Reply #11: I hate to say it, but..

[girl gone mad]

the way so many people live in this country is just flat out ridiculous. I think a lot of people are going to be in for a shock as credit dries up, energy prices keep rising and wages continue their decline. People in cities are completely out of touch with the amount of labor and energy involved in getting food into their stores and restaurants and keeping up the infrastructure. People in suburbs take the amount of driving they do for granted.

A lot of white collar jobs are non-essential and will simply not exist in the future. It's hard to imagine how people are going to manage, aside from moving back into labor and drastically altering their lifestyles. I'm no exception. I've been trying to reduce my energy consumption and dependence for a few years now, but a sudden loss of income or significant spike in oil prices would still be difficult.