Now I seem to be turning into a Greenie

ubercynicmeister

Hi Fairmaiden (again!)

HECK, don't become a Greenie - besides, you can't - Greenies don't accept that Peak Oil will occur - Peak oil, y'see is all a "plant" put up by the Oil companies, so that "we" won't concentrate on Global warming, or so says the green groups (like Greenpeace).

Note: as there are PLENTY of people at these Peak oil boards who think human-induced global warming is happening AND think Peak Oil is also happening, I cannot figure out how the Green groups arrive at such a conclusion, but, still, there it is.

But what's WRONG with thinkin' about a "career" Post Peak Oil?

I'm more-or-less trained in the metal trades and can whack metal things into the required shapes....so I guess I could become a blacksmith when we go back to that level of technology. Note: you really CAN melt metals (like aluminium and brass) using solar power - I have a mate of mine who's done so. He makes telescopes, BTW.

But HECK, there really was a"cosmetics" industry long before petroleum came on the scene...think about Cleopatra! She had eye shadow that served two (or three) purposes - as it (it is said) was made from a derivative of Deadly Nightshade (the plant). Firstly, it allowed her to poison her political enemies; it kept the flies away, and it was something she used to "up" her chances with members of the oppposite gender (and possibly the same gender...I dunno), and kill off her more embarrasing lovers if they proved a nuiscance.

Speaking of poisons - it's said that when Caesar Augustus' mother died, (yes, the Emporer of the Roman Empire) he and he alone was the only person to be allowed to dispose of her poisons "box"...he threw it into the Tiber, and , well, whaddya know, it poisoned all the marine life from that point onwards down to the river's opening into the sea....and they couldn't catch fish in there for many a year afterwards.

All WITHOUT petroleum products.

So, please don't turn into a greenie...it's good to have the precautionary principle firmly set as one's guiding light, but the greenies are rapidly turning into monomanics who're fixated on Global Warming and turn hostile to anyone who wants to issue warnings about Peak Oil.

Ludi

Can you define "greenie?"
_________________
"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

pstarr

JudoCow09 · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 253

whiteknight · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 09, 2005 Posts: 281

actionreplay

a "greenie" is like a "genie", but they recycle the bottle afterwards. Smile

Ludi

JudoCow09 · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 253

wildsparrow

Yes, I did have a bit of a panic last week on this topic. For a little while I was totally ready to give up absolutely everything and move into an ecologically sound hippie commune. Wholeheartedly. And I was a bit depressed about it.

Now I've thought it through a bit more and talked it through with DH too, and I feel a bit more relaxed. The whole thing has given me a bit of a wakeup call though.

Vogue magazine really isn't important. I sent a whole pile of them to the thrift shop yesterday. Learning to grow my own vegies is important, I am still going to do that.

I am no longer going to chuck in all my hopes and dreams. Just alter them a bit and re-think the timescale of projects.

I may still start a dance school, just not go so gung-ho on making truckloads of money from corporate entertainment. That was going to be a longer-term project mainly to bring in income. The dance school will still bring in income and give me a lot of joy and could well last through a depression if I structure it right and make it a real benefit to the community, I'm also thinking that if things get bad I could accept payment 'in kind' to enable people to keep coming even if they don't have the cash.

I will still start a beauty business, but my ideas on capitalism have changed so radically that I now have no heart to build a huge empire. I don't think it's morally right. I really would rather just do it on a small scale and earn what my family needs rather than developing a huge marketing and development machine. I'm beginning to think the whole concept of marketing is rather sick so I'm not keen to go there right now.

But time may change those feelings too. I'm just taking it day by day right now.

Ludi

I'm glad you're feeling more hopeful. Smile

_________________
"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

Ghog

fastbike

Omnitir

No need to give up you hopes and dreams. There have been many times throughout history where people thought that the end of times where approaching, and of course they turned out to be wrong. We obviously have some tough times ahead, but the future is still uncertain and we just may get through this somehow.

I think the important thing to gain from PO knowledge, rather then the certainty of doom is the change of outlook. Hopefully PO will waken people to the truth about our current situation, and realise that over consumerism is unsustainable, and an idiotic paradigm. Indeed, we all need to become greenies.

As far as changing your pre PO aware ambitions, think of it this way: this is possibly the peak of human civilisation, the party is at it’s strongest. Sure it’s time to realise that things will soon change and the party will soon be over, but is it wise to waste the opportunity of living in possibly the grandest period of human civilisation, and leave the party early?

Make the most of life while it’s good, because it’s looking like there will be plenty of the tough times ahead. Just be aware that the party is indeed coming to an end.

FairMaiden

I actually work for an affliated charity to Greenpeace and I can honestly say no one here believes that for a second. All my coworkers feel (I've conducted a verbal poll) that peak oil exists but they can't do anything about it. If ppl won't alter their lifestyle for soldiers dying in the Middle East, they doubt they will alter it for peak oil (when you can find "experts" claiming we have lots of oil). I'm pretty much the only one "concerned" about it.

Global warming could actually be caused by polar reversal. But having written that, think about the fact that our planet is a closed system. We wouldn't live in our garages with our vehicles running - but we are living on this planet with many vehicles running. It only makes sense that we are damaging our air supply.