[jasonraymondson]

Knustler is a nut job, and I am qualified to make that assertion.

He is just just another guy who makes the rest of us look like sociopaths.

What kind of idiot actually believed that Y2K was going to be a big deal. In 1999, I was 19 years old and had already written a program that updated the bios to work with the new century. I was a hack and was able to do this. Shit, It was a 65 line script.

The simple truth is; this guy should be blacklisted from the Peak Oil party, and should probably be fed to the zombie hordes.

BTW. Nascar fans are redneck fucking idiots. Every last one of them! If you are one, shut the fuck up. I do not want to hear your hillbilly retort.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', ' ')the man is a textbook sociopath.

[emersonbiggins]

bump for a Kunstler hate thread

Huzzah!

[jasonraymondson]

Yep, you dug up a corpse there.

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', '
')After reading this thread, I went back to Ch 3 of THE LONG EMERGENCY (pp61-64) and the passionate war hawk rant is consistant with the blog. I completley missed it the first time through.

[Tyler_JC]

Kunstler is a joke and a fraud.

Anyone who follows him is a fool.

Feel free to quote me on that.

[peaker_2005]

He does have a point on suburbia having been a foolish investment though (although it's a logical conclusion that any person could have made on the presumption of peak oil).

But yes, certainly not an authority on peak oil in the least.

[TWilliam]

Ahhhh yes... 'Shoot the Messenger'... how refreshingly original...

Typical response of those too chicken-shit to speak their mind in public about those that do. So Jim's full of vitriolic contempt for American 'culture'. Big deal. If the shoe fits...

Also, I've lived in just about every region of the U.S. throughout my life, and his observations about the various regional 'subcultures' pretty much jibe with my own direct observations. Of course there are always individual exceptions to any stereotype, but overall his collective caricatures are damned close.

Regarding 'credentials': what do you call the guy who graduates last in his class at med school?

"Doctor"...

Oh and Bageant? Some good observations, but too long-winded and a tendency to ramble IMO. I end up drowsing before I reach the end of his diatribes. At least Jim is to the point, and far more entertaining. Plus his typos (mainly in the form of omitted words in Bageant's case) are much fewer. It's a nitpick I know, but people who write for their living and don't do better proofreading lose (it's not "loose" dammit!) my interest pretty quickly...

[BigTex]

Anyone read Kunstler's new book, "A World Made By Hand?"

I took a look at the Amazon reviews and the Kunstler fans seemed to like it the least.

All that future post-armageddon stuff is hard to pull off without sounding like a guy who needs a girlfriend and has a preoccupation with cross-bows.

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
Wow, I just got my computer back from a clean up. Everything is loading lightning fast, even this website.
Wonderful what the computer gurus can do.
I purchased Kunstler's new novel, World Made by Hand.
What a bunch of silly nonsense. I plan on doing a full review of the novel later. Maybe this evening, but right now it is sunny outside, and in the mid 60's. So, I am going outside to help hubby with farm work.
later,
Pheba.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Phebagirl', 'W')hat a bunch of silly nonsense.

[I_Like_Plants]

Kunstler's an asshole, I've had the misfortune to correspond with him. I supposed if I were Jewish, he'd be all hearts and flowers.

[threadbear]

Kunstler IS an asshole, and a very funny one. I mean he makes a living by telling you what an uncultivated rube you are for living in your POS suburban home. His contempt for the typical American/Canadian's aesthetic sense, is only exceeded by his horror at the thought of how much it costs to to drive from Idiotsville Mews or Dumbbell Ridge, to the cultural mecca of an urban atmosphere.

How many suburbanites have paid for the privilege of buying a Kunstler book that heaps abuse on them? What a rare gift... being paid to insult people. Gotta love him.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'K')unstler's an asshole, I've had the misfortune to correspond with him. I supposed if I were Jewish, he'd be all hearts and flowers.

[I_Like_Plants]

It was actually about the "folk art" produced by the homeless or near-so, out of supermarkets carts.

Remember, Joe Bageant is the Anti-Kuntsler.

[I_Like_Plants]

No, no, it was about how the maintenance people at our apartment building were turning easily-stolen supermarket carts into utility carts, with a photo.

Trouble is, my name's too Goyish, so Kuntsler of course reacted from his innate horror of the non-Chosen.....

Guy's a fucking asshole. Read Joe Bageant.

