[Roymund]

Seriously, how many people here are rooting for peak oil and are going to relish the supposed upcoming economic meltdown with a kind of "I told you so!" attitude? Just an interesting psychological observation of the peak oil scene. Most of the ardent followers seem to really hope it will happen, either cause they despise the political/economic status quo or they've put so much time and energy into the issue that they feel the need to be proven right.

An interesting side theory is that most people (including the mainstream media) don't care about PO because they are satisfied with the status quo and are in denial of the changes that may come; or in otherwords peak oil followers are losers, unhappy, outside the establishment, etc. So? Am I right? Wrong? Just being a dick?

[Lighthouse]

Nope not me. I'm rooting for the fun of it.

(Sorry could not resist )

[ReserveGrowthRulz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roymund', 'S')eriously, how many people here are rooting for peak oil and are going to relish the supposed upcoming economic meltdown with a kind of "I told you so!" attitude? Just an interesting psychological observation of the peak oil scene. Most of the ardent followers seem to really hope it will happen, either cause they despise the political/economic status quo or they've put so much time and energy into the issue that they feel the need to be proven right.

[Jack]

I'm rooting for peak oil.

It's made me a nice amount of money, and I expect to make considerably more. As the poorer segments of society suffer greater distress, their assets can be acquired at bargain prices, as can their labor.

'Tis an ill wind that blows no good.

[mekrob]

Well since there aren't any real alternatives to oil and few seem willing to make a change, it is best if peak happens sooner rather than later. If it is still 20 years down the road, then the population will just continue to grow out of control, people will be ever more dependent upon oil and the decline will be even faster. So yeah, bring it on!

[grillzilla]

I for one am not rooting for a disasterous peak oil scenario. I have a son who will be entering the workforce in a couple years, I don't want his world to be in the kind of shock the doomers portray. Second, I will be pushing 60 when the effects of an economic melt-down will be at its worst. I don't need that.

That said I keep looking for silver linings on the storm clouds. I talk to people who have been in Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, the Emirates, I don't much like what I hear. I hold some optimism for human ingenuity and resilience leading to a less catastrophic social change. Even so you won't hear "bring it on" from me.



edited for spelling

[rwwff]

I'm not rooting for it, and I'm a skeptic on the meltdown aspects. OTOH, I'm about as fully prepared as I could hope to be without currently living on the farm, so if things did go splat in what I call an apocolypse Its just a matter of getting our warm bodies up the road a few miles, and settling in for a decade of the terribly fun activity known as farming without a tractor. (or without diesel fuel, really.)

I'm one of those whose predicting a moderately to significantly painful slow run-up in oil prices to $200/bbl with the market making appropriate adjustments along the way.

[seldom_seen]

I'm not for or against peak oil. Nor do I root for the tide to go out at the beach, or the leaves to fall off the trees in autumn.

It just happens naturally. Human beings, as detrivores, are following a pattern seen throughout nature:

feed off detritus --> population bloom --> detritus supply crunch --> population crash

I think we'll still be around though a few centuries from now, albeit in greatly diminished numbers and quite a bit more humble. Whoever said "the meek shall inherit the earth" was on to something.

[MattSavinar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roymund', 'S')eriously, how many people here are rooting for peak oil and are going to relish the supposed upcoming economic meltdown with a kind of "I told you so!" attitude? Just an interesting psychological observation of the peak oil scene. Most of the ardent followers seem to really hope it will happen, either cause they despise the political/economic status quo or they've put so much time and energy into the issue that they feel the need to be proven right.

An interesting side theory is that most people (including the mainstream media) don't care about PO because they are satisfied with the status quo and are in denial of the changes that may come; or in otherwords peak oil followers are losers, unhappy, outside the establishment, etc. So? Am I right? Wrong? Just being a dick?

[MattSavinar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'I')'m rooting for peak oil.

It's made me a nice amount of money, and I expect to make considerably more. As the poorer segments of society suffer greater distress, their assets can be acquired at bargain prices, as can their labor.

'Tis an ill wind that blows no good.

[Jellric]

I would be lying if I claimed there might not be a part of me that would experience glee at being proved right, at least in the short-term. But since I have no control over the outcome on a large scale, I may as well position me and mine for what I believe will come on a smaller scale.

On a related note I have placed orders to buy puts (stock options "betting" the price of the underlying stock will go down) and profited from the downfall of corporations. (My put on Royal Carribean Cruise Lines is doing very well.)

Do I feel guilty about this? Absolutely not. My move had no impact whatsoever on the fate of those companies fortunes. But I had a strong feeling about what would happen and figured I may as well benefit from it if they are going down anyway.

Same thing when it comes to Peak Oil investment plays. I don't want this shit to happen- I am not operating under any illusions..this will be hellish for almost everyone.

As for investment calls that could decide the fate of an enterprise one way or the other, I remove myself from them because that is where the danger lies. Danger for ones soul if you can dig it.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MattSavinar', '
')As much as you may have made, you are not an "inside player." If you were, you wouldn't be posting here.

[Colorado-Valley]

I plan to keep working my nice little organic farm until the government confiscates it for "national security" purposes.

