[Ferretlover]

Ahh.. I see.

[zeke]

Right. Anyway, if you were to "educate the sheeple," what would you hope would happen?

That a group of people who seem hardwired NOT to think for themselves and see reality for what it is, independent of what they get from their masters or leader, or from the electronic teat, would suddendly come to be able to think critically, by virtue of this external force (yet again!?!?) and, as if by magic, become all smartened up and functional?
And evermore, be immune from the siren song of the fecal matter-squirting nozzle that helped make them be brain-dead zombies in the first place? Hate to have to use this metaphor, but if I was choosing sides for "Capture the Flag," those clowns would be the LAST one's I'd even consider for my team.

[mrobert]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zeke', 'R')ight. Anyway, if you were to "educate the sheeple," what would you hope would happen? That a group of people who seem hardwired NOT to think for themselves and see reality for what it is, independent of what they get from their masters or leader, or from the electronic teat, would suddendly come to be able to think critically, by virtue of this external force (yet again!?!?) and, as if by magic, become all smartened up and functional?

And evermore, be immune from the siren song of the fecal matter-squirting nozzle that helped make them be brain-dead zombies in the first place? Hate to have to use this metaphor, but if I was choosing sides for "Capture the Flag," those clowns would be the LAST one's I'd even consider for my team. zeke

[VMarcHart]

I don't know, zeke. I still say a big reason why sheeple are sheeple is because the shepherd is not doing a good job. Have you never had a bad teacher? Were you to blame for not learning?

Today's example: My brother announces his bitch is on heat and a neighbor will bring a dog tonight. He made up his mind and he wants a litter. FYI, my brother can bearily scratch 2 cents together. What do I do, regardless if it's my brother, your brother, or anybody else?

I gave my standard PO, overshooting, cargoism, etc, lecture. Probably it won't help, but not to do anything is declaring defeat and weakness on my part.
My 2 cents.

[allenwrench]

Title:

Why I like to educate sheeple about Peak Oil and an important tool for any survivalist.

I'm not smart enough with tech to run my own website. But wherever I go I discuss Peak Oil and what it will mean to us down the road.

What do I get out of my efforts at educating the sheeple?

Besides an honest interest helping others, I do it in the hopes that the sheeple will start preparing for the new world and plant some fruit trees or other edibles. Or maybe take up cheese making or soap making or other useful skills. And if by chance they move away or die I may be able to adopt some of the fruits of their labor.

This summer I have added many new fruit tree to my 'adopted orchard' that others planted then abandoned. Now these abandoned tress did not come from peak oilers. But I do not discriminate with any of my adoptions - if the produce tastes good I will be happy to harvest it.

I got 3 mulberry trees, 3 apple trees. 4 big juicy Europeans and seckel pear trees, an apricot tree, 2 pawpaw trees, brambles, herbs and possibly some wild grapes and chestnuts.

So, as my neighbors prepare and plant food I hope they are successful in their efforts. It will keep them away from knocking on my door for my food if and when TEOTWAK arrives. And if they go away, die or otherwise abandon their trees I will make good use of them.

BTW, buy yourself a few of these harvesters and put them on collapsible poles. I picked almost 14 pounds of apricots just from this one abandoned tree.

[frankthetank]

Here's a thought.

If you know what your doing, you could grow out seeds (basically free) and use that as rootstock and just graft on branches from your own trees, say a peach. Then you could give these trees to people. Only problem is they might not want a tiny tree, so you might have to wait a year or two and let it grow out some.

[allenwrench]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('allenwrench', 'H')ave them fix this problem BT! People I send here can't even get the basics.

[AgentR]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('allenwrench', 'T')o educate sheeple or not educate sheeple...that is the question?

[Alcassin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('darwinsdog', 'E')ven if you're well armed so will "they" be. And if you have food you won't be as hunger motivated as they are. Armed groups of hungry people will kill you & take your food. Preparations are useless.

[zeke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'I') don't know, zeke. I still say a big reason why sheeple are sheeple is because the shepherd is not doing a good job. Have you never had a bad teacher? Were you to blame for not learning?

