[Permanently_Baffled]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')What $3 - $4/gallon will do is rape the poor and make the rich go shopping as usual.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnemyCombatant', 'I')'m disappointed that you guys have decided not to engage others. It's your duty to do so.

You don't need to convince anyone, just plant some seeds.

[Kent]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')hat creeps me out the most is that so many people just expect or assume "the government will take care of it." Why are people so in love with the government? Are they children who need Daddy to take care of them?

[rs]

I think another contributing factor to this is the consumer lifestyle. Everything is done for us by someone else.

Food arrives in nice neat plastic packets. For heating we just turn a dial. Electricity is just there. If we need to go somewhere we climb into a hunk of metal, turn a key and bingo. You need water, just turn a tap. Waste goes into a black bin and some men come and take it away.

We have lost what it means to have this stuff. We assume this is the way it has always been and the way it always will be.

There is no appreciation for our environment. It is just consume, consume, CONSUME!

Kunstler is right, we are sleepwalking into the future. I just want to shake people and say Wake Up!

[tokyo_to_motueka]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Permanently_Baffled', 'L')ord knows what the poor do in Europe at nearly £1 a litre (or $1.79), hop on a bus I guess...

[SD_Scott]

Depending on what he intends to do with the car, it may not be such a bad purchase. Commuting, forget it. I agree, really a dumb purchase, but for collectors it's fine. As a side note, in motorcycle road racing, racing fuel can cost up to $75 a gallon. I know lots of guys doing trackdays that spend $20 a gallon for racing fuel.

[JonM]

I could well get flamed for this but....

Maybe its a little simplified or just plain cynical, but I see most people motivated by 2 factors that go hand in hand... Being Right and Looking Good. A quick glance at society confirms this.... just look at how people clamour over the trends in Pop culture, bigger houses and cars, petty flame wars in cyber-space, massive consumer debt, etc.

Most dont want to believe PO because there is a chance in their uninformed minds that it could be wrong, noone wants to risk being wrong as it will make them look bad. Even if they do see that PO may be a real possibility they will still not want to give up their Escalades and shopping sprees because they wont look as good compared to the Jones' who dont know about PO. As long as the 'other guys' are still consuming like crazy the general populace will not conserve and voluntarily bring themselves down a notch in their perceived self image for a reason that may well be wrong. And the cycle continues.....

I like the quote "A person is smart, but people are panicky, dangerous animals." Bring up PO to a friend over coffee and they will probably nod alot, ask questions and start the wheels in their head turning. Bring it up to the same friend in a group at a party and they'll probably laugh you off and change the subject. People will only open up with a like minded group (like this board, or AA) as they know they will not look bad and be seen as wrong for their feelings. People want the government to mandate conservation because then everyone will be brought down a notch... or two... and noone will have to look bad individually.

Im not saying these are the only 2 factors in motivation, just interesting to think about as you watch people go about their lives.
Human nature can be a shallow scary thing....

<Flame retardant Jockeys on> Fire away.

[retiredguy]

Speaking of not getting it....

My nephew is a cop in a large city in the Western US. He owns two Metros and drives one to work. He was told last week that he could no longer park his Metro in the city ramp next to the station. Those spaces were reserved for "normal" sized cars. He now has to park further from work on the fourth floor of another ramp.

Ubelievable or what??

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'Y')ou've made a mistake somewhere peanut

[merecat]

Like other POilers I find it very difficult to get people talking about when they think oil will decline and what effect they think it will have on our world, I get the same reaction off people as if I'd asked "when do you think grandma will die?" at the christmas dinner table.

Kents post above is the truth, alot of people are more than willing children of the state!

I guess this board attracts more free thinkers because it's all about oil, the very life blood of the modern world, depleting. To contemplate peak oil is to contemplate the end of easy living society and the issue tends to make the mush minded Disneyfied® people (aka sheeple) somewhat uncomfortable.

P.S.
If you really want to drop bombshells at your next social gathering then be sure to mention peak oil of course and then follow on with:

Oil demand reduction through culling (depopulation plans).
Flouride in drinking water.
The dangers of prescription drugs.
Chemtrails being left in all of our skies.
Subliminal images of chemtrails appearing in many popular tv shows.
HAARP.
One world government (illuminati).
and more....

[mgibbons19]

My mom brought up the use of fossil fuels while I was visiting. I had resolved not to talk about PO the whole trip. And I did pretty good.

But it is hard not talking about what appears to me to be the single most important issue facing our society right now. Especially one that ties together everything else that is going on. And Specop is right, absolutely noone else even sees the tiniest part of it.

This must be how the rapture ppl feel.

[cheaplaughs]

if you want to see a great example of somebody who isnt
dealing with reality check out the comment in todays globe and mail
(canada"s biggest newspaper) buy a woman named Margaret Wente
about the high gas prices i believe you can read the comment at
mwente@globeandmail.ca

This might be the greatest example of somebody having there head
up there ass i have seen since well since i woke up this morning
and turned on cnbc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wildwell]

I’m listening to the radio now about high fuel prices, there is a bit of complaint about tax, but in general people realise China and India now wants cars and consumer items so oil is only going to get more expensive. This is quite refreshing. Some people are looking at buying more fuel efficient cars or getting bio diesel. The real problem is going to be people that cannot be flexible with their cars and drive SUVs or have several cars when they don’t need them and complain about prices.

[Kent]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('merecat', 'I') get the same reaction off people as if I'd asked "when do you think grandma will die?" at the christmas dinner table.

[dmtu]

My most recent experience at work was with a fairly intelligent guy.

I said
"What do ya think about the price of oil?"
"It's getting crazy."
" You ever wonder why?"
"Greedy assed oil companies are why."
"Naw, I think it's because we've just about hit the peak of oil prodution."
"BS There's oil all over the place"
"Then how come the greedy assed oil companies aren't pumping it when oil is hitting records all the time? You know production in America peaked in 1971?"

End of conversation, back to male bantering with much sarcastic wit. Maybe he got it but I don't think so. I've managed to convert three or four peeps so far but I don't try often and they have to be people I care about.

[Free]

Yesterday I had a date and surely you know what was my number one "smalltalk subject".... stupid me!

Never mention PO at a date! I heard this before but of course I knew better - with the usual result, " I heard there is plenty of oil, it's all a conspiracy", weird looks etc...

Although in the end I managed quite good, because I came up with a lot of facts and figures (decline rates etc.) which are impressive and not easy to refute, and tried to stay positive how in the end it could mean that our living quality gets better (BS but doomerism is taboo...) and that after all it is not a bad thing that this means the end of globalization blah blah and managed to get to other topics...

Yes you are right in the end it's all about the seeds, it's just asking too much to get the whole concept at once...

[rs]

and the most important question is, are you going to see him/her again ?

[JoeW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', '
')What did the government do during the seventies? 55 speed limit that would be a start. And man that would suck for driving long distances.

[Free]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rs', 'a')nd the most important question is, are you going to see him/her again ?

[TheSupplyGuy]

Sigh, it seems everyone makes this one mistake in their conversion/conversation efforts. You HAVE to separate peak oil from running out of oil. It took me a year to realize my friends thought I was talking about running out of oil. Once I explained I was talking about max barrels a day, suddenly everyone was on board.