Provisional
Truth | Book Reviews | August 2006
The Long Emergency:
Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the
Twenty-First Century
by James Howard Kunstler, April 2005
  In a straightforward, logical, non-hysterical
manner, author James Howard Kunstler puts forth the distinct
possibility of a century of radical change in America and
the world as we come to grips with a post-petroleum-era
future which he has christened
The Long Emergency .
Over a period of decades – hence the long
emergency – Kunstler envisions the demise of our
automobile-dependent society as a finite supply of petroleum
becomes too expensive and rare for ordinary citizens and
becomes the catalyst for sweeping changes in almost every
human endeavor.
Gone will be the freedom of travel at will
enjoyed by most Americans – not only business and vacation
travel, but also the hop-in-the-car trips to the grocery
store, shopping mall, sports stadium and children's
activities that we so take for granted.
Kunstler predicts the end not only of the
expansive, suburban lifestyle that has been made possible
for us from inexpensive gasoline, but also the end of
all manner of activities from mass farming to manufacturing to
healthcare to education.
Life will become much more local, rendering
the big city metropolis lifestyle dangerous and obsolete.
Smaller towns and villages will thrive as their inhabitants
relearn the skills of growing food by hand (and horse) and
making useful things like furniture, home accessories and
tools.
Gone will be the big-box discount stores and
shopping malls full of cheap goods imported from China.
Kunstler's long emergency will be most evident in America,
which nearly alone in the world has evolved a free-wheeling
(literally) lifestyle based on petroleum, sprawling suburban
tract neighborhoods and a dearth of public transportation.
And in a thorough evaluation, the author
discusses how the long emergency will impact different
regions of the country. Best suited for life in and after
the long emergency: the northeast and parts of the midwest
with abundant sources of water both for living needs and
energy.
Hydroelectric and hydromotive power will
underpin the cottage industries that will spring up to fill
the void left by the demise of our petroleum-based economy.
I found most fascinating the concept of life
without much – or any – petroleum. Gone, for example, will
be the fresh-flown-in-daily fish and seafood at grocery
stores. In fact, most large chain grocery stores will
disappear, and smaller independent stores selling mostly
locally produced farm goods.
Gone will be nearly all imported retail
merchandise that no longer can be sailed or flown to U.S.
ports, then trucked across the nation.
Of greatest concern to the author is our
complacency.
Not only do we not want to think about such a
radical alteration of our lifestyle, and the impact on our
children and future generations, we pointedly choose not to
worry about such matters because we have been deluded into
thinking that sheer American ingenuity will invent or create
something that will replace petroleum as our primary source
of energy.
That misguided belief, at all levels of our
society, will prevent us from truly addressing – now – the
potential problems we will face in the long emergency.
What Others Are Saying
About
The Long Emergency
at
Amazon.com.
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