[Revi]

I am surprised at the topic this week. I would have thought that the drama now playing itself out in the Gulf of Mexico would have captured his imagination much more than the same old stock market rant.

[mcgowanjm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', 'I') am surprised at the topic this week. I would have thought that the drama now playing itself out in the Gulf of Mexico would have captured his imagination much more than the same old stock market rant.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/we-are-all-ninja-turtles-now/

I seriously remember admiring the hell out of this guy when I was first made aware of peak oil. Lately, he has been spewing out stupid shit like the above blog post. Jim seems to think that him not being able to advertise his saggy, old man balls to beachgoers is just another sign of the American decline. I can't imagine being a big box store manager, having to work on a national holiday no less, having to endure this grumpy, old bastard's musings on swim shorts. Between this and his stance on gay marriage, I wish he would just shut the fuck up already. Every one of his posts are the same.

[AgentR11]

Speedo still sells perfectly fine, snug, fast swim trunks. The idgit went to a trendy store and saw trendy fashion for looking trendy to the other trendies on the beach. I went to an athletic store just last year, bought fast trunks to swim fast in a lap pool in order to smoke teens who think they know how to swim, just for fun of course. (if one is concerned about over-display, a pair of briefs under the trunks will smooth out the lines sufficiently, and won't notably detract from speed through water for normal humans).

If kids want to wear parachutes in the water, why should he, (or I) care?

I mean honestly, if the "gangsta/hipster look" is made up of clothes that essentially hobble the physical performance of the wearer, shouldn't that be a source of amusement and entertainment, rather than outrage?

As to his hatred of bigbox stores and love of small retail... err, small retail is incredibly inefficient and provides little if any value added to their mark. Bigbox is far more energy efficient for large staple purchases, and internet/mailorder with postal delivery is far more efficient for specialty items in small quantity.

Do we want efficient, or not. Making a picturesque version of a 1950's fantasy small town is NOT the path to conservation nor powerdown.

[Lore]

I believe Kunstler is trying to make a larger point here. Read the blog post.

[AgentR11]

I did. But often we make the point we WISH were true, find something vaguely related in the real world, and force it to fit our narrative through distorted presentation.

Short story: Kunstler goes to store that sells stuff he thinks is stupid; and is outraged that they only sold things he thought were stupid. He could have walked in to a different store and found an assortment, or looked in the yellow pages for a specialty retailer, knowing he'll get hosed on price and travel cost due to inefficiency, but may find that acceptable if he can get some extra value out of it. (I've done this for running shoes, and hiking boots in the past).

Trendy fashion is not a sign of a deteriorating America; its just trendy. It has no value, nor sociological penalty; its just an artistic statement.

Besides, he rags a bit on death metal. QED, he's an idgit. Death metal is spiffy, though I prefer other metal variants better, the growl is usually pitched too low for me to hear well. (nb.... be conservative with the headbanging...)

[Lore]

I believe the point wasn't about style, but attitude. A sense of lost purpose and self respect. The pretend Americans that dream about becoming their avatar.

Fat, stupid and tattooed is no way to go through life to paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'T')he pretend Americans that dream about becoming their avatar.

[Sixstrings]

Kunstler's written some good stuff over the years, you sort of have to give him a pass at this point -- how long can anyone keep it up?

It looks like peak oil is on hiatus, so what's he supposed to write about? I guess he could have expanded his range, as we have on this forum.

I like Kunslter though, he wrote a good book about crappy American architecture too or something like that. (my memory is foggy on it)

(he blogged about gay marriage? what was his take, is peak oil to blame for gay people too?

Or was he for civil rights? And why would that bother anyone, what does peak oil have to do with gay marriage, why can't he have some differing views -- peak oil writers aren't prophets)

[Plantagenet]

Kunstler is right. The long swim trunks and baggy long shorts look like clown clothes. And the oversized untied shoes look like clown shoes. And the baggy droopy hats look like clown hats.


Dude---you look like a clown. Why don't you run back to the little VW and crawl back inside with the other 20 clowns you came in with

[jesus_of_suburbia]

I could see taking issue with the picture above. However, someone posted a link to a suggested pair. They were slightly above the knee, and Kunstler still referred to them as clown pants. The guy needs to pack it in already. He hasn't said anything remotely interesting in years, and his annual predictions are a joke.

[Strummer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ever has a society appeared so childishly decadent.

[Subjectivist]

All I hear in my head thinking about this is, If ypu are worried about what someone else is wearing you really don't care much about real problems.

[dinopello]

Kunstler is a curmudgeon, it's what he does. He is also on a quest to find and point out visible signs of the underlying issues of the world as he sees them. His forays into fashion are hit or miss. I do share his frustration sometimes when looking for clothes. What he doesn't do is point out many things that might (even to him) seem like an improvement - but he is a curmudgeon, and a acerbic one at that.

[Pops]

Ya gotta come up with something to gripe about if griping is your bread and butter.

Isn't this the "long emergency" guy? What is he doing going to the mall to buy swim trunks anyway?

I bitch up one side and down the other about WalMart but as I type I'm wearing a pair of $10 shorts and a $4 T-shirt bought there and these are my "good" summer wardrobe, my everyday clothes are probably 7-10 year old $15 jeans cut off and a fancy $10 T-shirt bought 7-8 years ago for a July 4th barbeque.

I can only imagine what a pair of Speedos or "clown" pants from the mall costs.

[PrestonSturges]

That column sounded like George Will.

[Lore]

it's a cultural loss of pride that strikes me about the column. Maybe I'm just an old fart, but I remember a time when even the poorest of people would get dressed up to go to town. At least one suit to go to church in. When youngsters would step aside for their elders.

Getting on and off flights the other week it kind of struck me as well just how slovenly the bulk of the passengers looked. Not, neat casual, but more like Walmart shoppers. The kind so many web sites make fun of.

And it's not just a loss of pride, but what follows as a lack of discipline and respect for self and others. How can you be the best you can be when you look and act the worst?

Maybe it's all just a result of what we call the social network these days? Which is a bit of a misnomer, since how can you ever be really social without ever meeting the other person.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', '
')Maybe it's all just a result of what we call the social network these days? Which is a bit of a misnomer, since how can you ever be really social without ever meeting the other person.

[Timo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'M')aybe it's all just a result of what we call the social network these days? Which is a bit of a misnomer, since how can you ever be really social without ever meeting the other person.

[Lore]

Timo..

It's all about consistency. Kunstler has a message and he repeats it often. Thank god he's no longer spouting out the short term prediction bilge. He was always pushing for a fast crash, then signaling that all such events will play out over time. A bit confusing.

He is a word smith and bard, if not the king's fool. I don't necessarily agree with his vision of a world made by hand. Where peak oil transports us back to Little House on the Prairie, but he's pretty spot on about it being the long emergency.