Lots of Peeps viewing but few posting.... come on post!

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 22 Oct 2011, 22:51

I am just looking at some of the latest threads, and I see a significant number of viewers / lurkers.

So, I'm asking all the lurkers out there to post - even if it just a reply to this post to say "hi...yes we are here"!

I really think at this time we should all be talking rather than lurking. Perhaps links and support could be forged.... we need solidarity methinks.

Even if it is just for your 2 cents worth.

Best,

Maudibe

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » 22 Oct 2011, 22:57

their shy

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 22 Oct 2011, 23:05

LOL Johnny - your recent post got about 1500 views... but was debated by about 10 individuals...the usual faces.

I just think that if we had more input then when we are stuffed we will have a community we can go to (if there is still power for the interwebs)

People are going to need support.

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » 22 Oct 2011, 23:11

do we really need the support of the ultra timid

I suppose if you needed to hide out they would be quiet thats one plus, you could be in a pack of 1500 of them and there would be just silence

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 23 Oct 2011, 04:12

maudibe wrote:I just think that if we had more input then when we are stuffed we will have a community we can go to ...

Maybe that's what they're worried about. There is safety in anonymity!

stumuzz · Post by **stumuzz** » 23 Oct 2011, 10:44

Ok I will reply.

The reasons I do not post as frequently as I once did is, that powerswitch has lost its raison d’etre. It was a site purely for discussing the upcoming issues we are now facing. If we were discussing some of the issues we face today i.e. collapsing banking system, no growth, huge energy price rises etc. in 2006 we would have been freaked out and taken drastic action!

However, the site has been slowly turned into a personal climate change platform (Biff) and good entertainment to have a pop at green hippies ( JSD/AIC) It is now a bit boring if you are looking to reduce your energy usage, or make preps for the future.

To those whom are lurking I would suggest to look at posts from 2005-2007. This was when PS was at its best. Great advice about future energy trends, implications, what to do and how to do it.

To those lurking and are feeling a bit like rabbits in the headlight at the moment, do not worry. I stumbled across PO in 2005. Started doing some practical changes to life and work about 2008. Since then life has become even better than it was before. I pay about a quarter of the energy bills I paid in 2005, I do not commute anymore to an office, I work about 40% less than I did and have more time for great food and wine ( made and caught/hunted myself) I have more disposable income than I know what to do with because I do not buy ‘stuff ‘ anymore and more importantly the great recession has pasted me by. Only because of the great advice I have learnt from this site.

So lurkers who want a better life and realise energy is at the centre of it, ignore the climate change stuff ( there are lots of websites out there where you will get better info and discussion on the subject) and read how to reduce your energy usage which will lead you to a better and more fulfilled life.

nexus · Post by **nexus** » 23 Oct 2011, 10:52

Speak for yourself Stumzz.

Personally I stopped posting BECAUSE of all the right wing nonsense being posted, if I want to read some drivel as spouted by JSD/AIC/you/formerly RGR/Dom/Ziggy and sometimes Beria I could read the Daily Mail.

Time was this was a decent forum. I miss Renewable Candy, Aurora, Tess, Contadino, 2As and a B all of whom post much less, if at all.

I'm just glad Biff hangs on, I just don't have the energy for it anymore.

Post by **adam2** » 23 Oct 2011, 11:18

Newcomers might find the preperations section to be of the most use, there is a lot of practical information out there on reducing energy use, producing your own food, energy, etc.

Some other sections are arguably less relevant than in the early days.
Years ago we disscussed the risks of doom from the approach of peak oil.

It now appears that oil production HAS peaked, Banks HAVE failed/had to be bailed out, Iceland HAS bust, and others teeter on the edge, energy costs HAVE increased very substantialy.

Not exactly TEOTWAWKI, but certainly looking a bit doomerish.

Year ago we disscussed what might happen, now we are watching it happen.

alternative-energy · Post by **alternative-energy** » 23 Oct 2011, 11:29

stumuzz wrote:
To those whom are lurking I would suggest to look at posts from 2005-2007. This was when PS was at its best. Great advice about future energy trends, implications, what to do and how to do it.

Wholeheartedly agree with this and like Stumuzz my preps are largely complete and my quality of life and personal well-being is so much better.
I never was a huge poster back in the hay days but I also have been surprised at how right wing personal and vitriolic some of the posts are on the site now. This has not been a good development and may well be a reason why so many choose not to participate.
Also for me the theoretical arguments made back in 2006 prompted me into action; this action has resulted in a large degree of insulation from the current situation. At this moment in time there simply are not many more arguments to be explored; they lead back to the same place and the same action we as individuals can take.
However, I am sure that like many, I do find it interesting to watch the actions for the powerful as the system unravels. This place, amongst others, is a useful place to pick up on information and news which is not found through the mainstream media and to hear different perspectives.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 23 Oct 2011, 11:53

stumuzz wrote:To those whom are lurking I would suggest to look at posts from 2005-2007. This was when PS was at its best. Great advice about future energy trends, implications, what to do and how to do it.

