•
Transportation costs are rising as the price of oil goes up,
a trend that drives up consumer prices across the board. This
will have a profound effect on manufacturing and retailing sectors
of the economy, among others.
• Energy production in relation to consumer demand continues
to drop. It's only a matter of time until power outages due
to rolling blackouts and equipment failures become the norm.
Many American cities in the future will more closely resemble
present-day Baghdad (on a good day) than they do the cities
they are today.
• In 2008, the first of the baby boomers become eligible
to take early retirement. Over 20 years, some 70 million retirees
will begin drawing Social Security payments. This will have
a huge impact on the Social Security system, not to mention
the impact it will make on the economy in general.
Each
of these conditions is serious enough when taken alone, but
when taken together they will forever change the way the world
does business. Some businesses and industries will disappear
altogether, but others will arise to replace them.
The
resulting shift of demographics won't spell the end of economic
opportunities so much as it does the emergence of new ones.
As proximity becomes a key factor in economy-and-community development,
we'll see the pendulum begin to swing in the opposite direction.
Community-based
businesses, especially retailers and service providers, will
make a comeback as population density increases in strategic
areas. People will work and play and shop close to where they
live. They will rely more on their feet, their bicycles, or
public transportation to get to where they need to go.
Some
suburbs may disappear, but others will become enclaves of self-contained
efficiency. When the Wal-Marts of the world go out of business,
"mom 'n' pop" businesses will spring up to replace
them. The resulting sustainable local economies will make the
communities in which they exist healthier, happier, friendlier
places to live.
Widespread
waves of changes are coming to a place near you. Assimilate!
Resistance is futile.
Copyright
© 2007 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
• • •
For
an occasional dose of insight and opinion, read Petey's
Pipeline Blog.
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Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
Introduction
to a New Series
Since
I first wrote about sustainability in issue #16 (October 3,
2005), I've returned to that topic frequently, as long-time
readers of this e-rag are well aware. Why focus so much attention
on sustainability and not, say, on the Albanian pickled rutabaga
market? Because sustainability matters to everyone on the planet,
and pickled rutabagas only matter to the people who love pickled
rutabagas (about fourteen people worldwide).
Sustainability
is—or, rather, should be—the common thread that's woven
through every human enterprise. We should not attempt to build
economies, cultures, societies, communities, or nations on unsustainable
practices. Anything that's not sustainable will, eventually, cease
to exist.
Many
of the problems now facing most of Earth's species are human caused.
Mankind, in a relentless quest for higher profits through unrestrained
extraction, conversion, and consumption of vital natural resources,
puts all life on the planet in great peril. Everyone claims to
have a solution, but no one wants to confront the core issue.
Furthermore, few people agree on what the core issue actually
is, making a bad situation worse by fostering attitudes and mindsets
that preempt satisfactory solutions.
In
the next issue of Petey's Pipeline, I'll begin a series
of short articles aimed at exploring a myriad of serious problems
now facing global populations. We'll look at alternatives, ponder
unintended consequences, and suggest possible fixes for a litany
of troublesome conditions that are antithetical to sustainability.
Bold action and a widespread call for massive paradigm shifts
in public awareness, attitudes and behaviors can help effect the
establishment of sustainable economies and cultures.
It's
not too late to make the changes that need to be made, but if
we delay much longer, it will be.
Copyright
© 2007 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Write
Thinking
Virgules
( / )
More
commonly referred to as slashes, slants, diagonals, or obliques,
virgules are generally used to represent words not written out
or to set apart adjacent text elements.
•
Virgules Substitute for Missing Words
per
or to, when those words are used in the context of measurements
or ratios:
88
ft./sec.
3 oz./gal.
70/30 split
cost/benefit analysis
and,
when used in certain combining terms:
July/August
report
2005/06 biennium
Portland/Vancouver Public Transportation Initiative
research laboratory/testing facility
at,
for, versus, and with:
NASCAR/Watkins
Glen
Senior V.P./Marketing
Phoenix Suns/Portland Trailblazers
refrigerator/freezer
•
Virgules Separate Alternatives
and/or
his/her
beginner/advanced classes
oral/written exams
•
Virgules Punctuate Certain Abbreviations
AC/DC
c/o
d/b/a
S/Sgt.
w/
•
Virgules Separate Elements
Dates
(12/21/2012)
Nominators and denominators in fractions (3/5, 1/2, 7/8)
Area codes (505/555-5555)
Lines of poetry, usually limited to three or four lines (Once
upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,/Over
many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,/While I
nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,/As of
some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. —
These first four lines of Poe's classic poem, The Raven,
set a chilling tone.)
Copyright
© 2007 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
The
articles appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information
believed to be true at the time of publication.
Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher
assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or
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