One day about two years ago, I happened to end up on the website of Chris Martenson. I had never heard of the guy before but felt intrigued by his statement that "next twenty years are going to look very different from the last twenty". I checked out his series of videos called "the crash course" and had a strange feeling of wonder. The rather bold and shocking statements presented coupled with the facts of how our energy and economical systems are fundamentally flawed stirred an interest, almost a passion in me but did not leave me with the negative feelings you might expect. Perhaps it was that I just could not quite believe it, or maybe because I'm just prone to respond to this kind of information in a positive way.
The crash course is a good place to start and I urge you to take the time to watch it, but if you don't have the time it takes to watch the whole series there is a short version. I will make a short summary of the main points but will not come anyway near a full explanation.
The crash course follows three themes, economy, energy and environment. Problems in any of these areas alone can cause problems and have done so in the passed, but all three at the same time lay the grounds for something unlike anything that we have seen in the passed.
Economy - The crash course centers around the monetary system of the US, but can also be applied in part or wholly to other economies as well. The economic size of the US also makes what happens there relevant from a global perspective as well. The main point is DEBT. For many years, society has enabled an economic system that has allowed consumers to acquire enormous amounts of debt. But the debt stretches to a national level as well, where banks are creating money out of thin air by loaning it into existence.
Energy - Energy is what has enabled us to grow, in all ways. Of most importance here is oil. If you look at a chart of oil production over the last one hundred years it follows the growth in population almost perfectly. It has not only made it possible for us to multiply, but it has also raised our standard of living. Without it, there is no way to maintain the numbers or standard of living. Which brings us to the concept of peak oil. To make it simple, it is a point in time where we cannot continue increasing oil production. After this event oil production will decline but demand for oil will continue to rise. Most analysts agree that this will happen within the next five years, most likely withing the next two.
Environment - The same pattern as with peak oil can be applied to various natural resources such as uranium, coal, copper, phosphorus (commonly used in fertilizers). In an economy that is dependent on growth, these resources will be reaching their peak soon. (More on this also in peak everything)
These themes all have something in common, they grow exponentially. This means that something that started out as a slow growth will be growing faster and faster as time goes. The importance and the consequence of exponential growth is one of the most crucial things to grasp and needs a post of its own for explaining.
The crash course illustrates how unsustainable we are living today. It touches upon some of the outcomes that are a consequence of this unsustainable living. In a few words, things will be smaller and things will get ugly in the years to come.
This blog was created with the purpose of building a stronger and more resilient community. By sharing information and knowledge about coming events, it is possible to be prepared for them. Generally people are uninterested in finding out about what is really going on, especially if it is bad news. Nevertheless, I feel obliged to share this information that is nowhere to be found in mainstream media.
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