Joined: Mar 18, 2006 Posts: 1149 Location: Last outpost of Civilisation
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:02 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
Hmmm.
I think about 10% of the people on this forum are actually going to take the information they've learned & do something with it.
The rest will eventually get bored & wander off. The 'modern way of life', as far as I can figure from some back-of-the-envelope calculations, has about 50 years to go before it collapses totally. Nuclear, wind, conservation will keep things going far longer than a lot of people here think. That's not even my opinion, that's just the way it's going to be.
But when the final collapse happens - it will be total. Every resource stretched out, & gone. Every last bit of uranium dragged out of the ground, every last high-score on the latest computer game, zero.
So what are you (or your children) going to do then? That's the real question. Even my guess of 50 years is too short a time to prepare for what our real future is going to hold - do YOU feel ready-enough yet (grin)?
OK, very funny. By radical career change, I did not mean male sex slave.
Quote:
mos6507 wrote:
It will just be might makes right.
A short excuse for doing nothing.
I don't think this is an excuse for doing nothing. To me, it simply means that we are unable to do anything without power. But we do have power, accorded to us by the Consitution and the laws of the United States, if you're an American, that is.
No law stops us from making preparations for Peak Oil or from convincing other like-minded people from doing the same. And if the government did decide to prevent us from doing so, then we have the right to bear arms, and that is where power ultimately lays, in force. The precept that "might makes right" never really ended.
Excuse me if I'm taking things out of context.
And thank you for the comments, RdSnt. The future of the press post-Peak is a very interesting topic and certainly something for us all to consider. I may continue with my radical career change anyway because I've always been a little bit radical.
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 4073 Location: Graceland
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:38 am Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
JPL wrote:
Hmmm.
I think about 10% of the people on this forum are actually going to take the information they've learned & do something with it.
The rest will eventually get bored & wander off. The 'modern way of life', as far as I can figure from some back-of-the-envelope calculations, has about 50 years to go before it collapses totally. Nuclear, wind, conservation will keep things going far longer than a lot of people here think. That's not even my opinion, that's just the way it's going to be.
But when the final collapse happens - it will be total. Every resource stretched out, & gone. Every last bit of uranium dragged out of the ground, every last high-score on the latest computer game, zero.
So what are you (or your children) going to do then? That's the real question. Even my guess of 50 years is too short a time to prepare for what our real future is going to hold - do YOU feel ready-enough yet (grin)?
JP
Doom is definitely a parlor game for many. _________________
Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 3154 Location: Boston Suburbs
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
BigTex wrote:
We slow down to look at an accident, even though we are not happy that people may be injured. We just like seeing the cars all bent up. I don't know why that is interesting, but it is.
A life with no struggle and no suffering is dull and pointless for many people. The idea of being placed in life and death situations and forced to rely on your wits is refreshing for some who spend their days dealing with incredibly petty office or other work crap (which is the product of everyone else being bored as well).
I feel very bad for anyone who is injured or killed, and yet I find upheavel, chaos, shocks to the system and general disturbances to the herd to be very invigorating. It's like the danger taps into something primal that day to day life just doesn't reach. It's probably this impulse that makes many young people go into the military.
Sounds like you should head out to see Rambo this weekend.
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 4073 Location: Graceland
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:24 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
mos6507 wrote:
BigTex wrote:
We slow down to look at an accident, even though we are not happy that people may be injured. We just like seeing the cars all bent up. I don't know why that is interesting, but it is.
A life with no struggle and no suffering is dull and pointless for many people. The idea of being placed in life and death situations and forced to rely on your wits is refreshing for some who spend their days dealing with incredibly petty office or other work crap (which is the product of everyone else being bored as well).
I feel very bad for anyone who is injured or killed, and yet I find upheavel, chaos, shocks to the system and general disturbances to the herd to be very invigorating. It's like the danger taps into something primal that day to day life just doesn't reach. It's probably this impulse that makes many young people go into the military.
Sounds like you should head out to see Rambo this weekend.
I thought "300" was awesome. Reminded me of the Alamo.
I'm struggling on the Rambo question. Isn't Stallone 61 now? Something is out of whack there. _________________
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:27 am Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
mos6507 wrote:
BigTex wrote:
We slow down to look at an accident, even though we are not happy that people may be injured. We just like seeing the cars all bent up. I don't know why that is interesting, but it is.
A life with no struggle and no suffering is dull and pointless for many people. The idea of being placed in life and death situations and forced to rely on your wits is refreshing for some who spend their days dealing with incredibly petty office or other work crap (which is the product of everyone else being bored as well).
I feel very bad for anyone who is injured or killed, and yet I find upheavel, chaos, shocks to the system and general disturbances to the herd to be very invigorating. It's like the danger taps into something primal that day to day life just doesn't reach. It's probably this impulse that makes many young people go into the military.
Sounds like you should head out to see Rambo this weekend.
Sounds like you should get into a car wreck so I can say, "Oh, What a SAAB story!" because I haven't met my pun quota this week, and I love a good car crash!
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6174 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:59 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
JPL wrote:
Hmmm.
I think about 10% of the people on this forum are actually going to take the information they've learned & do something with it.
The rest will eventually get bored & wander off. The 'modern way of life', as far as I can figure from some back-of-the-envelope calculations, has about 50 years to go before it collapses totally. Nuclear, wind, conservation will keep things going far longer than a lot of people here think. That's not even my opinion, that's just the way it's going to be.
