Early Treatment Through a Regimen of Catastrophe Theory

Distributing rights and justice against a background of economic losses poses unique problems. Some societies, Zimbabwe for example, have turned to revolution and land redistribution to solve social disparities. Will economic losses coming out of the coming oil shortages be enough to require such drastic revolutionary measures? Probably not, but the question of allocating losses--and this is not going to be just dumped away onto the backs of the rich (contra Rawlsian scheme below)--is going to necessarily effect the type of work which is performed and the amount of it. It will certainly effect every consumer item, drastically reordering the cost of goods, which will in turn effect where money is spent, which will in turn drive the economic machine towards providing those goods. Or so the theory goes.

It may be that these transformations will not happen in time. The best we will be able to do is survive mild catastrophe. It is for this reason that catastrophe theory may be of service to political theory cast in the post oil space.