James Howard Kunstler

We're not ready for what's coming at us.

So I urge you all to do what you can.

Life in the mid-21st century is going to be about living locally.

Be prepared to be good neighbors.

Be prepared to find vocations that make you useful to your neighbors and to your fellow citizens.

One final thing.

I've been very disturbed about this for years, but I think it's particularly important for this audience.

Please, please stop referring to yourselves as consumers.

Okay?

Consumers are different than citizens.

Consumers do not have obligations, responsibilities, and duties to their fellow human beings.

And as long as you're using that word consumer in the public discussion, you will be degrading the quality of the discussion we're having, and we're going to continue being clueless going into this very difficult future that we face.

So thank you very much.

Please go out and do what you can to make this a land

full of places that are worth caring about and a nation that will be worth defending.