[Chaparral]

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Jack's 1st post in the thread. Nuttin I can add to top that. Won't even try.

Regarding the therapies and drugs for whatever the hell reason, it is important to realize that not all of us are wired together the same way emotionally. Some freak out over the least little thing. Others can't even be bothered to shive a git over WWIII.

[madison]

I consider myself to be a somewhat Rosy Doomer.

The actions I take today I take on behalf of my three year old son.

We will be moving to a good part of the country - lots of water, good land, environmentally conscious people - next spring. Personally, I would rather move back to Los Angeles and get back into film & television production (which I did for 10 years) BUT I know it's not viable and could be a really crappy place to try to live in within a short amount of time. My heart is there. I love the weather, my good friends I left behind, the excitement of film production, etc. But my son is my priority. I have chosen to put his future needs ahead of my own wants. I hope I'm doing the right thing.

I will make sure he resides in a part of the country where he has a fighting chance at some happiness and satisfaction due to the natural resources. I will ensure he is educated to be a contributing member of a future community, with skills and a good foundational education. I will do my best to make him a land-owner and surround him with loving friends, family and community. That's the best that I can do for him. I just pray he's not drafted at some future point. I am very anti-war, so maybe it'll rub off and he'll be a conscientious objector like I am. I get so angry at the billions of dollars we are spending on the war machine that could be better spent making the US viable long term and invested in it's young people and conservation etc. Anyhooo...

The only hope I have of the future is him. I do thing the world is going to hell in a handbasket... however.... after all is said and done, I hope that he or his grandchildren will have a decent quality of life because of the actions I take today and each of my days on their behalf. Sure, I want to be OK, too, but realistically I'm half done, as I'm nearing 40. I probobly have 20 more productive years to establish the foundation of a good life for my child and his descendants. I feel the short term will be really ugly for the next 20 - 50 years and after that (with it's resource wars, epidemics, lack of food etc), and things might start settling into a sustainable way of life for grandchildren, greats, great-greats etc. At least I'm hoping so. Not that subsistance farming is terribly rewarding I'd imagine, but then again, is having an ulcer and working 60 hours in front of a computer and having the bill collectors calling all that glorious, either???

Anyway, I am very worried about future prospects, but work today to do what I can to ensure the best outcome possible for my descendants.

[madison]

FWIW, my definition of a doomer is someone who looks at the situation (dwindling resources, increasing demand) and says "Oh, shit we are in trouble!" and then after a few beers figures out a some ways to make life more comfortable during the freefall, and hopes for the best, but expects the worst. A cornacopiast (sp?) is someone who looks at the situation (dwindling resources, increasing demand) and deliberately either blocks it from their mind or hopes like hell someone will find a way to pull a new energy source out of their ass that will enable them to continue on like before. In my opinion, a doomer is a realist. We ARE fucked. But if you roll over and die in despair... you make more room for the rest of us, lol!

Laugh! We all die some day. Might as well make hay while the sun shines! And do what you can. It's too late now to change much.

[Heineken]

I don't see what the big issue is. As we've all more or less admitted, we're all individually doomed. So why is it so fucking hard for some people to accept that our overblown, ugly, destructive civilization is going bye-bye too?

Why do people get their own personal merit mixed up with the larger picture, particularly when the latter is starting to smell so bad?

Strange. I guess a lot of this phenomenon derives from the instinct to breed and pass on the ol' DNA glop.

One of the satisfactions of doomism is recognizing that the ship is going down with the galley-slaves of life.

[kevincarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FatherOfTwo', 'w')hat keeps you ticking?

[mercurygirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'O')mnitir, have your read Jared Diamond's article The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race?

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mercurygirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'O')mnitir, have your read Jared Diamond's article The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race?

[Nightshift]

Exeption. Spared the effects of a global catastrophy. F.O. 2, what gets my attention here is not so much the evidence of your pessimism for survival as the fact that you are a father of two. See, when a parent feels that death is preferable to (a percieved) miserable life he or she tends to project that feeling onto loved ones as well. And when this hypothetical parent starts envisioning what s/he's going to do about it, s/he realizes how much more miserable these loved ones will be after he or she, fuck it, you,have blown your brains out. And then you start thinking well, you better end their suffering first...

Does that piss you off? That I would think that about you? Maybe you're just amused that I read you so wrong. Maybe you're sitting there thinking well, yeah, that's the situation, tell me I'm wrong. Maybe anything. I don't know you.

But I do know people. Chances are you're just like the other people who've replied to you telling you they're hanging in there in order to give their kids a chance. And if you've honestly, seriously thought about killing yourself? Envisioned different ways to do it and how it would feel? Then I think you (and me) have an advantage. When the time comes to put yourself between your family and death you won't be quite so scared to poke your head up and take aim.

Stock up on beans, lard and vitamins. Be a man. And if you want to talk to me and I don't respond right away, I'm not blowing you off. I work nights.

[Heineken]

Shiver me timbers, that's one unpleasant post, Nightshift.

Unless I'm misremembering, I don't think FatherOfTwo is a doomer at all.

Get some sleep.

[mercurygirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'Y')our child is fortunate to have you.

[POblues]

It is very hard for me to really comprehend the full effect of lack of oil. It is such a HUGE idea to try and wrap your mind around. My current problem is with my wife. She somewhat understands the concept of Peak Oil, but really doesn't like me focusing on it too much. She (and most others I mention it to) feel peak oil is not something to be overly concerned about yet. I wonder about that. Just how much time will we really have to prepare once the evidence is undeniable to all? Can we wait till the signs are clear before taking decisive action (I don't think so). I would hate to think that my knowledge of PO (before it occured) was useless because I did not act upon it soon enough.

[Heineken]

You and your wife should both read "The Party's Over," an ideal introduction to the subject and its grim implications. Then you'll have some common ground on the issue.