by steam_cannon » Fri 10 Dec 2010, 17:06:25
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', ' ')But the biggest elephant in the room is "oil as fuel" since that's what it's mainly used for and the lifeblood that keeps society moving.
You don't think we can all just camp out at the factory and it will be ok?
We can camp out at our factories or work places. It would suck, but plenty of people do that in China and we do want to be competitive right?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'S')o this excerpt from the front page of LATOC is wrong then?
Exaggerated. LATOC is a bit frenetic, they
Turn it up to eleven. Though what they are saying isn't quite wrong either. LATOC has been predictive to an extent, for example presently there are a lot of plastics manufacturers complaining and discussing price increases in plastics feed stocks.
Myself, I hold a more moderate perspective, I think plastic junk has less of an impact on peoples lives then oil as an energy source. So it's not so much a matter of right or wrong. I think it's a matter of what's more important, like triage.
Perhaps a more concrete example, say if you're a contractor and prices for plastic piping are continuing to climb. That's a problem for your customers and your business. You may have to lay people off or switch to lined
bamboo piping or some other cost cutting measures. But fuel prices for driving your fleet (or worse, if there are shortages), that can be a bigger problem. If you can't keep up with gas prices or get gas, then you can't do business. So oil as energy tends to have a bigger impact on peoples lives then oil as plastics. And speaking of businesses and plastics, if it was a Dollar Store going out of business then the world would probably be a better place.
So I think fuel as an energy source is first and foremost. It's a long way down and people can handle a lot of changes. And I think LATOC type doomerism tends to underestimate the impact of new technologies and the general flexibility of people. Cuba's turn-around after the soviet collapse and the
soviets survival of their own collapse are testaments to what people can do to survive when their world changes. Both of those events were dark episodes in human history for sure, but most people got through it.
Y2K vs Reality,
Cuba survived losing access to fuel from the soviets. It was a worst case Y2K type scenario where everything ground to a halt. Most people lost 20 pounds, started growing their own food, but survived. People can survive a lot of things. Sometimes my fellow doomers, in their "enthusiasm" forget that.
Sinus infections are the pits. You just can't seem to get away from the pain. 
