“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”

~ Abraham Lincoln
December 1, 1862 in Message to Congress

Those of us alive today have been bestowed with the challenge of navigating through what will arguably be one of the most transformative periods ever experienced. It will be far more perilous and transformative even than the American Civil War which President Lincoln spoke of above in the opening quote. While as technology advances and new modern marvels are revealed to us every day, there are likely to be hard times ahead as society shifts into the next chapter in human history.

What do I mean by “hard times ahead”?

Unfortunately, the main factors contributing to this great change are things like peak oil, widespread financial instability, and ecological and climate change. None of these issues will be easy to resolve, and coming to grips with their reality will undoubtedly require a massive shift in how mankind exists on this planet.

Our modern world is structured in a way that is simply not sustainable. But, instead of seeking out and implementing solutions ahead of time, our leaders have chosen to pretend like we can carry on as usual. This means that when times get tough, we’ll probably have to depend on ourselves and those close to us.

My objective is to provide you with knowledge and solutions, not scary predictions and a pessimistic attitude.

If you interpret these predictions to be scare-tactics, please don’t take me the wrong way. I think it is fairly obvious that times are already quite tough. But, it is not my intention to scare people into heeding my advice – that’s what politicians do.

My hope is that as I learn and grow towards being more self-reliant and resilient, that I might be able to impart some of that useful experience onto others. If the world is to be reshaped, it certainly won’t be done alone.

Burying your head in the sand and ignoring the signs of hardship ahead, won’t do you a bit of good.

Sometimes it amazes me how little some people pay attention to what is happening in the world today. Famines, riots, revolutions, natural disasters, power failures… these are certainly interesting times. I suspect that some people choose to ignore these events out of a deep-seated fear of our unknown future. Ignoring change, will not keep you safe from it, it will simply leave you helpless to act when it comes upon you.

Even if the world doesn’t descend into chaos and anarchy, the transition to a more localized and petroleum-scarce environment will be difficult.

I know that there are some people out there who are stocking up on guns, canned food, and building a fallout shelter. This blog is not a website to give you tips on how to do those things. I will admit, there is a small part of me that worries about everything really going to hell, but that is not what my focus is. I’m not interested in just surviving in a hole in the ground.

We’re running out of time to solve the worlds energy problems, the most important of which is the reality of finite oil reserves. Oil is in everything today. So, transitioning to a world where oil is incredibly expensive due to scarcity, will be incredibly difficult. If we want to really live in a post-petroleum world then we will need to be proactive, not just reactive.

You can either assume society will devolve into chaos, or you can trust that people will want to carry on living meaningful lives, and grow old happily alongside their family and friends. I believe it will be possible, we just have to think hard about what needs to be done, and be willing to shoulder the tough challenges that lie before us.

So, do you want to just survive?

Or, do you want to thrive?

 

Comments are closed.