Above all else, disasters place their survivors in a state of absolute uncertainty, stripping away any illusions we may have of stability and permanence.

A profound disaster occurred in the US on September 11, 2001. The primary effect of that disaster was great human and material loss and destruction that directly touched many people. Tremendous as that was, though, the secondary damage done to our national psyche was much greater in it’s own way. It was as an attack from outside for which we were ill prepared. We were shocked, stunned, and angry for a long time. We were faced with the fact that we are exposed and vulnerable. But there was – and continues to be – a tertiary effect of 9/11. It began when unscrupulous politicians exploited the event, playing on the fears and insecurity of the nation to further an agenda that had been in the making for years. Out of a need for certainty and security, we allowed these people to wreak havoc around the world and within the homeland.

The primary damage of September 11 was immediate. We knew exactly what hit us and when, just as they knew in China and Myanmar. The tertiary damage, however, is slow and inexorable, and it’s source and design is not so clear as unstable weather or shifting tectonic plates. Most of us have no real idea of the inner workings of world politics and economics. Yet what is happening politically and economically around the world – especially when it comes to crude oil these days – has the potential for disaster.

I don’t know if it’s possible for those smarter and more informed than I to draw a direct line from our collective reaction to an event that happened nearly seven years ago and to the price I pay for a gallon of gas today. And it really doesn’t matter.

But it does seem to me that the price of fuel will sooner than later begin to have an effect on how I and most of the rest of us live our lives. I am considering giving up one of my several jobs – teaching a class, specifically – because of the distance I must drive to get there. It simply is not cost effective. That is just one small thing, an example of making necessary adjustments in my life and lifestyle to accommodate significant changes in the way things are.

I can’t help but wonder how long before gasoline is $5, $8, $10 per gallon. What will we do? What will I do? What changes will I and my family have to make? What will happen when the average citizen cannot afford to go to work? I haven’t noticed that wages are rising along with the price of gas. I have noticed that profits for Chevron and Exxon/Mobile continue to rise along with the price of crude oil.

Much of the blame for the high price of fuel is being placed on demand from India and China. I wonder how much of that is true. People the world over have always been lied to and mislead by their governments (or whoever holds real power). We hapless citizens of the USA are no exception. Remember how Enron manipulated the price and flow of electricity – and destroyed many lives in the process? Once again, the why of it doesn’t matter. There is no real stability to anything, no matter how much we want to believe it.

What matters is something is happening. Something big and life-changing. The question on my mind is how I will respond to it.

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