[PhilBiker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') know this may seem OT but it seems to be my current response to PO to be bewildered by the excess of it all. Does anyone else go through this?

[alemoa]

Great - after questioning the "legitimacy" of my "being freaked" feelings (sorry, KillJoy, I still don't see why I cannot FEEL this way (after all this is not my opinion but a feeling).... you make it sound as if only people who have read about PO for months are allowed to be freaked... but I am... and will leave it at that) and some prose, we are back to the content of my posting...

I am afraid of the ensuing violence here and in other parts of the world, but still see a glimmer of hope, because so many people around the world are living in even worse conditions...for their entire life!

Frankly, I am VERY afraid of staying in the US, judging by the comments of not a few members of this forum who are all going to be armed - this MINE MINE MINE "Rambo" thinking will not get Americans far... your bullets will take care of each other. I think I have only seen one post thus far that even mentions "COOPERATIVE", i.e. working together. Suddenly "everyone" wants to become an all-around farmer-healer-mechanic-builder.... just so their off-spring can survive. Hm, it takes years of experience to become a farmer and is HARD work, especially when you only have a mule to work the field. I have read a comment that someone was afraid that their farm would be taken by the government for the good of the people...

What a concept - the good of everyone... Why are you so afraid of it??? Why do you want to struggle on your own, being afraid that your neighbor sneaks onto your land at night and steals all of your crop and veggies? Why live a life in fear when people can instead get together in small groups, help eachother and have fun in the process? Working together where everyone does what he does best and does not need to be an all-around Rambo... Call me a socialist, communist, hippie, whatever - I don't care about labels and will just shrug off whatever personal attacks you might now throw at me. I am more interested in actual alternatives, examples, "blueprints" - throw those at me and I'll respond.

Suggestion: google "Gaviotas Colombia"

I know I'd rather live my life, enjoy my share of work in the community and live in peace instead of being afraid for the rest of my life. And I don't even need any drugs for that, imagine that. Maybe PO is not such a bad thing, as people will discover living with eachother again... sitting at candle light, talking to their neighbors when the first forced blackouts happen overnight...

Now, be gentle with your responses, personal attacks are just so unnecessary and do not aid the discussion about a) my feelings and b) alternative living after PO (why do most of these discussion threads go so off-topic and personal anyway???).

[riversoma]

I also get depressed about all this stuff - what sane person wouldn't? The cure to depression is always action. Fortunatly every step you take to prepare for this massive change in our expectations is a step forward towards a more positive outcome.

You can start promoting sustainable skills in your community. Most neighborhoods allow for a home to have a couple hens. Get some hens if you can. Get the neighborhood kids interested. Start a Hen House Club or a vegetable gardening party or a first aid workshop or whatever. Volunteer, donate your time to an organization which already promotes your concerns - even if they know nothing about PO.

Start working with systems that are already in place and help to strengthen them. It is ok if the masses are ignorant. People often do the right things for the wrong reasons. If you are one of the forward thinkers you don't need to convince anyone of anything. Just support any positive action towards sustainability. You will be much happier and infinitely more productive too!

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.').. Get the neighborhood kids interested. Start a Hen House Club or a vegetable gardening party or a first aid workshop or whatever. Volunteer, donate your time to an organization which already promotes your concerns - even if they know nothing about PO

[katkinkate]

Yeah, agree with everything so far.... action's the cure (sigh). Anyone know where I can get some motivation pills?

[threadbear]

If it's any comfort to you guys, I think things never work out the way we think they will. How many times have you planned your life along a linear curve, only to have it split off in a completely different direction? Life's like that. Peak oil will likely be like that too. It will be tough, no doubt about it, but if you're unemployed or underemployed opportunities may just open up. Can you meet with like minded people in your area and discuss these things and form plans of action? It's important to actually meet people in person and not confine yourself to the web.

[BastardSquad]

I've been terribly depressed lately,I've know about PO for a little while now but suddenly it feels like it's really starting to sink in.I think I need to take some time away from this board as someone else suggested,been here way too much lately.

The most frustrating and depressing thing for me is that there is soooo much to do,I don't know where to start,and I am completely on my own.

Along with 2 boys(12 and 14 they eat like horses)my wife and I have a 1 year old little girl,she's cute as a button.Thinking about their future scares the hell out of me!

Sunday I got off work early (around 1:00) and I planned to spend the whole day turning over my entire backyard and planning my garden(I always have a garden,but this will be the biggest and most diverse yet),instead I had to spend about 3 hours babysitting the little one so the Mrs. could dye her hair.Not that I mind spending time with the little munchkin,but I felt what I had to do was more important than my wife dying her hair.

I finally get outside and she(my wife) keeps making me stop doing what I was doing so I could come see how she was planning to remodel the baby's room.All I can think about is how I'm going to keep the poor kid from starving to death in a few years.

I finally brought up the whole PO thing again for like the thousandth time and her reply is "oh,don't worry,they've just decided to drill ANWAR,everything will be just fine."

It's depressing as hell having so much to do,not knowing where to start,and having absolutely no help at all.

