[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('raisinbran', 'I') do want to make this assertion. Peak oil, the notion, IS a simply invented evil to help us explain what is happening. I don't think peak oil is real because it makes, in my view, an extreme assumption: that the earth controls man.

[katkinkate]

Individuals can act rationally (within their knowledge base), to maximise benefits and survival for themselves and their family. Corporations are psychopathic and act only to maximise 'profit' for themselves and the shareholders. Their vision and concern only goes 1-2 quarters into the future, otherwise they might have seen this crisis coming earlier and made preparations. Governments act to the benefit of who they see as their most important constituents, which seems to be in many cases, big business/corporations. If not, why is the American government bankrupting the taxpayers and threatening social welfare to give welfare to the big banks?

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'I')f there was one more i in your nickname it would describe you perfectly.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'I') suspect peak oil was the cause of the current calamity. It may very well be that $4.00 a gallon gasoline was the tipping point that began the retreat that caused the cascade that resulted in collapse. How is peak oil not the culprit? It broke the back of the American consumer.

[doomlover666]

Now raisin bran, I know your upset about the whole economy thing and that you would like to disprove peak oil. But have you ever seen Mike Rupperts movie " Denial stops here (911 to peak oil and beyond)" In this movie, which was made in early 2000 something, mikey calls this whole current market crash down to the T and also lays down an rather insightful view of the future. So please check it out and get back to me.

[doomlover666]

Oh and yes Raisin Bran,

People are greedy; just go look at any child's playground anywhere in the world. It's is a character flaw that is programmed in our DNA and it never goes away, it just gets more refined with time.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('doomlover666', 'O')h and yes Raisin Bran,

People are greedy; just go look at any child's playground anywhere in the world. It's is a character flaw that is programmed in our DNA and it never goes away, it just gets more refined with time.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('doomlover666', 'O')h and yes Raisin Bran,

People are greedy; just go look at any child's playground anywhere in the world. It's is a character flaw that is programmed in our DNA and it never goes away, it just gets more refined with time.

[allenwrench]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('raisinbran', 'T')he problem is not the science of peak-oil. It is fairly reasonable to believe that, as a finite resource, it would deplete and follow the "peak oil" projection that is touted on this site.
However, the fundamental question to ask is:
Is that really happening, right now, that would accurately describe what is happening today?
Point 1) Peak oil minimizes manipulation and enshrines the principles of supply and demand.
The fundamental problem with the notion of peak oil is quite simply that it assumes that this world economy, and the oil market, operates freely according to supply and demand, and that it has been for decades.
I think you all have witnessed first-hand how much manipulation there is in the oil prices. Knowing that oil indeed can be another speculative trade commodity, and that it fell about $70 in two months, clearly suggests there was a modest inflation of the price. Gas is quite low right now, back to levels 8 months ago. Is it really reasonable that this price crash ($8 down yesterday) is attributed to demand destruction alone?

Point 2) To understand world events (and this global meltdown certainly qualifies as a world event), most would agree that an understanding of a broad array of subjects is important.
For starters, one should have an understanding that the folly in the housing market, along with excessive speculative activity in the financial industry, is is a large contributor of the current financial meltdown. In all honesty, as much as some here would like to believe that a shortage of oil is directly causing multiple bank failures, mass foreclosures, and government bailouts, the simple truth is that it hardly does. High-gas prices alone are not the cause of this travesty.
World events are multifaceted, ranging from natural resources, financial structures, economic systems, politics, geopolitics, religious/ideological trends, social/cultural trends. For some examples, the trend toward socialism that we are witnessing is notable. This election, the Georgia Russia debacle, increased militarism, and the marked technological invasion of our privacy and rights deserve attention. Do you think oil shortages are making the world more socialist by default? Do you think Iraq/Afghanistan/Georgia is all about oil? Or is that only part of the story?
Peak oil seems to single out natural resources, and to a lesser extent economic structures, as the sole driver of world events today, because data shows that we haven't found new oil, that oil fields are depleting, and that governments are now going to scramble and look for more oil, and therefore everything will collapse, etc.

Point 3) Perhaps most of all it enshrines human greed, but minimizes the human desire for more control.
The desire for mankind, for leaders, to exert control is well-documented throughout history. The Portuguese and Spanish wanted to monopolize the Spice and Silver trade, respectively, as a source of wealth, as well as to maintain a military edge over their rivals.
Oil, whether you like it or not, is almost a perfect weapon, or tool of control. Any country without oil is a country that will implode in months. Any population without oil/gas will become a starved, angry population.
If you are wondering why your rights and privacy have been slowly and systematically torn down over the past decade, why the government is essentially nationalizing the banks and your home, and why your jobs are moving out of this country, then you probably feel like somebody is exerting more control over you.

Tools of control are all around us. We don't produce our food, our power, our water, our gasoline, where are cash is stored, someone else does, and usually it is a large corporation. We also get our interpretations of world events and news from someone else, because we are not well-versed enough to come up with our own conclusion. Believing peak oil is like trying to see the world from an oil rig. Undoubtedly you would probably have a better view of the landscape from an airplane, to see all the dynamic movement

[allenwrench]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('doomlover666', 'O')h and yes Raisin Bran, People are greedy; just go look at any child's playground anywhere in the world. It's is a character flaw that is programmed in our DNA and it never goes away, it just gets more refined with time.

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')s a past believer in peak oil, I say: Peak oil is a myth, and a sham. Period.