Powerswitch shift

[nexus]

I'm not a doomer and you can always have a reasonable conversation with me as long as you don't talk about conspiracy theories.

Thanks CompLex, much appreciated

[nexus]

John B wrote

Having said that, I'm tempted to start loads of positive topics

great idea.

[JohnB]

John B wrote

Having said that, I'm tempted to start loads of positive topics

great idea.

Oh hell! Now I've got to think of some

[woodpecker]

The problem with your outlook nexus is that it is subjective.

He he, and yours is not?

[biffvernon]

I agree. It has turned into an extreme right-wing survivalist forum of late, and not one I'm that inclined to participate in. What's the point?

Nowadays I only log in for Aurora's news links.

Yes but that just makes it more important that us green lefties keep up our good work.

[adam2]

There has undoubtably been an increase in doomerish threads, and doomerish posts in other threads.
Perhaps this is because doom is approaching ?
Not that long ago, the idea that oil production had either peaked, or soon would peak, was only supported by a handful of nutters.
It is now widely accepted that oil production has already peaked, and even those who dont support this view, tend to accept that it will soon peak. We are no longer disscusing the theory of peak oil, we are watching it happen.

Also not that long ago, the idea that there could be a run on a large UK bank, and that several major banks would have to be rescued by the government, belonged firmly in the pages of a novel or thriller.
It has now happened, again we are not discussing what might happen in the financial sector, but have watched/are watching the unfolding disaster.

In the fairly recent past, man made climate change was widely regarded as an unproven theory only believed by a few hippies.
It now widely accepted, and again we are not disscussing what might happen, but are observing the unfolding disaster of climate change.
Regardless of doubts over some climate data, rising temperatures are now obvious from holiday photographs that show receding snow lines and glaciers.

I also believe that there is another reason for the increasing percentage of doom on these fora.
There are many positive things that one can do, both to reduce ones own enviromental impact, and to reduce ones reliance on external supplies of food and fuel.
However these subjects have already been disscussed at length, and in many cases there is not much more to say.
For example the use of a woodstove fired by sustainable wood has a lot to be said for it. But much of what is worth saying about wood stoves has already been said in a number of threads.

Grid tied PV has a lot to be said in favour of it, but again much has already been said, and apart from any new inventions or changes in the law, not much more remains to be said.

Growing some of ones own food is an excellent idea, and many members do, but the merits of so doing have already been disscussed and are fairly well known.

In short, many of the "good things" like PV, solar thermal, wood stoves, growing food, insulation, minimising flying and driving, have already been disscussed. New members can often find out what they want by study of old threads.

There is however an almost unlimited supply of new doom to disscuss.
We have said what there is to say about wood stoves because these dont change much, but there is plenty to say about strikes, riots, shortages, coups, and financial crashes, because there is allways a new one on the way.
The disscusion of shortages, wars, coups, riots and the like is liable to lead to discussing how one may best survive such events.
Most of the more dramatic events have been overseas so far, but it naturally leads to concerns that it could happen here.

[syberberg]

There has undoubtably been an increase in doomerish threads, and doomerish posts in other threads.
Perhaps this is because doom is approaching ?
Not that long ago, the idea that oil production had either peaked, or soon would peak, was only supported by a handful of nutters.
It is now widely accepted that oil production has already peaked, and even those who dont support this view, tend to accept that it will soon peak. We are no longer disscusing the theory of peak oil, we are watching it happen.

Also not that long ago, the idea that there could be a run on a large UK bank, and that several major banks would have to be rescued by the government, belonged firmly in the pages of a novel or thriller.
It has now happened, again we are not discussing what might happen in the financial sector, but have watched/are watching the unfolding disaster.

In the fairly recent past, man made climate change was widely regarded as an unproven theory only believed by a few hippies.
It now widely accepted, and again we are not disscussing what might happen, but are observing the unfolding disaster of climate change.
Regardless of doubts over some climate data, rising temperatures are now obvious from holiday photographs that show receding snow lines and glaciers.

I also believe that there is another reason for the increasing percentage of doom on these fora.
There are many positive things that one can do, both to reduce ones own enviromental impact, and to reduce ones reliance on external supplies of food and fuel.
However these subjects have already been disscussed at length, and in many cases there is not much more to say.
For example the use of a woodstove fired by sustainable wood has a lot to be said for it. But much of what is worth saying about wood stoves has already been said in a number of threads.

Grid tied PV has a lot to be said in favour of it, but again much has already been said, and apart from any new inventions or changes in the law, not much more remains to be said.

Growing some of ones own food is an excellent idea, and many members do, but the merits of so doing have already been disscussed and are fairly well known.

In short, many of the "good things" like PV, solar thermal, wood stoves, growing food, insulation, minimising flying and driving, have already been disscussed. New members can often find out what they want by study of old threads.

There is however an almost unlimited supply of new doom to disscuss.
We have said what there is to say about wood stoves because these dont change much, but there is plenty to say about strikes, riots, shortages, coups, and financial crashes, because there is allways a new one on the way.

+1

[biffvernon]

Indeed.

And the techie stuff has got more techie as we have learnt more and moved over to TOD.

[nexus]

There is however an almost unlimited supply of new doom to disscuss

So what you're saying Adam2, is that we haven't reached peak doom yet?

[woodpecker]

There is however an almost unlimited supply of new doom to disscuss

So what you're saying Adam2, is that we haven't reached peak doom yet?

And my follow-up question: when will we reach peak doom?

[Lord Beria3]

Thanks adam, you put it a lot better than me.

if you want positive PO stuff, start posting threads! But I agree with Adam, im not sure what there is to be positive about - the only thing on the horizon is emerging hi-tech stuff like GM crops and other stuff, but I know that many are hostile to these newer forms of technology.

If you look at the forum before, its interesting how the zeitigist has shifted over the years, I think that the levels of doom reflect the fear of what could happen in the future.

I maintain that the Alex Scarrow style collapse is unlikely, but it is not improbable, we are literally only four days away from anarchy under our current JIT system. Yes, discussing fast crash is desturbing and sounds like a bad novel, but as adam points out, the near collapse of the banking system in 2008 would be considered extreme if somebody had posted such a prediction in 2005 for example.

As I say, i happen to think that its more fruitful to discuss how to prepare for a Long Emergency, a gradual decline, punctuated by cyclical recoveries, and how to respond to that.

[biffvernon]

...collapse is unlikely, but it is not improbable...

Anyone care to expand on that? Perhaps a numerical value between 0 and 1.

[Lord Beria3]

0.2 out of 1.0 Biff.

[syberberg]

There is however an almost unlimited supply of new doom to disscuss

So what you're saying Adam2, is that we haven't reached peak doom yet?

And my follow-up question: when will we reach peak doom?

We've a while before we reach Peak Doom.

[madibe]

Look guys....just have faith uh? God will sort it apparently. Now, we can all be really positive and in actual fact forget about this forum, becuse it is all sorted. Chill.