by benzoil » Mon 02 Apr 2007, 20:18:26
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gideon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('IanC', 'W')hat I find interesting is the people who have children as old as college aged who have not made those children PO aware. What a shame! The more this becomes part of their everyday thought processes, the better decisions they will be able to make. I don't think we do them favors by sheltering them.
Bingo!
I agree completely.
But you'll notice that some other posters have reached the conclusion that their 3.894567 GPA daughter who is considered mature enough to, presumbaly, drive a car and go to College can't handle knowledge of Peak Oil [whisper] for reasons that can't be disclosed on an anonymous bulletin board [/whisper].
I've done everything short of having a formal intervention with charts and diagrams. If I have to do that I will. I would prefer she connect the dots. Not being a total doomer - I think the coming recession/depression will mask the onset of PO - I believe there is time. Not much, but some.
Since learning about PO, I have done almost nothing but prepare. I'm not standing on the rooftop yelling, "Doom is nigh!" because I don't think the time is right for me (personally - for others, who knows?) to stand on a rooftop and holler. I'm too busy teaching my little ones how to milk chickens, collect eggs from under the bull, and why not to repeat what Daddy just said after dropping a log on his foot.
I convinced my loving (PO aware) wife to leave her dear Chicago to live in the rural hinterlands. If society doesn't eventually collapse, I'll never hear the end of it! I'm usually the skunk at the garden party on a variety of topics from the housing bubble, insane government debt, and energy.
I don't jump right into Montequest's dieoff scenarios though because 99% of the time, most people will immediately tune it out. Its simply too far outside anything they can imagine. Thus, they'll tune out everything else I just said about declining oil and natural gas production or why they should get out of debt. I'm sure everyone on this board has gotten that look. The one where people look at you like you just told them that the Pope controls the biker gangs through coded messages broadcast by Rush Limbaugh. (Disclaimer: He might. I lost contact with my source in the Illuminati after I moved though.)
I can't scare people enough to change their ways. No truth that I present is going to bludgeon them into changing their lives tomorrow. If I can talk about "too many people and not enough oil" or "there isn't enough corn/tar sands/technology to make *insert alternative hope here* work" then maybe I can get them to connect some dots on their own.
Which brings me to discussing PO with my daughter. She already thinks I'm an idiot because I dislike her longtime boyfriend. If she connects the dots on her own, with some subtle pushes from me, then it (hopefully) won't come off as some crackpot rant.
I can't save everyone, but I can save my family. I am doing so in the best way I know how. Is my way right for everyone? Nope. Especially the chicken milking. Is it possible to find fault with me? Sure. If I were perfect, I'd quit shocking myself when repairing the electric fence. I come to this board for advice on a lot of things, but how to raise my family isn't one of them. In the future, when Mutant Zombie Bikers are storming my farm to steal the last potato and I'm one trigger finger short because my daughter elected to stay in the city, I'll post and tell you that you were right. I will try to do this before they club me to death with their improvised weapons. Until then, I will continue to believe that there is more than one way to skin a cat and a plurality of ways to prepare for and spread the word about peak oil.
Have a good evening. I'm off to rescue a rooster who seems to have wandered into the neighbor's field and can't figure out how to get back. I'll probably just show him the hole in the fence and see if he connects the dots.
[Note: No baby boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Yers, family members, or innocuous female houseguests were harmed (intentionally) in this post.]