Repercussions of the End of the Oil Age

Abstract

It can be considered that a system collapses when it cannot reproduce itself or when it loses or has very debilitated basic functions, and it loses its identity. Civilisations are complex systems, the dynamics of which cannot be predicted. It is impressive how civilisations and political regimes have rapidly collapsed, despite the fact that they seemed stable not long before. Scarcity of the principal resources could be a leading factor of the actual process towards the collapse of our civilization. Competition is the privileged mechanism of the market economic system, but it often turns into confrontation when control over resources is at stake, as shown by the history of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty-first century, when the pre-emptive wars launched by the Bush administration to control resources reached their high point. In the crisis that started in 2008 the escalation of oil prices played a decisive role. However, the centres of power classify it as a financial crisis. Without denying this factor, the escalation of oil prices and those of many other raw materials (some of them saw price rise greater than those of oil) magnified the current economic crisis. Besides, the rising oil prices have become a main obstacle for the recovery.