Page added on April 23, 2012
Back in November, Naomi Klein offered a fascinating and thought-provoking essay in Nation magazine entitled “Capitalism vs. the Climate” in which she discussed the transformative changes needed if we are to successfully (not a guarantee) and thoroughly address the challenges of our warming planet. Her insights and observations can easily be adapted to the similar considerations and challenges Peak Oil will extend to us as well. Taken together, the confluence of these looming impositions on our once-cozy ways of life mandate responses far more expansive than a policy here or a tweak there. Ms. Klein offers us all a well-reasoned approach for both how and why.
Every Monday (and for two more weeks), I’ll take advantage of her arguably controversial yet well-reasoned assessments to elaborate and extend the thought process as it applies to Peak Oil. This is the fifth installment of the discussion inspired by Ms. Klein’s essay [Links to Parts 1 – 4 below].
[* Any quotes following are taken from Ms. Klein’s essay in Nation unless noted otherwise.]
~~~
If you’ve read the first four installments of this series, “What the f*ck are we going to do?” would seem a reasonable inquiry right about now. Unfortunately, finding even a reasonable approximation of just one well-developed comprehensive response is a pipe-dream at the moment, although there have been many well-reasoned contributions to the discussion.
If/when a petroleum shortage impacts it will concentrate minds wonderfully. But when it comes the window of opportunity could be brief and risky. If things deteriorate too far too fast there could easily be too much chaos for sense to prevail and for us to organize cooperative local alternative systems. [1]
I’m fairly certain that that should not be our first option. And while there’s no disputing this sage observation, we’re going to need much more, as is duly noted:
I submit that most of the world today is in the thrall of a grand, socially constructed vision of global development and poverty alleviation centered on unlimited economic expansion fueled by open markets and more liberalized trade (Rees, 2002). This mythic construct springs from the demonstrably flawed assumption that human well-being derives from perpetual income growth….
Mere information, including scientific analysis of a problem, is generally not enough to stimulate policy reform or effective action. [2]
Here’s what I see as a fundamental and quite serious obstacle to Peak Oil/Climate Change-mandated adaptations: We will soon be asking several billion people to adopt an entirely new mindset about how to live their remaining years on the planet—economically, industrially, socially, personally—with all that this entails. At the same time we’ll be telling several billion more on the verge of finally enjoying at least some semblance of the economic and personal lifestyles of the former that most if not all of those expectations are not going to be met. Messenger volunteers?
All major governments and international development agencies are committed to maintaining the growth in per capita income that has characterized industrial countries for more than a century and to extending consumer culture to the three-quarters of the world’s people who have yet to join the party [3]
In essence, absent planning (and education) at levels and in scope at this moment beyond our rational embrace, a distinct possibility is that all of us are going to have to live our lives and conduct our commercial enterprises in the much more limited manner which this latter group of several billion have been obliged to all their lives.
Who’s prepared for that option?
In my very first post I made my position on the subject quite clear:
… I am definitely not the peak oil movement’s poster child.
I’m an American consumer through and through, but/and yes, a political and social liberal. To our teens’ never-ending annoyance, we recycle religiously. Nearly every one of the seeming seven million light bulbs in our two homes is an energy-saving one. I installed them all myself. But that’s pretty much it for now.
We own two very nice, new luxury automobiles—one an SUV. We have a terrific second home a short walk from the ocean; less than an hour’s drive from our home in the ‘burbs of Boston….
We drive [there, in lieu of public transportation]. Often. Always. Sometimes we make two round trips in the same day. Most times we take at least two if not all 3 vehicles (the third belongs to our 3 teenagers. A fourth—car, not teenager—will soon make its appearance in our driveway). We go to our summer home a lot between May and October.
We’ve traveled a fair amount, have lots of neat household toys, and in general have enjoyed a very nice lifestyle in recent years. I do not recite this to boast about what a great life we have, which we admittedly do—none of which I take credit for. We are indeed very, very lucky, and we know it. But I also understand that we won’t be donating or selling any of our possessions in the near or not-so-near future.
Still haven’t, by the way. Like more than 99% of you, I do not want to have to deal with this; think about it; figure out how to plan, or do anything else of the kind. The enormity of it all is paralyzing!
It would be naïve to think that any attempt to articulate a new sustainability-oriented cultural narrative would not be met by strenuous pushback. We have already shown how reluctant society is to respond consistently to evidence that the world is on a collision course with biophysical reality. Few people opt for ‘voluntarily simplicity’….
