"I hate to say this.." but maybe this gas issue will lead into the "great tribulation" in some way. Right now the OPEC nations have a potential leverage and control over the US because of its dependence on oil and gas. The US can hardly smugly decide they are not going to buy oil from those who raise their prices too high. The market doesn't work that way. China is growing and increasing demand and the US isn't the only customer any more. Maybe these countries are exercising their leverage while they have it.
But also factoring in is grain. The US produces lots of grain and at one point food will become more important than oil.
Frankly, with the Baby Boomers looking forward to Social Security in a system that is slated to go bankrupt, soaring oil prices, lack of health care coverage for many, the future looks glum. But not necessarily under a world economy headed by a one-world-government by the UN. It seems inevitable with globalization that nation sovereignty along with religion are clear liabilities to the survival of the entire planet.
I think we are getting to the point where people are going to be falling with faint out of fear of what is happening. Even if you have something put away, what are you going to do when you see neighbors losing their homes and starving? We're hanging by a thread for the moment but there is no safety net. The push is now becoming a shove.
But the worse it gets the sooner Armageddon will become inevitable.
JC