[Joe0Bloggs]

I first learnt about Peak Oil about two years ago and I think I still haven't got beyond the shock and despair stage. My study, work and social lives have all suffered from neglect while I spent the better part of my days surfing the net to glean every bit of bad news there is to be had. (in the name of 'keeping up to date')

And yet I still 'can't totally believe' that modern civilization is going to be extinguished like this. (everybody around me 'totally can't believe' that, so that affects my judgment somewhat) Ever since I was a kid I have dreamt of going up to space in a great migration of civilization towards the final frontier. Now it looks like we might crash down from low earth orbit back down to the ground and from there, down into that hot place below.

I can't find the heart to prepare for survival in China (because I am loathe to learn to speak Putonghua) nor in Australia. (because my family won't follow me) (I am a Hong Konger who had spent 3 years in Australia with my family.)

I was diagnosed with some combination of depression and anxiety in 2000. Now it seems that despite medications the worst bits of these diseases are coming out--this endless cycle of worry, doom and gloom and total inability to take action. If Peak Oil comes I'll be just as unprepared as the average moron who never knew of the issue until the very end, and with worse than average ability to withstand the hardships; if Peak Oil doesn't come I'll be way behind my peers in my career progress. At this rate my life seems destined to be a failure either way!

[MJ]

First off, modern civilization is not going to be extinguished over this. We probably will have to set our standards of living lower, and learn more about self sustaining, including new ways of using energy. Our knowledge and technology will not just vanish because of fossil fuel declining. It's quite possible, in the mid-to-long term, we'll develop more advanced technology which will help us cope with energy issues. PO does not signifie the very end of human species either, we'll still be here a looong time from now. This is a gradual transition, so many of us should and will be able to adapt to new situations and circumstances.
Always been one of the things we are very good at, adapting to change.

And you will be more prepared than the average moron, you understand the seriousness of this, and with 2 yrs. of self investigation on the web, your knowledge and comprehension should be a major advantage. I'm sure in those 2 years, you've come across very much and very different ideas to sustain - at least - yourself and your family.

Get a grip man.

[Macsporan]

Find any of my recent posts and read carefully.

They will fix the depression.

Learn to laugh at Doomers.

They will never laugh at themselves.

[MD]

Mac you sure think very highly of your posts if you think they can cure depression.

JoeBlogg you have set up a no win situation for yourself. Hong Kong is no good, you don't want to be in China mainland, and you don't want to be in Australia. Pick a place you would like to be and work towards getting there.

[Macsporan]

Because I am a living god.

And a rational optimist.

One of these sterling characteristics has to be useful.

[Sencha]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')earn to laugh at Doomers.

They will never laugh at themselves.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Macsporan', '
')Learn to laugh at Doomers.

[Heineken]

A similar cast of characters---optimists, pessimists, people "living well," the ignorant, the greedy, the brave, the despairing---was present on the Titanic almost to the moment it slipped beneath the waves. These are the universal human responses to highly unpleasant facts.

"Rational optimist" is to me a contradiction in terms, because it is an admission of bias, and there is nothing rational about bias. The rational person attempts to be free of bias, or at least not to embrace it.

In the end our individual opinions won't matter.

[Peepers]

Get back to helping this young man named Joe, OK?

My advice is to live life enjoyably, yet sustainably. Take up bicycle riding into the countryside. Take transit into the city and walk around, visiting the many cultural attractions. Spend time at musuems and other institutions to learn about human history and all the ups and downs it has had over its thousands of years, and discover how some civilizations survived and why others didn't. You'll find others who will share your interests, but always maintain a bright positive attitude through a desire to learn. Those that do, will emerge as better human beings in a post-peak oil world, or for that matter at the end of each day. Just take it one day at a time, because it seems you're contemplating all that lays ahead in the future, and appears to be overwhelming you. Anytime you feel yourself getting depressed, do something nice for yourself, like that bicycle ride, or a walk in a park to enjoy the sights and sounds of things that won't go away.

[Joe0Bloggs]

I guess I just don't know how to position myself for the future. Given that PO is going to happen, I don't know whether the future will be a rat race for fewer and fewer jobs in the framework of something resembling to current world economy, or if the three horsemen of the apocalyse will just come charging in. In the former case I guess I should prepare myself to jostle for a good job position; in the latter case I should look more closely at survival techniques.

If I'm indecisive I ought to be preparing for both situations but I'm more like preparing for neither...

Do you know the kind of people that look upon Peak Oil as some kind of Apocalyse and are just living their lives like zombies, doing nothing, waiting for their salvation? I'll fit right in with them now!

Somebody mentioned that in 2 years of research I ought to have learnt a few things about post-PO survival. Well, not really--I spent all my time just reading about the bad news. I don't really feel interested in preparing myself for the shit that will happen if all these bad news are true.

Why do I feel downright HAPPY these days when I read another PO-related piece of bad news? Because it proves that I'm right and the people around me are wrong? Maybe I'm just glad that I'll be spared the chore of killing myself! If I'm so happy to die why don't I go now??

(don't worry, I'm still here... I've trained myself such that even if I can't find a reason to live, I have to find a compelling immediate reason to die as a reason for suicide... like, starvation, loss of housing or some such serious deterioration of living condition, with no relief in sight)

What I need is something that can give me a good kick so I can get off my ass and start DOING something! I have a plan...

