[alokin]

There are so many negative posts recently about "TSHTF" now, in some weeks, month etc. but the discussion is mostly about the US, sometimes Europe.

How is the situation in other countries?

Here in Australia, everything (at least for us) seems pretty much the same. Nobody I know complains (we don't live in a high incoms suburb). Even car mechanics don't fear for their jobs. Food prices gone up, but it still don't hurt (us) really. High interest rates are worse.

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('alokin', 'T')here are so many negative posts recently about "TSHTF" now, in some weeks, month etc. but the discussion is mostly about the US, sometimes Europe.

How is the situation in other countries?

Here in Australia, everything (at least for us) seems pretty much the same. Nobody I know complains (we don't live in a high incoms suburb). Even car mechanics don't fear for their jobs. Food prices gone up, but it still don't hurt (us) really. High interest rates are worse.

[venky]

Fuel prices are causing hurt to many folks, but generally speaking it has hardly been catastrophic. Looking around, life seems much the same, the freeways are clogged with traffic, the restaurants are filled with people eating out; most people are driving as much as they want.

Fact is our economies are far more resilient to high oil prices than we thought several years ago. Thats not to say business as usual can go on for ever, but I daresay life as we know it will go continue far longer into to the future than peak oilers may think.

[Windmills]

Timing, rate of decline, and magnitude of decline and its effects are always in contention. There's no catastrophe here in the US at this point. It has only just begun, so it's quite reasonable to think that the worst is yet to come. How long do you think "far longer" is?

[Tyler_JC]

The majority of this websites frequent users are Americans.

Of the top 25 posters, about 21 of them are from the United States.

As with most of the internet, English is the language of communication. Many of the world's native English speaking computer owners live in the USA.

As a result, the discussions tend to be very US-focused.

We welcome members from all over the world and everyone gains from the unique perspectives of people in other countries.

The reason TS appears to happen mostly in the USA is that America has had very low gasoline prices for a very long time. The result has been a society with an entitlement complex with regards to cheap fuel. That's starting to change but in the mean time, the transition can be very painful.

[KingM]

re: Australia. How is your public transportation? What powers your agricultural machinery? How do you fertilize your old, poor soils? How much oil do you produce relative to your use?

[JohnDenver]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('venky', 'F')uel prices are causing hurt to many folks, but generally speaking it has hardly been catastrophic. Looking around, life seems much the same, the freeways are clogged with traffic, the restaurants are filled with people eating out; most people are driving as much as they want.

[BlueGhostNo2]

In the UK people are driving slower, although this could be partly down to the Speed Cameras.
There are protests by the Haulage people about fuel duty, they are asking for a fuel duty exception.
My friends now tell me they dont' want to hear about recession / oil depletion because its depressing rather than saying it's BS.
People are sharing driving on long distance trips specifically to reduce the petrol cost.

HOWEVER, business is still continuing, few people I know seem to be cutting back on spending significantly.

[alokin]

I talked to a woman who lived in London for many years. She came to Australia because she said that in London everybody is stressed nowadays an electricity end everything is so expensive, that everyone is running around and work work..don't know if it's true.

I don't tell that we won't have the same s*** as everywhere in Australia, i only mean that at the moment you don't see it very much.
Petrol prices are about $1.60/l and trains are fuller but maybe it's because they improved the service a bit.

[MrBill]

alokin, Australia is currently benefiting from exports to the rest of Asia that have up until now been booming. The USA is currently in a recession - officially or not - while the RBA is raising rates to combat inflation in Australia. Two economies. Different dynamics. Not all economies are in sync. That does not make Australia any more resilient to global climate change or post peak oil resource depletion. My own opinion is that high energy prices in the USA may be exacerbating their economic slowdown, but the real cause is debt overhang.

[Hagakure_Leofman]

I would have thought car mechanics have good prospects for the short and medium term alokin. Since people are buying fewer new cars as the rise in oil discourages them, then their existing cars will require maintenance. It's going to be a long time before people stop driving altogether.

[alokin]

Yes, we have lots of coal, minerals, uranium and wheat. That makes us rich.
When I begun this thread I was just wondering - is this only us a PO community which smells the change? Or is living in Australia better (at the moment). And it seems it is. We must not be better off in future especially with climate change and droughts.

It is SO strange, live around me has not changed at all, new houses are built new streets, people talking about birthday presents for the kids about dolls exhibitions and I make sometimes strange statements, that things will go down, which are not taken very seriously.

I guess that the problems are maybe more visible in other countries especially in the US.

[MrBill]

That is also pretty much the case in Alberta right now. Everything is booming, so all these climate change and resource depletion problems seem to many too far into the future to care much about today. Collective amnesia. Or as Al says, an inconvient truth.

[ROCKMAN]

You bring up a good issue alokin: real financial pain vs. complaining. There are some very depressed areas in the US. But they were pretty depressed when oil was $40/bbl. As I'm sure you know we've had rather low fuel taxes so a $1/gal jump is a bigger proportion then in the UK or down under (perhaps?). Despite the whining the US economy is doing well in certain aspects. Even in the areas (as Mr. Bill points out) where we are in trouble the average guy isn't too aware. Probably the collapse of the housing market accelerated the bitching cycle a good bit. I don't know about you Aussies but in the US the only real savings many folks have is the equity in their homes. We just don't put much of our income in the bank. In some areas folks have lost up to 1/3 of their equity. This was a great shock to their sense of security.

I’m very lucky. Besides working in the oil patch I live in Texas where the economy (less housing) is still robust. But, in general, there has been no real pain due to rising oil…YET. Unemployment in the US is still near a historic low. We just had a 3 day holiday and the report is in on the catastrophic change in our driving habits: folks drove 1.2% fewer miles this year than last. That may seem like a small drop to an Aussie but we are the best country in the world and therefore should not be hindered by these annoyances.

If you think our bitching has been bad wait until the real impact starts showing up here in the next year or two. We are one of the biggest economies in the world. It takes a while for things to change much here. Unfortunately that’s also true on the recovery side.

[watermelonpunch]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('alokin', 'T')here are so many negative posts recently about "TSHTF" now, in some weeks, month etc. but the discussion is mostly about the US, sometimes Europe.

How is the situation in other countries?

Here in Australia, everything (at least for us) seems pretty much the same. Nobody I know complains (we don't live in a high incoms suburb). Even car mechanics don't fear for their jobs. Food prices gone up, but it still don't hurt (us) really. High interest rates are worse.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('watermelonpunch', '
')But there's nothing to suggest that they're anymore energy conscious than, say, Americans.

[watermelonpunch]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('watermelonpunch', '
')But there's nothing to suggest that they're anymore energy conscious than, say, Americans.

[MrBill]

Japan uses two-thirds the energy to produce the same amount of GDP as the USA adjusted for the size of their economy. Of course, they are energy conscious. They import all of their energy needs. They learned a valuable lesson from the oil shocks of the 70s. Also, they have an aggressive neighbor vying for influence in the region, so they are accutely aware of their economic vulnerabilities. A Japanese salaryman that is prepared to work long hours and make sacrafices for his firm is the one prepared to make those same sacrafices at home to save energy as well. Different mindset. But of course individual circumstances may vary from Tokyo to Hokkaido.