[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpringCreekFarm', 'I') just wish my wife was on board. I have to be careful how I put things to her. She is not ever going to accept that there are hard times ahead. Oh well.....can't have everything.

[HEADER_RACK]

There is always reason to hope.
No matter how far we might fall or civilization might crumble, we always seem to rebound. We are a resilient species. We have overcome ice ages,mega volcanoes and numerous local disaters.
Just because those of us in this time frame might have to face unparrelled challenges ahead is no reason to give up.Future generations are counting on us to make it through. Civilization will always rebuild itself in one form or another.

[bshirt]

Just think how refreshing it will be to live with zero uniformed, fully armed "government" officials/bureaucrats telling you how to live every part of your life.

That sounds like a gift from God to me and I'm very, very willing and grateful to take my chances.

[MonteQuest]

Kristen,

Your future lies with those with whom you surround yourself. You need a phalanx of MacGyver types with skills to help you cope and adapt to the coming changes.

Move to where that type of thinking dominates more so than box-store thinking.

I see two camps emerging from this crisis: Those that choose to fight to maintain an unsustainable way of life, and those that choose to powerdown and attempt to become sustainable by re-localizing and learning, once again, to share the resources. A community of man can be reborn, and with it, a higher quality of life here on earth will come as a result.

But it isn't going to be a smooth transition. It may take a long time to re-establish a balance with nature. Many of the feedback systems of Mother Earth have yet to show their face. Global climate change may soon overshadow hydrocarbon depletion.

Whatever the future holds, we need to learn to grow our own food. We need to learn to be much more self sufficient.

Self-sufficiency is the key to survival.

Gardening and being self-sufficient is fun, but alot of work.

And that is really one of the biggies: we need to learn how to go back to work with our back and our hands.

Here is a blog from a 34 year old mother of 4.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he thing is, there is a solution, and like most good solutions is really, really simple, and equally elegant. Stop being rich. Seriously, that's all there is to it. Stop living like rich people. Right now you probably have a servant to wash your dishes, another to do your laundry, another to transport you to your destination. These aren't people servants (somehow we're convinced that paying other people is wrong), they are electrical or oil based. But you live like a lord in a castle. Your castle is probably huge by world standards. You probably have a whole bunch of servants. You take a lot of wealth from poorer people (ie, you buy cheap things manufactured by virtual slaves that are cheap because of that), also like lords in castles.

The answer is really simple. Get off your ass, and dump the castle, or at least move a few more people into it. Get rid of most of the servants. Start doing for yourself without using power. Stop buying anything you want and eating like a king. Live like a peasant. Wear peasant clothes. Do peasant work. Eat peasant food. Get comfortable with it.

[Boris555]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MonteQuest', 'K')risten,

Your future lies with those with whom you surround yourself. You need a phalanx of MacGyver types with skills to help you cope and adapt to the coming changes.

Move to where that type of thinking dominates more so than box-store thinking.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

1. What we have now is a huge exception, not the rule.

2. You are owed nothing

Remember those things and you may do well.

[manu]

Kristen, sounds like you are ready to read the Bhagavad Gita. The second chapter is about the soul being different than the body. Once you understand that even a little, your depression and fear will go away and you can start your eternal journey. The soul changes bodies just as a man changes clothes. The soul does not belong in this temporary world of birth and death. So look inside yourself and dont worry so much about the external world.

[FairMaiden]

My thoughts are this: every generation of human civilization has been talking about the "end of civilization as they know it". And some generations, like those around for Easter Island or the end of the Roman Empire or the end of the Mayans - would be right. But the vast majority would be wrong It took the Romans 300-400 to completely collapse. It may take alot longer than anyone here is predicting. If you look at most predictions, they eventually come true but it takes alot longer than anyone predicted. For instance, global warming and climate change were suppose to happen by now according to the '90s movement. Yes, an argument could be made that its happening - but much slower than predicted.