To those lurking and are feeling a bit like rabbits in the headlight at the moment, do not worry. I stumbled across PO in 2005. Started doing some practical changes to life and work about 2008. Since then life has become even better than it was before. I pay about a quarter of the energy bills I paid in 2005, I do not commute anymore to an office, I work about 40% less than I did and have more time for great food and wine ( made and caught/hunted myself) I have more disposable income than I know what to do with because I do not buy ‘stuff ‘ anymore and more importantly the great recession has pasted me by. Only because of the great advice I have learnt from this site.

So lurkers who want a better life and realise energy is at the centre of it, ignore the climate change stuff ( there are lots of websites out there where you will get better info and discussion on the subject) and read how to reduce your energy usage which will lead you to a better and more fulfilled life.

I'll concur and go along with all of this, stumuzz (barring the 'pasted' bit

) - I learned a lot from the site a few years ago and it confirmed and gave me confidence in a lot of stuff I wanted to do anyway.

I keep coming here because there are still occasional nuggets to be had, even in amongst the noisy and malevolent ego-trippers, trolls and astroturfers; the lurkers maybe see this too. I hope so.

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 23 Oct 2011, 12:08

Year ago we disscussed what might happen, now we are watching it happen.

Indeed. I think this is having quite an effect on the posts now, as we're just discussing what is happening now, right in front of our eyes.

I personally came to this site quite late, having already discovered PO back in about 2001/2.

I don't feel the need to post that much, as I often find that someone has asked the question / posted a reply. I feel that the lurkers are probably thinking the same, with only the more intrepid ones feeling the need to join up.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Oct 2011, 13:02

stumuzz wrote: However, the site has been slowly turned into a personal climate change platform (Biff)

Mostly on the section of the site marked 'Climate Change', with just the occasional post in the 'News' section when something of the moment crops up. What, Stumuzz, do you suggest we should post in the 'Climate Change' section instead? Recipes for apple pie and advice for motherhood?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Oct 2011, 13:32

nexus wrote: I'm just glad Biff hangs on,

Thank you. Seems you can't please all of the people all of the time though.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 23 Oct 2011, 14:11

stumuzz wrote:Ok I will reply.

The reasons I do not post as frequently as I once did is, that powerswitch has lost its raison d’etre. It was a site purely for discussing the upcoming issues we are now facing. If we were discussing some of the issues we face today i.e. collapsing banking system, no growth, huge energy price rises etc. in 2006 we would have been freaked out and taken drastic action!

It has not lost its reason to be.

As other posters have pointed out, we now spend a lot of time discussing what is actually happening rather than discussing a future peak oil crisis which is now actually happening around us.

I think that Powerswitch may have its most important days still ahead of it, as it becomes clearer that global oil production is in terminal decline. Yes there is going to be lots of discussion about economic/monetary turmoil and there is going to be much more political bitching. I personally don't mind right-wingers posting here, so long as they don't mind me pouring scorn on their views. The only thing I'm not willing to tolerate is anti-scientific propaganda. A lot of that anti-scientific propaganda does come from the political right, but I don't accept that there is a necessary connection between right wing politics and denialist pseudoscience.

If people don't like right wing politics then they should post - they should argue against right wing politics. It's no use whining that there is too much right wing politics here. The whole of society has to face peak oil and the rest of the ecological and economic crisis, including people on the right. I think that as long as they have accepted the scientific basis of the causes of the crises (peak oil, climate change and the rest of it) then we should welcome people of all political persuasions here. Yes, argue with them, but there is no point in trying to silence them or suggest that they shouldn't be here. As for the propagandists (e.g. AIC/RGR) - they would just be banned if I was in charge.

Totally_Baffled · Post by **Totally_Baffled** » 23 Oct 2011, 14:27

nexus wrote:Speak for yourself Stumzz.

Personally I stopped posting BECAUSE of all the right wing nonsense being posted, if I want to read some drivel as spouted by JSD/AIC/you/formerly RGR/Dom/Ziggy and sometimes Beria I could read the Daily Mail.

Time was this was a decent forum. I miss Renewable Candy, Aurora, Tess, Contadino, 2As and a B all of whom post much less, if at all.

I'm just glad Biff hangs on, I just don't have the energy for it anymore.

Thats funny I have stopped posting because I cannot bear all the self righteous, often nieve, left wing nonsense!

Yes the daily mail is trash - but there are plenty of links to left leaning trash too!