[Timo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'T')hings change, always and frequently, not necessarily for the better either. The human species has had a good run for the last 150 years or so. Although we've paid for it by buying heavily into our future. In the end, as they say, we're all dead anyway. Not very satisfying though to realize that we're taking it all with us in a figurative and rather real manner.

Its mass delusion to think our fragile energy independent technology will have us consuming ever more on a finite planet. That some magic will appear and keep us on the path to more stuff when we hit the wall. I fear the sixth extinction though will include ourselves at our current rate. We're not proving to be a better species, just one more, in a long line.

[Sys1]

Nothing will happen. Several wars in Africa (as always), economic crisis coevered with mountains of dollars, homeless and ferraris in streets.
Internet, TV show, Mc Donald, Apple... and WTI stucked at 90-100$ forever. Business as usual.

[dolanbaker]

Reading a steady "2" here, we (in Western countries) have a very long way down the energy staircase to go before the majority will feel any real hardship. European car manufacturers are responding to market demands by building smaller, fuel efficient vehicles which mean the mileage is being maintained while fuel consumption is falling. Same with the airline industry and housing will soon follow the same pattern.

Doing more with the same energy input is the current phase, we will soon be moving into the doing the same with less energy phase.

Then the meter will start to register a "3".

[davep]

I chose "3" but am preparing as if it were "4". It's pretty grim in continental Europe at the moment, especially in France.

[Plantagenet]

I think we're at "2" in the USA.

Thanks to fracking the US has plenty of oil, the economy is still rolling along and we've got a few more years of relative prosperity to enjoy.

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'A') 2 will quickly become a 4 when the stock-market crashes. Next week?

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'I') think we're at "2" in the USA.

Thanks to fracking the US has plenty of oil, the economy is still rolling along and we've got a few more years of relative prosperity to enjoy.

[dinopello]

Either someone's stuffing the box, or POers are pretty optimistic based on the poll results so far (a near majority of 46% picking a 2). Time to go long !

No matter how bad it is, it can always "get worse".

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'E')ither someone's stuffing the box, or POers are pretty optimistic based on the poll results so far (a near majority of 46% picking a 2). Time to go long !

No matter how bad it is, it can always "get worse".

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'E')ither someone's stuffing the box, or POers are pretty optimistic based on the poll results so far (a near majority of 46% picking a 2). Time to go long !

No matter how bad it is, it can always "get worse".

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'E')ither someone's stuffing the box, or POers are pretty optimistic based on the poll results so far (a near majority of 46% picking a 2). Time to go long !

No matter how bad it is, it can always "get worse".

[Tanada]

Ibon beat me too it. Could Be Worse is what I always tell myself when something bad happens and I need a reminder to that no matter where I find myself there are others who are worse off than I am. Even if we have Fast Crash Apocalypse those of us still alive will be able to say Could Be Worse.

[Pops]

It could always 'be worse' but that is an outlook rather than an assessment. Granted, Pete always has a bad outlook ( ) but he also outlines a bad assessment, which is more what Kilodooms is meant to measure.

And of course it is about forecasting the future, that's the point, LOL

The real problem with the meter is that it mostly measures anxiety. Being sanguine because you think fracking is the savior of the motoring public and Dick's non-negotiable lifestyle is a whole different thing than being confident your militia group will protect and provide for you prior to the upcoming rapture. Both could give a reading of 2 depending on who is doing the calibration. I guess it is about a combination of forecasting the future and our ability to deal with whatever future.

If I have planned for the worst then I can hope for the best, if I haven't planned for anything, I'm forced to.

[Gordianus]

"2. Could be worse". Things always take longer than expected. The decline is no doubt already underway, but BAU is very persistent and people are remarkably resilient. It could be quite a while yet!

[Newfie]

Sometimes I think that the longer we go before the crash, the worse it will be.

But then we have more time to prep, assuming we do.

Anyway, this fear is one of the things that made a boat make sense to us. It gives us a way to react strongly to a big event.

[Serial_Worrier]

Well, in West Virginia the "Doom O Meter" is pegging on MAX:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01 ... tap-water/