the long emergency
A few weeks ago, the price of oil ratcheted above fifty-five dollars a barrel, which is about twenty dollars a barrel more than a year ago. The next day, the oil story was buried on page six of the New York Times business section. Apparently, the price of oil is not considered significant news, even when it goes up five bucks a barrel in the span of ten days. That same day, the stock market shot up more than a hundred points because, CNN said, government data showed no signs of inflation. Note to clueless nation: Call planet Earth.
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.
Read the full article in Rolling Stone
March 31st, 2005 @ 10:38 pm
This fits in with that other environmental report this week, and doesn’t paint a good picture, does it.
Once upon a time we dreamed of going to the moon and the stars. Now we dream of a plot of land so we have enough to eat, and a land where we won’t be shot for it.
April 1st, 2005 @ 1:19 pm
I think that the US should offer to buy Siberia from Russia, They need the money, and then we could explore those oil fields! Lots of it up there I hear!
(Im ducking and running now!!)
April 2nd, 2005 @ 9:16 am
I am all for of public transportation to lighten up the impact of single-driver commuting, but unless you are headed from a major point to another major point, good luck with that. Mass public transporatation in all forms - busses, trains, ferries - cannot be restored to its former availability until the public demands it, and the legislature pushes it into place. And to do that requires bucking the oil and the auto lobbyists. It’s a big job.
April 2nd, 2005 @ 10:07 am
You’re right. We haven’t seen anything yet. It’s going to be an entirely different world.
April 2nd, 2005 @ 8:53 pm
Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.
April 3rd, 2005 @ 7:09 pm
As I travel the blackland prairie, I run into this after reading the latest installment at billmon.org on failure at Easter Island and now maybe the whole earth. Perhaps a picture of a wisteria will calm things down.
thelrd in TEXAS
April 12th, 2005 @ 2:33 pm
Long Emergency
Do we really get it?
It is starting to become a reality that we face up to the images artists have been conjuring for over 25 years. Mad Max, Road Warrior, and a host of other stories reveling in the lost world caused by oil depletion are becoming predictions of our present rather than a fantasy seen only in the movies. No longer are these predictors looked upon as science fiction. Rather, we are looking at this as science fact.
What do we do about it?
Middle class America has a tough job ahead. First off is getting organized. Not too many of us have the resources to host such a move and other Americans will likely not want to leave their comfortable mansions for less than their “accustomed” living style. So where is the best place to go? What is the best thing to do?
Should we wait for the government? That really helped the American Indians, didn’t it?
I would like to invite your discussions on this topic myself. I found this site by accident and many never find it again, so pls respond through the email.