Great digest. Thanks.

The thing aboout "preparing for global war" is, though, that we have been in a global war against the planet since WWII (or since civilization, but after WWII, we have been 'winning' economically: humans increasing influence over Nature and Nature losing influence over humans). Consumerism was developed on purpose specifically to keep all of the engines of the war running at full speed to keep all of the farm kids working at high paying jobs so they could buy houses and cars and gasoline.

We have forgotten that we don't need big houses, cars or gasoline: the salesmen need us to think we do, and the government they bought and paid for has been doing its damnedest to keep the shining city illusion rolling along the golden highways to nowhere. The idiots with campaign contributions and pointy hats will probably try to blow each other up, but for the most part so far, they have deferred to their donors' fear of losing the sunk costs in the Potemkin planet they already bought. It looks like civilization, but it's Orcs all the way down.