For a high standard of living, we mostly need energy and some gadgets.
We are sitting on a big ball of matter, so at long as we have the energy, we can make all the gadget we need. (You can even make food underground in multiple levels, if you have enough energy to burn on lighting.)
So the real problem is energy. Luckily, renewable are currently getting a lot cheaper. And we also still have nuclear, if we really want to go that route. Fission works, and fusion is in the works.
I've come to believe that having enough energy (assuming enough raw materials to kickstart the process) solves a ton of society-level problems. For example, the supply of potable water is nigh endless if we have the energy available to run desalination plants. Or, if we never end up figuring out an alternative fuel for planes, the carbon emissions they produce don't really matter if we can just expend energy sequestering it afterwards using energy from a more sustainable source.
I've heard it put this way: energy is the only resource. If we have enough energy almost anything can be recycled or turned into anything. Wastewater and saltwater can be turned back into fresh water. Trash can be separated and recycled. With sufficient and sufficiently cheap energy vertical farming is even an option.
That is absurd. If you only have energy, you have nothing that is worth transforming. It is more appropriate to say that land(including the atmosphere surrounding it) is the most important source of wealth, as you can both extract energy and elements from it.
The land on the moon is worth very little as there is almost no water on it. If we could extract rocket fuels from there we would already be sending people to mars. People don't seem to understand how valuable our planet is.
Well, it's not so much energy by itself, but an energy gradient.
In simple terms, having electricity is great. In contrast, oceans full of water at a balmy 20C have lots of heat energy, but you can't really use it, if there's no gradient.
See the second law of thermodynamics.
Or in other terms: you want electricity and a way to get rid of waste heat, like being able to radiate into outer space.
The real problem is wealth. A lucky few will be able to hole up, but that'll only be the ones that can afford it; the rest will die from starvation.
I mean there was already alarm bells from UNESCO today or yesterday that the food program is at risk due to rising food costs due to the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, which in turn puts a lot of people that depend on that food program at risk.
And it's closer to home as well; the amount of people that start to rely on food banks has gone up sharply with the high inflation.
I mean it's dumb IMO; while all companies are eager to raise prices with inflation as soon as it happens, wages lag behind.
We are sitting on a big ball of matter, so at long as we have the energy, we can make all the gadget we need. (You can even make food underground in multiple levels, if you have enough energy to burn on lighting.)
So the real problem is energy. Luckily, renewable are currently getting a lot cheaper. And we also still have nuclear, if we really want to go that route. Fission works, and fusion is in the works.