[Xenophobe]

Is Ruppert's company non-profit? I know he keeps claiming poverty, but I was wondering about the profit motive with CollapseNet.

Mike only has profit as a motive. Him and Savinar defined the "Peak Profiteer" over the course of their snake oil sales.

Ruppert is really more of a quasi-doomsday-cultleader. Not that I disagree with some of his broader predictions, which are merely restatements of club of Rome, etc... but his tendency to issue Matt Simmons-like chicken little predictions for the immediate future really hurts his reputation. You know, Iran Cable-Cut type stuff.

I don't even know if I think he's a leader of anything. His motive was clear when he was begging for rent money...he even mentioned his motive on Orkins old website, saying something like "gee I need a job so why don't I start charging people for my pearls so I don't have to go get a real one".

[Xenophobe]

Hey, if Mike can beg for rent money while claiming that his movie is generating Oscar buzz (it didn't make it by the way, but then, was that really a surprise to anyone except maybe Mike?) then I will venture that the ignorance and gullibility of his fans know no bounds. Therefore, it seems reasonable that I should be able to tap into the same characteristics by imitating Mike.\[/size]

Collapse was worthy of an Oscar nomination for the doc category.

The Oscar people disagreed, obviously. Something about a snake oil salesman in what, like an old meat packing plant chain smoking and pretending that his claims of collapse came true last summer...just we're all stupid to have noticed? Yeah...doesn't quite work for me...maybe if the guy didn't live in the place he tried to escape in 2006 because, well, the world was ending then as well.

I was originally critical of the $10 sub fee idea. Since watching some of the free vids I've softened on that.. the guy is trying, he's providing a consistent service to the membership, it's only ten bucks. I think maybe we're just all used to getting everything free on the internet.

I'm more than a little disappointed in the release of the older stuff....it hasn't happened. We just get stupid little video's saying, "FOOD ALERT!!", which apparently means there wasn't going to be any except...of course...there is. Gee...how unexpected, considering the source.

But it's America, if he can use "keeping in touch with the gullible and stupid" as a business plan, hey, more power to him. Just don't pretend he has any reason to do it beyond making a buck.

[Sixstrings]

I don't even know if I think he's a leader of anything. His motive was clear when he was begging for rent money...he even mentioned his motive on Orkins old website, saying something like "gee I need a job so why don't I start charging people for my pearls so I don't have to go get a real one".

So what, you're all for the profit motive and capitalism in all things but this? So Ruppert should just take some noble vow of poverty, when even clergy don't do that anymore?

Not that doom is a religion but the point is NOBODY devotes full time energy to something without trying to make a living out of it -- the rent has to be paid, after all. If he had a 40-60 hour a week day job I doubt he could do everything he does.

So stop raggin' on capitalism Xeno.. either you're for it or you're not, you can't pick and choose.

(let's not forget that even this site is a business venture.. there are ads and if nothing else the domain name will be valuable one day)

[Xenophobe]

I don't even know if I think he's a leader of anything. His motive was clear when he was begging for rent money...he even mentioned his motive on Orkins old website, saying something like "gee I need a job so why don't I start charging people for my pearls so I don't have to go get a real one".

So what, you're all for the profit motive and capitalism in all things but this?

Nope. I mentioned it elsewhere. If there are Americans, and others, gullible enough and ignorant enough to send him money, more power to him. It is the American way.

What is disturbing to me is that Americans, and others, really are that gullible and ignorant. I tend to give more credit to humankind than they deserve, apparently, even the type upon which he bases his business model.

If he had a 40-60 hour a week day job I doubt he could do everything he does.

Who says he does?

So stop raggin' on capitalism Xeno.. either you're for it or you're not, you can't pick and choose.

It isn't capitalism I have a beef with, but the depths of mankind's gullibility. Jesus, it isn't HARD for people to think for themselves a little bit, but they sure do seem to display an aversion to doing it sometimes.

[Revi]

If Ruppert is such a profiteer then why is he living in a rental in Culver City and barely making the rent?

He has a few too many conspiracy theories for my liking, but he keeps getting the message out there.

I would say that it is a labor of love. He's not in it for the money. If he was he would be a lot more comfortable than he is.

[Ludi]

If Ruppert is such a profiteer then why is he living in a rental in Culver City and barely making the rent?

Rentals in the LA area are quite expensive. Not sure why he has chosen one of the more expensive parts of the country to live in.

[Sixstrings]

I would say that it is a labor of love. He's not in it for the money. If he was he would be a lot more comfortable than he is.

Yes, that's obvious. Guys like Martenson, Savinar and Ruppert.. they don't get rich off this stuff. And moderately successful novelists don't make as much as you might think, so I doubt even Kunstler is livin large.

