[auwolf]

I don't quite know what to think. I'm teetering between a doomsday approach and an optimism that after TSHTF we might be able to eke out a simple life, that may actually be more fulfilling than the one we currently have (although mine is pretty fulfilling, but I'm sick of ALL THE CRAP we have). I have to stay relatively optimistic because I am a pessimistic person and if I get depressed I won't do anything about it, and it will spiral into crap. But I also have a vivid imagination, and all sorts of horrible scenarios (usually involving my daughter ) play out in my mind when I'm not on guard. I know only I can settle into a happy medium, and I'm trying to live life while quietly preparing, I don't want to drive my partner and friends away by obsessing over doomsday stuff. What good does it do to fear the future?

The other problem I have is a tricky one. Again, very personal. But we were planning on trying for another child soon. One part of me thinks "how?" How can I justify bringing another little innocent person into a world that may go to shit? If TSHTF sooner rather than later it will be hard to survive with 2 dependents. However if TSHTF later, will I regret not taking the chance and facing the possibility of being older, lacking food and care for my next baby? That part of me thinks it's safer to have one now, before things get really bad, so at least I can guarantee food in the belly and access to a decent midwife. And babies are ultra portable too, and would probably handle crap situations better (especially as I won't have to worry about finding food for a young baby). Ugh I don't know. I know some people would think me irresponsible for considering this, but the urge is extremely strong. At the moment I've adopted a rather fatalistic attitude of if it's meant to happen it will... but indecision reigns.

It is a weird world I've been placed into. I'm facing the destruction of ethics that I hold dear. I'm a vegetarian, and understand that if TSHTF I will most likely be forced to eat meat to survive. I'll do it, because that's the whole point of being prepared to survive but it sucks. I am proud that I care about other people, and I hate reading posts where people casually talk about killing others, massacring refugees or taking what they want by force... sickens me to think the human species has come so far yet obviously not very far at all. I don't want to rationalise bad behaviour towards other humans NOW, when things are not that bad, by saying well eventually it will get bad so it doesn't matter if human rights are violated.

This isn't really the most supportive place to air my feelings , as I know everyone here is so different, from different poles of experience and a lot will think I'm just a bleeding heart tree hugging lefty, but I can't really vent about this to anyone else as they don't really understand. The thing is, you all understand that I'm taking this seriously. We have that common ground at least.

[Barrie]

Dear auwolf,

Don't get too hung up on hypothetic future scenarios. Although websites like Peak Oil are interesting and an great way to bring news and views from a wide range of sources together, from personal experience, they can get a trifle depressing. Who knows what's around the corner in our lives. All you can guarantee is that it'll human race hasn't quite fallen into a hole yet, so don't plan your life around that happening just yet.

At present try focussing on the the positives. If you have a wife a kid a home and a job, I'd say things are looking pretty good at present. Don't blow it all by taking everything you read too much to heart. What I aim to do is to work at building up my network of friends and family as well as your carreer with a mind to saving and preparing for the future while helping those who are in need now.

The best any of can really do about situations like Peak Oil, terroism and global warming is to try to raise awareness of our fellow humans to see how our current actions can influence the future for good or evil. It's the little changes that really count.

[auwolf]

Thanks Barrie, that's goo advice. And I have a hubby, not a wife . Thought I came across female enough in my post hehe. I see you're a fellow Aussie, I'm up in QLD. :D

[Micki]

How do you get depressed in QLD????
Tropical, crabs in every creek, pineapples left and right, nothing worth to nuke... must be one of the best places if TSHTF
Last I saw also good farmland within short distance of cities were
still quite cheap compared to rowded suburban unit blocks.
Naeh get on with things and just make things the best you can for yourself and your kids, by working towards somthing I am sure you also get a bit more optimistic view of things.

[rogerhb]

It's good to remind yourself every now and again how the wet stuff between your ears actually works. It puts more weight on recent information, hence the seesaw as you find out new and contradictory things.

