cjwirth,

I'm right there with ya, believe me, when it comes to "we're all gonna die!" doomer days, I have had some doozies.

I agree with your sentiment, if handled poorly, PO + climate change could kick our collective asses.

Stop reading the Kunstler and LATOC for a while (they will still be there for you when you get back), read some Heinberg and Archdruid Report instead.

Don't worry about the 3/4 of the people on the planet who are doing the wrong thing, you can't change that. Don't worry about the other 7 Bil and counting, for that matter. Focus on what you can do. I wasted a precious year trying to convince my family that PO was not a whacko consiracy theory, all I did was piss 'em off. It finally occurred to me that the only thing I could do was prepare, on my own, as much as I was able, in the narrow window of time that is still available to me. Buy a couple cases of beans and a couple big bags of rice. I did, it made me feel better. I have about 6 months of food now, all stuff that we eat anyway, and all bought when it was on sale. If you have skills that will be useful post-peak, that's great. If you don't, now is the time to learn. Ditto with whatever you think will be important in terms of preparation.

The people who are close to you will be going through their own personal "oh shit" moments just like we all did. Focus on spending your time now preparing to be there for them when they are in need. You will feel better, I promise.

I find sometimes I need to freak myself out a bit with the doomer perspective on things just as a motivational jolt. But I try not to let it run my life.

We are living at the height of this civilization, judging from the fact that you are posting to this site with your computer and can string together a coherent sentence I am assuming that you are a middle to upper class westerner. In other words, compared to every single one of your ancestors, from cave dwelling days to present you are incredibly, unimaginably, obscenely wealthy. Take advantage of your wealth while you still have it and prepare. I don't mean get into debt (unless you think hyperinflation will magically whisk your bills away, but don't count on it), I mean use your brains to figure out what you think will be important and do it.

So you think the world in a few years' time will be short horses and mules? Take up animal husbandry and you have a safe and secure post-peak job, for example. I won't tell you what to do, you need to figure it out for yourself. But you get my point.

Also, take care not to accelerate the timeline. We are well into the beginning of the plateau now, is there rioting in the streets yet? -OK bad question, there is, but the pain will hit us last and less severely, like economic downturns always do. By all means, plan for the worst case scenario, but judging from the experts' reports, things look more like the midline right now.

Un homme averti en vaut deux.

-Old French folk wisdom
"A forewarned man is worth two."