All the World’s a Grave

0
1372

All the World’s a Grave. And I’m an optimist. Really. Broadcast on The Mike Malloy Show December 07, 2011. Listen to Mike exclusively on the non-profit Progressive Voices Radio network LIVE at 9PM ET here: http://www.progressivevoices.com/

Below is an excerpt. To read the rest of the words go here Permalink: http://www.voicesinourheads.com/2011/12/07/all-the-worlds-a-grave/

David Goodstein, a professor of physics and vice-provost at the California Institute of Technology, said the easiest energy alternatives — coal and natural gas — might carry us through to the end of this century, but … “By the time we have burned up all that fuel, we may well have rendered the planet unfit for human life.”

Most of us will spend our tomorrows doing what we did today. If we have a job we’ll go to work. Kids will go to school. And stuffed somewhere around all that is shopping, laundry, cooking, and everything else. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow look pretty much the same.

Here’s what’s going to happen if we all keep putting one foot in front of the other courtesy of Jeremy Leggett, geologist turned environmentalist writing about the near-future in 2006 …

“The price of houses will collapse. Stock markets will crash. Within a short period, human wealth — little more than a pile of paper at the best of times, even with the confidence about the future high among traders — will shrivel. There will be emergency summits, diplomatic initiatives, urgent exploration efforts, but the turmoil will not subside. Thousands of companies will go bankrupt, and millions will be unemployed. Once affluent cities with street cafes will have queues at soup kitchens and armies of beggars. The crime rate will soar. The earth has always been a dangerous place, but now it will become a tinderbox.

“… As with the Great Depression, economic hardship will bring out the worst in people. Fascists will rise, feeding on the anger of the newly poor and whipping up support. These new rulers will find the tools of repression — emergency laws, prison camps, a relaxed attitude toward torture …

If that’s as bad as it’s going to get, then everybody can breathe a huge sigh of relief. But sadly we’ve got a lot more down to go.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here