Think of this as a feeding frenzy, which occurs in nature when an ample new resource becomes available to a population: their numbers proliferate exponentially until the resource is depleted, and then the population crashes. It happens all the time. The ample new resource, of course, was fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—all of which provided a net energy bananza, fueling the industrial Revolution and the explosive growth of innovation, production, consumption, and population, all accelerating demands for yet more fossil fuel extraction, burning, and pollution. But fossil fuel reserves are finite and have reached their peak productivity while their carbon emissions are heating up our global climate at an accelerating rate. This will lead inexorably to overshoot, collapse, and die-off, which, once it kicks in, will most likely be faster than we imagine—especially if our large scale (fossil fuel-driven) agricultural systems collapse due to drought and overheating, and food prices skyrocket, while aquifers are pumped dry. No water, no life. All we can do is grow gardens, grow community, and grow awareness. Those who build resilience by collaborating with their neighbors in sharing skills and produce, learning and teaching others how to harvest rainfall and store water in topsoil and vegetation, and offer aid to others in distress will survive a lot longer than those who cling to the dying status quo of mutually alienated and paranoid consumerism, and who think stockpiling money and guns will make them safe!