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
I posted a short review of Kunstler's novel on the forum titled;
"World Made By Hand". What a bunch of drivel.
I used to e-mail Kunstler about the farming situation here in the Midwest.
January of 07 our next door neighbor died. He was an amazing, sharing, caring farmer. He would do anything to help a neighbor, and was the kindest man. He was soft spoken, and listened when others talked. He was good to his wife, and kids. His grandkids lived next door, and spent hours at his farm. He had about 20 horses and mules, and he spent a good portion of his time teaching kids to ride. He raised cattle, and hunted coyotes. Just a good all round farmer.
He was putting in a very large pond. His dream was to spend his retirement (he was 72) fishing at the pond with grandkids.
He was on his tractor grading the pond dam, when the earth under the dam collapsed. His tractor rolled over and killed him instantly. His 7 and 9 year old granddaughter found him. His son had to use a crane to lift the tractor off his body.
I commented to Kunstler about the event in an e-mail. The day after the farmer's death I was driving by and saw about 20 pick-up trucks parked at their farm. The neighbors had all pitched in, and they were removing all traces of the accident. They finished the pond dam, put up fence, sowed seed, etc. My neighbor would have been pleased.
There was so much donated food that the neighbor's wife had to turn me down when I asked what I could bring to her.
When I related this story to Kunstler he responded with his usual sarcasm. He thought the story was weird.
Kunstler just doesn't get it. He can daydream all he wants about a post apocalyptic nirvana (World Made By Hand), but he doesn't have the first clue about the actual sociology of neighbors helping neighbors.
Actually, there was little the neighbors could do to help the farmer's widow. By removing the scenes of his tragic death, and finishing his dream pond, they were doing something. It is this desire to help one's neighbor that Kunstler just doesn't get.
He can dream about it, write about it, but the bottom line is that Kunstler is so filled with contempt for his neighbor that he doesn't have a clue what being a neighbor truly means.
Pheba.
In an ironic twist to this story, the small cemetery where my neighbor was buried is next door to their farm. You guessed it. it is exactly next to the new pond. They buried him right up at the fence. facing the pond.

[efarmer]

Did You Ever Know You Ain't Our Hero

It must have been cold in Saratoga,
without us around to heap disgrace
You were content to let us whine, that's your way,
You simply wrote of our debase

So you were the one with all the glory,
while we scratched our butts beyond arm's length
A cynical spiel about our 'burbs -- for so long,
Our big vinyl homes just filled with pain

CHORUS:
Did you ever know you ain't our hero?
And we have found other stuff to read
Now we can fly higher on our egos,
Cause you are the one beneath our feet.

(I Like Plants : furious drum solo on garbage cans in
a pimped out shopping cart goes here)

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but we're reading you and turning green
and now it is time for getting even ,
and we are superb at being mean

CHORUS:
Did you ever know you ain't our hero?
And we have found other stuff to read
Now we can fly higher on our egos,
Cause you are the one beneath our feet.

Away, away, we got other crap to read today,
Away, Away .... get away and far from our Nascar...
Away, I say, the schmuck we like to beat.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Phebagirl', 'G')ood day from Pheba, from the farm:
I posted a short review of Kunstler's novel on the forum titled;
"World Made By Hand". What a bunch of drivel.
I used to e-mail Kunstler about the farming situation here in the Midwest.
January of 07 our next door neighbor died. He was an amazing, sharing, caring farmer. He would do anything to help a neighbor, and was the kindest man. He was soft spoken, and listened when others talked. He was good to his wife, and kids. His grandkids lived next door, and spent hours at his farm. He had about 20 horses and mules, and he spent a good portion of his time teaching kids to ride. He raised cattle, and hunted coyotes. Just a good all round farmer.
He was putting in a very large pond. His dream was to spend his retirement (he was 72) fishing at the pond with grandkids.
He was on his tractor grading the pond dam, when the earth under the dam collapsed. His tractor rolled over and killed him instantly. His 7 and 9 year old granddaughter found him. His son had to use a crane to lift the tractor off his body.
I commented to Kunstler about the event in an e-mail. The day after the farmer's death I was driving by and saw about 20 pick-up trucks parked at their farm. The neighbors had all pitched in, and they were removing all traces of the accident. They finished the pond dam, put up fence, sowed seed, etc. My neighbor would have been pleased.
There was so much donated food that the neighbor's wife had to turn me down when I asked what I could bring to her.
When I related this story to Kunstler he responded with his usual sarcasm. He thought the story was weird.
Kunstler just doesn't get it. He can daydream all he wants about a post apocalyptic nirvana (World Made By Hand), but he doesn't have the first clue about the actual sociology of neighbors helping neighbors.
Actually, there was little the neighbors could do to help the farmer's widow. By removing the scenes of his tragic death, and finishing his dream pond, they were doing something. It is this desire to help one's neighbor that Kunstler just doesn't get.
He can dream about it, write about it, but the bottom line is that Kunstler is so filled with contempt for his neighbor that he doesn't have a clue what being a neighbor truly means.
Pheba.
In an ironic twist to this story, the small cemetery where my neighbor was buried is next door to their farm. You guessed it. it is exactly next to the new pond. They buried him right up at the fence. facing the pond.

[I_Like_Plants]

Joe Bageant is Aryan in fact. That's probably why he's the anti-Kunstlser. Joe as I write is, apparently, dividing his time between the US and Belieze, and not the nice touristy part of Belieze either, but the part where they speak Pidgin and eat pigs' tails etc. I'd rather see him "up in the hollers" helping out Die Volk, but he IS putting his money where his mouth is and helping the poor.

I actually think Joe Bageant is noble enough to realize that as a fat old White guy he's probably not going to live long anyway, and he might as well use what riches he can still garner to help out the kind of people Kuntslers people write high-interest loans to, and spend some time being humble. I think he honestly expects to die while paddling a canoe or husking coconuts or something, and prefers that to dying in a long drawn-out medical drama in a US hospital, being financially sucked dry by Kuntsler's people.