The Long Emergency

[4dsc]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7203633?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1111685363695&has-player=unknown

Does anybody get the sense that someone trying to tell us something here??

Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, famously remarked that "people cannot stand too much reality." What you're about to read may challenge your assumptions about the kind of world we live in, and especially the kind of world into which events are propelling us. We are in for a rough ride through uncharted territory.

It has been very hard for Americans -- lost in dark raptures of nonstop infotainment, recreational shopping and compulsive motoring -- to make sense of the gathering forces that will fundamentally alter the terms of everyday life in our technological society. Even after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America is still sleepwalking into the future. I call this coming time the Long Emergency.

Most immediately we face the end of the cheap-fossil-fuel era. It is no exaggeration to state that reliable supplies of cheap oil and natural gas underlie everything we identify as the necessities of modern life -- not to mention all of its comforts and luxuries: central heating, air conditioning, cars, airplanes, electric lights, inexpensive clothing, recorded music, movies, hip-replacement surgery, national defense -- you name it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. alternatives

electricity can be produced via solar panels and wind and rather inexpensively. I've invested in them and would encourage all DUers to do the same. That way, when the fertilizer hits the ventillator we can all get online and say together I TOLD YOU SO

[4dsc]

2. Alternative will not even begin to cover

the energy produced by oil.. that's the big falacy here and a belief that will ultimately lead to disaster, IMO!!

But I suspect, we will wait until its too late..

[amber dog democrat]

4. and its arguable America is not governable with out oil.

without rail, air and highway transport things will look a lot different - I am very aware of discussions about rationing...Its likely we may be looking at another dark age.

[The River]

3. Read The Story

The author goes on to say that:

"No combination of alternative fuels will allow us to run American life the way we have been used to running it, or even a substantial fraction of it. The wonders of steady technological progress achieved through the reign of cheap oil have lulled us into a kind of Jiminy Cricket syndrome, leading many Americans to believe that anything we wish for hard enough will come true. These days, even people who ought to know better are wishing ardently for a seamless transition from fossil fuels to their putative replacements."

[BanzaiBonnie]

5. I posted an article yesterday

about a house that is going to have it's electricity generated by spinach. I'm not kidding. There are many options for generating electricity and if only Bush was on top of it, we'd be prmoting inovation rather than using up what's left of the oil.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x5211

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. I'm talking about individuals

there is a whole community in my county that has been totally off the grid since its inception. Individuals around here also are going off the grid. I just recommend that others make use of current technology to do the same.

[zippy890]

7. Fascinating - thanks for the link

I have often wondered if we are now living in the 'Golden Age of Mobility', a time unsurpassed in history in individual movement and ability to travel.

The future, and not very distant-- 2020?--- will be very different

from the article
-snip-
The circumstances of the Long Emergency will require us to downscale and re-scale virtually everything we do and how we do it, from the kind of communities we physically inhabit to the way we grow our food to the way we work and trade the products of our work. Our lives will become profoundly and intensely local. Daily life will be far less about mobility and much more about staying where you are.

-snip-

[4dsc]

8. Peak Oil Presentation in the US Congress

http://www.energybulletin.net/4733.html

This presentation spoke to the same thing, that's everything will need to local in the way we think of running our lives.. This is a good read, though some believe its a little to conservative!!

I believe changes are a comin!!