[onlooker]

hi, I am a relative newbie in terms of posting however I have been reading on a continuous basis the different posts for several years. All the way back to Montequest if anyone remembers him. Well I just have a question. It is really I guess Psychological in nature.
Why do for the most part we all come here to Peakoil? Is it morbid fascination , is it simple curiosity or simply as a way to prepare for the future? I for one believe their is really no preparing for what appears to be coming , meaning calamity on a major scale. So for my part I hold some hope in alien intervention to help us out of this terrible predicament we are in. Or perhaps Godly intervention. Well i am hopeful I receive some replies to this post.

[Ibon]

A general answer: Take a good luck and scan around all the media outlets you know of and scan the horizon of all the political discourse, nationally and globally, and ask yourself if you see our national and global institutions seriously confronting resource constraints and how this will play out on our over crowded planet. This is a site where this "tabu" topic can be openly discussed. It is up to each visitor to decide whether we have identified a core issue affecting the 21st century and beyond or if we are all just a bunch of gloomy souls. See if events going on around the world; geo politics, environmental issues and economic cost of energy support or refute peak oil and related topics that we discuss here.

Why am I here after 10 years? It is a moment of my day or week where I tune into and learn and share my knowledge. I compartmentalize somewhat this topic in my mind so that when I move about my daily tasks and chores I am not distracted by the potential horrific consequences of what we discuss here. So that I can still celebrate the glory of this fragile and most wonderful existence. See, I am not a doomer

Although I still worship someone very special.........

[onlooker]

Thanks Ibon for that reply. Yes I am also trying to learn of how we as a species can and are confronting our predicament(s). Yes our so-called important and big institutions and governments have been up till now pathetic in their response. So for me the question is why I am still coming to PO , well perhaps to confront the reality of my own untimely demise and perhaps those of many others as well.

[Pops]

I love belly button examination threads.

PO.com is "social media". In other words; all the gratification of social interaction without the inconvenience of dealing with people. Took me a while to understand but we are the same as any other interest group; hot rodders, bird watchers, army wives, etc. We have no great mission to get out the word or "beat the drum" as another board put it.

For a long time I thought that was why I was here, encourage people to get a little self reliance, a bug out bag and 72 hour kit (and more of course), make some changes to their lifestyle. Fact is not a lot of people really do much or ever will - run off to the hills type stuff that is. A few of us do some things and a very few are very dedicated but for the most part I think not much.

The Call of the Mall is too strong to really disengage.

I think most are here to hear themselves think. Not a bad thing, I regularly discover beliefs, test theories, flesh out ideas here that I never would have otherwise - not sure that is necessarily a good thing or not

But I also think lots of what gets posted online is an imitation of Rush, Jon Stewart, Billy Graham or whichever pundit, just trying to get a little buy in for one's own beliefs. Heck, half the posts on here are copy and paste pleas to authority trying to convince someone, anyone, that the person posting is correct in their POV. It would be interesting to know just what percentage of posts contain no original idea let alone much thought other than a link and a snip - as if the sheer number of press releases and stock fluffing blog posts and tipping point reports copied and pasted somehow constitutes the killer argument and a maybe even a talisman that if pasted enough times, like rubbing the magic lantern, will ensure the desired future.

Or maybe they are just another version of facebook cat pictures. If you saw "I Am Legend" there is a scene where Will Smith (lone non-zombie survivor in new york) tries to hit on a mannequin just to get her to say "Hi."


A lot of what gets talked about here isn't suitable for mixed company, as my Momma (and Ibon) would have said. Most Americans at least are optimistic at heart and just don't want to hear anything to assail The Dream. A flip of the hand and casual "they'll figure it out" suffices for any problem not on their top 10 concern list - concerns which are mostly about other folk's behavior, LOL.

The stuff you can't talk about at the Rotary Club Mixers is our stock in trade.


Anyway, that's the truth and you better not disagree unless your a moran!

[onlooker]

thanks Pops for that interesting and humorous post. Their are posts which also quality as "Trollish", from what I understand meaning someone who has some agenda in making the post. Yet we all are perhaps seeking validation or at least someone to agree with us. Yet what I believe unites all of us here, is an unflinching look at realities which most would rather not even think about!

[vtsnowedin]

Well said Pops and Ibon.
I'm not expecting any help from Aliens or any God so will have to make do with my own efforts. I do think the combination of peak oil, world over population and pollution along with it's climate altering effects is a problem that world leadership can't solve. They certainly can't solve it in a way that lets the world population continue to grow or even stay stable.
So I expect a population crash which maybe starting now in west Africa and will hit those countries with the fastest growing populations the hardest.
The board here lets me keep abreast of these developments without waiting for the ms media to notice between football games and plane crashes etc.

