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

Posted by Bill Hopkins on March 31, 2005 08:32 PM
Comments

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.

Posted by: Shelley at March 31, 2005 10:38 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!!)

Posted by: mary lou at April 1, 2005 01:19 PM

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.

Posted by: Suzette at April 2, 2005 09:16 AM

You're right. We haven't seen anything yet. It's going to be an entirely different world.

Posted by: Leslie at April 2, 2005 10:07 AM

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: M Stevens (Austin) at April 2, 2005 08:53 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

Posted by: Larry Davis at April 3, 2005 07:09 PM