Have you ever stopped to think about what it would be like to lose all of the perks of modern civilization? It’s only through virtually new technological achievements that we’ve become able to have medical procedures from anything to fungus toenail laser treatment to ingrown toenail removal. The idea of going back to live closer to Mother Earth in a place like Long Island sounds nice, but what if you needed Long Island fungus toenail treatment and lacked the resources to have it done? Chances are, it wouldn’t be pretty!
Yet this may be what happens. While few believe many of the conspiracy theories currently going around about 2012 and the apocalypse, the arguments climate change is happening, you still have to think about things like peak oil, and the unsustainable aspect of the way we currently exist.
“Unsustainable” means that our current way of living cannot go on forever. This is obviously true, as our civilization is run on what are for the most part non-renewable minerals such as coal and oil. It’s been guessed that planet Earth may now be fifty percent through all available oil stocks, while the level of consumer demand for oil continues to skyrocket. This is due to the economic improvement of densely populated areas such as China and India.
So what happens when all the oil runs out? The hope is that scientists will by that time have figured out such a way that we can run wholly on solar and wind as petrol, since they’re completely renewable. But how much time do we have left?
Some, such as the author of “Endgame” Derrick Jensen, have posited the idea that reverting to a Stone Age lifestyle may actually be the best thing for humanity. It sounds ridiculous at first, but what Jensen is promoting is a lifestyle that is far closer to nature, and pays respects to what it takes from the natural world. It’s been stated by American Indians that if one takes a fish from the ocean to eat, that individual now has a responsibility to that community of fish, to make sure that it survives. Such a notion seems ridiculously quaint to modern people, yet this way of living is far more environmentally friendly, and ultimately safer, than the way we are currently living.
Demand for non-renewable minerals will continue to rise as the resources themselves become more and more depleted. What will it look like when we realize we’re out of oil? Not many individuals want to be around to find out how it will be. One of the reasons many American politicians, even liberals, are so set on maintaining a stability in the Middle East is that these countries hold large amounts of oil that may be needed to keep society from falling apart.
Whatever the outcome of our current lifestyle will be, there’s a large chance that it will be event that the youth of today will witness within their lifetimes. We’ll just have to wait and hope for the best.
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