It's bad. We all know it but like the proverbial elephant in the room everyone knows is there but doesn't acknowledge, no one really wants to talk about how bad it could possibly get. It's as though ignoring the horrendously possible scenarios will somehow make them disappear. Abracadabra! Out of sight; out of mind.

I do think about these things, some would say to a degree that is more than healthy. The urgency and the scope of the crisis greatly disturbs me because of our unpreparedness for the catastrophes on the not-so-distant horizon. Like a House of Cards, when one system fails with no viable back-up plan all other systems are thereby made more vulnerable. When there are no jobs, there is no money and when there is no money commerce as we know it will come to a halt. No gas, no diesel, no trucks - all translating to a severe shortage of food and other essentials upon which we rely. Spoiled generations of people accustomed to having whatever they want, when they want it and how they want it have taken the largess for granted, little consideration going into the complexity that makes our society run so smoothly. What will happen when there are glitches and failures in the delivery system of the material goods we depend upon and are unable to produce?

At this point (in my mind) it is senseless to point fingers and assign blame. The die has been cast and the name of the game is System Failure and we're all playing this game whether or not we want to play. It is the price that must be paid for the combined totality of all the appetites we have so giddily indulged from time immemorial. The Earth having been drilled, mined, logged, fished and otherwise abused past capacity is now strained to provide for an expanding populace intent on satisfying its every desire. Earth can no longer afford us just as we can no longer afford much of what we have so easily taken for granted.

The financial collapses are but symptoms of an entire failure of all systems. Greedy consumption beyond what we are capable of producing has leveraged us beyond the point of being able to play catch up. Our credit with the Earth has dried up and she will have her way to restore the balance necessary for the health of the planet. The "good" times will be balanced by the "bad" times. There will be suffering and there will be death and there will be no way to avoid it. The piper will always be paid in the end.

Like it's some sort of contagion to be avoided people shun speaking of system failure as an open topic of discussion. Perhaps the thinking is if we don't talk about it and give voice to our fears and apprehensions it won't be real but just another fictionalized drama staged for our diversionary entertainment on TV. So in the effort to retain a certain degree of normalcy we go on with our lives in the habitual ways we are accustomed, looking after ourselves and our families and loved ones. Reality always and eventually rudely intrudes into our make believe diversionary world though. It has come for many in the loss of a job and there will be many more losses as the malignancy spreads and infects us all through the systemic failure.

In my more cynical and imaginal moments I sometimes attribute a lot of what is going on to some sort of dreaded world wide conspiracy. One that has a few elite financial master minds herding all of the rest of us into a financial prison of credit erected to control and eliminate what they view as "dead wood" or "useless eaters". Not a pretty picture and the implications are horrendous. There would be no need for them to overtly eliminate the "undesirables" as those imprisoned in the failures of the credit crunch would do it for them. A dreadful Mad Max scenario comes to mind with thoughts of the disenfranchised, the violent and less moral of our society undertaking a campaign to take whatever they want from those who have it. All out anarchy is a strong possibility.

The Scout's motto "Be Prepared" was never more applicable than it is today. In truth I have no inkling how bad it will get. That we're in for a hard time for a while there is no doubt. And there is no doubt those who have prepared for hard times will fare better than those who do not. So I think about these things, too. It never crossed my mind 5 years ago that I would be scouring the web for information in how to make soap or raise chickens but strangely enough I have begun to compile a list of resources for such things. Or that my flower garden would be re-tilled for vegetables. The discovery that there are viable currency systems that are not based on predatory interest has given me hope for the future, too.

Mother Earth will survive and care for those of her children who survive and learn to care for her. But we will have to do it her way as our perniciously parasitic way of life has brought us to our knees. Finally. I am reminded of the words of Jesus, "The meek shall inherit the Earth," and also a phrase from the "The Tao": When you realize you have enough you are truly rich.