The Undeniable Winds of Change

Several years ago, I had a conversation with another guitar-player friend of mine... I had just read a book about the notion of "peak oil"... that is, the thoughts surrounding the finite and most likely declining supplies of fossil fuels and cheap energy in our world. At the time, I felt like a bit of a college student. You know, the kind that goes off to one year of college, and comes back for the summer, telling all their old friends about how the world is facing "the most dire situation it's ever faced".

Well, I don't feel like a college student anymore.

Several years ago, I spoke of gas hitting $5 a gallon (it was less than $2 at the time), global food shortages, and an economic crisis more brutal and sustained than the Great Depression... like they were fiction. I thought about it, but a part of me didn't believe the words that my own words were true.

I don't doubt anymore.

$5/gallon gasoline doesn't seem that far out of reach now. There is a global rice shortage, even in North America, and Walmart is rationing supplies for their customers. The economy is looking more than weak... it's looking downright abysmal. The housing crisis, the credit crisis, the energy crisis... How many crises can we deal with at once?

Most people are looking for someone to blame for their troubles. If they're not angry yet, they will be before too long... and when they look for someone to blame, they'll most likely blame the easy targets. Oil companies and Governments. The truth is, this was inevitable.

Everyone should visit this website.....

lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

After reading this for the first time, so many things clicked into place. Gas prices, housing problems, economic downturns, the Iraq war and the "war on terror" in general.... It really made me wonder about the interconnectivity of it all.

I'm hopeful for the future... But a lot of things are going to change. I think some very difficult times are ahead... but we will certainly have to rely on one another a lot more. The era of suburban social isolationism may come to an end, and we may have to TALK to our neighbours again. We may have to work together again. Some days I don't believe in the good faith of people to be able to rise above this crisis, but other days....... I see glimmers of hope. I guess time will tell.