But when the final collapse happens - it will be total. Every resource stretched out, & gone. Every last bit of uranium dragged out of the ground, every last high-score on the latest computer game, zero.
So what are you (or your children) going to do then? That's the real question. Even my guess of 50 years is too short a time to prepare for what our real future is going to hold - do YOU feel ready-enough yet (grin)?
JP
JPL, am I mistaken, or has not your view darkened considerably over the past few years?
Can't say I blame you.
I suspect your 50-year timespan is on the long side, but I sure as hell hope you're right. _________________ "Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog
"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12044 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
I can't imagine a life so easy or boring that I would need chaos or devastation to make it interesting. Why would anyone put up with such a life? _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 4073 Location: Graceland
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
Ludi wrote:
I can't imagine a life so easy or boring that I would need chaos or devastation to make it interesting. Why would anyone put up with such a life?
It happens one compromise at a time. It's the toad in the pan of water, except it's your soul that is getting cooked. You do one thing for money, then another, then another, and pretty soon you are locked in a death grip with your own desires and your pursuit of "success". From this pointless struggle for more useless crap, the appeal of doom and wild upheaval is born for many.
There are a lot of teenage males who are also bored and like the idea of the world getting turned upside down (that's what started it for me a long time ago).
The point, to me, is that there are people who are simply predisposed to doom. They were doomers before they found out about peak oil. They were building fallout shelters, then they were fighting the new world order, then it was Y2K, now it's peak oil. The beauty of peak oil for the hardcore doomer, though, is that this is not a catastrophe that you are going to outgrow. With peak oil, the hardcore doomer is HOME. (That said, a bird flu outbreak could make everyone forget about peak oil for a while.) _________________
Last edited by BigTex on Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:19 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
I admit to being freaked out by the possibility of hunting at night for venison, and farming by day to feed us in what will be a vacated region due to high fuel costs. Yet on the other hand I admit to being excited by the prospect of humankinds insults to the planet being reduced before we cause the extinction of all major mammals except ourselves. We will be reduced in numbers, but hopefully leopards will still thrive, and eagles will soar. We must remember we are not the only living creatures on this planet, so it's not ok to reduce this orb to desert, dust and dead oceans. Better there is such a thing as peak oil, because otherwise we would just keep guzzling the stuff and wreak the planet.
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:38 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
OilMagnate-Not wrote:
I admit to being freaked out by the possibility of hunting at night for venison, and farming by day to feed us in what will be a vacated region due to high fuel costs. Yet on the other hand I admit to being excited by the prospect of humankinds insults to the planet being reduced before we cause the extinction of all major mammals except ourselves. We will be reduced in numbers, but hopefully leopards will still thrive, and eagles will soar. We must remember we are not the only living creatures on this planet, so it's not ok to reduce this orb to desert, dust and dead oceans. Better there is such a thing as peak oil, because otherwise we would just keep guzzling the stuff and wreak the planet.
Joined: Mar 04, 2007 Posts: 504 Location: Hong Kong
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:19 am Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
OilMagnate-Not wrote:
I admit to being freaked out by the possibility of hunting at night for venison, and farming by day to feed us in what will be a vacated region due to high fuel costs. Yet on the other hand I admit to being excited by the prospect of humankinds insults to the planet being reduced before we cause the extinction of all major mammals except ourselves. We will be reduced in numbers, but hopefully leopards will still thrive, and eagles will soar. We must remember we are not the only living creatures on this planet, so it's not ok to reduce this orb to desert, dust and dead oceans. Better there is such a thing as peak oil, because otherwise we would just keep guzzling the stuff and wreak the planet.
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
I would agree with you and only wish to add to the comment by pointing out a significant aspect of your statement that I wish everyone would get.
In the context of humanity and history and memory, we humans are the only "creatures" who care what occurs to the planet. Regardless of metaphysical arguements and "mother earth" love and what have you, the bottom lines is, the other animals don't care what happens. The Earth will just as contentedly circle the sun whether it is a lush garden or a burned out cinder. It will not miss us.
If more people would look at the problems pragmatically, ie: "we are shitting in our own nest", then perhaps we'd stand a chance of holding onto more of our civilization and humanity(the concept not the population).
OilMagnate-Not wrote:
I admit to being freaked out by the possibility of hunting at night for venison, and farming by day to feed us in what will be a vacated region due to high fuel costs. Yet on the other hand I admit to being excited by the prospect of humankinds insults to the planet being reduced before we cause the extinction of all major mammals except ourselves. We will be reduced in numbers, but hopefully leopards will still thrive, and eagles will soar. We must remember we are not the only living creatures on this planet, so it's not ok to reduce this orb to desert, dust and dead oceans. Better there is such a thing as peak oil, because otherwise we would just keep guzzling the stuff and wreak the planet.
_________________ Gravity is not a force, it is a boundary layer.
Everything is coincident.
Love: the state of suspended anticipation.
To get any appreciable distance from the Earth in
a sensible amount of time, you must lie.
Joined: May 14, 2005 Posts: 2125 Location: Along the banks of the muddy Mississippi
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: The awesome excitement of total collapse
OilMagnate-Not, I just want to welcome you to PO.com. It is refreshing to see a new member who understands the situation. There have been so many new people joining lately who seem to view peak oil as just a mere inconvenience in their wonderful journey of consumption that I have grown somewhat discouraged about the future of humanity.
Your recent post has reinvigorated me. Thank you. _________________ “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)
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Why would anyone put up with such a life?
