the international scene is always desparate

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080524/D90S5MLG0.html

Growing up around other survivalist back to the lander types in Maine prepared me for this mode of life if forced. Thanks mom and Dad. This article describes exactly my fears for the coming future as are others in this country and i'm sure many others. We are living in a very well greased world and if the "grease" dissolves we need something else to take its place.

Hydrogen and electricity could replace many of our gasoline needs but that transformation will take decades to gear up. I've thought for years that my generation would see a desperate period of time when we as a country squandered our last drop of petrol and delved deep into a depression. This reality would be easier to face had people been more prepared to live simply but alas the technological state makes us more and more reliant on energy. Many people will have to go back to the land and generally live simpler lives for a while. Mike Drudge's recent movie "idiocracy" may come to mind Or perhaps "water world" might be more apt... Both of these movies are of course farcical but both may prove to contain some prophetic truth.

I don't intend to be bleak but it is not entirely out of the question and its always best to prepare for the worst. You just have to be realistic, the US is topheavy with people and with a quick look on maps.google you can get a decent idea of the enormity of footprint of the human species on north america. When I look at the sprawling vastness of strip malled states all daily flushed in and out with tractor trailer trucks luggin the stuff of empire, I cant help to think shit... what if those trucks stop running for a few weeks. My fear is NOT living without the perks of our technological world my fear is that competition will drive humans to act lawless and delve into chaos. More than anytime in history we rely as a global community on OIL.

We need our Kennedy to lead us into space, only this time we need energy visionaries and a national project as large as the new deal aimed at making us more energy independent, utilizing all possible forms of renewable energy possible. The Bush administrtion, car companies, oil companies and many other key players in the energy industry have put us behind the rest of the developed world (well mostly germany, spain, France, and few scandinavian countries) in renewable energy production

Maybe I read too much dystopia and am overly fantasizing (i hope so!)

goodnight

and goodluck.