‘Contraction’ is simply not a narrative that resonates with the times. On the contrary, most people are psychologically committed to continuous economic growth, the illusion of ever-increasing material prosperity, and the myth of progress (citation). Powerful and privileged elites, those with the greatest personal stake in the status quo, control the policy levers that are steering us onto the ecological rocks. [4]
It is thus perfectly understandable why instead we are inclined to deny, deceive, or hope that technology will somehow lead or find a way….Some clearly have more than a vested interest in ensuring that we don’t tinker too much with what has been working—for them.
The truth is different. Harsher. Daunting at its best.
[F]or reasons confined to sustainability consumer-capitalist society is so grossly unsustainable that it cannot be fixed. You cannot reform such a system so that it remains focused on affluence, market forces, and growth yet does not cause ever-increasing problems of resource depletion, environmental destruction and social conflict. If you still want to claim that such a system is redeemable the above discussion makes clear the magnitude of the problems you will have to show can be solved by technical advance; statements of faith in technology are not acceptable here. [5]
This not a value judgment about the merits of capitalism versus its drawbacks. It is beyond that. It must be if we are to successfully adapt in some semblance of “just in time.”
This is no longer about blame or condemning the wealthy. We need to move beyond that cat fight. It is instead a recognition we must all come to terms with: That life as we have known it, as wonderful and thrilling and rewarding a ride as it has been, depended on certain fundamental conditions and resources to make it all happen, and now the availability of those essential provisions is diminishing.
We’re still blessed with all kinds of choices. Not a single one of us has to accept this premise or believe in it even a little bit. We are free to continue to go right on living as if life had no limits, and enjoy this until reality puts an end to it. Soon enough, the unpleasant truth is that reality is going to smack each and every one of us upside the head. Denial and hope have their effectiveness limitations, too.
This is instead a simple recognition that certain outcomes flow from the many wonders of capitalism. There are countless good rewards and benefits. Who can rationally argue against that proposition? A peek out one’s window is sufficient proof; a glance around the room inside is no less convincing.
But some results are not so good. There exists an amply-documented inequality in income and opportunity that all but the most viciously self-centered or delusional must admit to. That cannot continue. It’s also quite true that it is admittedly and practically impossible for us to conceive of any other kind of economic system. It’s almost as difficult to believe that we won’t find a way to adapt through even more technological advances and thus continue to carry on.…
But the critical difference is that the fuel—literally—which enabled and supported the creation and maintenance of the society we’ve known over the past 150+ years is simply no longer available as it has been throughout this great ride. Again, not good or bad; just an end result. What to do?
Choices….
Links to Parts 1 – 4 of this series:
http://peakoilmatters.com/2012/03/26/peak-oil-capitalism-sustainability-pt-1/
http://peakoilmatters.com/2012/04/02/peak-oil-capitalism-sustainability-pt-2/
http://peakoilmatters.com/2012/04/09/peak-oil-capitalism-sustainability-pt-3/
http://peakoilmatters.com/2012/04/16/peak-oil-capitalism-sustainability-pt-4/
6 Comments on "Peak Oil: Capitalism & Sustainability (Pt 5)"
BillT on Mon, 23rd Apr 2012 1:50 pm
The West is in the process of moving DOWN the ladder of success to a level more in line with the 5 billion who do NOT live in ‘developed’ countries. That will also include the 1% eventually, either through the collapse of the financial system and their wealth evaporates or through a revolution and the return of the French guillotine on the National Mall in DC. What was the quote? “Let them eat cake!” That started the 1% of France to lose more than their wealth and power.
Mike9 on Mon, 23rd Apr 2012 4:40 pm
BillT,
The 1% should remember that their assets are mostly PAPER, the worth of which is derived from the underlying REAL World.
Let the Real World Fall and so to will the Paper Assets.
BillT on Tue, 24th Apr 2012 5:39 am
Mike9, so true. And keep in mind that the paper in your wallet will also be just paper. Charmin will have more uses than the dollar will when that happens. Be prepared.
witLartSirm on Fri, 27th Apr 2012 2:48 am
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pietiliRarp on Sun, 29th Apr 2012 1:43 am
Based on conversations with producers, an economy are retail stores, prices that small Idaho producers be of value. The chickens eat the legumes all that he does in significant amount of their feed dressers, our blog mechanics,and firms that around the heat source so. radius of say 50. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/2207 http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2005/fil1405a.html
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VallBisaSah on Mon, 30th Apr 2012 12:19 am
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