The only moral dilemma would be with "consultation fees." Some people may have weak personalities and look for a "doom daddy" as Savinar put it. To take advantage of a person like that, to charge them hundreds of dollars just to talk to them, that's wrong (IMHO). Unless you're doing some solid consulting like planning a permaculture garden or something like that.

[Xenophobe]

If Ruppert is such a profiteer then why is he living in a rental in Culver City and barely making the rent?

Because even as a snake oil salesman, his life has been defined by his failure rather than his success?

He has a few too many conspiracy theories for my liking, but he keeps getting the message out there.

I've asked you this question before Revi, and you ducked answering. How many times does the message have to be wrong before it has no value? 2+2 will never be 5, no matter how many times ANYONE "gets it out there".

I would say that it is a labor of love. He's not in it for the money. If he was he would be a lot more comfortable than he is.

You presume there is loads of cash in feeding the fears of the naive and gullible. I certainly do not.

[Xenophobe]

If Ruppert is such a profiteer then why is he living in a rental in Culver City and barely making the rent?

Rentals in the LA area are quite expensive. Not sure why he has chosen one of the more expensive parts of the country to live in.

He says it is because you can best build a lifeboat among your friends, family, and familiar surroundings. Of course, a few years ago he said the place was a deathtrap which would never survive peak oil, or Katrina, or all the other hysterical scenarios which have come and gone. He moved to Oregon to escape it once before...and we all know how he retreated in defeat from that disaster.

[mos6507]

Rentals in the LA area are quite expensive. Not sure why he has chosen one of the more expensive parts of the country to live in.

The 1BR I was living in until I left in the summer of 2008 was roughly $1,400 a month.

[KevO]

Somebody else putting his reputation on the line (though Obama did get away with it when he said there was zero threat to the US of radiation from Japan)

We Have Until July at Latest Even a Caveman Can See It

http://youtu.be/KqO64-ipqAM

[Daniel_Plainview]

Somebody else putting his reputation on the line (though Obama did get away with it when he said there was zero threat to the US of radiation from Japan)

We Have Until July at Latest Even a Caveman Can See It

http://youtu.be/KqO64-ipqAM

I will revisit this thread on July 31 ... which, according to Ruppert, will be the final day of normal civilization.

[KevO]

Somebody else putting his reputation on the line (though Obama did get away with it when he said there was zero threat to the US of radiation from Japan)

We Have Until July at Latest Even a Caveman Can See It

http://youtu.be/KqO64-ipqAM

I will revisit this thread on July 31 ... which, according to Ruppert, will be the final day of normal civilization.

yep, I'm with you there but then again if it is, I might not bother logging on

[copious.abundance]

I think I'll bookmark this thread, just like I did this one.

I can't wait until July!

[Carlhole]

Remember when Mike Ruppert collapsed?

[patience]

He has some worthwhile points about disruption of the global supply chain and the rising cost of oil. I don't think he mentioned that JIT (lack-of-inventory) and the auto company penchant for single-sourcing components would be hit in the head by Japan's problems.

Personally, I doubt that one quarterly earnings statement will have much effect on the stock market in these times of mark-to-myth and a propped market that always goes up on any sort of news. It will go up until it is no longer propped, and then it will seek its' own level--something like DOW 6,000, maybe.

The business effects of real events are real, but the effect on Wall Street is negligible, from what I see.

Ruppert has stuck his neck out too many times to have credibility now, IMHO.

[Sixstrings]

67,000 views on youtube..

[patience]

Sixstrings,

Good. Maybe it will wake up some sheople. All that get their act together will be that many I don't have to be concerned about later.

[Lore]

How many times can you have an "end of world alert"?

[oowolf]

There is definitely a dramatic rise in anxiety for the near future. I have been walking the rural highways of Montana for 14 years, getting "rides" with the local population, most of whom I do not presonally know (This is rural Montana, where people still do give rides to strangers.)
10 years ago the typical topic of conversation was the weather (Most people who give rides expect some conversation--if you sit there and don't respond it creeps folks out).
As things started to visibly fall apart around 2007, the conversation suddenly turned to more serious concerns, i. e., a possible depression, unemployment, etc.
This winter, the conversation has turned positively apocalyptic. And I mean with damn near every person who gives me a ride. (Oh yes, I am well known for my "predictions"--especially of the 2008 spike in gas prices.)

There are many now among the general population--I'm not talking about paranoid doomers-- who will at least seriously listen to opinions about an impending collapse.

People around here are generally conservative and "level-headed", and haven't been totally lobotomized by the MSM-and they are getting really concerned.