Civilization is irreversibly using up the limited tangible natural capital at a very high rate. That is the physical reality despite the failure of society, including the powerful and the seemingly knowledgeable, to recognize it. A powering down is inevitable as ecological forces impose their control on the operation of civilization. The declining supply of oil, fossil water and fertile soil, the impact of climate change and pollution are just some of the ecological forces showing signs of the impact on nature to the operations of civilization.

A question then is what mechanism, other than the belated appreciation of these signs, is there to encourage people to adapt to the decline of civilization as these ecological forces continue to exert their control. There is not doubt that the intangible money will continue to exert the greatest influence. It is ironical that the recent surge in money supply, fostered by the powerful, is very effective in increasing the rate of irreversible draw down of the remaining limited natural capital. It is almost as though these controllers of fiscal policy have a suicidal urge. They seem to want to accelerate the headlong race of civilization towards the iceberg ahead.

The fact, however, is that money will continue to be the mechanism that controls most of the decisions, so operations, of society. This means that the decline in the available natural capital will initially hit the poorest and slowly trickle up. This process is clearly already under way, principally in the undeveloped countries, and is likely to grow rapidly. This is the sad reality about the means by which Homo sapiens will continue to devastate their life support system, so promoting both ecocide and suicide. Doubtless some people will rise to the challenge of mitigating the decline but it will be a losing battle until too late. Money is very powerful now!