Get in touch with the Hong Kong PO clan
If there is none, find an appropriate place to start one (e.g. a Greenpeace branch meeting, an appropriate society in a university...)
Once I get a bunch of like-minded people together that are inclined to actually DO something about the coming crisis, they can help me get back into gear to do stuff.

But it's taking so long for me to get started!!

Also need to find a job in the meantime and that is going at a snail's pace, like maybe half a job application per day.

[lowem]

Well, if you can't yet find Hong Kong buddies at short notice, how about us folks over here from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia? We're in the same timezone to boot.

We could compare notes or something. Hong Kong is "vertical suburbia" too, right? As urban dwellers, the coming challenges, shrug, could be similar.

What are your plans? Do you currently have any relatives over in China, or Australia?

[Joe0Bloggs]

... I guess a phone call could do me some good.

Maybe I'll pm u my phone no.

I don't really have any plans right now...

edit: I have relatives in Australia but they are living in the suburbs...

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Peepers', 'G')et back to helping this young man named Joe, OK?

My advice is to live life enjoyably, yet sustainably. Take up bicycle riding into the countryside. Take transit into the city and walk around, visiting the many cultural attractions. Spend time at musuems and other institutions to learn about human history and all the ups and downs it has had over its thousands of years, and discover how some civilizations survived and why others didn't. You'll find others who will share your interests, but always maintain a bright positive attitude through a desire to learn. Those that do, will emerge as better human beings in a post-peak oil world, or for that matter at the end of each day. Just take it one day at a time, because it seems you're contemplating all that lays ahead in the future, and appears to be overwhelming you. Anytime you feel yourself getting depressed, do something nice for yourself, like that bicycle ride, or a walk in a park to enjoy the sights and sounds of things that won't go away.

[Ludi]

ok, Joe, if you've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression you might have been told at some point that you need to retrain your thoughts to be more positive. This is true, you need to find some positive outlets for your thoughts and not spend so much time reading depressing negative information. This is very important. Even if you're on medication, if you continue to feed your negativity, the meds might not be able to overcome your depression and anxiety. You need to make a deliberate effort to find some positive outlets, some positive aspect you can concentrate on. Even if you can't drag yourself away from the idea of peak oil completely. For instance, I'll give you my own example. I'm quite obsessed with peak oil and have been for months. I'm on anti-anxiety and antidepressant meds, and antipsychotic meds. To find positive outlet, I'm concentrating on what I can do to encourage people I know to change their lives to be more sustainable, and doing as much as I can in my own life to become more sustainable. So, I'm learning to grow my own food, and starting to learn about renewable energy (photovoltaic in my case), solar cooking, and all this fun stuff. I find it exciting and intriguing, and not "survivalist" or "doomerish" at all. I like the Planning forum here, because people post in there about thigns they're actually doing to improve their lives. People usually seem excited and happy about what they're doing in that forum.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', ' ') A revolution would be a good first step.

[Heineken]

Our society and its individuals need to take big, radical steps now, Ludi, or a revolution or anything else we do will come too late. Baby steps won't cut it.

As far as giving out medical advice goes, I will yield to those with the proper training.

[Choon]

Strange. I find my current situation to be quite similar to that of Joe0Bloggs's (i.e. PO-informed for quite a bit, but haven't prepared yet), except that my depression is mostly related to issues with members of the opposite sex, rather than the general stupidity of mankind.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'W')ell, if you can't yet find Hong Kong buddies at short notice, how about us folks over here from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia? We're in the same timezone to boot.

We could compare notes or something. Hong Kong is "vertical suburbia" too, right? As urban dwellers, the coming challenges, shrug, could be similar.

What are your plans? Do you currently have any relatives over in China, or Australia?

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'O')ur society and its individuals need to take big, radical steps now, Ludi, or a revolution or anything else we do will come too late. Baby steps won't cut it.

[rostov]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Choon', '
')Wait....aren't we supposed to look for Gogota's Post Peak Oil Stronghold when TSHTF? I mean, that was the plan, right???

[rostov]

Joe,

Calm down.

Climb small. Take small steps (kochevnik & Ludi styles). Recruit small. If not ALL of your family wants to follow you to Australia, take some. At least those that can calm down. And climb small.

You've spent 3 years in Australia. Study? Where do you want to go? 2 years being aware of PO and studying the issues gotta encompass which country will have bigger die-offs : China and its aspiration to consume 5x more than USA now, or Austalia, with its aridness+desert+peakwater+whatever.

Despite your lose-in-all situation you created, you know that your time in Australia is going to count for immigration entry if you apply, right? Or when you look for a job before immigration?


But another way, since you can't get off your feet for these 2 years, is to look for a caregiver. I used to be a caregiver for a clinically depressed person (looked after hand and foot) for years, keeping track and tagging along making sure no suicide or overdose or go-missing actually happened, keeping the meds on schedule, keeping the appointments in sync. It's not a joke what a clinically depressed (bloody misnomer! I hate this word) is going through.

Fine.

Look for a caregiver who's PO-aware, wants to do something about it, and loves you enough to bring you along to work on it. Aren't there anyone in the opposite sex or any family member that believes what you believe?


edit : one more thing. Don't underestimate your own raised skill of being bilingual. There's going to be a lot of use for this even in Australia, or HK.