[Leanan]

Fascinating article on peak oil in Fortune magazine, of all places. It's about a billionaire who fears peak oil is at hand. He apparently spends five hours a day reading peak oil blogs and Web sites. I wonder if it's someone we know?

[Eli]

Ok my doom meter just went up a little.

Very interesting times indeed when a guy such as this is featured in fortune magazine. This guy is every bit as nuts as the rest of us here.

[thuja]

Yeah, except he's got billions to back up his peakoil madness...maybe he'll hire a few of us to guard his gated mansions after the riots begin...

[dub_scratch]

Imagine if these doomer super rich people try to build their own eco-village retreat-- perhaps on an island. That would be a good opportunity for some of those with the know-how to design and put one of those together.

[Eli]

Jee do think he is hiring?

Yeah that is what worries me, this guy has got billions behind him and seems worried about keeping it. Also I guarantee you his money has bought research and info we have not seen.

I bet most of the super rich are too far involved in the whole machine to do as this guy is doing. A lot of them are going to go down with the ship but look out for the ones that remain because I bet they will do anything and everything to keep their seats at number one.

[bob_loblaw]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'O')k my doom meter just went up a little.

Very interesting times indeed when a guy such as this is featured in fortune magazine. This guy is every bit as nuts as the rest of us here.

[MattSavinar]

Strange, I don't see any mention that the guy's concerns are being assuaged by clean coal, plug in hybrids, and nuclear plants.

Of course, he's made 2 billion dollars from accurately predicting crisis so why should his opinion be of any concern to the rest of us?

Best,

Matt

[parainwater]

I wonder if I could convince him that we are related?

[Free]

A little caveat: Don't forget that this guy is heavily invested in oil, so he has every interest in talking about PO.

But then again, if I read something like this:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')"It's not raving," he says. "I promise I am not a kook."

[Eli]

Exactly the guy is obviously completely full of shit and he has 2 billion dollars to prove it.


Everything is just fine, just fine, I says. Anybody want to go to the mall and buy something? All of sudden I am feeling a little blue.

He is new money my bet is the inner circle of super rich know exactly what is going on they just do not know what the hell to do about it. And they unlike this guy are dead set against the masses hearing about it.

[OneLoneClone]

Whatch'a been reading, Eli? Nobody uses the term 'the masses' any longer, you radical!

No but seriously I want to be a serf on that guy's manor someday. Dare to dream.

[orz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he next blowup, however, looms so large that it scares and confuses him. For the past few months he's been holed up in hard-core research mode—reading books, academic studies, and, yes, blogs. Every morning he rises before dawn at one of his houses in Texas or South Carolina or California (he actually owns a piece of Pebble Beach Resorts) and spends four or five hours reading sites like LifeAftertheOilCrash.net or DieOff.org, obsessively following links and sifting through data. How worried is he? He has some $500 million of his $2.5 billion fortune in cash, more than ever before. "I'm long oil and I'm liquid," he says. "I've put myself in a position that if the end of the world came tomorrow I'd kind of be prepared." He's also ready to move fast if he spots an opening.

[Leanan]

I'm still wondering if it's someone who posts here. Maybe one of those who is always talking about stocks and trading?

If I had that kind of money, I'd buy my own island. And outfit it to be sustainable, of course.

But I don't, so I, too, am brushing up my skills as a serf. I don't think I'd be very good at guarding the gate, but I come from a long line of peasant farmers. And I've got fish/pondkeeping skills. Richard, if you're here, keep me in mind.

[Eli]

orz

obviously yes that is a possibility.

But there are many times where the guy is pensive and is just honestly worried.

You can tell he is just a rich guy who started to see what is going on right now.

[Free]

Lol with so many serfs offering themselves here it is like at some of those places where you can pick up mexicans to help you on the farm

But somebody who is browsing PO-blogs for 5 hours a day certainly stopped by here at some point, he either thought the forum was crap, became addicted and is still among us, or got banned...

Funny, it's a bit like in one of those Agatha Christy crime stories were somebody gets killed on a party and suddenly everybody is under suspicion...

[Eli]

Ok, Ok guys its me.

I am Rainwater. And I have an investment opportunity for anyone interested in at least quadrupling their money.

All you need to do is to deposit at least 1,000 US dollars in my paypal account and I will be happy to send you the info.

[thuja]

OMG Eli! I never would have guessed. BTW, I am willing to shoot tresspassers and taste your food if you'd be willing to throw me a few scraps from your dinner table post-peak.

Seriously- many of the rich and super rich do know the gig is up and are investing accordingly. Read Money magazines and they extole on the virtues of investing in energy. See how Bill Gates is shorting US dollars and Buffet bought an unbelievable amount of silver. Peak oil understanding or not, financiers understand that we are in dire economic times in terms of housing bubble, debt, expensive foreign wars, aging boomers,etc.

They also understand that most all the oil is located in countries with volatile political establishments. Mix that in with a touch of fear of global terrorism and modern day Holy Wars and you have a lot of nervous analysts out there. Many (the smart ones) are scared poopless of inflation and a severe economic downturn.

This guy from Fortune just happens to be like us. They see all the other s%it but realize that Peak Oil is most likely the Big Enchilada- that frozen hunk of ice ready to deal the hardest and quickest blow. He's gonna get his money set up right so he can go on sipping beaujolais with his wife and admire the servants toiling under the sun on his plantation.

Probably a lot like the rest of us would do if we had a few extra billion. So Mr. Eli, please let me taste your food!!

[UIUCstudent01]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('parainwater', 'I') wonder if I could convince him that we are related?

[MattSavinar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'O')MG Eli! I never would have guessed. BTW, I am willing to shoot tresspassers and taste your food if you'd be willing to throw me a

This guy from Fortune just happens to be like us. They see all the other s%it but realize that Peak Oil is most likely the Big Enchilada- that frozen hunk of ice ready to deal the hardest and quickest blow. He's gonna get his money set up right so he can go on sipping beaujolais with his wife and admire the servants toiling under the sun on his plantation.

Probably a lot like the rest of us would do if we had a few extra billion. So Mr. Eli, please let me taste your food!!

[Revi]

A guy like him has already made his move. Why would he tip off everybody else in a magazine like Fortune? This article is really scary. It makes me think that whatever is going to happen may happen soon. I am not worried about the Richard Rainwaters of the world. He'll probably be fine. There are lots of other people for whom a rise in oil from $2 to $3 is the difference between life and death by hypothermia. If Mr. Rainwater really wanted to make something of his life he would be constructing lifeboats for some of these people. Maybe help out the people of that town that he hangs out in. Open a solar hot water panel plant, pay fair wages. He may end up making lots of money anyway. Work on the infrastructure. Prepare them for a post peak world. Otherwise he's just another rich guy who profited from other people's misery. Carnegie without the libraries.