h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is thought that in this country if we go ten days without oil and petrol anarchy will ensue and so-called civil society will resemble a free for all. Is this right?

I would have thought that this was true until the price of gasoline in America topped $4.00 a gallon this summer. People cut back so dramatically overnight, it took all of the power out of it. Sure, they whined, but most folks just rolled with it and did without. Once the suppliers knew we weren't going to buy at that price, the price dropped pretty quickly.

Western Civilizations can and do organize at lower levels when they know they have to (i.e., times of war) and we're not quite as pasty and useless as the media would have us believe - yet.

Have we become so softened by the luxuries of modern life that we're now incapable of surviving without running tapwater, central heating and Pot Noodles?

Key West has an opportunity to test this theory about once every seven years or so. Hurricanes routinely disrupt us for a week or two without power and running water, and no air conditioning in the hottest part of the year, etc. People band together to survive it. They do not, as you might imagine, loot, pillage, steal and kill their fellow human beings. However, this does depend on our being a small, tightly-knit community as opposed to say, New Orleans. So maybe I'm glad I live here...