Hydrocarbon energy is not an expendable product in our current society. It is not something you can just stop doing like going to a baseball game or buying really expensivesunglasses. We NEED these resources. The way our society’s interdependence has been constructed inexpensive hydrocarbon energy is a necessity. We cannot just switch to nuclear power because this resource is used to make plastics and lubricants which are needed for medical, agriculture, military, governmental, and business purposes.
So demand will continue to go up. As populations get larger and everyone demands their requisite piece of the American pie demand will never slow. So normal laws of supply and demand say that as demand goes up the price will increase and thuslysupply will work to meet the demand because it becomes more and more profitable. And this is true as oil becomes more and more expensive the rewards for using more expensive forms of drilling for it will become commonplace. But this will not satiate demand, demand will continue to rise exponentially. Supply will continue to meet this demand as prices get higher, but this leads us to the question: does the earth hold an infinite amount of hydrocarbon energy?
If you answered no(which any person who understands something infinite cannot be contained in a finite space would) then we are in agreement that eventually oil will not be in any concentration large enough to draw it out of the ground. But that point is far away, and that point will be preceded by a slow choking of the middle and lower classes, until there are only two classes of people: The super rich and the underclass. Yes there will be a class of people able to afford hydrocarbon prices right to the end, but 99% of the world doesn’t fit in to that category.
Talking about our carbon footprints and patting ourselves on the back for being “green” while consuming the world’s natural resources in a vastly disparate rate to the rest of the world and at a dangerous rate for the future of our economic system. The idea of “civilization” is being called in to question and sustainability may become the new benchmark by which to gauage civilizations. Primitivism, communitarianism, and survivalist lifestyles will begin to look less and less radical and be seen as a possible avenue for survival.
When the price of oil goes up, the price of every single product or commodity on earth goes up.
With that said, this blog is not about how to survive during and after the depression that will be brought on by skyrocketing oil prices, but instead to track the (what i think will be) slow progress of the unraveling economic system.
It is also important to note that the floating dollar system is more or less backed by oil through the saudi-us petrodollar deal. As the price of oil goes up it will contribute to inflation. The More dramatic the increase in short term jumps of the oil price the worse the corresponding inflation will be.
Humans always find ways to survive. I think the chances of extinction are slim to none. But I also think humans are greedy creatures and I want to keep track of their crash course with depression. Almost like a suicide pact we have banded together and all decided to work extra hard expending massive amounts of our income to waste natural resources for luxury. The adverse effects of our mistakes are becoming glaring.
