by ubercynicmeister » Sat 30 Jul 2005, 22:44:54
Hi Raxozanne; Hi EnergySpin, hi everyone.
Oil Pipelines are gonna be a problem in the near future, Peak Oil or NO Peak Oil.
Most of 'em in the US were built in a vast hurry in the Second World War, when the Nazi's U-Boats were torpedoing oil-tankers off the East Coast of the United States. They haven't had too much maintenance since then - and then either corrupt or IDIOTIC local councils have allowed people to build entire TOWNS over the top of 'em.
Problem - how does one do maintenance on an Oil Pipeline when there's an entire town sitting on top of it?
Answer: you don't.
A few years back, the "authorities" began to worry about the problem when one of the gas pipelines ruptured and literally destroyed an ENTIRE town. So, we're at the same place with the Oil Pipelines as we are with the Very Large Crude Carrier oil tankers - they are all old, all in dire need of replacement and all working at top capacity, so they cannot actually be retired. Thats' without thinking about Peak Oil.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jtmorgan', ' ')...come up with one legitimate reason I'm wrong regarding what is going to happen with oil replacements.
I suppose no-one will thank me for adding fuel to an already firey debate, but -here goes.
Given the way that corporations like Enron & Worldcom have been deliberately run into the ground in the very recent past, why should we expect the corrupt idiots who are madly profiting from doing this to want to do something that :
a) requires thinking about and thus distracting them from what they beleive is their God-Given Right To Get Rich Quick At The Expense Of Their Investors / Shareholders ;
and
b) requires effort on their part
????????
They won't.
Not "can't"...WON'T.
What do I mean?
Simple: All of the schemes to "prevent" Peak Oil are going to be ignored,
not because of some psychological condition known as "De Nile" (spelling intentional) but because the corrupt ones in charge are having such a great time right now, and cannot see why they should bring this system to an end. This is because of the training they got at "Bizznuss" College - Get Rid Of Ethics, thus thereby getting rid of thinking about the future, especially one that might require the average Corporate Executive to do some "self sacrifice " (gasp!).
I, personally, beleive that there is most DEFINITELY the technology to "avert" Peak Oil and I include things like "bicycles" , and "local farming", and reducing air-conditioning use as "technology". BTW, I'd like to see steam locomotives make a return, but then I'm steam-train mad, so I suppose I'll be dismissed as a harmless crank, LOL!
I don't think that Uranium or Plutonium will play any part in our future, Peak Oil or No Peak Oil, because the Nuclear Industry is just a super INefficient way of converting oil into electricity - think about how much diesel fuel it takes to mine, refine & transport the "fuel" + build and run and decommission the plants to process and use the stuff.
But that technology (bicycles, etc) won't be bothered with, and given the present stuff is being deliberately run into the ground anyway, thanks to Economic Rationalism and "downsizing", it won't form much of a "problem" for too much longer. Heck, it' producing quite a nice profit (thank you) as it dies, so why spend money on it? AND as the Price of a Barrel of Crude goes up, weeeelll that will make the Oil Companies even richer - so why change a system that works evidently so well?
HECK, no, if it's making corrupt Corporate Executives even MORE money than ever, why do anything about it? And if you ask questions, one might get uncomfortable answers, so don't do that either.
This is why your schemes won't work, jtmorgan:
It's not OIL that's the problem - it's the IDIOTS in charge , who can (quite correctly) point out that they are making more and more money from less & less, therefore downsizing is the obvious way to go, viz:
Downsize all research to the point where it's non-existant (they've done that);
Downsize all forward projections to the point where they are obvious generalities with NO apparent value & fill them with cliches and "buzz-words" that you won't find in any dictionary - to blind one's critics with meaningless vebiage (they've done that);
Downsize one's workforce, ESPECIALLY the skilled people, all of whom cost too much anyway, then complain BITTERLY about the artificial "skills shortage" while not undertaking any training programs to provide the next generation of trained people. This gives the added satisfaction of firing all of the malcontents, critics, and independant thinkers - HELL, why not go the whole hog & downsize ANYONE who thinks at all? The result will be to "cow" the rest of one's workforce with the heady atmosphere of fear and loathing; (they've done that)
Downsize the "accounting" and "legal" departments to the point where they are so snowed under with trivialities they'll never be able to spot how much you're robbing the company of or where you're stashing the loot (they've done that);
Encourage government to follow suit with all of the above (they've done that);
Given that downsizing has lead to more & more obscenely large profits, thus more and more obscenely large bonuses, payouts, gratuities, honorariums and Golden Handshakes for the corrupt or inept Executives whilst letting said Corporate Executives away with less & less regulatory oversight - why would they want to do the OPPOSITE?
jtmorgan, such a suggestion would cause the the average Corporate Executive to start FOAMING AT THE MOUTH!The "die off" is also something they would want - think about the way that most rich Americans want all Unemployed people (and BOY is there gonna be a heap of unemployed shortly) to be forced off all forms of "welfare" so that the rich can have the Socialist Welfare of lotsa roads - d'you think that this is likely to change, somehow?
The unemployed will shortly be (once again) talked about as "surplus population". There are people here who do that right now and seem to welcome the Die-Off, and that's from those who LIKE the rest of us.
Once the Die Off starts, those who will be most affected (it is said) will be the much-despised poor. Thus the Unemployed will be affected because they are "those who deserve it", because they OBVIOUSLY "don't want to work". Thus the real, tangible feeling of angry superiority, the arrogant hate-filled elitist attitude of "getting the bludgers off our backs" - mostly from those who have never had to do an honest day's work in their entire lives.
The Die Off will thus (foolishly) be welcomed by the "left" - "we already have exceeded the carrying capacity of our Planet";
And the Right: "Get rid of the surplus population of dole-bludgers and unemployables and keep only the right sorta people".
Myself? I don't welcome the idea of mass near-extinction for anything, possibly because I'm soft-hearted. But so what? Does having a hard heart provide infallable protection against having a soft head?
I think that casual acceptance of a huge Die Off by those who think that supporting "welfare" is interfering with their blatant lust to continue their "rich and infamous" lifestyle is especially reprehensable.
But worst of all is the idea that such a die off should be welcomed in order to give some philosopher a good feeling, because it proves her right on the philosophical point that she felt we have too many humans.
Even Adolf Hitler wasn't THAT depraved.
I re-interate what I said above: Oil (or it's lack) isn't the PROBLEM; nor is there an evident lack of technology - what's the "problem" is the utter corruption (ethical and mental) of "those in charge" who don't wanna change what they have worked so hard to achieve: corrupt depraved elitism based on exclusion$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Raxozanne', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', '
')Sex Slavery as well Raxozanne, do not forget that. Although in our modern times both regular slavery (basic wage at Walmarts) and sex slavery is so common that it will not be a cultural shock. People even accept that , but instead they call their slavemaster "free economy".
Brothels were legalised in Australia just so the the government could collect tax!
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