YCThanks for the article. The second last paragraph was...

YC
Thanks for the article. The second last paragraph was especially thought provoking ... "Even the United States is not immune from the potential for food shortages, food riots and food insecurity. We’re just blind to the possibility."
My question though would be, 'just blind', or 'don't really want to see', because not wanting to see now appears to be of global proportions.

Never in written history has the rate of political, social and environmental change been so rapid, with very little of it life sustaining, but rather life destroying. Eg, the countries experiencing violent political unrest and knife edge tension continue to increase in number, as do those causing geopolitical concerns. Energy and food (the two fundamental essentials of any society) are becoming more scarce and expensive and, in relation to food, not only because of ethanol production but because of diminishing water supplies, soils that have lost their productivity ... much of it due to acidification through the use of fertilisers, and the increasing use of grain to feed livestock (a cow will only feed x people but the grain to grow the cow will feed 10x people). Then one must add changing climate and environmental circumstances which are eroding the life supporting capacity of nature as we have known it, resulting in ever increasing impacts on both poltical and social circumstances.

And the rate of change will continue to accelerate because the 2.3 billion people in China and India (30% of the world's population) are aspiring, and slowly achieving, the standard of living of the western industrial nations.

It leaves many questions as to where mankind is headed and when, because we can be certain of one thing ... it can't continue.

cheers
marz