sobering article
Mar. 4th, 2013 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psybelleNine Meals from Anarchy: Yes, it's about Britain. But the causes are global in nature, the lessons apply here as well as "over there"...
Oil is expensive, getting moreso, and it's never going to be cheap again. (Don't talk to me about frakking or tar-sands or the like - the reason those are being exploited *now* is because the easy stuff is mostly gone. All of the current sources of petroleum products are more expensive to extract in terms of money and energy - we've hit the point of diminishing returns and that also is only going to get more expensive.)
All the things that depend on oil are going to get hideously expensive. Food, clothing, the current plastic whatevers (healthcare! "use once and discard" is the standard, for obvious reasons of infection control)...
This is the iceberg. And there simply are not lifeboats for 9 billion people... There aren't even sufficient lifeboats for Westerners. (The Republicans have been dismantling lifeboats as fast as they can, as if that will do *them* some good. I think it's more "Only we get nice things" than Stross's Fallacy, but there does seem to be a whiff of desperation to the latest round of idiocy...)
Oil is expensive, getting moreso, and it's never going to be cheap again. (Don't talk to me about frakking or tar-sands or the like - the reason those are being exploited *now* is because the easy stuff is mostly gone. All of the current sources of petroleum products are more expensive to extract in terms of money and energy - we've hit the point of diminishing returns and that also is only going to get more expensive.)
All the things that depend on oil are going to get hideously expensive. Food, clothing, the current plastic whatevers (healthcare! "use once and discard" is the standard, for obvious reasons of infection control)...
This is the iceberg. And there simply are not lifeboats for 9 billion people... There aren't even sufficient lifeboats for Westerners. (The Republicans have been dismantling lifeboats as fast as they can, as if that will do *them* some good. I think it's more "Only we get nice things" than Stross's Fallacy, but there does seem to be a whiff of desperation to the latest round of idiocy...)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-04 06:20 pm (UTC)Also, speaking of "the latest round of idiocy"... it's not a crime for a 6-year-old to cross the street by themselves. But apparently, the police have to keep being reminded of this fact.
I hadn't heard it expressed as "9 meals from anarchy" but I'd heard of "three days to food riots" plenty of times. In the US? In our area? I'd expect half that time, because with this many people, someone--a lot of someones--will get impatient, and riots are a "critical mass" event.
Rural towns of 15,000 people won't riot in three days when the transportation breaks down. Cities of 150,000 people might. Several cities comprising a couple-million people... hell, we throw riots when the home team wins. Anything actually *worrying* will trigger explosions and mass mayhem.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-04 07:26 pm (UTC)"Something must be done!!!" (cue flailing)
"Aha! This is something!" (why, yes, it is.)
"Therefore, this MUST.BE.DONE!" (no tests as to whether it's applicable or helpful)