Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckeye
Like what oh sage?
|
Overshoot, the decline of the American Empire, and the end of the era of cheap energy. Mankind has burned over half of the fossil fuel deposits on Earth, which took a mere 500 million years or so to create. In turn, that allowed large portions of the population on the planet to live high-energy lifestyles (ie, big carbon footprints), it allowed for the green revolution and the planet's population to explode, and it allowed the build of infrastructures (suburbs, roads, airports), especially in the U.S., which are going to be far too expensive to maintain or replace.
Plug $100/barrel oil into most economic models and that equals contraction.
Contraction means stress, as each of us tries to maintain the same portion size of a shrinking pie.
Many of the problems in the world today have their root causes traced backed to the struggle for resources, and the economic systems in place are not well equipped to handle contraction. The government's failure to fund all the programs like health care (medicare and medicaid costs are growing much faster than other entitlements), social security, defense, immigration and education will become a bigger problem as the economy contracts. Look at the classic pension models to see what's coming. The math doesn't add up. If 60% or more of Americans don't have enough in savings to cope with a $1000 unexpected bill, I'd say the jig is just about up.
Climate change is an issue that's been hijacked for political and economic gain by the oligarchs and their legions of bureaucrats, for their own gains. While pollution is a real and measurable problem, the impact of climate change pales in comparison to the challenge of transitioning to lower energy and sustainable lifestyles. And that is almost certainly unlikely to occur without the usual wars, famines, and social upheavals that accompany the decline of Empires.
