[SoothSayer]

I'm 50, a technologist and feel I understand Peak Oil to some degree.

Even 'tho the timings are still unclear I am assuming that by the time I am 65 things will be worse than today - probably not The End Of The World, but almost certainly a fairly severe economic downturn.

I can write off my pensions I would say. (The demographics of the "baby boom" will do that even without Peak Oil!)

(I am hoping that no wars etc break out in that time)

HOWEVER ... WHAT ABOUT MY CHILDREN?

They are in their late teens & early 20's, just starting their careers.

What should we tell them?

How can they apply for long term careers with "good" pension plans etc, with the suspicion that in their 40s or 50s the world will probably be quite a different place, at least economically.

Perhaps we should simply act as if everthing was normal. After all, back in the 70s some families did not have children because of the impending WW3 ... which never happened! Mistake!

However Peak Oil is more of a certainty ... it's just the timescales & associated effects which are less than clear. [Yes, there WILL be very noticable effects, even if we have a "soft landing"]

What have you told YOUR children? Do they care?

[Mesuge]

The best advice would be to make them vote Republican or Democrat that means perpetual wars and forced demand destruction in the 3rd world so they can run their SUV at least 20 years longer..

[RacerJace]

Teach them to turn their backs to consumerism and the materialistic ways of our current capitalistic culture and encourage them to develop skills in permaculture and community interdependance.

Our / humanity's only hope of long term survival depends on fostering wisdom in sustainability and what it means to be a valued contributor to society.

My children are 21 months and 3.5 years old. The world that they inherit will be a violent and harsh environment thanks to ours and our forebarers folly and shortsightedness.

.

[hippiegunlover]

Why don't you tell them the truth? Tell them to research it themselves if they give you a hard time.

I've been having discussions with my children for a couple of years about PO, overpopulation and the envirornment, they "get it" and the oldest is only 9. So I don't see how talking to a teenager or 20 something would be a problem.

[kevincarter]

Maybe they can make their own alternative pension plans. If instead of putting their money into “pension plans” they put it on “good quality land and strong family ties” they will end up having a good planB where to retire. I don’t believe in pension plans at all. I understand what you are saying: “What if…” But also, I see no trauma in leaving your career behind, your job is not your life after all. You are a computer guy and end up living in a forest, no big deal to me.

Your post gives me a lot of thinking.

Sure there are careers for them. It’s going to be a busy world and they will not get bored, but maybe they don’t get to wear a tie. I mean that there will be plenty of things to do, high concept low tech. And most important, those things will be USEFUL and will provide a sense of “feeling good” as opposite to now when we perform UNUSEFUL and absurd tasks that make lots of people wonder what’s the meaning of life. Under a PO view some careers are stupid but I’m sure you can advise them which ones are so.

What do I tell my children?

They are too young to understand words yet but I’m planning on addressing the subject on a very practical way, not telling them too much about the global mechanisms but teaching them useful stuff, attitudes and responses (to trap animals, find good water, build all kinds of stuff, learn to learn, stay away from politicians, keep a good humor, keep necessities low, escape marketing and the media tentacles, self esteem, autonomy etc) All basic, they need a good base that can respond to anything (from working in IT to becoming hunters). My dream is that if they are in a situation when they have to escape (be it chaos or economic depression) they will have to take nothing with them, only their brains. On the other hand if we are teletransported into a land of wonders beyond peak, they will still be able to integrate. What’s important is what’s in your brain and that’s where I’m going to put all efforts.

“Act as if anything was normal” is quite tricky. As I understand it “normal” comes form “norm” and norms can change any given time. “Act as if norms can change radically” would be a more useful approach.

[mgibbons19]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SoothSayer', '.')..
They are in their late teens & early 20's, just starting their careers.

What should we tell them?

How can they apply for long term careers with "good" pension plans etc, with the suspicion that in their 40s or 50s the world will probably be quite a different place, at least economically.

...

What have you told YOUR children? Do they care?

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SoothSayer', '
')HOWEVER ... WHAT ABOUT MY CHILDREN?

They are in their late teens & early 20's, just starting their careers.

What should we tell them?

[TheTurtle]

Teach them to be independent and self-sufficient individuals who nonetheless understand the inherent value of the tribe.

[Ancien_Opus]

I'm also 50 and have wrestled with this issue. So here's my 2 cents. Most of the opportunities to talk about the future for my children center upon careers. I've talked about trying to live more locally where water and land are available and the climate is not too harsh. I use local examples of older homes designed for convection heating and how the porch was used in the summer months. I point out how these technologies have been lost as culture has moved to indoor climate control. They have experienced disaster as an F1 tornado blew through town and caused us to live without electricity for a couple of weeks but we still had water. My eldest daughter (18) even went to see "The End of Suburbia" with me and she was the youngest person in attendance.

I feel that if my children where younger I would definitely advocate more Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Explorer activities and try to get them into camping. Particularily tough decision for parents because a lot of other activities such as scholastic, music & sports will be competing for thier time. This opportunity is somewhat lost for my children's age but for the younger folks these skills may be required to navigate the functional logistics of survival. Knowing how to prepare food, start a fire, store and purify water, adapt to cold and inclimate weather could be indispensable.

[CoronaWithLime]

My fiance and I have started talking about having kids (we are young 20s) before we get too inendated with careers. She is a Nuclear Engineer and I am IT. We have considered that her career may be more stable than mine in times of SHTF(note that is "hitting"). In that sense I would be the stay at home dad. I was a boy scout growing up and understand not only logic, math, scientific method, vast amounds of information and ability to learn(that is the IT man in me speaking) but I am also proficient with a gun and can MacGyver an animal trap, irrigation system, PV grid, ect...so we figure that is one more good reason to have eachothers back. She can bring home the bacon and i'll bring home the boar.

[PrairieMule]

Well here is how I explained 9/11 to kids...

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38286

You asked for it. HeeeeHaw

[SeasonOfPain]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SoothSayer', 'P')erhaps we should simply act as if everthing was normal. After all, back in the 70s some families did not have children because of the impending WW3 ... which never happened! Mistake!

[AmericanEmpire]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') know I'm probably in a minority here, but I certainly don't view those people who decided not to have kinds as the ones making the mistakes!

[mekrob]

Criminal to bring a child into this world? I believe for most of us, it's criminal to NOT bring a child into this world, maybe not now, but when we are capable of such. Think of it this way, if you don't have a child, then that's one less person that you can have a great deal of influence over which allows one more person to gain the knowledge of PO and how to cope and overcome it, how to live without oil and progress a world of sustainability.
You're logic makes little sense. I'm taking that most of us are at least somewhat more capable than others and will be when the shit hits the fan. We'll probably have a higher survival rate than the rest of the world. If there truly is an overshoot and die-off as you may think, then evolution will take place as nature intends it to. The weak will die while the strong will continue to live and reproduce (hopefully sustainably). But if you (the strong, I'm guessing) decide not to have children, then that child (strong again) that you don't have will allow room for another kid to survive who may or may not be as strong.
We simply need as many strong as possible to 'survive' and progress, hopefully, towards a sustainable world.
It would only be criminal if you are going to squander that child and let him/her grow up on TV, consumerism, oil, wastefulness, etc. To do the opposite would be the greatest achievement of man, the (first?) step towards a realistic world.

[mekrob]

I'm not saying that it was criminal for those in the '70's to not have children. Only in few instances when those parents would have brought their children up 'right' instead of directing them elsewhere. Most of those would have been 'criminal'.