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At first thought, it might seem that the richest and most powerful people would have the best chance of weathering the events of the coming century. With enough money, they could buy a hilltop fortress, or erect security fences, or build private solar power stations, or hire guards and gardeners, or do a hundred other things to maintain themselves. This reasoning is sound up to a point: wealthy individuals could in fact become local warlords, the power holders in a feudal ‘Mad Max’ society of the future.
However, wealth in and of itself will confer no guarantee of well-being. After a certain point, money is likely to lose value, and immediately useful goods will instead become the basis of trade. Moreover, many currently wealthy individuals are not equipped to do as well as industrial civilization collapses: they are even more dependent than most other people on electronic gadgetry, long-distance travel, and a smoothly functioning social system. Imagine, for example, the plight of the well-off Manhattan stockbroker, or the Hong Kong currency trader, when lights go out and food shipments to local supermarkets are interrupted.
— Richard Heinberg, Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World (via cultureofresistance)
(Source: mikroblogolas)
