We cannot drill our way out of this oil crisis. Since 2000, oil companies working in the U.S. have doubled the number of wells drilled per year.
Although increased drilling has added new oil to the nation's supply, it has not done so fast enough to offset the terminal decline of existing fields.
We are going to have to import more of our oil. Period.
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:47 am Post subject: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
just thought I'd remenind people reading this post, in the grand scheme of things you're pretty will off!
don't know how many of you have traveled in parts of the third world, but life there really sucks and if you think you have problems then just remember "There is nothing simple about living on less than a buck a day, which 1.2 billion people do, or on two bucks a day, as three billion people do. Income of $6 a day puts a person in the middle class in developing countries, but only 400 million people now qualify."
In haiti for example, just saw a news video on the BBC where poor people there were eating basically mud pies because they could not afford food, and then there is what is happening in darfur where people are getting killed if they step outside UN camps...
Just thought I'd point out those little facts, so the next time ya think gas or food prices here in the USA are too high, at least you have opportunity to buy some gas or food. Basically if you are reading this post you are in a group that richer than 7/8 of the worlds population. In other words if ya ranked your place in the economic pie, then you are at least richer than 6 billion people on this planet.
to put the number of "rich" people into perspective, I read someplace that there are on 9 million people who are "millionaires" defined if I recall as people with a million dollar net worth.... or put another way out of all the people on this planet, a person has a 0.0014 chance of being a millionare.... _________________ "I'm 100% sure that unsustainable conspicuous consumption of natural basic resources will eventually lead to a proverbial hell on earth for those people who get stuck with the mismanagement mess of mankind not being stewards of the environment!"
Joined: Sep 28, 2007 Posts: 22 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:31 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
According to Britain's Channel 4 Rich-o-meter, you are in the top 5% of the world population if you earn US $33K or more per year. The bottom 85% of the world earns $2200 per annum OR LESS!!!
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:17 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
Thats true; having grown up in the third world (middle class) myself; now I consider myself fortunate to be in the top 5%.
These people already live far worse than anything the west will experience in a post peak oil depression. _________________ Let them hate so long as they fear - Caligula
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:24 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
Idiot Americans do not see it this way though.
I think every high school senior in the US ought to be marched through one of those gigantic slums in South America or Asia or Africa just for the pure joy of seeing how the rest of the world lives. Might give them a sense of perspective and help them appreciate how much they have.
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 4643 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:26 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
pup55 wrote:
I think every high school senior in the US ought to be marched through one of those gigantic slums in South America or Asia or Africa just for the pure joy of seeing how the rest of the world lives. Might give them a sense of perspective and help them appreciate how much they have.
Maybe earlier than that, and more than once. _________________ The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done." - George Carlin
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:57 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
I have been and slept in those slums in South East Asia. Nice place friendly people all very poor. They share their food with everyone in neighborhood that asks for it. (Neverending cycle) It is a very depressing predicament. But all in all they seem a lot happier than most of the people in the world.
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:59 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
I have been and slept in those slums in South East Asia. Nice place friendly people all very poor. They share their food with everyone in neighborhood that asks for it. (Neverending cycle) It is a very depressing predicament. But all in all they seem a lot happier than most of the people in the world.
Joined: Sep 19, 2007 Posts: 887 Location: Land of the Tongva tribe
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:44 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
pup55 wrote:
Idiot Americans do not see it this way though.
I think every high school senior in the US ought to be marched through one of those gigantic slums in South America or Asia or Africa just for the pure joy of seeing how the rest of the world lives. Might give them a sense of perspective and help them appreciate how much they have.
Our church does short-term mission trips usually 2 weeks. They take highschool and college students all over the world. This year they are going to South Africa, Dominican Republic, various parts of Mexico, rural China, Egypt, Morrocco, and a couple of other places.
For every student that it is their first time the church pays all expenses. It is really a great learning experience and the people they help absolutely love it.
joeltrout _________________ ENERGY is the basis of our industrial civilization and sustains our standard of living. It is the foundation stone of our national wealth. A nation starved of energy.....will be a nation of starving people.
Joined: Sep 19, 2007 Posts: 887 Location: Land of the Tongva tribe
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:48 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
Cashmere wrote:
Yes pup. I agree.
But why send them all the way across the oceans?
How about a 2 day trip to Mexico City?
We also do Saturday work projects in less fortunate areas of los angeles. Most major cities have areas that are equivalent to third world countries.
joeltrout _________________ ENERGY is the basis of our industrial civilization and sustains our standard of living. It is the foundation stone of our national wealth. A nation starved of energy.....will be a nation of starving people.
Joined: Jun 05, 2005 Posts: 330 Location: Portland Oregon, USA
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:49 am Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
That would certainly put the Immigration issue in the US into perspective.
It's easy to sit on the border with your rifle and decry all the illegals coming over. They are looking for any way out of those slums.
Have you ever been to a migrant labor camp in the US? I did when I worked at a migrant health clinic. They are usually down a gravel road, just past the tree line where you can't see from the highway. The conditions are primitive, but not 3rd world, but certainly worse than nearly all of us Americans would tolerate. Those migrants do all sorts of jobs whining American's don't like to do (but will be doing in this generation), and send home tons of money to help thier families.
Expect this in-migration to reach a flood if food and oil prices continue to climb.
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:39 pm Post subject: Re: in the grand scheme of things, you're pretty well off
pup55 wrote:
Idiot Americans do not see it this way though.
I think every high school senior in the US ought to be marched through one of those gigantic slums in South America or Asia or Africa just for the pure joy of seeing how the rest of the world lives. Might give them a sense of perspective and help them appreciate how much they have.
Agreed. I really wish service-learning was mandatory for all teenagers and college students. I believe kids should get out and do volunteer work for those less fortunate.
The kids and I do citrus gleaning and service projects for food banks and the local church. When my kids are older, if we're still fortunate enough to be in the same spot we are now, I plan to get into volunteerwork at the local shelter and have them volunteer beside me.
Parents need to get with it and teach their kids. I think the world is such a mess because the 50's parents kissed the Boomers' butts WAY too much...and the whole self-absorbed mess trickled down into the following generations.
That's just my opinion, though, and I could be wrong. I just know what I've seen.
McCullum says he was denied sufficient food while staying with a family of Coptic Christians, who fast for more than 200 days a year, a regimen unmatched by other Christians.
He went to the Middle East and got attacked by a group of Christians!
That's rich.
Quote:
Jonathan McCullum was in perfect health at 155 pounds when he left last summer to spend the school year as an exchange student in Egypt.
But when he returned home to Maine just four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed a mere 97 pounds and was so weak that he struggled to carry his baggage or climb a flight of stairs.
Quote:
The host father, Shaker Hanna, rejected McCullum's story as "a lie," suggesting that he made it up because his parents were hoping to recover some of the money they paid for his stay as compensation.
"The truth is, the boy we hosted for nearly six months was eating for an hour and a half at every meal. The amount of food he ate at each meal was equal to six people,"
Quote:
Despite the ordeal, he has not soured on foreign travel: He wants to visit Zimbabwe this summer as part of a volunteer program to build homes and trails.
I don't think I would want to go to Zimbabwe for ANYTHING.
EVER. _________________ We're all Big Wave Riders. Some just don't realize it.
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