The old phrase "sleep on it" really helps. Don't make rash decisions when the impact will last a lifetime. You need to apply cold hard logic and reasoning, and supress emotional responses in order to think clearly.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('auwolf', 'I')'m a vegetarian, and understand that if TSHTF I will most likely be forced to eat meat to survive.

[auwolf]

Doly, I agree in principle in the long term... but in the short term if there is a collapse, I'm not so sure. There are a multitude of scenarios that could ensue, my brain gets a bit dizzy with them all LOL, but some include having to live off the land, and Australia, well, it's hard to do! Especially if you're not aboriginal. Although where I live I could see fish becoming a staple food, and they're easy enough to catch. A lot of Australians on here seem to think we're better off becoming a nomadic people in the longer term too which would make agriculture hard... but obviously I'll cross that bridge if I come to it, for now, there's no reason to torment myself . I'm certainly healthy enough now!

rogerhb, yeah I think I will take several nights to sleep on it. At least my man keeps me relatively grounded if I start looking all doomy .

Micki, HAHA! Well, post-natal depression doesn't care about pineapples . We are actually in no position to buy unfortunately, too much personal debt from the uni days. And the man... well, he needs to be where the internet (broadband) is in order to make any money so were stuck in that sense. If I had my way I'd be up to Maleny/Montville in no time LOL. But, well, no IT prospects! I see you're Australian too, I think we'll probably have a better time of it than a lot of countries.

[Micki]

Know the problem.
Myself in IT and stuck freezing my but of in Melbourne as the job prospects aren't so good round Brissie.
Got my own little place waiting for me on Bribie though, so hope to be there one day.
Seems to be quite a few pekoilers in here from the Sunshine coast, could almost form a local club.

[auwolf]

I'm actually on the other Coast, south of Brissie . Hate how built up it is but amazingly he found stable work that pays well down here, so here we stay. Bribie is lovely, that would be a great place to be I reckon.

[NEOPO]

Human rights are being violated all the time in order to maintain this illusion yet you are correct to assume that this will continue and progress accordingly.

on the bright side - Your optomistic view is doomsday to some

I am a male yet after 3 children I fully understand your desire to have children - psychologically and biologically.

Tough world to be born into - not sure if I would want to exist now or not if the choice was mine again

Sorry but sometimes people need a shake in order to wake.
A good slap about the face works also and that is how I see PO.....a smack to our almost unconscious asses

Good stuff huh?

Yes we must critically think yet I see no reason to remain absolutely placid or calm as some suggest.

Depression - some people want to treat it as if it is not a natural human condition.
Perhaps abit of depression is not a bad thing especially when considering the potential collapse of life as we have come to know it......

I mean really - you got all these folks acting like such cool cucumbers here yet that is not what got me motivated.
That kind of attitude is not what got our group motivated enough to start a family farm......no ..it was daily if not hourly scary revelations of truth.

Holy shit PO is real!!
This Savinar kid is good!!!!
F*** that Kunstler guy has many good points!!
Damnit I cannot deny this Simmons guy any longer!!
AGW - man we are more screwed then we first thought!!
Petrodollar - wow that is complicated but apparently true.....
Resource war - iraq - afghanistan - 9/11 - hard to deny....
Gore and Clinton understand PO!!yes that meant alot to democrats
The Hirsch report!!
and on and on it went until we were convinced that we had to start now.

What I am suggesting here is that sometimes we must run.
Sometimes there is no time.

The change some people suggest appears nothing more then a tweak or two rather then real change.

The potential ramifications of PO are vast.
We are only kidding ourselves to believe that anything will run along like business as usual post peak.

A question that I posed on another thread was: "How much of AU is above sea level by 20 feet or more ?".

Just one of many questions that I would ask if I lived in AU and was preparing for PO and GW.

I have been here for over a year and yet to reach a "happy place" where calmness/peace coexist with PO/GW within my mind.
Perhaps not all of us need this condition to exist in order for us to do what needs to be done...to think critically.
Perhaps those who claim calmness are actually freaking out internally and about to explode;-)

Nope - for me there will be no peace until it is done.

I hope you make the right decisions and good luck.

[ClubOfRomeII]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NEOPO', '
')
Gore and Clinton understand PO!!