[Wolfeyes]

Maybe somebody will help to fill this loop in my Peak Oil theory,I don't question PO but there is something which doesn't make any sense for me.

1.We know Peak Oil will happen (and sooner and later ) some say it's happened or is just about happen very soon.
2.But there is no sign of preparation from industry/politicians - almost nothing

> so guys here have this conspiracy theory that gov,ceos,corporations don't want us to know this information and hide it as long as they can,pretty logical huh ?

well... it doesn't make any sense - I do believe that some people in this board wrongly believe that 'Peak Oil' is highly secret,only-the-choosen known information.

So I'm supposed to believe all these corporations CEOs,investors,scientiest,polticians,rich people,smart people etc. are :

1) conspired and hiding information or spreading disinformation
2) or are completly ignorant and just hope everything will be fine ?

it doesn't make any sense for me :/ my possible explanations :

1) people here believe they know 'something' ( the PO secret,doomsday coming etc.) but in fact they don't know enough ( for example US has some top secret energy technology or is developing such technology).VIPs knows this so they don't panic - why should they ? So there is huge preparation but we don't know.

2) all politicians,CEOs,corporations,rich investors,scientists are in fact completly ignorant and suicidal and don't care about their non-so-distant future ( small possibility)

So,no one wants to become the richest,most powerful in the history of human kind and instead of developing new technology is just living as long as is possible ? I can hardly believe it ... so ... any ideas ?

[RonMN]

Poloticians, rich people, CEOs, etc., may be preparing for themselves & their families while keeping it secret to buy them more time for prep.

Afterall...it's all about "me"...everybody else be damned. And no matter what happens...the worse case senario is a panic of the general public coupled with a stock market crash. So why inform everybody just to make the worse happen sooner?

(my opinion)

[Dreamtwister]

Here's the way it works.

First, you have to understand that there is *nothing* that can be done to prevent a significant impact on society resulting from peak oil. It's too late. There's much disagreement about the extent of the damage, but it's a certainty that it will happen within our lifetimes. Some things can be done to soften the blow, and they are, but it can't be stopped. Maybe if we had paid attention to Carter 30 years ago, we might have averted disaster, but it's too late for blame too.

Second, despite all of the ranting people (including myself) will do about *insert world leader here*, many of these people inherited an impossible situation. They know it can't be stopped. That leaves them with fairly limited choices. If they come out and say "Our way of life is coming to an end", the majority wouldn't understand it. They just don't grasp the problem, and never will. Not to mention the chaos that would ensue. Hoarding, riots, mass protests, open revolt.

Can you imagine having to be the guy who had to tell the world "Some time in the next few decades, 2/3 of you will die of starvation, disease or war"? The mob would have your head.

So they choose to say nothing. They can't save everyone, so they tell nobody. The smart ones figure it out for themselves and prepare, while the blissfully ignorant continue being blissfully ignorant for as long as possible.

Of course, it's not altogether altruistic, either. they know it's coming, so they prepare. They pillage government savings and maximize corporate profits. It's human nature. They know *someone* is going to be left without a chair when the music stops, so they are making sure it's not them. I'd do the same thing, and so would everyone else here.

So is there a "conspiracy"? Well, yes and no. It's a conspiracy of silence. I don't think there's some secret cabal sitting around in a darkened room plotting our deaths, but all of the "players" know what's going on and are quietly acting out of self-preservation.

[Ludi]

Peak Oil is known to politicians, especially in the US where there have been many presentations to Congress by Roscoe Bartlett.

As mentioned above, there is nothing politically possible to do. A politician CAN NOT say

"Our way of life must end and there is nothing we can do about it."

[truecougarblue]

Based on the first reaction I get from everyone when I bring up the topic of peak oil I'd say it's a fallacy to think it requires a conspiracy of silence.

The great majority of people have blinders on. They're like Egyptian crocodiles, swimming in de nile.

[emailking]

Suppose there's some secret energy techonology, and that's why we don't hear anything about PO in the mainstream.

Well then, apparently, we've shared this secret technology with most governments in the world, as they don't speak a whole heck of a lot about PO either.

Consider the likelihood.

[venky]

There is not conspiracy. Peak Oil is an issue where things can pretty much go on as normal until a peak in oil production happens and then.... zap.

So when a scientist (aka Campbell) comes out with a thesis saying the peak is near, with catastrophic consequences and advocating radical changes to our society, it is so easy for the leadership to dismiss him as a crank, especially when there are few signs on the ground. And when your economic advisor (aka Michael Lynch) assures you that there is nothing to worry about.

Unlike global warming where the effects are starting to be visible for all to see today and the immense amount of scientific literature on the subject makes it hard for any policy maker to ignore it. On the other hand the amount of study gone into peak oil is alarmingly little and mostly by retired scientists and amatuers.

