by babystrangeloop » Mon 05 Mar 2012, 07:03:05
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', 'O')n a darker note, I often visit Zerohedge and Max Keiser's website's to gloat over just how much the wealthy have screwed themselves. I don't own stocks or bonds; I have no property or savings worth mentioning. I often don't have two nickels to rub together; yet I get a distinct, sadistic, and even a primal pleasure from watching the 'super wealthy' screw themselves with deritives to infinity, ponzi schemes, and other 'innovative' financial absurdities. (Where will they all be in a barter economy?)
Schadenfreude is part of the peak oil news addiction complex, yes. As for the particulars I think now that industrial expansion has cooled off it cannot be used as the basis for investing money except through boom and bust cycles (buy low and sell high) and those are wildly unpredictable where as continual expansion of industry in the past was predictable overall. Left without their classic investment strategies people substitute the most outrageous things.
BTW my fav schadenfreude song is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PshpA-XRztMBut why this need to punish others in a passive-aggressive way, like watching them melt and wither like snowmen in the noonday heat of summer? The archetype of the child might shed some light.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_%28archetype%29There's something particularly juvenile about it and it stems from taking the victim's stance and basic need to drive off enemies for survival. As we mature we experiment with alternatives and often discover that compassion is a superior tool for getting our needs met. But in this world things are so different, it is possible to live at a very high level in a domestic situation that requires no other people than employers and store attendants (and now with ATMs and self-service machines even the number of interactions there is dropping) and doctors, with whom very little time is spent thanks to HMOs and the time is very formal, the roles are well-defined.
The feedback that gets into this cycle is that with the knowledge of peak oil my interests start to diverge from those of other people. I feel that when I am in public I must wear a mask and show only my "let's pretend it's not happening" face. It takes a lot of energy to always be on guard and make sure you don't slip and show your true beliefs to someone who you depend on for support. More and more I resort to isolating myself rather than having to pursue relationships that require I have to hide what I am thinking.
Because of the nature of employment I am stuck with 8-12 hours of continuous "let's pretend it's not happening". There have been numerous times (especially when the news is getting edgy) during when I check the price of oil on my cell phone the minute I'm on my way home from work. The absolute worst part is when my co-workers decide they want to become my personal friends too; I am stuck with having to excuse myself to people I depend on. The other absolute worst is if you slip at work and divulge your opinions—my God, you could spend 99.9999999% of the time playing "let's pretend it's not happening" and if you slip once you are instantly branded in numerous ways that make no sense to you.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', 'Y')es, I’m addicted as well.