Too much magic : wishful thinking, technology, and the fate of the nation / James Howard Kunstler.

"Published simultaneously in Canada"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

Where we're at -- Farewell to the drive-in utopia -- Cities of the future : yesterday's tomorrow or tomorrow's yesterday? -- The dangers of techno-narcissism, or, Frankenstein release 2.0, how Ray Kurzweil's singularity aims to replace the old god with a new and improved version -- The futility of party politics in the long emergency -- Going broke the hard way : the end of Wall Street -- The energy specter : oil and gas, alternative energy, and waiting for Santa Claus -- Insults to the planet and the planet's reply -- Social relations and the dilemmas of difference -- Coda : a systematic misunderstanding of reality.

""Too Much Magic" is what Kunstler sees in the bright visions of a future world dreamed up by optimistic souls who believe technology will solve all our problems. In Too Much Magic, Kunstler articulates a number of issues relating to the unsustainability of our high-energy lifestyle, including: The pernicious cult of "Happy Motoring" and our desire to preserve an ailing and backwards automotive industry at all costs; The upcoming demise of suburbia and the mass migration and demographic shifts that will ensue; The inadequacy of both renewable energy sources and alternative fossil fuels such as biodiesel, tar sands, and shale oil and gas to make up the energy shortfall when our conventional sources of fuel dry; The effect of the continuing increase in global population even after resource shortfalls of oil and fossil fuels become acute; How the diminishing returns of technology collide with hypercomplexity to scuttle our wishes for an easy way out of our epochal predicaments. With vision and clarity of thought, and an antic, comic spirit, Kunstler argues that the time for magical thinking and hoping for miracles is over, and the time to begin preparing for the long emergency has begun."--Jacket.