Living in the Long Emergency : Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward

Back in the year 2005, I published a book called The Long Emergency that made the case for a coming collapse of the industrial economy. Since it predicted the demise of just about everything we consider normal in daily life, it spooked a lot of people. Here we are, fifteen years later. The country has seen the stunning election of our first black president, an epic financial blowup (and a dubious “recovery”), and the political shock of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. Yet to the casual observer it seems that little has really changed. The Ford F-150 pickup trucks still hurtle proudly around the ever-more-sprawling suburbs; the Too-Big-to-Fail banks still thrive in their artificial interest-rate arbitrage nirvana; the supermarket shelves groan with high-fructose corn syrup–based treats; Disney World rakes in record revenues; American troops still patrol the backcountry in Afghanistan; Silicon Valley keeps minting new billionaires; and, well, the whole wicked, groaning apparatus of modernity appears to carry on as if nothing significant has happened. It kind of reminds me of what Ricky Ricardo used to tell Lucy on TV: “You got some ’ splainin’ to do!”All right, then, I will. For one thing, I didn’t call it The Long Emergency for no reason. The operations of complex societies have many interesting features. Two in particular exist in a sort of dynamic tension of opposites: fragility and inertia. Fragility accretes insidiously as ever-greater complexity is layered onto the system. But inertia is the property by which systems in motion tend to remain in motion. A system as large and complex as ours has acquired tremendous momentum, which, of course, feeds back to aggravate its fragility, portending a more destructive eventual outcome. And so it keeps staggering along, despite all the tension and stress, until it reaches criticality . . . and cracks. And this can go on longer than we might suppose. Forget the speculation of pundits and media personalities. For anyone asking "Now what?" the answer is out there. You just have to know where to look. In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st century--the end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now--surviving The Long Emergency as it happens.Through his popular blog, Clusterf\*\*ck Nation, Kunstler has had the opportunity to connect with people from across the country. They've shared their stories with him--sometimes over years of correspondence--and in Living in the Long Emergency: Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward, he shares them with us, offering an eye-opening and unprecedented look at what's really going on "out there" in the US--and beyond.Coming from all walks of life, the individuals you'll meet in these pages have one thing in common: their stories acutely illustrate the changing realities real people are facing--and coping with--every day. In profiles of their fascinating lives, Kunstler paints vivid, human portraits that offer a "slice of life" from people whose struggles and triumphs all too often go ignored.With personal accounts from a Vermont baker, homesteaders, a building contractor in the Baltimore ghetto, a white nationalist, and many more, Living in the Long Emergency is a unique and timely exploration of how the lives of everyday Americans are being transformed, for better and for worse, and what these stories tell us both about the future and about human perseverance. Forget the speculation of pundits and media personalities. For anyone asking Now what? the answer is out there. You just have to know where to look. In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency , James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st centurythe end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now surviving The Long Emergency as it happens. Through his popular blog, Clusterf**ck Nation, Kunstler has had the opportunity to connect with people from across the country. Theyve shared their stories with himsometimes over years of correspondenceand in Living in the Long Emergency: Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward , he shares them with us, offering an eye-opening and unprecedented look at whats really going on out there in the USand beyond. Coming from all walks of life, the individuals youll meet in these pages have one thing in common: their stories acutely illustrate the changing realities real people are facingand coping withevery day. In profiles of their fascinating lives, Kunstler paints vivid, human portraits that offer a slice of life from people whose struggles and triumphs all too often go ignored. With personal accounts from a Vermont baker, homesteaders, a building contractor in the Baltimore ghetto, a white nationalist, and many more, Living in the Long Emergency is a unique and timely exploration of how the lives of everyday Americans are being transformed, for better and for worse, and what these stories tell us both about the future and about human perseverance. Forget the speculation of pundits and media personalities. For anyone asking "Now what?" the answer is out there. You just have to know where to look. In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency , James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st century—the end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now —surviving The Long Emergency as it happens. Through his popular blog, Clusterf*ck Nation, Kunstler has had the opportunity to connect with people from across the country. They've shared their stories with him—sometimes over years of correspondence—and in Living in the Long Emergency: Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward , he shares them with us, offering an eye-opening and unprecedented look at what's really going on "out there" in the US—and beyond. Kunstler also delves deep into his past predictions, comparing and contrastingt hem with the way things have unfolded with unflinching honesty. Further, he turns an eye to what's ahead, laying out the strategies that will help all of us as we navigate this new world. With personal accounts from a Vermont baker, homesteaders, a building contractor in the Baltimore ghetto, a white nationalist, and many more, Living in the Long Emergency is a unique and timely exploration of how the lives of everyday Americans are being transformed, for better and for worse, and what these stories tell us both about the future and about human perseverance. A Message From the Author: Back in 2005, my book The Long Emergency made the case for a coming collapse of the industrial economy. Since it predicted the demise of just about everything we consider normal in daily life, it spooked a lot of people. Fifteen years later, the country has seen the stunning election of our first black president, an epic financial blowup (and a dubious "recovery"), and the political shock of Donald Trump's 2016 victory. Yet, to the casual observer, it seems that little has really changed. But I didn't call it The Long Emergency for no reason. Our large and complex society has acquired tremendous momentum, which, of course, feeds back to aggravate its fragility, portending a more destructive eventual outcome. And so it keeps staggering along, despite all the tension and stress, until it reaches a critical state ...and cracks. And this can go on longer than we might suppose. Now, in Living the Long Emergency, I'll venture to discuss what I got right and what I got wrong making my prognostications. Additionally, I'll present portraits of people I've met around the country who have been affected by the early stages of the Long Emergency, some of them battered by loss, some of them caught up in crafting new ways to thrive in the discontinuities yet to come. And finally, I'll try to answer the question: Now what? The objective is to form a coherent consensus about what is happening to us so we can make solid plans about what to do. -- From dust jacket "James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, which sold approximately 36K copies, returns with a new book exploring the looming collapse of the techno-industrial economy, featuring profiles of individuals who have drastically altered their lives due to financial difficulties"-- Provided by publisher