video that he pairs with it is charming and entertaining, and like so many theories, it works nicely on paper, but I think it would probably fall apart the minute you add real humans to the mix. Still, if you want to know more about evolutionary sociology for your world building, this video is probably the best crash mini-course I've ever seen (about ten minutes long, with some mild/vague cartoon nudity.)

Samhain has an open call for their End of Days anthology: "Samhain Publishing invites you to step into the future when Earth as we know it no longer exists. But the End of Days doesn't mean an end to hope and heroes and, most importantly, love and happiness. Will the world end with a bang or will humanity be changed for the better? Only you can decide." Also: "Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic theme (or both) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length. All stories must end with a happy ever after for the hero and heroine. Yes, a HEA in an apocalyptic story – don't you just love the contrast?" [Should make for an interesting antho, anyway.] Payment isn't mentioned, but they pay 40% of net on single-author books (I'd e-mail the editor and ask about this up front.) Reprints unspecified, electronic submissions only, see submission guidelines for more details.