I realize the shortages you enumerated have different reasons , but a highly respectable French engineer, Jean-Marc Jancovici , has been repeating for years that we are heading into an inevitable age of "degrowth".

It is not an "if". It is now inevitable.

He is very pro alternative sources of energy but he clearly explains nothing can replace petroleum right now. Petroleum is used to build everything. Gas for your car. Your clothes. Plastic bags. Our beloved computers. Everything uses petroleum one way or another.

We are doomed.

I’m just happy I’m too old to go through all the bad times that are coming.

We're an energy civilization entirely built around fossil fuels, mostly petrol, on top of that we "optimized" everything to the max, which means any little inconvenience will now break several systems/sub systems.

We're about to realize what it means to have a globalized economy addicted to petrol

Yes, pretty much. Have you seen that the houthis took the bab al-Mandab strait?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/09/11/world/middlee...

Food production is also at risk

Yes but it’s fine we have way too much of everything anyway

Dont forget beef

If you check what is globally going on then yes, it looks like we are heading that direction.

Well, we already had the toilet paper shortage last time around, but round #2 of this administration just keeps on giving.

And the promise is that we will have a shortage of shortages!