If you paralyze yourself with pessimsm, then you rob yourself of living. Nothing is worth that. If an asteroid hit earth tomm, nothing your prepared mind can do about it...so what would you be saying, "I wish I'd done..." at that moment. Then do it!

[mmasters]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'M')y thoughts are this: every generation of human civilization has been talking about the "end of civilization as they know it". And some generations, like those around for Easter Island or the end of the Roman Empire or the end of the Mayans - would be right. But the vast majority would be wrong It took the Romans 300-400 to completely collapse.

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', ' ') For instance, global warming and climate change were suppose to happen by now according to the '90s movement. Yes, an argument could be made that its happening - but much slower than predicted.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'M')y thoughts are this: every generation of human civilization has been talking about the "end of civilization as they know it". And some generations, like those around for Easter Island or the end of the Roman Empire or the end of the Mayans - would be right. But the vast majority would be wrong It took the Romans 300-400 to completely collapse.

[mark]

The future is what we make it.

What I find distressing is that so many, especially people who know what’s coming, cling to our dead old fossil of a civilization. It’s time we embrace the new because it’s coming no matter our illusionary wish for the status quo. Things always get better, eventually, but what is old must always die so the new may arrive.

I am a confirmed doomer, in fact I believe our only hope is the death of the old. It is no longer worth caring about for reasons too numerous for this short message. Those of us alive today have a great opportunity; we have the chance to shape a new way of life where ALL people enjoy the opportunity for a better life.

We are on the very brink of a grand, new age. We will forever remember our contribution to the future. Time to get on with the new and let the old do as it will.

[Lore]

I stepped on an ant today.

[SeasonOfPain]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'I') stepped on an ant today.

[BigTex]

Returning to the topic of whether there is a reason to hope, it is worth noting that hope is an emotion, a feeling based upon the perception of what the future may hold, and the desire for the future to hold something worth hanging around for. (Notice that hope only exists in your head space.)

Much PO thinking and projection is colored by a heavy dose of fear, which has the tendency to make the future seem hopeless and this future hopelessness seeps back into the present and makes you hopeless in the present as well. We should be enjoying the present regardless of what we know (or think we know) about the future, since life today is probably a lot easier than it's going to be in the future.

How dumb will you feel if you are sitting around the campfire in the PO refugee camp of the future and everyone is talking about how happy they were in the good old days and you say "not me, I was hopeless from the start. I never enjoyed any of the good stuff that was all around me because I knew it couldn't last."

(I understand that some of the PO survivalist set will avoid the PO refugee camp because they were so well prepared, and I am not talking to them.)

When you were a child you learned that you and everyone you loved would die one day, and you got over it. PO is learning the same thing about civilization as we know it. Just absorb the reality of it, make the necessary adjustments, and move on.

That's what the cyclops did, right?

[franky]

Does anyone out there realise how much Population growth contributes to all the troubles occuring? Or am I the only one realising it?

[DamienJasper]

I think Kristen has an excellent question. It's one I've struggled with for quite a while. Talking to a counselor, I realized how selfish I was to hope that world would just hold itself together long enough to let me live my life. But as it stands, my hangup has never been "I'm going to die". No kidding. It's living in an endless wasteland of fear, despair, starvation, misery and panic. Which frankly, everyone seems to believe in until threads like these come along. Kinda makes me wish I'd majored in psychology so I could deduce the thought process.

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('franky', 'D')oes anyone out there realise how much Population growth contributes to all the troubles occuring? Or am I the only one realising it?

[jedinvest]

BitTex wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')ow dumb will you feel if you are sitting around the campfire in the PO refugee camp of the future and everyone is talking about how happy they were in the good old days and you say "not me, I was hopeless from the start. I never enjoyed any of the good stuff that was all around me because I knew it couldn't last."

[jedinvest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kristen', 'L')et's face it, we live in an era of futureless times. Everyday there is a new report that gets released saying how screwed we are... Do you think I'm being to pessimistic?