PowerSwitch

I wonder what Mr & Mrs Normal of 39 Acacia Avenue will do when they see a respected TV program which explains that Peak Oil has 100% definitely arrived and that global oil supplies will decline at say 2% - 5% compound per year FOR EVER.

* Would the news freak them out?

* Would they even understand the implications?

* Would they resign the next day?

* Would they defraud their company to buy a smallholding before the world collapses?

* Would they panic about their pensions?

* Would they panic about their kids' futures?

* Would they take that world tour whilst the fuel was still about?

How would the man/woman in the street react?

I don't think peak oil will ever really be a top news story - a specific point in time that the masses recognise.

However the answer the question as set, I don't think Mr and Mrs Normal would react in a dramatic way - plenty of normal people are finding out every day and yet continuing with their lives. Just this week I was at a telecoms seminar where we were looking at technology standards 2010-2012, over coffee we were talking about the market demand for such technology in a rather pessimistic way and someone piped up about peak oil. He seemed as normal as they came - but didn't appear to have freaked out on finding out... was still attending telecoms event looking at the BAU future - I as do!

I've been in having CORGI assessments for the last week. We were talking about gas distribution and storage of LNG. I mentioned the oil crash and the assessor picked up the topic without missing a beat. We talked about how it might affect NG, how Russian gas has a higher CV and contains high quantities of glycol. The rest of the class stared at us like we were mad.

Lots of very normal folks are peak oil aware, most of them believe in the optimistic peak of 2020. They also believe alternatives and technology will save us.

Shortly after I posted I asked myself what have I done ....

Not much really ... and my wife & I are well informed on the topic.

I suppose it will Business As Usual until the Fuel Ration Cards drop through the letterbox.

Vortex wrote:I wonder what Mr & Mrs Normal of 39 Acacia Avenue will do when they see a respected TV program which explains that Peak Oil has 100% definitely arrived and that global oil supplies will decline at say 2% - 5% compound per year FOR EVER.

<snip>

How would the man/woman in the street react?

Switch over to Eastenders after about 5 minutes. Most people do not react to stuff they see on the telly. "Ooh isnt that terrible, what's on the other side, dear?"

They react to stuff which has a direct personal effect on them. The media is perpetually fearmongering about all sorts of things in an effort to get our attention. There's so much of it that we filter it out, otherwise we'd be in a state of dysfunctional high anxiety all of the time.

Televisionland isnt real. Its only real when its happening in your street, back garden, bank account.

ps
Hola from the Costa Geriatrica.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie= ... 6&t=h&om=1

youd love the pool!

Haggis wrote:Russian gas ...contains high quantities of glycol.

I thought that was the vodka.

Hola from the Costa Geriatrica.

Wot! No golf course?

Hola from the Costa Geriatrica.

Welcome back Skeptic,

How did the move go, you sold up in the UK?

How do things look from over there?

Well, I've got an allotment and I've reduced my car usage (although that's partly a product of my change in circumstances since I found out about PO). I still question every time whether I need to make a car journey, whether I need to make that journey. I also look to use public transport when I can.

Other than that, my life doesn't seem to have changed much. It's a simple life. Not much to change.

Well, I dont have any answers, just suggestions based on my tinted view on history.

Hard times? What to do?

1) Find a group and band together.

2) Find some idiot and promote him/her as "leader"

3) Push the "leader" into promoting genocide (The rest of us are completely innocent, OK)

4) Repeat 1-3 until population is reduced to a sustainable level

5) Invent some excuse for it all and blame someone else. Preferably someone dead. The "leader"maybe? "We were mere victims under the tyrant"

This is the traditional way since hundreds of thousands of years. It would be wonderful to be part of finding a new way.

Vortex wrote:I wonder what Mr & Mrs Normal of 39 Acacia Avenue will do when they see a respected TV program which explains that Peak Oil has 100% definitely arrived and that global oil supplies will decline at say 2% - 5% compound per year FOR EVER.

* Would the news freak them out?

* Would they even understand the implications?

* Would they resign the next day?

* Would they defraud their company to buy a smallholding before the world collapses?

* Would they panic about their pensions?

* Would they panic about their kids' futures?

* Would they take that world tour whilst the fuel was still about?

How would the man/woman in the street react?

I think they will look across the street to see what Mr. and Mrs. Pleety-Average are doing, and do likewise.

kenneal wrote:

Hola from the Costa Geriatrica.

Wot! No golf course?

Yup. 5 minutes down the road. I don't play. Rather than relaxing, playing golf makes me feel homicidal

http://marriott.com/hotels/travel/alcmc ... t-and-spa/

Ballard wrote:

Hola from the Costa Geriatrica.

Welcome back Skeptic,

How did the move go, you sold up in the UK?

How do things look from over there?

Yes, sold up. and currently renting at a small urbanisation. Cross between Coronation Street and The Village. "I am number 2. You are No. 68" " I am not a number..."

A property market that is overbuilt, heading for a fall, maybe next year. The Spanish Govt expects new housing starts to be significantly down this year compared to last.

A country, which unlike the UK still has a sizeable, though rapidly shrinking peasant population who know how to do low input farming.

Local politics which revolves around political corruption relating to property development, and water supply. Water supply is and will increasingly be a problem. Of the two towns nearest to me, one has already built a desalination plant, the other is about to.

Wind and solar power have a huge unexploited potential. Solar is expanding bigtime. There are shops here which sell only domestic solar heating and power systems. Unlike England, the Spanish interior has plenty of space (cheap land) for large scale solar plant.

a work in progress started a few days ago. Chronological order of gallery is from right to left. No idea why.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/davidianwilson/
ok... I admit it. I'm a snapoholic. Never go anywhere without a camera in my pocket

Im learning Spanish and intend to earn a crust as an English teacher. (Not what I used to do!) Fortunately I have a knack for both languages and teaching.

skeptik wrote:The Spanish Govt expects new housing starts to be significantly down this year compared to last.

This is bad news for the Spanish economy as construction is such a huge part of the economy.

clv101 wrote:

skeptik wrote:The Spanish Govt expects new housing starts to be significantly down this year compared to last.

This is bad news for the Spanish economy as construction is such a huge part of the economy.

Yes, it's looking grim for the construction industry, a sector which seems to have gone completely mad over the last 10 years or so - 800,000 new houses built here last year alone.

Do you think there will be much of a knock-on effect in the UK? At the very least it would mean a lot of Brits losing large amounts of cash invested in property around the Spanish coast.