If you want to hear a very pessimistic view of the times ahead that we're facing, click on "Matt Savinar on Coast to Coast with Art Bell". It's a top notch interview that's almost 40 minutes long. I heartily recommend it. However, it is a bit of a downer, in that the peak oil expert figures that society will likely tear itself apart...at least in the larger urban centers.
 
So I'd like to counter that view with a book recommendation. Wartime Britain is an amazing book. It's almost 800 pages long, and it's considered the ultimate book about what the British people managed to do when assaulted by Hitler on their home turf. It's inspiring in that it shows what a determined population can accomplish when faced with great adversity. I highly recommend it. If we can do a tenth of what the brits managed to do under Churchill, we'll be able to lick peak oil or climate change or anything else that besets us.