![](\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0uPSljNE9f4\/S1uVNmoPkqI\/AAAAAAAAAxM\/0Y38jWUh9-w\/s1600-h\/gloom+and+doom.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nOn the plane last week, I settled in and read a couple articles that I\u2019d tucked in my bag. First up was James Howard Kunstler from The Sun<\/i>, \u201cThe Decline and Fall of the Suburban Empire<\/a>.\u201d Sayeth Kunstler,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The peak-oil problem means that we can no longer expect to run an economy based on never-ending growth, which means ultimately that we can\u2019t service our debts at any level \u2014 personal, corporate, governmental. We\u2019re comprehensively broke.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n That may not strike you as strikingly new but the guy\u2019s been singing this song for years. I\u2019ll spare you the details but his view is really sobering about the possibilities of returning to \u201cnormal.\u201d And in his view, the new normal won\u2019t arrive for a long time after massive adjustments revitalize the local economy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The second piece was from the current Atlantic <\/i>by James Fallows, \u201cAfter the Crash: How America Can Rise Again<\/a>.\u201d To over simplify, Fallows thinks most of our systems are in pretty good shape <\/span><\/span>(he ignores peak oil) <\/span><\/span>except for our government, \u201c\u2026old and broken and dysfunctional, and may even be beyond repair.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat is the American tragedy of the early 21st century: a vital and self-renewing culture that attracts the world\u2019s talent, and a governing system that increasingly looks like a joke.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So what does the dharma<\/a> have to say about our predicament? A lot \u2013 but just one point for now.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n