[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'S')laves were owned by the very wealthy, and used to maintain the very wealthy in the style to which they were accustomed. Slaves were not used by the average farmer, even in the South.

[Alcassin]

I don't want it to occur anytime soon, and it's obvious why.
From my perspective - it shouldn't peak until I'm dead.
I want to see technoutopian dream of endless growth.
But it's a hopeless wish.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('usncom', 'H')ave any of you truly considered the ramifications of a society reverting back to the horse and buggy on our freedoms? Civil rights for minorities and women were largely made possible by and during the indusrial age.
....

[usncom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jenab6', 'T')hat's right. And slavery was a racially more complicated subject that the politically correct version that is taught to teens in high school. Most antebellum White farmers, as you said, did not own slaves. Blacks were among the owners as well as among the slaves. The largest slave-owner in South Carolina, for a while, was a Negro. Some Injuns also owned slaves. Not all of the slaves were Blacks - in fact, there were about as many White slaves as Black slaves between the founding of Jamestown and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

[usncom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'T')here are some people who want PO to happen just so we can all watch those idiotic soccer moms give up their SUV's but it is an unfortunate truth that PO is not some type of broad sword that cuts across evenly. PO will kill off the desperately poor first and the soccer moms in their SUV's will be the last ones to feel the pain.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('usncom', '1')00 years ago

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('usncom', ' ')Perhaps a quote from the General of the Confederate Army

[copious.abundance]

Looks like the yesses have taken the lead again. S'pose I couldn't have expected the no's to be on top for long.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '.')..
100 years ago (1908) was pretty darn great in some ways.

[bodigami]

bumping to see what the newbies think

[usncom]

After having studied this topic a little more and going back and reading some history, I think a more appropriate question should be "Do you want a hard or soft crash post peak oil?". I have to admit I was a little freaked out at first when I first came across this topic.

However, I honestly don't think peak oil will result in some of the doomsday scenarios that the doomers take for granted.

If the seventies oil shortages in the USA are any guide, then cars will just get smaller, the poltical climate will change in favor of more conservation minded politicians, and regulations for private industry will attempt to address the problems.

We will probably suffer through a protracted reccession and maybe even a lite depression. No doubt it will be bad. But we are Americans, and we have always changed for the better....yes?

[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('usncom', '
')
If the seventies oil shortages in the USA are any guide, then cars will just get smaller, the poltical climate will change in favor of more conservation minded politicians, and regulations for private industry will attempt to address the problems.

We will probably suffer through a protracted reccession and maybe even a lite depression. No doubt it will be bad. But we are Americans, and we have always changed for the better....yes?

[JustaGirl]

I can't respond without knowing what the consequences will be. If it means better public trans(and a whole lot less driving), not watching my neighbors drive 5 blocks to the local gym in their big SUV, no more dollar stores, no more mcdonalds on every corner, less walmarts(we all know they'll never completely die lol). Basically still having a quality life without so much wasted resources and abundance of junk, what a lot of people would call "The American Dream" then yes I do.

If it means mass die off, a lot of suffering, starvation, etc etc etc, then no, I do not. And yes I know that is happening already in a lot of countries, but that was happening long before peak oil & will continue to happen after.

[JohnM]

I voted "Yes" but it could've just as easily been "No".


"Yes" because it may help to wake up the masses to the fact that we're making our habitat less liveable and decreasing our species chance of survival, thus also our childrens and grandchildrens, and on top of that we're driving many other species to extinction. Basicly we're as much a part of nature as anything else, but we're sooo out of touch with it, and with our excessive thinking and searching for something we cant find, we're blinded and can't seem to grasp how beautiful nature really is. At least most of us.

"No" because I would not enjoy seeing possibly billions of people in pain and dying. Only a troubled person would want people to endure that, no matter what they've done. But on the other hand, all good things have a bad side, and bad things always have a good side.

The good side about the years of struggle, pain and anguish to come, is that it might make more people acheive what I'd like to call enlightenment. Basicly accepting the fact that life is never going to be as good as it is now, there are no problems only situations, the future is not going to be any better or worse, and we can't go back to the past, so stop fixating on that and just LIVE, NOW.

However, as has been said before, it doesn't matter to the earth if we live or die, it'll still keep spinning and even if we manage to destroy most of nature, we'll end up dying and it'll eventually regenerate.

[hope_full]

I voted "yes" because I think we can still have a "soft" landing. I think there's going to be a massive shake-up and some upset and perhaps ALL entitlement spending will be re-visited (and ultimately abandoned). I'm hoping and praying mass transportation comes back, too.

IMHO, the human race is not going to survive UNLESS we make some radical changes in our day-to-day life. In other words, if peak oil didn't get us, something else might. Life is all about balance and we've gotten out of kilter.

We can't keep sucking down the resources of our planet (water, plant and animal life, fuel, etc), without serious repercussions. We can't continue to subsidize (ie: pay for) bad behaviors and keep giving the most ill-behaved members of society all the perks (free food, welfare programs, medicare, medicaid, moneys-no-object-health-care-for-the-poor, etc) and keep the American budget afloat.

With oil going up and up and up, I think we'll be forced to redefine America's day-to-day way of doing business and social expectations. And we'll be forced to find alternatives and that's why Im hoping we have a soft landing. I think life will change dramatically, but I still believe it will be a change "for the better" (after the dust settles).

HF

[cowuvula]

You want appendicitis to occur?
Or Cancer?
Or radiation poisoning?

Want has nothing to do with it

When you have a breast lump you better get your will in order
same here.

[Tanada]

Want has nothing to do with it, peak will occur because it is a geological truism.

Now to answer the unanswerable, while it would serve as a form of emotional vindication for undisputed peak to take place ASAP I would far rather live out whatever remaining days I have in the relative comfort and peace the current BAU provides for me.

[Subjectivist]

Despite the climate impact I still think I am better off pre rather than post peak, so let this cup pass from my generation.

[Dybbuk]

I think that the higher the peak is, the worse the consequences once the fall starts. So I say I hope the peak will be as soon as possible...and more importantly, at as low a value as possible. Then the chances are higher that the decline will be gradual, and that alternatives will be able to (mostly) fill the void.

[Shaved Monkey]

We dont decide
Its happening.
Time to adapt/prolong was a long time ago.
My life is pretty good now,sure I dont want to give away my luxuries, but its not my choice.
The luxuries of the future will just be different.