[hope_full]

I've noticed that this board appears to be populated by more men than women and that's a puzzle to me. I'm a smart woman who's married to a very smart man and today he told me, "I don't know why you're obsessed over this peak oil thing and recession and the real estate market. I wish you'd stop talking about all this. It just depresses me."

I've made a POINT of NOT talking about it for days at a time but sometimes, I'd like to help him understand what's on the horizon. He's a hyper-intelligent fellow but has a high stress job and he says that when he comes home, he just wants "peace and calm."

So, I've decided to make some quiet, easy-to-do preparations on my own and buy gold on my own and save some money on my own (and he's fine with all that) but it's very frustrating to be with someone who is so very smart and so very educated and so very decent, yet denies that America is (or will be) in recession.

Last night, he made a point of showing me the news report that showed growth for the first quarter of 2008, adding, "See, you were wrong about predicting a recession. The economy is doing great!"

SO I have two points/questions. One, why does it seem to be that men are more interested in this topic than women (generally), and two, what can I do with a GOOD, decent, honest, caring man who refuses to talk about this subject? He grew up in very modest means and put himself through college and post-grad school and I think he just can't bear to think/talk/ponder a contracting American economy. And I wonder if age matters? He's now almost 60 years old.

HF

[DomusAlbion]

Hope_full,

There are several good threads in the psychology forum that might help you. My advice would be to let it go; let him have the peace he craves. However, continue to educate yourself and prepare as best you can. Walk the walk and he'll notice the difference and then he'll come around. Besides you don't need to convince him. If the consequences of the PO theory are correct then reality will get his attention, then you'll be there with your preps.

DA

[Ferretlover]

Hope_full, I could have written that post..oh, wait... I HAVE written that post!
He'll come around, but gosh darn it, it will be Very slow. Just keep mentioning a few low-key comments here and there. My DH is not there yet, but he is beginning to see the same horizon as I do.

[Lumpy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', 'H')ope_full,

There are several good threads in the psychology forum that might help you. My advice would be to let it go; let him have the peace he craves. However, continue to educate yourself and prepare as best you can. Walk the walk and he'll notice the difference and then he'll come around. Besides you don't need to convince him. If the consequences of the PO theory are correct then reality will get his attention, then you'll be there with your preps.

DA

[Cashmere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')e's a hyper-intelligent fellow

[Aaron]

Peak Oil IQ Test.

[AlwaysThere]

Planning for the "Big One" as people like Matt Savinar like to propogate is fruitless and in the end it will get a person nowhere as hoarding food as opposed to sharing with your neighbors will get you nowhere. That entire mindset is going to be our biggest hurdle to overcome - There is very little natural affection between people anymore.

Living conservatively is what we (as a collective nation), should do anyway. Yes Walmart and Macdonalds will suffer, but the only way we are going to reposition our society (If it is even possible) is to take our lumps and start investing in our future as opposed to our immediate gratifcation.

I am 40 and my wife is 30 - She fully accepts that change is coming . Maybe if you frame the discussion around making conserative changes as opposed to "peak oil" and economic collapse it will be better recieved.

I don't even talk about PO anymore - It sounds to culty and besides rising prices speak for themselves.

[aflurry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'B')ecause women are biologically less inclined to want to believe such things. Most women I know are the, "oh it'll work out" types. My wife is, but with my opinion thrown in, she's 100% on board with preps and such. ...
You're with the wrong guy.

[AlwaysThere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('aflurry', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'B')ecause women are biologically less inclined to want to believe such things. Most women I know are the, "oh it'll work out" types. My wife is, but with my opinion thrown in, she's 100% on board with preps and such. ...
You're with the wrong guy.

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AlwaysThere', 'L')iving conservatively is what we (as a collective nation), should do anyway. Yes Walmart and Macdonalds will suffer, but the only way we are going to reposition our society (If it is even possible) is to take our lumps and start investing in our future as opposed to our immediate gratification.

[Cashmere]

Huh?

Armchair what?

That's my take on it.

What's your take? Hmm? Why is the male/female ratio at PO.com about 3 or more to 1.

But also, answer this . . .

Are women, on average, more emotional than men, on average?

Because if you don't get that, then the only difference in your mind between men and women is what exactly? Tits and balls?

[AlwaysThere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dunewalker', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AlwaysThere', 'L')iving conservatively is what we (as a collective nation), should do anyway. Yes Walmart and Macdonalds will suffer, but the only way we are going to reposition our society (If it is even possible) is to take our lumps and start investing in our future as opposed to our immediate gratification.

[charliebrownout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'I')'ve noticed that this board appears to be populated by more men than women and that's a puzzle to me. I'm a smart woman who's married to a very smart man and today he told me, "I don't know why you're obsessed over this peak oil thing and recession and the real estate market. I wish you'd stop talking about all this. It just depresses me."
HF

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'S')O I have two points/questions. One, why does it seem to be that men are more interested in this topic than women (generally)

[RedStateGreen]

I'm in the same boat as you, hope_full. I'm 45, my husband is almost 50. Just do what you can do.

