The Day The World Will Change

Well I was thinking WHEN will the world change, HOW will it change, and WHY will it change. All of these I was looking at an environmental point of view; sustainability and end of Oil.
Mass consumption of oil will be gone in the next 50 years and will will need something to replace it, but what will replace it? Nothing, we can not replace it. We will be able to adapt, but the world will not be the same. We will not be able to fly, or get fresh food from California, or just in time delivery. Our lifestyle will drastically change, we will still live good lives but they will be no close to the same lifestyle that we live now. We will not be able to travel to Cuba, buy anything we want.
Our world will be filled with many new inventions but none of them will be able to replace oil. Our whole society is based on oil, how can we replace a mismanaged and overused stable.
Every product we touch is made from oil, not to mention the amount of oil it took to make it. There was also oil used to get the natural resources from, transportation of the product. All of our 'western' products are tied to oil and we will never be able to separate all of the products from the need of oil.
What to do then, well we could put restrictions on the amount of oil we can use. That will only come into place when we start when the oil supply decreases. That will cause the restrictions to be put into place for ever and increased restrictions over time. It would cause the economy to go into a tailspin, isn't our economy based on mass consumerism, when that ends so will our economy.
All this reminds me of the song by John Mayer, Waiting on the World to Change. I am waiting for the world to change and realize that our mass consumerism has to stop. We will have to change every aspect of our lives. The song also sheds a light on how are are not seeing the whole story on many issues.

Oh Greece, Why care about that Name?

If there is going to be lasting peace in the Balkans, then Greece will have to make a change in its foreign policy. Greece has vetoed Macedonia's bid at joining NATO and are threating to do the same for the EU. This is not over large issues, it is over the name of Macedonia. Yes Greece is going to stop Macedonia's bid for joining anything because they use the name Macedonia. This could cause a destabilizing affect for the whole Balkan region.

The reason that Greece does not like Macedonia to use the name Macedonia is because some Greek states are called Macedonia as well. This leads Greece to think that Macedonia will try and take some of their territory. Macedonia has stated many times that they are not going to take that action, but that has not appeased the Greek government. This issue almost stop Macedonia from joining the UN but they go by the name of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
It appears that the Greek government finds a name more important then the stability of its neighbours. Macedonia almost went into civil war in the late 1990s but the international community was able to stabilize the country. One of the major ways that they were able to stabilize the country was the promise of joining NATO and EU. They have vetoed the NATO bid and next will come the EU bid. This will remove one of the reasons to keep the peace in Macedonia.
There is also an election in Serbia shortly and the position that Greece has taken is not helping. It appears that the EU members are only out to help themselves and not those who could join. Greece has threatened to use its veto power a lot, it looks they are following the US as a role model.