Peak-Oil Awareness And The Larger Community

If the imminence of oil depletion is regarded as a given, the next question is that of preparation and survival. Commonly the issue of survival is dealt with in terms of the small group: the family or the ad-hoc band (complete with camo gear and pump-action shotguns?). The feeling, apparently, is that the larger community would be useless, or even hostile, toward the more-prepared group. Yet others hope to deal with the issue in terms of a broader geographic base, perhaps even national or global. To what extent would such a large-scale approach be practical? Is it possible to deal with peak oil on a broad demographic scale?

The obstacles would certainly be considerable. The steps would include convincing the majority of citizens (1) that oil-depletion is real (hence countering the persistent propaganda of the oil industry itself), (2) that there are no simple and painless solutions in terms of “alternative energy,” (3) that there will be an increasingly severe imbalance between population and resources (including food and other most-essential ones), and (4) that only the most strenuous emergency program (equal to that of nuclear-war preparation) will allow any hope of a decent life.


All of this will go against the grain of “human nature”