by ReverseEngineer » Wed 12 Nov 2008, 05:59:42
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'I')sn't. Conservation and rationing could save millions of barrels. Big spanner in the works of course is the economic displacement that occurs when so much discretionary driving ends; example I use with people is the zitfarms selling corn dogs in a mall's food mart. Who's going to drive to malls anymore, much less spend excess money while they're there? Buses go to these places as well but the added time in using MT will deter those who have little time to spare owing to family obligations and the like. People will pull through but so much service economy employment will fizzle out; this recession is chewing that up already with oil at major lows.
Much more than the absolute DISAPPEARANCE of oil off the face of the earth, the BIGGER question we face is the Economic Dislocation resulting from the fact that Oil is not a CHEAP source of energy anymore. The banking system and monetary system depended on ever expanding debt that could be paid off wit growth off CHEAP oil, which no longer exists. Its this crash which threatesn us much more directly than an absolute disappearance of Oil from the face of the earth, which won't happen really for years, especialy taking into account demand destruction and die off.
Although a monetary system breakdown could in theory empty the supermarket shelves in a matter of weeks, the fact is the productive capacity and the actual food in storage lasts much longer than that for the society at large. Even assuming say a 10% one year reduction in the overall harvest, Americans probably consume 20% more food than they need, explaining of course the rampant obesity of the population. I honestly do not think it would be that hard to dump food production off the trade grid and run this particular portion of society socialistically through a food credits program. If the will is to do that, the productive capacity is there to do it, without any input from foreign sources of money.
The problem I see is a lack of consenssus and true understanding of the problems and the reasons for them; no true understanding i most people of the nature of banking and of the inherent greed and flaws in the capitalist system and market economy. That lack of understanding is rampant on the board here, it goes to the concepts of wealth and ownership which people here educated under these ideas simply cannot let go of. Unless we can GET them to understand the nature of their greed and the fundamental fallacy of living at the expense of another, then we cannot repair the system, though it is reperable in theory. Its the greedy who prevent that from happening, its those who believe that one person can and should live at the expense of another. That is FUNDAMENTAL EVIL, and it must be exterminated as a thought process. It is the though process of a corrupt and evil mind. Not that hard to do either, if you have the will as a community to do so. The poor always outnumber the rich by orders of magnitude. Just a matter of bringing them together to fight for the common good. Not an easy task, but always possible when things get bad enough and the rich are no longer rich enough to buy the soldiers and keep the slaves fed.
Reverse Engineer