Society's to Blame

As oil climbs above $140/barrel, and the mainstream media tentatively starts to stick its toe in the idea that peak oil might be more than a "theory", we'll start to notice that society as a whole is acting, well, a lot like we act in our personal lives.






Evolution - just a theory.









For instance, if our pointy-haired boss decides to give away the store to a rich and powerful customer, leaving nothing for our future job security, do we raise a stink and go over his or her head to get the rascal thrown out?







No, really, I have an open door policy. Just put the bag over your head and come in.







No, we just keep our eyes on the floor and hope the company doesn't go out of business till we retire, leaving the problem for future employees. Thus it is with the Security and Prosperity Partnership, which threatens not only to leave Canadians without the energy they need to live, but could put Canada on the next-to-invade list (after Iran) if we say no to the fixed percentages of our oil and gas that we have to export under the terms of NAFTA.





Let's hope they run out of gas before they reach the border!





And how about that new car? Sure, gas is going over $4 a gallon in the US, and $5 a gallon in Canada, but hell, we've worked hard - don't we deserve to get that shiny beauty we've been dreaming of for years?







It gives me a great view of on-coming traffic...in Botswana!







So it is with the shiny goodies that our cities, provinces, states and countries have their eyes on. Here in Vancouver, we're expanding our airport, even when the airlines are cutting flights, jet fuel costs are (ahem) skyrocketing, and the number of major North American airports is about to drop from 330 to 30 or 40 in the next two decades. But honey, it's got a sunroof, and Seattle is getting a nice new runway - don't you want to impress the neighbors?

We made ours nice and wide for the new FatPlane 3000!

And how about losing that last 10 pounds? OK, the treadmill was probably a waste of money, but this is definitely the year I'm going to start going to the gym. Just as soon as I fix the rain gutters, and plant that veggie garden. And I've always wanted to learn to read Egyptian heiroglyphics. I can definitely get all that done.






Oh, also, note to self, create Life.








For society, the favorite never-to-be-finished project (besides Iraq) has to be the freeway. Our favorite here in West Igloo is the Gateway project, a massive freeway-bridge combo planned when gasoline prices were about half of what they are right now. Sure, costs will go out of control, as the cement, steel and energy to build it spirals in cost. Sure, the number of cars on the road will plummet long before its finished. Sure, it uses up billions of tax dollars and puts nothing in place for the future we're actually going to have. Sure, it'll probably never be finished, leaving us with our own bridge to Nowhere. But we can't stop now - we've got contracts. You want us to get sued? Best to just keep on doing what we're doing.







With some good signage, nobody'll notice.






Because, really, there is no "society" -- there's just us. Politicians are obviously using the same brains (or lack of them) that we are. We don't really want to deal with all the bad stuff we know is going to happen, and neither do the world's governments. Everybody knows that all change is bad, and worse than that, changing actually requires us to change. You don't hear Obama bringing that up. The only kind of change we really want is a change back - back to before email overload, back to cheap gas and lots of legroom in Economy, back to that sweet spot in between Vietnam and Iraq 1 when everything seemed to be going OK and you could get rich without instantaneous live news feed of every poor suffering shmo in Wherever-The-Frig to make you feel guilty about it.








God, life was good.











Well, a change back is coming. A big ol' boomerang called Overshoot is about to give us a ride down the biggest one-hill rollercoaster in the history of civilization. And if we act fast, it's possible that we'll end up with sunshine, fresh air, clean food, free time and more friends than we can shake a potlatch at. A big new world is in a box on our doorstep, but it's going to be tougher to put together than that treadmill. Start reading the instructions.