Yes, I see the trap. Let's rush headlong into it!

Or, I'M A DOOMER! I'M A DOOMER!

"Our civilization, which subsumes most of its predecessors, is a great ship steaming at speed into the future. It travels faster, further, and more laden than any before. We may not be able to foresee every reef and hazard, but by reading her compass bearing and headway, by understanding her design, her safety record, and the abilities of her crew, we can, I think, plot a wise course between the narrows and the bergs looming ahead.
And I believe we must do this without delay, because there are too many shipwrecks behind us. The vessel we are now aboard is not merely the biggest of all time; it is also the only one left. The future of everything we have accomplished since our intelligence evolved will depend on the wisdom of our actions over the next few years. Like all creatures, humans have made their way in the world so far by trial and error; unlike other creatures, we have a presence so colossal that error is a luxury we can no longer afford. The world has grown too small to forgive us any big mistakes."

Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress (p. 3)

 Is it just part of being human, I wonder?

The first round of bailouts didn't work, so a second, bigger round was prepared. That one isn't working either, which means--obviously--a third, humongo round should be  in the offing posthaste. And if that doesn't work, a fourth, fifth, sixth...an infinitude of money. Here, take it, take it all.

This startlingly irrational behaviour is, alas, startlingly typical. I saw it at work when I was a Christian (indeed, it was one of the things that turned me away from the 'One True Faith'): If prayer doesn't work, you're obviously not praying hard enough. It's discernable in Canadian policy towards any number of things (foreign aid, Natives, health care among them): but we're already spending billions! How much more money will it take?

The answer is, of course, "all of it...if we let it." Nothing scares me quite so much as watching our elected leaders falling all over themselves to get into this trap. Because, as Wright notes in his excellent essay, "Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up."

We're rapidly pricing ourselves right out of a world, here, folks. 

This isn't new. The people on Easter Island kept erecting larger and larger moa'i--stone statues--eventually using up the last of their resources in so doing, almost as if that depletion somehow escaped notice. Rome rotted from the inside out: whenever the Romans were faced with a crisis, their "solution" was to raise taxes. Eventually the tax load was so punishing that the plebes revolted. That inevitability wasn't even considered. 

Most of us humans harbour an abject refusal to contemplate consequences. I don't think it's a coincidence that our faith icons (Jesus, Buddha, Muhammed) all understood cause and effect and incorporated it into their teachings. Of course, those teachings have (some more than others) been distorted down the ages--usually in an effort to remove the "consequence" or at least maniupulate it to some end (You'll suffer unceasing torment in Hell if you do/don't do X). Jesus, believe it or not, never said anything about Hell being a place of unceasing torment. Most of what Christians think they know about hell is wrong. If you don't believe me, don your Christian hat and go here.

Most of our political leaders aren't enthusiastic about spending billions upon billions of dollars trying to bail out a canoe which has already, to my eyes at least, sunk. That hasn't stopped the partisan bickering as each group tries to inject its own spin on each stimulus package, of course, but they remain a dour lot. Obama said it himself: he didn't come to the office of President "ginnin' to spend eight hundred billion dollars." But what choice do I have? 

Nobody will say it in so many words, but every single politician is elected to keep the party going and the music playing. Well, most of the instruments have been damaged or destroyed in an orgy of conspicuous consumption. On some level I'm convinced most of us know this, but it's not a level we like to acknowledge. The music is now lurching along like a death march played on kazoo; the party's gotten raucous enough to see its share of partygoers murdered off in the shadows, and still we dance and scream at each other...having a wonderful time. Let's dance FASTER.

I fear for our future. A recent article in the Toronto Star brought some mainstream attention to us "doomers". (Despite my pessimism, I never really considered myself a "doomer" until I read this article. 

"The high priests of the doomer set include the acerbic critic of suburbia, James Howard Kunstler, and Matt Savinar, founder of lifeaftertheoilcrash.net." Instantly I envisioned the Breadbin's sidebar and thought, shit, I'm a doomer! I'm a doomer! On that thought's heels came the unmistakeable drawl of the Governator: It's not a doomer.

The attention's welcome in the sense that it hopefully will get people thinking about where we are and where we're going; it's very much unwelcome in that it perpetuates outdated and occasionally offensive stereotypes. The two cases profiled at some length are a "conspiracy-minded" loner and a family that, to the casual reader, seems to be preparing for Armaggeddon. I fear most people will read that article and dismiss the very valid points raised in it because, ha, just look at all that crap they're putting into their bunker.

A discussion sprung up over at the Green Assassin Brigade's place about this article. I contributed that I (or more properly, my wife) had a bunch of lists of supplies depending on the disaster. I was asked if I could post them. Well, now, that'd be a project. One for the spring, perhaps. Most of it's in her head, right now. We have a place to go to ground that's less than a tank of gas away from here and yet fairly remote; it's also quite well supplied as these places go. The plans are all there, but they're also back of mind for now. Contrary to what that article suggests, you don't have to have everything ready for the implosion. If things do go boom, it'll be a slow boom...just look at how much effort's being expended trying to keep it together now, when things are still--let's be honest--pretty much normal.

Better to concentrate on getting in shape (if you aren't already) and learning some skills. Not because they will be needed, but because they might.

Again, let's be honest: will most of these doomers light out for the territories if "all" we're facing is a Depression? Unlikely. And it's still more than possible that "all" we're facing is a second Great Depression. I plan on staying here unless things really go to shit, in which case I'm gone.  (I almost bugged on on 9/11, to be perfectly honest. The news that the Pentagon was hit, the fucking Pentagon, unnerved me to my core. I told my wife on the phone that day "if you hear anything about missiles flying anywehere, you come and get me." And I meant it.) 

Right now my worries are centered around rapid, perhaps hyper, inflation...and what war might be seen as a way to draw America out of the doldrums. Because both seem probable, maybe inevitable, at this point. But what choice do we have?