JohnE: The growing concern that people have that the system is "going to fail" is not coming simply from paranoia. It's not a new Y2K thing.

By the way ... I agree that the whole Y2K mess that happened a decade ago had a huge amount of exploitation and fear mongering built into it.

There are several good reasons why people are losing confidence in our current political system. One factor is the spiraling levels of financial debt that are building up in the USA, UK, Japan, and some other western economies. Average citizens are sensing that these levels of debt simply cannot be sustained, and that therefore serious consequences MUST come from this irresponsible behavior. Hence, it seems likely that we will see either serious cutbacks in services from governments, OR big tax increases, OR big increases in the prices we pay for basic items like food, oil, etc. Any way you look at this, people will have to change their living habits substantially to cope with this.

One small - but good - example is already coming from the state government in Arizona. The governor of AZ has publicly acknowledged that the state is way over-committed financially, and that they MUST make serious cutbacks to get things back in line. I view this as an honest and realistic approach to the problem. But it will cause hardship, and force people to be more frugal.

In contrast to this, take a look at the "denial" that is still going on with my own state of California. The budget deficit for CA is huge compared to AZ, and we still don't see state politicians who have the guts to be realistic about the consequences. CA is risking the possibility of a major crash because of this behavior.

Looking beyond these economic concerns, there is a set of even bigger concerns about trends in our world over the next 30-50 years. I might take the time to post some of these scientific predictions on the forum - so people can take a look. The picture is not good. But keep in mind that these are based on scientific concerns. This is not something related to doomsday prophecies, or the Mayan calendar. It is also not related to the current controversy of global warming. The main drivers are population trends, an energy crisis, and scarce resources.

Still ... I notice that there are big differences in attitudes across America about these issues. If I visit people in Utah or Missouri (for example), they seem much more relaxed and much less concerned. Life is slower, and they have not been impacted by the changes yet (not too much!!). But Americans living in the larger cities are already feeling the consequences ... families feel like they are not getting ahead, and frankly are struggling just to stay even. There is more stress, and living standards are eroding.

The move to sustainable living is really a good idea at this time ... an essential one actually. Those folks here who have already made the transition are well ahead of the rest of the country.

other Pete