Thanks for your reply! You're the 2nd person suggesting I should make this into an article so perhaps its worth the time to reformat it and post it as such.

"either way we will be protesting"... you're right about that!

"Climate change is here. As is the implosion of empire and hegemony with it and the American public will have to get used to discomfort. The first waves of it are already being felt in the rampant inflationary pressures that can't be magicked away with monetary policy."... 100% agree. Well said.

"Sadly us Americans have no idea what's coming, being insulated from the world for decades. But that's going to change sooner than we think."... Exactly. One other thing I'm shocked that people aren't paying more attention to is that - along with climate change - the proven reserves of available oil are estimated to last ~30 years. That's it. No more oil in my lifetime (or at least none for the average consumer - it will become prohibitively expensive as governments and militaries hoard the last of it)

I don't know what my little 1yo nephew will be driving when he's my age, but one thing is certain: It won't be something powered by gasoline.

Yet, American consumers expect the price of gas to remain stable and think that a president can keep fuel prices down. This is not a compatible expectation in a reality where it is a non-renewable resource being rapidly consumed. It is only ever going to get more expensive until it is all gone... (or until the cost and energy to extract it becomes greater than what's extracted).

That's just one example. I think the majority of our economy is built on false assumptions and expectations that everything will just chug along as usual for eternity at the current rates. This is utter nonsense.