All the flag waving in the world won't stop the food riots, or the sea rising or the icecaps melting. Happily, the wine still flows, carbon trading shows promise and we can watch disaster movies on laptops. The food gets finer, even as the fish disappear. We face peak oil, peak water, even peak civilization; but let's not mention the resource wars.



Now is the time to stretch our mind skills, such as adjusting to paradox, adapting to change and engaging the future. Do we face a long boom, a long emergency or a slow, startling and irresistible decline into a Third World lifestyle.



Pass the lentils, light the dung. Hot rocks in the outback could

replace the need for coal; skyscrapers might grow food, water tables may be refreshed with artificial rain or the tears of the Gods and through it all, you'll need to learn to live in three time zones.



Confused? Welcome to the future - it's where you'll spend the rest of your life.



http://www.richardneville.com/