[Aaron]

I'm about to duck out for a business meeting and a funny thing occurred to me.

What a strange thing it is... I spend half my time volunteering my support in the effort to promote awareness of peak oil, and the other half helping to sustain the very system which is causing it.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm schizophrenic
And so am I

[linlithgowoil]

the problem is - there is no choice but to participate in the system, unless you want to live in the woods.

also, if you chose to live outside the system, this pre-supposes that there is a system to opt out of. peak oil might mean no more system ( i doubt it though !)

[Doly]

Look at me, Aaron. I commute every day two hours to work and two hours back (luckily, by electric train, but still...) and I spend my free time at work posting on this site.

[mididoctors]

is there an outside to the system?

Boris
london

[Ebyss]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('linlithgowoil', 't')he problem is - there is no choice but to participate in the system, unless you want to live in the woods.

[Pops]

Let’s see, in the last week I’ve done an ad containing HUMMERS, Escalades and big 4wd pickups, completed a capabilities brochure for a manufacturing company which recently opened a factory in China and am working on a promotion for a motor sports event.

In my other life in the same time frame, I have built permanent raised garden beds, worked on a “summer kitchen” and well water-cooled storeroom for butchering, baking and preserving homegrown food, tinkered with a hand powered seed winnower and spent (probably too much) time promoting simple living and localized economies here.


Unfortunately, ideology has little food value…

[Pops]

Ah Ha!

Just got an order for a job promoting scrap tire recycling!

Now my guilty conscience feels better.

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mididoctors', 'i')s there an outside to the system?

Boris
london

[bobcousins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ebyss', 'O')k, some people actually do live in the woodland and are self sufficient... Ben Law and his 100 acre wood but we can't all do that. Linlithgow's right, most of us have no choice but to participate in the system in some way.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou can run from the system, but you can't hide in the woods.

[Ebyss]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bobcousins', '
')
Doesn't that picture spoil the notion of self-sufficiency? He has a plastic box, a metal knife and a wine glass. Oh yeah, and clothing, shoes... And I guess, access to medical care, police, fire, justice/legal system, welfare etc
I bet not many peasants in the middle ages owned 100 acres, either!

You can run from the system, but you can't hide in the woods.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'I')'m about to duck out for a business meeting and a funny thing occurred to me.

What a strange thing it is... I spend half my time volunteering my support in the effort to promote awareness of peak oil, and the other half helping to sustain the very system which is causing it.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm schizophrenic
And so am I

[smiley]

LOL I know the feeling.

Just replaced my vacuum cleaner by one with an eco-mode and booked a ticket for a flight to attend a two day business meeting 600 miles away.

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bobcousins', '
')
You can run from the system, but you can't hide in the woods.

[jaws]

Human beings are not meant to be self-sufficient. We're a tribal animal, we survived best as groups and evolved as groups. Attempting to sever oneself from society is unnatural behavior. As long as the system exists you must be a part of it to survive. When the current system ends you will need to become part of a new system to continue to survive. It may be to one's advantage to begin the creation of the new system as the old system decays and collapses, but running away will only ensure you hardship, in this civilization or the next one.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '
')You can take the monkey out of the trees, but... well you get the idea.

[Chuckmak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jaws', 'H')uman beings are not meant to be self-sufficient. We're a tribal animal, we survived best as groups and evolved as groups. Attempting to sever oneself from society is unnatural behavior. As long as the system exists you must be a part of it to survive. When the current system ends you will need to become part of a new system to continue to survive. It may be to one's advantage to begin the creation of the new system as the old system decays and collapses, but running away will only ensure you hardship, in this civilization or the next one.

[MonteQuest]

And Wildwell wants to know if I have sold my car yet... I work at a different place almost every day.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MonteQuest', 'A')nd Wildwell wants to know if I have sold my car yet... I work at a different place almost every day.

[pea-jay]

I face this dilemna EVERYDAY. I am a long range natural resource planner stuck in a county that is unwilling/incapable of recognizing that its natural resources (energy, water, breathable air, natural habitats) are dwindling and is unable to do a thing to really address those issues.

Other than to think positive and place faith in the market place.

So everyday I have planning tasks that look 30 years into the future. It cracks me up almost when some asks me if we have enough rock for aggregate for the next 50 years of growth, enough water for 30 years, or road capacity for the next 20 and I have to nod or agree or disagree or whatever, knowing damn well the last thing we will need a decade from now is more roads or construction aggregate. Yet, I smile, nod or even add my two cents to the discussion.

"Sure, if we protect those resources, we will ensure that we will be able to meet the next 30 years of growth"

Since discussion of energy is off limits in my county, I really have no other choice.

It's fortunate I can compartmentalize, 'cos I would have been institutionalized long ago