I'd like to hear people share their personal anecdotes of 'converting' friends, family, and neighbors to peak oil. By convert I mean to bring them all the way over to the same level we're at as far as either planning or executing preps.
I'm especially interested in hearing stories of immediate neighbors who have been converted to copy-cat your doomstead. Has anyone ever been able to do that?
Please limit it to success stories, not failures. I've heard enough of those.
PeakOil is You
"Conversion" Success Stories
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Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by eastbay » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 17:50:14
I've had 100% failures so I'll keep my trap shut on this thread. 
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Everything is Impermanent. Shakyamuni Buddha
Everything is Impermanent. Shakyamuni Buddha
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Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by Jotapay » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 17:59:13
I've discussed this with my family, friends and neighbors.
My entire family understands now about peak oil and the gravity of the economic crisis. They are all prepping except for my dad who refuses and is being fatalistic. My sister in law actually sends out news stories now from www.infowars.com, lol.
Several of my neighbors are on board and we have plans to defend our block as necessary. We are going to barter when needed.
My friends were not quite as receptive, only about 40% of them understand. None of my friends are prepping to my knowledge, they are taking a wait and see attitude.
My entire family understands now about peak oil and the gravity of the economic crisis. They are all prepping except for my dad who refuses and is being fatalistic. My sister in law actually sends out news stories now from www.infowars.com, lol.
Several of my neighbors are on board and we have plans to defend our block as necessary. We are going to barter when needed.
My friends were not quite as receptive, only about 40% of them understand. None of my friends are prepping to my knowledge, they are taking a wait and see attitude.
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Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by mos6507 » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 18:05:10
You don't have to betray anybody's anonymity, but could ya give us a little more meat on the bones? Could you tell me what strategy you used to win them over, how long it took, and what pushed them over the edge? I'm hoping we can find a successful formula.
- mos6507
Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by Ludi » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 18:08:18
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', ' ')I'm hoping we can find a successful formula.
Stop that! How dare you start a thread which might actually prove to be of some USE and BENEFIT!
- Ludi
Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by Arsenal » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 18:21:33
Unfortunately all failures. 
If the American people ever allow the banks to control issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied. T Jefferson
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Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by Jotapay » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 18:26:21
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'Y')ou don't have to betray anybody's anonymity, but could ya give us a little more meat on the bones? Could you tell me what strategy you used to win them over, how long it took, and what pushed them over the edge? I'm hoping we can find a successful formula.
My family trusts me. They listen to what I have to say, I guess. I explained peak oil and the economic crisis to them in the fall of 2007 and early 2008. I also have a Geology degree, so it helps that I could explain some specifics to them. All of them are professionals with at least a bachelors degree (almost all of them in natural science, actually), so it was a bit easier for them to understand what I was telling them.
None of them are exactly building doomsteads at the moment, but they are prepping with food and defensive measures, and to be able to cope with other shortages when they occur. My only failure to this point is that I have not been able to get my brother and sister to buy a communal property with me where we will build some cabins. They aren't ready for that yet. But my theory is that our best chance at surviving the future is to do it as a small tribe which lives and works close to one another.
Some of my neighbors expected some doom anyway, but not from peak oil. They watch what the government is doing and were expecting the worst. They already had vegetable gardens going, actually. I explained peak oil to them and it dove-tailed with what they already were working on. The point is that they are prepping anyway and will be more ready than most when/if it happens. When the time is right, we are going to contact the rest of our neighbors and establish how we will take care of our block, but it isn't time for that just yet.
Most of my uncles were already thinking along the lines of my neighbors (government and economic doom) and were very interested in my preps. They were thinking about doing their own preps for their families.
Many people think bad things cometh, either from oil depletion, economic collapse or government tyranny. And they are preparing to some extent. It may be easier than you think to form a loose network among those who are prepping in order to share ideas and organize.
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Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by mos6507 » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 19:04:20
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', '
')Some of my neighbors expected some doom anyway, but not from peak oil.
')Some of my neighbors expected some doom anyway, but not from peak oil.
I guess if people are prepping then even if it's for a different reason it's better than nothing. But the hardcore guns and MREs and flak jacket survivalist secessionists are not my idea of good transition-town neighbors. Seems like the kind of activity that would attract a beat-down by the ATF. I'd really want things to go in more of a granola direction.
- mos6507
Re: "Conversion" Success Stories
by Jotapay » Tue 30 Dec 2008, 19:23:16
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'I') guess if people are prepping then even if it's for a different reason it's better than nothing. But the hardcore guns and MREs and flak jacket survivalist secessionists are not my idea of good transition-town neighbors. Seems like the kind of activity that would attract a beat-down by the ATF. I'd really want things to go in more of a granola direction.
These neighbors are not very well armed actually, and that's really not the crux of the matter, I think. They might have one gun in their house. They are armed with knowledge (like the MacGyver-themed thread earlier), which is always more valuable than a gun. They have rain barrels, vegetable gardens, etc. But they could mobilize to use firearms defensively and we could shut down access to our neighborhood from the roads, if needed, in a matter of minutes. Trust me, we know that is far fetched from today's situation, but we do know how to do it and how to incorporate the rest of the neighbors if the situation (God forbid) ever demanded it.
Right now I have two roommates who (from my standpoint) are a buffer against the economic collapse. From their standpoint, I help them to have an inexpensive, safe, and comfortable place to live, so it's a win-win for us. One of them is an ex-Marine who is currently in college getting a medical degree and the other is an ex-mixed martial arts fighter, knows his way around an AR-15, and is 6' 3", 280 pounds. If push did come to shove, we would fare better than most, I think.
But we, in my neighborhood, are much more focused on renewable resources like gardens and rainwater collection, not MREs, tonnes of ammo, and mountains of canned goods. I and my neighbors spend much more of our time thinking about how to live sustainably on our own property than stockpiling. To be honest, stockpiling is easy. You just buy stuff. Creating an ecosystem around your home in an urban environment that feeds you (vegetables, hens, etc.) and provides you with water (cisterns, rainwater collection) is much more of a challenge.
Since I started to make my own beer just recently, one project that I have planned is to grow hops in my front yard next year. It will displace some of the wildflowers up there but once I build the rigging, I think it will do very well. These are the sort of things we (my family and neighbors) think about.
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