[AgentR11]

Why do for the most part we all come here to Peakoil? Is it morbid fascination , is it simple curiosity or simply as a way to prepare for the future? I for one believe their is really no preparing for what appears to be coming , meaning calamity on a major scale.

Its a doomer forum with loose editorial censorship. No "party line" as it were. Just posters.

As to "prep"... well, a prep is not a guarantee of anything. Think more in terms of creating value and resilience. Buying stuff to put in a can, to throw away in a couple years is not creating value, and creates very little resilience. Maintaining a real pantry creates modest value and a ton of resilience. Having a wide skillset in addition to your current profession creates value and resilience.

That means, in time of calamity, you need not rush to make a poorly advised decision. It means you have a better chance of being able to apply a skill to a problem unique to that calamity.

[onlooker]

Give a man a fish and he can eat for one day, teach a man how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life

[Lore]

Give a man a fish and he can eat for one day, teach a man how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life

That is until he depletes the fish stock. Then it's back to begging for tofu.

[Ibon]

That is until he depletes the fish stock. Then it's back to begging for tofu.

Between Fish and Tofu there is a whole suite of arthropods I could recommend.

[Pops]

Its a doomer forum with loose editorial censorship. No "party line" as it were. Just posters.

Thats about the best compliment we could get.
And harder to accomplish than you might think. The Iron Law of Oligarchy applies here just like everywhere else.

[Newfie]

My perspective on why to be here..
At some point the shit will hit the fan.
If you can get a leg up on the competition (everyone else) the you and your kin have a better chance of survival.
There are some smart folks here who might help you with that.

[careinke]

Give a man a fish and he can eat for one day, teach a man how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life

That is until he depletes the fish stock. Then it's back to begging for tofu.

But, if you teach the man to grow fish and use the fish waste to grow plants and use the plants to feed the bees and the plant waste to feed rabbits and chickens and worms and use the worms and their waste to feed the fish and the soil you have not only taken care of the man, but the earth as well...........

[careinke]

OH, I forgot to answer the original question. I'm here for early warning and perhaps encourage someone to act a little more sustainably.

[PrestonSturges]

Give a man a fish and he can eat for one day, teach a man how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life

That is until he depletes the fish stock. Then it's back to begging for tofu.

Teach a man religion and he starves praying for fish.

[aldente]

[sparky]

.
Nice one aldente it work in reverse too
I' m here to clear my head , Among my manias I'm a geopolitic addict , coming here is an easy relax
a fair bit of stuff I care little about but it's good for a discussion when the pub is closed

some serious technical info on the fossil industry can be obtained sometime
mostly from industry professionals
Rabbit give a good summary of the petroleum industry saving me a lot of bother

[aldente]

To be serious - why do we come on over here to Peak Oil?

Simply by being fascinated by the Gauss curve (German mathematician during the end 1700's - who recognized that in statistics all limited resources follow a bell shaped curve) - it is as simple as that !

If shell oil - or rock oil - or abiotic oil- or whatever the story is - does not follow the curve then we have the prove that the limitation has been either not been recognized (still unknown) or we all are being fooled by some entities that work resources to their advantage on behalf (or better on the "back") of all the rest of us.

[AgentR11]

"Why do for the most part we all come here to Peakoil? "
I came here originally to pester Global Warming political folks who think or thought they could *fix it* by passing odd legislation here and there.

I've always had a bit of an apocalyptic vision of the world, that I restrain with intentional, rational thought. PO gives me an outlet for this tendency, and coincidentally happens to be a fairly enjoyable place to discuss "big global issues" without the usual barrage of 100 folks typing off their approved script from Koch or Soros, et al.

Its also interesting in that a decent portion of the posters aren't party line varieties. eg, I'm quite conservative, active Republican, I think Climate Change is very real, and very dangerous, and I think all of the proposed political solutions suggested by the lefties (Hansen, et al) are useless, counterproductive and only serve to further liberal policy objectives while making zero contribution to reducing the impact of Climate Change. But then, even while being very R, I'm also completely in favor of a National Health Service and doing away with all employer tied health insurance incentives. If you want private insurance, you pay for it 100% with after tax dollars in my view; and a US NHS should be funded via a VAT on everything. (everyone pays, no freebies, if you're worried about the poor, we'll talk on the EBT side, not the tax side).

I note many of the more lefty folks here also have divergences from their assigned party line, some being more nationalist/militant, others being quite a bit more positive with regard to business, regulation, and taxes.