kenneal wrote:The difference between Ldwig and some others here is that the others don't necessarily see a resource deficient future as a bad thing. Yes, there will be problems and a population reduction and that will be sad for those reduced and their relatives but we have problems already and death for different reasons. It's part of the human condition so why get morbid about it.
That's easy for you to say Ken, in your affluent and privileged situation. I posit that the only reason you are so blase about what's coming is that you're pretty sure it won't affect you much. Otherwise, your statement "We have problems already and death for different reasons" suggests that on balance, you think nothing much will change. Well, things changed for the Germans in the 1920s, for the Russians in the mid-90s, and for the Argentinians in the early 00s.
I nearly said "Good Luck" but luck doesn't come into it.
How can you say that before it's even happened? Would you say luck didn't come into it whether a soldier in WW1 came out of the trenches alive?
"We're just waiting, looking skyward as the days go down / Someone promised there'd be answers if we stayed around."
Ludwig wrote:
How can you say that before it's even happened? Would you say luck didn't come into it whether a soldier in WW1 came out of the trenches alive?
I don't think that was the point being made Ludwig matey... foresight and preparedness, in regards to peak oil, will mean far more than luck.
Thanks, Postie. I believe that you make your own luck to a great extent by hard work and patience. We've had what many people would call bad luck in the past but we've used it to our advantage and come out better off in the end.
Greybeard, you're very welcome here. One more 'out' and, for every one, there's probably several sympathetic lurkers.
Your story in many ways matches mine and probably matches other posters' experiences. It can take most of a lifetime to move even marginally nearer towards zero in the scale of culpability.
You have to live as if you'll live forever and set the best example you can.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
Well. My way forward is to try to minimise my impact as much as I can. I use public transport and don't own a car. I recycle/freecycle, repair and refactor wherever possible.
I generally make do.
I have read the wikibook (Peak Oil: High Tide for an Oil Addicted World), and am interested in further minimising my footprint.
I suppose my interest was more in the "bigger picture". In my experience of politics and society in general, the degree of apathy amongst the majority of people is perhaps the most alarming factor, and the one that I am wondering about with regard to a "way forward"
I see the generaal apathy as a good thing. This gives me more time to prep before they wake up and generate shortages. I like to think I will have a better chance to ride the storm compared to the apathetic ones, mostly because my demands will be low.
To become an extremist, hang around with people you agree with. Cass Sunstein
woodburner wrote:I see the generaal apathy as a good thing. This gives me more time to prep before they wake up and generate shortages. I like to think I will have a better chance to ride the storm compared to the apathetic ones, mostly because my demands will be low.
I see the general apathy and ignorance as a benefit to me as I won't be having a mental breakdown just because I can't afford the next fashionable thing. People can burn themselves out but I will merely look miserable.
If you haven't come across them yet, here is some reading material that looks at the bigger picture, to get you started:
The Crash Course - Chris Martenson
The Long Emergency - James Howard Kunstler
The End of Growth - Richard Heinberg
Reinventing Collapse - Dmitri Orlov
All tend to look at the converging predicaments of an overly debt-burdened economy, peak oil (and other resources) and the unsustainable nature of continued economic growth on a finite planet.
Youtube and the blogosphere are full of videoed presentations and podcasts by the above authors and others.
edit: tho, saying that I don't think you can 'thrive' exactly. Worry less, and try to aim for contentment even if you never really achieve it for long.
I have had a growing interest in peak oil for some time now, and thought I would join this website of like minded people. I began reading about the topic, and I suppose that is where my interest has come from.
I am not an expert in the field but am looking to learn, not only about the impact it is having on our world, but also any more changes I can make to the way I live.
