Review of
After The Crash
by Tom Blair.
One day soon people will look at this time in American history and wonder why society was so unprepared - the way we look at the Great Depression today. Nature has periods of cataclysm - geological, physical, economic, and social. After The Crash covers them all. And covers them from an epistemological point of view the resonates deeply with mine.
What happens when fossil fuel becomes precious? We are currently at peak production - but demand from China, India and other developing nations is booming. Furthermore for the first time in history, China and India can outbid us for oil. The days of the oxcart are coming back - for us. We are tomorrow’s third-world nation. Full disclosure here - the authoress, Caryl Johnston is a friend of mine. Nevertheless this review is easy - because After The Crash is a very good book.
Look at this historical timeline graphic from the preface. Then look at the headlines today. We are running out of fossil fuel.
Although environmentalists and nature-worshippers imagine this time will be a paradise, the end of fossil fuels will be hard times; causing major social re-alignment unpleasant to everyone. I very much enjoyed Caryl Johnston’s description of our “neo-feudal” future. So also the images of a future without global communication, also the rise of human-generated energy as a currency; the return of localism for lack of energy to transport people.
Having read After The Crash I feel like sticking close to home; saving my money, and contributing to the culture in the town where my daughter is growing up.
You should read After The Crash - it is like lookng at the headlines we will be seeing next year.
