There was an interesting link posted here about Freud's cousin (or nephew) who is apparently considered the founder of the PR industry. It's a bit messy because each video is in several parts, but I watched all the parts and found it fascinating how easily we can be manipulated on a grand scale.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lulubel', 'I') read somewhere (can't remember where now) that the consumer culture was a direct result of the increased production that oil allowed. We were able to manufacture more, so businesses needed to find a way to sell more - hence the development of fashion and advertising. It makes a lot of sense that cultures who are used to making money through manufacturing will look for other ways to do it when manufacturing goods isn't profitable any more. So they create ponzi schemes that will inevitably crash, and the majority of people lose. I think the root cause of the 2008 crash is oil because our society has developed the way it has because of it, but there were a lot of immediate triggers, and $147 a barrel was just one of them.
Regarding how society will organise itself in the future, I think it will depend on whether we THINK or REACT. If we think, we might work out a way to preserve our way of life to a reasonable degree. If we react, we'll form into small groups with others who share our same genetic material, and try to kill anyone who competes with us - just as animals have done throughout history - and destroy everything we're fighting to preserve.