Then I'll go quietly into the FEMA work camps ...

[MattSavinar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'H')opefully, I (and you) can avoid shark bites.

[azreal60]

I would say yes I'm rooting for it simply because in the short term unless we hit the nuclear war button, which I consider vanishingly remote, it won't mean a huge lot of people die in the near term. What it will mean is actually less likely to have lots of people die a violent death in the long term as well.

The simple reason is that if we kept on the path of infinate energy, we would exceed this planets carrying capacity in a very short time. Not just energy wise, but everything. Most of the "nightmare" senarios would be greatly increased by a population boom. And if we had as much oil as alot of the optimists think, we would be well and truely screwed. As it is, we just probably.. probably have a powerdown to look forward too. I for one never really liked modern life anyway. The only thing I'll work to keep going would be movies. Although live plays I've found are equally nice. So I guess, yeah I am rooting for peakoil.

[OilyMon]

I think it is time to propse a new, more precise rating system for your current perspective on the issue. The "domerosity scale" though it has surved us well as an indicator of our personal moods surrounding the issue is far too linear. At one end of the spectrum we have a doomer and at the other end a slightly less-so doomer. I think it's time for another rating system to be established - one that covers the entire gambit of peak petroleum postulations, perceptions and postures! What I propose is a rating system much like that of the political specturm that has recently seen some modifications to include a wider range of political viewpoints.

I think the scale should have three axes that one should be allowed to fall on with extremes at each endpoint.

Axes 1: Doomer -> Cornucopian
Axes 2: Pro-peak -> anti-peak
Axes 3: Informed - > Uninformed

One of the flaws of this of course is that it would be difficult to be an informed Cornucopian Pro-peak. But it is a work in progress and I am open to any suggestions!

Lets look at some definitions of each of these different states as I see them in the extreme (please excuse some of the blatant bias):

Doomer - Peak oil is now upon us. There is nothing we can do to mitigate the effects of the impending oil shortages. We can see evidence of this in the recent price spike of oil, the impacts these price spikes have had on consumer goods, commodities and agricultural output. The entire structure of Western society is flawed. The monetary system is fatally flawed. The US dollar is months away from a crash. Peak oil may very well be the primary trigger for world war III assuming that there is enough energy left to fight it. If there isn't then expect a nuclear holocaust and the end of civilization. If too many people survive WWIII they will directly experience the Olduvai Cliff and the heating up of the planet beacuse of the climate changes brought on by the burning of fossil fuels and the dumping of pollution. The natural environment will be extremely inhospitable and the survivors will be hard pressed to continue to live lives above the subsistance level. This will lead to the eventual extinction of the human race.

Cornucopian - Peak oil is a non issue. The markets will provide as they always have, and supply will control demand through price structure. We will eventaully need to move away from oil but by the time this is required of us there will be alternatives and high-technology in a place to conserve our way of life. Fusion power will replace nuclear power, hydrogen and electric cars will replace gas powered ICE's. We have enough oil to see us through this transistion in a comfortable manner if we ever need to make it.

Pro-Peak - Peak oil not only is going to happen it needs to happen. Society is ill-formed and there needs to be the kind of change that only peak oil can initiate. Lets see those big ol' corporations try and buy their way out of this one! The enviroment is crumbling beneath our feat and the world needs some respite from out constant muddling. I've been telling people about this for months or even years now and this disaster would be an enormous vindication. They would have to listen to me after an economic melt-down. I've also put so much energy into planning my future and have already made commitments that will be difficult if not impossible to go back on so it better damb well happen! Otherwise I might look like a crackpot.

Anti-Peak - I hope to god that peak-oil is either largely mitigated or a complet non-event altogether. I'm either too far along in my life to make significant changes - I may fear for my family and the future of my children - or I'm far too committed to this way of living, under the blanket of this society. I might have too much money tied up in investments and property or I might just have too much money and status that I don't want to see go to waste as it would likely do if there were large and far-reaching effects from peak oil.

Informed - I'm an Arab oil well analyst that provides actual reserve data to the head of my company. I might also be an energy investment banker that has advised presidential administrations on oil policy based on a through investigation of the facts as they are presented externally by the OPEC oil companies.

Uninformed - I am new to the subject and have very little background with the types of issues being discussed.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed my crude, bias filled and altogether pointless analysis of the peak oil personality spectrum extremes (POPSE). If you did I would enjoy you blowing some holes through it!

[OilyMon]

As for myself I would say that I'm a moderatly informed, moderate pro-peak moderate Doomer! MIMPPMD for short.

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roymund', 'S')eriously, how many people here are rooting for peak oil and are going to relish the supposed upcoming economic meltdown with a kind of "I told you so!" attitude? Just an interesting psychological observation of the peak oil scene. Most of the ardent followers seem to really hope it will happen, either cause they despise the political/economic status quo or they've put so much time and energy into the issue that they feel the need to be proven right.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')what keeps you going on this board?

[Madpaddy]

PMS wrote;
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')his is the place to wait it out. I want to be here posting at the end.