Peak Oil folks keep saying that the sky is falling, and we’d better get ready. It seems like wishful thinking to me.

Yes, sure, we’re running out of oil. But if you’re thinking that means we will no longer be able to depend on the folks with the power, that we’ll have to become human again, I’m afraid you’re fooling yourself. Those with the money and the power have plenty of ways to maintain the status quo, in whatever form.

* Nanotech is coming, and that will drastically change what can be done. Nanotech is expensive, and will remain in the hands of the powerful.

* The guns are in the hands of the people in power, and that won’t change (unless we change it)

* Food and medicines may not be able to easily travel great distances, but they can still be controlled by land-”owners,” who will decide what to grow and how to grow, and tell us what we can and cannot eat.

It’s not that I’m being pessimistic. I have a wonderful vision of the future, and I believe it can come about. But it isn’t going to happen magically, because we run out of oil. We’re going to have to create it.

And *that’s* the real reason for eating locally, creating community, and making sure you know how to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Take your life back from the creepy corporate powers, and become your own person.

Don’t do it because the sky is falling. Do it because you remember that you are human.