With prospects as severe as blackouts and bankruptcies on the near horizon, a government as sophisticated as California's would come up with something. Then the first light blinked. And the first check bounced. The result is a disembodied crisis, one that never truly comes all the way home. Moments after a rolling blackout, Christmas lights twinkle again in suburban neighborhoods.
Fountains leap in front of country clubs and high schools blaze in floodlights.
Our detachment from reality means that though people are taking their higher gas and electric bills to heart, they generally don't take the crisis seriously. Collectively, we want to pretend the only problem resides somewhere far away, defined by an accountant's ledger and not a power-hungry population. Sacramento's recent rainy weather is good for future hydroelectric prospects, but the gloomy days have only reinforced my memories of Murmansk. I felt sorry for people living in a society that couldn't figure out how to keep the lights on. I still do.