[MidwesternMom]

I'm still relatively new to peak oil, and the only people i have talked about it to is my husband, who is semi on board, and my grandma who completely believes the idea. My main issue with my husband is he is an optimist i suppose, and if i start talking about doom and gloom, survival measures etc. he gets uncomfortable. Ultimately, most of the things we are doing to prepare for peak oil, starting a garden, getting out of debt, stockpiling, etc. are things that we we're planning on doing anyway, so that makes it for an easier transistion. I did, however, tell him to not tell people about food stockpile etc. Right now it is not much, but over time it will grow. I have a very large extended family that lives within an hour of me. Our small stockpile could support us probably for a couple months, now if all 50 of my relatives showed up, forget about it. I think they (aunts, cousins, uncles, etc.) will be very hard to convince. So i haven't tried yet.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MidwesternMom', 'I')'m still relatively new to peak oil, and the only people i have talked about it to is my husband, who is semi on board, and my grandma who completely believes the idea. I did, however, tell him to not tell people about food stockpile etc. Our small stockpile could support us probably for a couple months, now if all 50 of my relatives showed up, forget about it. I think they (aunts, cousins, uncles, etc.) will be very hard to convince. So i haven't tried yet.

[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('allenwrench', 'T')o educate sheeple or not educate sheeple...that is the question? My wife says I should not educate the sheeple. She complains when I put PO bumper stickers on my car.

[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', 'C')onsidering that it is a classic sign of mental illness to believe that one has special information that others don't possess regarding the imminent end of the world, it's probably wise to tread lightly around the uninitiated. I was thinking the other day about how I might describe to a therapist why I have been a bit sullen lately and the story sounded a little wild.
"You see doctor, I have recently become convinced that a dramatic die-off of the human population is going to occur within my lifetime. I also have reason to believe that the entire global financial system is poised to collapse any day. I also have reason to believe that everything the government tells me is a lie. I am also virtually certain that fossil fuel depletion is going to be in the vanguard of the calamities that will more or less signal the end of the world."
I can just see the therapist taking a deep breath and replying: "So, BigTex, how long have you been having these feelings?"
I will talk with anyone who is interested. However, the entire thesis, while simple and logical, takes time to develop in a conversation with a rookie. Thus, I have to be careful about the way I talk to people about it, because often I am still going over the assumptions on which my analysis is based when they stop me because they're too freaked out. That's frustrating to me, too, because it doesn't even allow me to get to what my thoughts are on what all of these events MEAN with respect to the future.
I don't like the word sheeple either. People are just living the way they were taught to live. It takes time to change such fundamental perceptions of the world.
Here is a thought that I had this morning and it helped clarify for me where we are at right now: Any time a civilization collapses, the obvious question is "if they were smart enough to build that thing from scratch, why weren't they smart enough to maintain it once they had it built out?" The answer, of course, is that these societies start to fracture, and the cause of these fractures is understood to be a combination of resource limitations, overpopulation, poor governance, etc. Chief among these, though, is usually resource limitations. -snip-I believe that's where we are at today. More and more, people are simply losing faith in this system of industrial civilization, and thus rather than putting their shoulder to the wheel within the system to preserve it, they find that they just don't have the will to try to save something in which they just no longer believe. Where does that leave us? Squarely within the decline period of yet another civilization. What do we do about all of this? I don't know. Jack seems to think that eating popcorn will help.

[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zeke', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'I') don't know, zeke. I still say a big reason why sheeple are sheeple is because the shepherd is not doing a good job. Have you never had a bad teacher? Were you to blame for not learning?

[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lentilsmine', 'a')re you prepared to walk 15-20 miles a day with a big pack?

[Jenab6]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('darwinsdog', 'E')ven if you're well armed so will "they" be. And if you have food you won't be as hunger motivated as they are. Armed groups of hungry people will kill you & take your food. Preparations are useless.

[zeke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jenab6', 'Y')ou were going good until that last. "My hate of certain groups" is, as they say in Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others." Hate doesn't need to be plugged in. It might use chemical energy, but it doesn't use much. And your implication that all hate of "certain groups" is irrational is wrong.
Jerry Abbott

[mrobert]

@Jenab6: Thanks for interesting tips

As a sidenote: Look at a city and it's houses. How can you tell which house is stuffed with food, fuel, etc? You can't. They won't be able as well. IMHO ... if you keep a low profile on this, you will get by just well.

[zeke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mrobert', '@')Jenab6: Thanks for interesting tips
As a sidenote: Look at a city and it's houses. How can you tell which house is stuffed with food, fuel, etc? You can't. They won't be able aswell. IMHO ... if you keep a low profile on this, you will get by just well.