Nonetheless as signs of an energy crunch abound today, awareness does seem to be growing and I think in the a few years the urgency to tackle Peak Oil will probably match that of Global warming. Unfortunately by then we may already be past the peak making addressing it that much harder.

[kevincarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')there is no sign of preparation from industry/politicians - almost nothing

[dhfenton]

I think the missing point is very simple actually. It started with the Carter doctrine, and continues in full force today. The point is that the US has planned for a long time to keep the US running post peak by use of force. It is very clear US policy that oil will be seized by force if it can not be obtained on the open market. Iraq was a baby step in that direction, Iran will probably be more drastic. Don't be surprised to see similar situations evolve in Nigeria, and Venezula. We are going to invade to secure oil; and I'm sure the men sitting on the corporate thrones have been told this for a long time. The problem is that many other countries are ready to do the same thing. In the end Peak Oil will evolve to a global war, at least that's the way I see it playing out. And we know how good war is for business. And it will trim that excess population nicely too. The fact that Bush probably sees peak oil as part of the second coming, Armegeddon and all, isn't very comforting either. In the end its just more blood for oil. Status quo pretty much.

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wolfeyes', '2').But there is no sign of preparation from industry/politicians - almost nothing

[LadyRuby]

I think a lot of these people don't really know or understand completely, or believe that it won't be a huge crisis as alternatives will come to the forefront.

Remember also that most leaders today remember well the late 70s/early 80s when there were very dire predictions of energy crises. So "fool me once..." they say. They recall there was a big hulabaloo then, and the huge crisis never materialized. They may be expecting the same now. And who knows, they could be right (but I doubt it).

[Zardoz]

We cannot face the reality of what is coming. Everything is going to change for the worse. We will live radically different lives. We will become different people.

To most of us, that prospect is as frightening as facing death. This is a psychological issue. We are in a collective state of the deepest, most destructive form of denial.

Do not expect our "leaders" to cope with this any better than we are. They are as frail and stupid as any of the rest of us. They will be as shaken by what is coming as we will be.

[seahorse2]

"I see dead people"
6th Sense

[aflurry]

here's my theory:

industry requires an input, without which it wouldn't exist: funding - which comes from two sources. issuance of debt, the service of which is dependent of economic expansion. and issuance of equity securities, which amounts to a pyramid scheme and as such is also dependent on if not actual economic expansion, at least an optimistic belief in continued expansion.

economic expansion also requires input, without which it wouldn't exist: ever increasing amounts of cheap energy which for 150 years has come in the form of snowballing oil production.

industry in its present form exists only within the context of the upslope in oil production. there is no preparation possible within industry for PO. It is as they say, "outside the paradigm."

so, if preparation is impossible, what do you look for as a sign that people undertstand that this system is in for a serious imminent rupture? cashing out. watch for people taking the short term gain over the long term. watch for nihilism trumping optimism. wars for profit. excessive risk taking. outright thievery. gangsterism. paranoia and fear leading to apocalyptic religious delusions.

tell me you don't see these signs.

[Mechler]

This is what I've encountered when confronting other people, and I assume it applies to most everyone, even the "elite":

1. Ignorance - no idea of the problem
2. Optimism - "they" will figure something out
3. Distraction - too many other things to worry about
4. Denial - "that can't happen"

I'm sure there are other categories of responses that we've heard, but I think conspiracy is seldom the reason except in a relative few (oil executives come to mind).

Personally, I've gone through all the categories above. And if it weren't for distraction, we'd probably all go crazy (ok, some of us already are).

Thoughts?

Mech

[killJOY]

People have an almost infinite capacity for stupidity.

Yet very few take this to heart.


Read the classics.

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wolfeyes', '1')) conspired and hiding information or spreading disinformation
2) or are completly ignorant and just hope everything will be fine ?

it doesn't make any sense for me

[Wolfeyes]

:/ Seems this 'silence conspiracy' can be possible - I noticed some people are just getting completly insane,paranoid,depressed because they are reading this forum,reading can make people mentaly sick so how about real life ?
This is most depressing forum ever, I only recommend this forum to people who have strong psychic.Reading about PO can destroy some people's lives before PO will happen .
I think it can be called a 'PO paradox' - you fear to lose something so much you lose it before the lost had chance to happen.

[Wolfeyes]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wolfeyes', 'I') was walking down the street the other day and a Subaru went by with a bumber sticker that said "Skiers against global warming," right above his tailpipe. Here's a guy taking a stand against global warming by driving his car. People, by and large it seems, do not have the ability to make the connection between their own personal actions and the state of the world.