[americandream]

I know this has been discussed on here in the past, but what the heck do you do confronted with a peaking civilisation......

do you run (and lose the last semblance of sanity with family and friends no to mention feeling like a right traitor) or do you stick it out in the faint hope that maybe, just maybe, we can pull through or the whole nasty messy will drag on for perhaps another 4 or five decades and see whats left of you out.

[thuja]

Yeah its been discussed- its kind of the basis of discussion for a large portion of threads. But in answer to your question...Its all up to you mate. You have to decide if we're about to go completely batshit, or if we can suck on the last fumes of the dying times.

I opt for plan B myself...hang on in Portland Oregon and hope I can keep my job through the coming Depression. Then watch as a tumbling world economy causes demand destruction. Then hope for people to adapt intensely as a low energy lifestyle becomes compulsory. Watch as poverty, crime, anger and fear sweeps the first world and boils up into bloodshed, riots, ethnic struggles and warfare.

Should be a laugh riot!

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'Y')eah its been discussed- its kind of the basis of discussion for a large portion of threads. But in answer to your question...Its all up to you mate. You have to decide if we're about to go completely batshit, or if we can suck on the last fumes of the dying times.

I opt for plan B myself...hang on in Portland Oregon and hope I can keep my job through the coming Depression. Then watch as a tumbling world economy causes demand destruction. Then hope for people to adapt intensely as a low energy lifestyle becomes compulsory. Watch as poverty, crime, anger and fear sweeps the first world and boils up into bloodshed, riots, ethnic struggles and warfare.

Should be a laugh riot!

[pup55]

There is an example right in front of us, or more accurately, directly south of us....

The land of Mexico is a screwed up mess of corruption, unequal income distribution, overpopulation, poverty, inept or malicious leadership, a terrible legal system and drug-money-infiltrated police force and general disorganization, despite once abundant natural resources.

Some people have prospered in the system, however, and are living high on the hog.

Some have decided to abandon ship, and head north, and are picking up our garbage. The argument can be made that this is the most industrious sector of the Mexican populatiion, the young and ambitious. If you think about it, this is really terrible. If they had stayed in Mexico, they would have been a good influence on the country, and might have helped straighten it out.

The young and lazy, some of them, have evidently stayed put, not being industrious enough to leave, or otherwise rock the boat. They have decided to take their chances with the system, be it ever so screwed up, there is no place like home.

The country folk, old timers, and others who have not known any other life for about 150 years have also stayed put. They are not going to change.

Some have abandoned the countryside and headed toward the cities, and, from what I understand, find it slightly easier to survive as slum dwellers. A favorite pastime is to wash windows of passing cars, or do circus acts for tips while people are stopped for a red light.

So, the answer to the question: It depends on what you are good at, and whether or not you feel compelled, by any sense of loyalty, to stay in your present community/neighborhood and help make the system better, or at least stable. If you are ambitious, and/or smart, but have no real loyalty to your own locale, then you will check out for greener pastures. Presumably you will do fine wherever you go, and benefit that community by being an example of a good citizen. The remainder of the people in your community, the lazy, whiners, panickers, control freaks, insecure, fearful, stupid, and others unwilling or unable to change, will have to sink or swim on their own. Or maybe they just like it there and don't want to leave.

If you are sufficiently smart, skilled, or industrious, or sufficiently willing and able to live within and/or massage whatever system there is left when the chaos starts, there's still a good chance you will survive and prosper right where you are. You might have to change your habits a little bit to accommodate the new reality, but this adaptability makes you stronger.

So, I would say use this time for self-assessment, and also, to look at your surroundings and say to yourself: If things got bad, do I really want to be around here? Or, say to yourself, Are there opportunties and niches I could fill right here, and help make the situation more stable?

Then, do what you have to do.