Do you ever worry that we're well and truly screwed?
Ponder it:
Humanity is approaching an unprecedented crisis when not enough oil and gas will be produced to keep industrial civilisation running, the world’s top oilmen warned last week.
The warning – which is being hailed as a “tipping point” on both sides of the Atlantic – marks the first time that the industry has accepted that it may soon no longer be able to meet demand for its products. In Facing the Hard Truths about Energy, it gives authoritative support to concern about impending shortages, following a similar alert by the International Energy Agency less than two weeks ago.
[…]
Though vast amounts of oil and gas remain underground, “complex challenges” and “global uncertainties” are likely to put an end to “the sufficient, reliable and economic energy supplies upon which people depend.” And the crunch could come sooner, with oil production becoming “a significant challenge as early as 2015.” This chimes with the International Energy Agency’s prediction that oil supplies could become “extremely tight” in five years.
The predictions should send a shiver down humanity’s collective spine as a shortage of oil and gas has been predicted to cause industrial collapse, market crashes, resource wars and a rise in poverty. [Emphasis added.]
So by 2015, only eight years from now, and perhaps sooner, we’ll face exploding energy costs. Three years later, in 2018, we’ll face exploding taxes, necessitated by a gap between revenue and entitlement spending.
Those are strikes one and two. For strike three, I nominate the unfunded pension liabilities that needle local governments all across the country.
Yes, I’m a worrywart. But like a stopped clock, a worrywart is right part of the time!
Question: If we vote for any of the many demagogues now running for president — see, for example, this despicable asshole — can we make it all go away?