Fortunately, we have a decent amount of cash and he doesn't mind me spending it (I used to never spend money, to a fault, so he sees my new 'hobbies' as a good thing. ). I'm having fun with my preps, which he sees as a plus also.

Keep things pleasant and he should come around.

[BigTex]

Think about how YOU came to peak oil. Think about if someone else had tried to push you to it. Would you have resisted? It's something you should ask yourself.

This is a BIG deal, and people really need to come to their own understanding of it. With that said, I find that my wife is coming around more and more to see what I see, but it has been a gradual process.

If you love your partner, respect their view of the world and the future. When it comes to the future, no one knows for sure what will happen. Just make your case in a clear and respectful way and don't go doomer on them. Doomer rants are a turnoff to others, no matter how much fun they are for you (unless you happen to be talking to another doomer, in which case it's great fun for both of you).

***

I have a theory about a person's predisposition to believe in doom scenarios, and it has to do with the years of a person's life between ages 5 and 10, along with the age of the parents.

My theory is that the economic climate during the time period between ages 5 and 10 will have about a 66% determinant effect on one's predisposition to believe in doom as an adult, and the remaining 33% is determined by the economic climate during the parents' childhood.

For me, the doom stars are in almost perfect alignment.

I was age 5-10 in 1975-1980, a truly depressing and doomalicious period.

My parents' childhood was the mid to late 1930s for my mother and the late 1930s to early 1940s for my dad, so they each had been exposed to lots of doomishness as kids as well.

Thus, I grew up with my parents passing along their experiences and perspectives while I was developing my own in similarly bleak economic conditions.

Thus, as an adult I am like a quickdraw doomer, and any prosperity kind of annoys me, because every bit of economic growth feels like a hole being dug deeper. I can't help being this way, it's just how I see things. The lucky (or maybe unlucky) thing is that I happen to be alive when this doomer sensibility is ver important to have, because I think that we are looking at a future that will be very challenging, and the people whose childhoods were after about 1985 and whose parents' childhoods were after about 1946 are going to have a LOT of cognitive dissonance to overcome.

***

Back to the OP, and considering my theory, the member's husband is 60 years old, which means he was age 5-10 in 1953-1958, some of the most prosperous times in our history. I'm not surprised he is resistant to doom scenarios. It wouldn't surprise me either if his parents were ages 5-10 in the 1920s, in which case he would have a double dip of rose colored thinking to overcome.

I think that a double dip of deluxe doom thinking will serve one well in coming years.

Try this theory out on people. If they seem to "get" the peak oil thing right off the bat, find out the years in which they were ages 5-10.

[taizy8]

I am a woman in my 40's ........my husband doesn't want to think about "peak oil" type things (he's 10 yrs older).....We are both from Ireland and visiting the USA for a year, he is still in an "enamoured" stage. I lived here before in the early 90's and sensed that something wasn't right even then...... and finding the pressure and lifestyle too "at odds"... I moved back to Ireland only for it to follow.

We did see a PBS (BBC) news programme recently which helped bring some of my points across. For now I will get as prepared as I can do in terms of knowledge, books, small transportable stuff...(.thanks everyone for all the great info on the site). We are both cycling more, giving up the booze and eating better. I am sorting out my affairs etc... I have savings and small investments in Euros, have no debts, no property...

If there are more men than women aware of peak oil, I think it depends on what your occupation is, how busy you are. I have no kids so I am not preoccupied in day to day management like many women are.

I don't think anywhere is quite safe if there is a major crisis. Ireland is too close to the huge population of Britain. The US has too many big cities and too many guns. I haven't even breached these scenerios with my husband...the only person I could talk to is my dad who is 86 and KNOWS that the world is ending....
T8....

Big Tex wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')ry this theory out on people. If they seem to "get" the peak oil thing right off the bat, find out the years in which they were ages 5-10.

[AlwaysThere]

I guess I have a question: Do we live in a happy society ? 40% of the adult population is consuming and/or addicted to some form of drug, that does not seem to happy to me. A good old fashion depression will be good for the people in this country.

[MattSavinar]

I've found a disproportionate number of lesbians to be interested in PO and the collapse of society. My thinking is if you're a lesbian, you're already in a head-space fare beyond what is considered acceptable to the greater culture, even more so than gay dudes. So coming to understand an issue like PO - which automatically places in you in a headspace at odds with the greater culture - is an easier pill for them to swallow.

We have a 4-to-1 ration of men to women at LATOC, at least according to what people identify as in there profiles. A lot of women don't put their gender though, so I suspect it is more like 3 or 3.5 to 1. It used to be 5.5 to 1. Then I appointed a lot of female mods and more ladies started showing up.

The net in general is about 70% guys and PO is mostly talked about on the net so right there you can expect more men than women just because the primary medium in which it is being discussed is populated by mostly men.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AlwaysThere', 'I') guess I have a question: Do we live in a happy society ? 40% of the adult population is consuming and/or addicted to some form of drug, that does not seem to happy to me. A good old fashion depression will be good for the people in this country.