[Bas]

As I see it, food prices will rise as there will be an increased demand for biofuels will skyrocket; money will flow from the city to the rural areas.

Comments please.

[Bas]

I disagree, most value adding happens in cities, why do you think we have to subsidize our farmers?

[Ludi]

No.

Profit-taking corporations are going to profit from PO.

[EnergyHog]

I don't see farmers getting rich anytime soon and I don't recall hearing of such a situation in history either (let me in on it if you do know of a time where farmers were wealthy). The only people that are going to be getting any richer are the rich as has been the case for some time now. Everyone else will be hard pressed to maintain their current lifestyle. I think the key will be turning oneself into a producer, not just a consumer. It's a competition, exploit or be exploited. I don't like it anymore than anyone else but that's the way it seems to be.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'N')o.

Profit-taking corporations are going to profit from PO.

[billybell88]

I think that the South will fair well with Peak Oil given the rich land and warm climate.

[Heineken]

Other than in a few relatively isolated places, the soil in the South is actually rather poor. It's been severely damaged by centuries of cotton and tobacco farming, not to mention more modern activities such as tree farming.

And, would you like to have starving NASCAR types as neighbors?

[AWPrime]

And the warm climate makes hard work difficult.

[Laughs_Last]

You could sell T-Shirts from a roadside stand. “I headed for the hills and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt.” Cha-ching!

[alecifel]

PO is going to level things. Before the oil age, people in rural areas pretty much lived a subsistence life while people in cities were crowded, mostly poor, and subject to crime. The availability of cheap energy has allowed a great boost of opulence but when energy costs reach their true value, all will be as it was before. We'll have the nice gizmos, internet and cell phones, etc. But transportation is going to be expensive again and so will having a bigger house than you really need.

I forsee a dual economy coming in America. The cities will have high rents, incredibly expensive food and lots of people sharing houses to make ends meet. Crime is going to be a constant factor of daily life and taxes will have to be very high to support the police and other infrastructure.

The rural economy will be as it was before the industrial revolution: self-supporting farmers who trade mostly with each other but rarely have two quarters to rub together. Country wages will be cheap, VERY cheap. Anyone who is presently living in the country but not producing their own resources, is either going to have to adapt or move.

On the other hand, the country is going to see a lot of vagrants. The people who can't make it in the city, who lose it all, are going to start wandering and foraging. We'll be able to take a lot of them in and have a good workforce for raising food (sharecropping etc.) but if you live in the country like I do, be sure to keep your guns in good operating condition and a close relationship with your community. And don't allow an abandoned home to stand... it'll attract the wrong kind of people.

Nobody will really benefit from PO. But all in all, I think one's prospects are better in the country than in the city. Either way, you can expect to have a lot fewer luxuries.

[kenohio]

Some rural areas will do well, very well in fact but the bounty won't be shared equally.

If you want to see rural areas that will do well, you need to look to the past. There are areas that in the past were thriving towns/cities due to their easy access to water transport, forest products, good farmland and energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas.

I see many areas of Appalachian Mountains doing very well due to the abundance of the above in addition to a workforce that isn't too far removed from working the land. Most of these areas are very livable without air conditioning, have ample rainfall, decent soil and coal reserves.

A lot of these areas back in the 1800's and early 1900's were far wealthier than most Southern areas due to the abundance of natural resources. A lot of those resources are still there, but aren't a great alternative to oil at current prices. In the future that valuation will most likely re-adjust making these forgotten areas desirable once again.

Look at many of these areas and you will see huge tracts of land that had higher populations 75 years ago than they do today. Once the economic puzzle shifts so will the wealth of the landowners in these areas.

[thuja]

lets see-thesis: Money will flow from urban areas to rural areas post peak.

The vast majority of land in rural areas is owned by Big Ag, Big Timber, Big Coal/Oil and Big Mineral. Money has always flowed to the corporations who own these lands and to the companies involved in processing and distribution. These companies are located...in cities. When inflation takes off, money will go increasingly to urban based corporations who control the rural landscape.

Money does not "flow" to rural areas. It flows to the controlling interests.

[TreebeardsUncle]

Well, it also depends on the location. The U.S. doesn't have much in the way of true rural areas or communities. It has suburbs, decrepit cities with sterile highrise districts, and large areas of land owned by agricultural etc conglomerates. Expect investors in oil rig leasing and servicing companies to do well in the early years after peak. Levels of indebtedness will increase among the US population at large until dispossession frees them of much of their excesses. Already rural poor commuters are having a hard time. Blue-collar red-necks are buying over-sized highly fuel inefficient bully-mobile pickups from Ford less frequently.

G

[gg3]

There are pockets of oldschool rural small towns and farms, that could potentially sustain themselves while the rest of it is going to hell in a handbasket or being turned into 21st century slave plantations.

Our group has such an area in mind. Any small group that is sufficiently dedicated should be able to find such areas and plan to move there before the shit flies.

[wowpleasewakeupalready]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'T')here are pockets of oldschool rural small towns and farms, that could potentially sustain themselves while the rest of it is going to hell in a handbasket or being turned into 21st century slave plantations.

Our group has such an area in mind. Any small group that is sufficiently dedicated should be able to find such areas and plan to move there before the shit flies.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wowpleasewakeupalready', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'T')here are pockets of oldschool rural small towns and farms, that could potentially sustain themselves while the rest of it is going to hell in a handbasket or being turned into 21st century slave plantations.

Our group has such an area in mind. Any small group that is sufficiently dedicated should be able to find such areas and plan to move there before the shit flies.

[thuja]

Sure Bill, but you have enough money to buy a fantastic pied de terre out in the country where you can hire people to grow your food and grapes for wine. I'm guessing you wouldn't have to worry about mortgages, bills, etc.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'S')ure Bill, but you have enough money to buy a fantastic pied de terre out in the country where you can hire people to grow your food and grapes for wine. I'm guessing you wouldn't have to worry about mortgages, bills, etc.