[threadbear]

Bastard,

If I had kids right now, I'd be freaked too. But instead of concentrating on the worst case scenario, try thinking about your children as little beings sent from heaven to change the world for the better, with you chosen, equally, to guide them in this mission. I know this sounds corny, but I think in a way, this is actually what is happening. You're part of the vanguard

[Free]

Hm, I am somehow still optimistic that in the end it can turn out for the better, and that maybe it isn't so bad as an experience if we have to go through some hard times.
You know, here in Europe we grow up with stories about the big wars and how horrible it all was, the killing and starving. Somehow I think PO will be less serious and horrible because it will be somehow like a natural disaster. And normally a natural disaster makes people come together and help each other, try to work things out, contrary to wars where people just can't cope with the fact that their fellow humans are bombing, tortureing, raping, killing them.

We might have to give up many things but get many others as well...

[nocar]

Yes, I am with Free on this issue. I can see many good parts. I like it when the oil price goes up - and particularly when the gasoline price goes up. Although it has risen just a little here in Sweden. The dollar seems to go down almost as much as crude oil goes up in price.

Having spent decades fighting the folly of car culture and adapting our societies to the needs of cars, while neglecting the needs of people, I am more desoriented than unhappy. So I look forward to the peak oil problems, which will make people rethink the role of the automobile. I think there will be quite a while before we (=humanity) run into real problems. Stop all that driving and building motorways, and we will be fine for decades and decades.

nocar

[madison]

I'm also a single parent, and it's so hard trying to plan for the future while barely keeping my head above water. And none of my family or friends believes anything I say about PO, which is really sad.

I am now doing daily visualizations to bring about a positive future for myself and my kid. After a few months of panicking and really focusing on the negatives, I decided I don't want to live that way, waiting for the STHTF. I am doing all I can to get myself in a better position and that will HAVE to be good enough because it's all I CAN do. And if TSHTF, then I will know I did all I could and we'll muddle through somehow. So, the antidote to depression and hopelessness, for me, is small actions and having a healthy mental attitude. And enjoying life TODAY.

I enjoy many things MORE now, because I know in the future they may be rare or non-existent. Like truly good ice cream, classical music played LOUDLY on a great stereo system or actually getting to a concert or performance. Or watching my son play in the water park, totally enjoying the moment. Or sitting on the patio at night drinking a decaf latte and listening to the wind.

I don't know what the future holds, but I refuse to give up.



Some day I WILL be sitting in my strawbale house's patio drinking tea I grew myself listening to crickets and frogs instead of traffic outside my cheap apartment. Dang it, I WILL!

[hoplite]

Should not congregate here. Commiseration will only accelerate your disorder. "Peak Oil" is not going to happen in your lifetime! No matter how how much you want it to, you could be depressed for your progeny, but our lifes will remain remarkably dull and boring for the foreseeable future.
People on this site have an uncanny resemblance (in their behaviour) to Christian fundamentalist cult members- but you're all too smart for that, right?
not...
--"liberalism IS a mental disorder" Michael Weiner

[lorenzo]

I don't think you need to be depressed to understand that peak oil is happening right now.

Thousands of jobs are already being lost because of high oil prices. Today. Capital struggles to create capital. And resource wars are a daily reality.

[ArimoDave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hoplite', ' ')
"Peak Oil" is not going to happen in your lifetime! No matter how how much you want it to, you could be depressed for your progeny, but our lifes will remain remarkably dull and boring for the foreseeable future.

[lorenzo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ArimoDave', '
')And your evidence is ? ? ? ?

[earthman]

Depression is a normal stage on the way to acceptance. It is only a problem if you get stuck in it.

[EddieB]

I could be wrong, but I think the question about "evidence" was directed at the first post. There is very little evidence to contradict PO. The only legitimate card non-believers have in their hands at this point is the opacity of OPEC's URR numbers. I might give half a card to those who think we'll be able to ramp up clean-coal/gas/uranium quickly enough to stave off disaster for a few more decades - but I'm not so sure I should even do that. 8

[ArimoDave]

EddieB:

Exactly.


Iorenzo:

You gave some nice evidence that PO will occur soon, if it hasn't already.

I was asking for evidence to the contrary -- evidence that PO won't come for at least 30 years.

ArimoDave

[merecat]

I'm very happy, yet I am aware that oil is a finite resource and its proably already peaked.

Just because I believes the future may not be quite as convenient as it is now doesnt make me depressed.

Maybe some people who are more addicted to oil will get angry and call a realist a depressive by mistake... yeah.. I'm gonna go with that as an explanation.

As to cults... f%ck that! any full time close grouping, above mate and kids, is just trouble in the long run. Plus if you wanna get philisophical about it (which i'm sure you dont, it'll probably "depress" you) then popular society is a cult. It's just the most popular cult, so it then raises magically to the status of society rather than cult, funny how it works isn't it!

[OilyMon]

Cults are much more defined then the community here. Read the post about doomsday psychology. There's an interesting link. This is a completely voluntary community, that does nothing to solicit response or participation. The people here are generally educated an rational, and to dismiss this as a cult only goes to show that YOU are in denial.

Furthermore, if one is depressed, talking about it generally helps to ameliorate any symptoms. Depression usually results from a prolonged feeling of helplessness, or after a significantly traumatic event in your life, such as the loss of a loved one, break-up, discovery of potential drastic life style change etc. Depression is a normal occurance for somebody with a generally stable mood. In fact, people who are happy most of the time usually have some sort of chemical imbalance, that can be treated with mood stabalizers. Same goes for people who are depressed most of the time.