[Plantagenet]

I enjoy the discussions of peak oil, climate change, drilling technology, economics, conspiracy theories, fracking, EVs, alternative energy, bug out shelters, politics, railroads, weather, foreign policy, foreign wars etc. etc. This site covers everything which I think is great.

Personally, I think it would be a mistake to limit the discussions just to a narrowly defined range of "peak oil" topics, as energy is central to the global economy and ultimately affects everything else of importance on the entire planet. How can you discuss peak oil without discussing the effect of oil prices on the economy? How can you discuss peak oil without acknowledging the reality of wars for oil? etc. etc.


This site isn't perfect, but its good enough. It wins the seal of approval

[ROCKMAN]

I come here so I can see my words on the Internet and that gives a false sense of relevance to my life. That and my wife won't talk to me about the energy situation...just like all my cohorts in the oil patch.

Whew...feel much better about myself now. Thank y'all.

[vision-master]

I'm here out of habit.

As long as peak oil don't effect me, who cares..

[americandream]

I have never doubted that capitalism is unfolding with the growing clash of its tendencies, to its final dialectic. I disagreed with the timing which I felt failed to include the fact that capitalists will go to extraordinary lengths to preserve accumulation, even to the extent of scouring this planet, top and bottom, climate risks be damned. In addition I factored in the capitulation of the only remaining resistance to capitalism, wishy washy liberalism, as growth got underway, as well.

Mucch of this is being played out and of course, new fuel sources are being opened up with increasing stress on the environment and greater extraction costs to boot. Accompanying that is the growing societal aliernation as individuals are reduced to consumerism for comforts that were previously provided by community and creativity.

It is quite sad watching commentators and ordinary individuals trying to reconcile infinte growth with finite reality. Almost poignantly so.

[sparky]

.
I'm here as a witness , things cannot be changed , we are under the same natural laws as yeast

peak oil underscore every human activities, the coming contraction will be a time of stress ,
on its own , peak oil can be managed , barely
with any further stressor , things could go sideways
there will be a realignment of countries rank
masses of underclass citizens to feed ,populist politics ,
the central government will keep control by resorting to greater and greater coercion
imaginary or exaggerated enemies will be accused
unemployment will weight the budgets while crude imports will suck all the export money

expect chaotic internal politics , compulsion and internal strife
the critical factor is food cost , bread price riot are one of the oldest city tradition

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sparky', '.')
we are under the same natural laws as yeast

[yeahbut]

I still come to PO now and then, but don't contribute many posts anymore.

I come for the same reasons that I always did- most of the people here are aware of the situation we find ourselves in, in terms of resource depletion and human-induced environmental stresses. They can see what is all around them, which is a rare ability. Trying to find useful conversations on these topics in the real world is not easy, there aren't many fish who can see the water, not around my way anyway. So PO is a place where I don't feel like a weirdo who is worrying about nothing.

I'm not sure why I don't post much anymore, I guess it might be a case of 'the more I know, the more I realise how little I know'. And there is usually someone here who is much more knowledgeable than I am on any given topic and can express it better, so I just read and absorb.

btw AD, I thought that this$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he growing societal aliernation as individuals are reduced to consumerism for comforts that were previously provided by community and creativity

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', 'I') still come to PO now and then, but don't contribute many posts anymore.

I come for the same reasons that I always did- most of the people here are aware of the situation we find ourselves in, in terms of resource depletion and human-induced environmental stresses. They can see what is all around them, which is a rare ability. Trying to find useful conversations on these topics in the real world is not easy, there aren't many fish who can see the water, not around my way anyway. So PO is a place where I don't feel like a weirdo who is worrying about nothing.

I'm not sure why I don't post much anymore, I guess it might be a case of 'the more I know, the more I realise how little I know'. And there is usually someone here who is much more knowledgeable than I am on any given topic and can express it better, so I just read and absorb.

btw AD, I thought that this$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he growing societal aliernation as individuals are reduced to consumerism for comforts that were previously provided by community and creativity

[Lore]

Maybe we should reflect on the fact that the very tool we are using here is part of the problem. Get rid of the Internet and people will again have to relate face to face. Small local businesses will have a chance to renew themselves and thrive. Outsourcing would be more difficult. An economy reinvented to produce things of value rather than invest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Then again, you can't stop the clock, although we will soon learn what it's like to stop what we think of as progress.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'M')aybe we should reflect on the fact that the very tool we are using here is part of the problem. Get rid of the Internet and people will again have to relate face to face. Small local businesses will have a chance to renew themselves and thrive. Outsourcing would be more difficult. An economy reinvented to produce things of value rather than invest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Then again, you can't stop the clock, although we will soon learn what it's like to stop what we think of as progress.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', 'I') come for the same reasons that I always did- most of the people here are aware of the situation we find ourselves in, in terms of resource depletion and human-induced environmental stresses. They can see what is all around them, which is a rare ability. Trying to find useful conversations on these topics in the real world is not easy, there aren't many fish who can see the water, not around my way anyway. So PO is a place where I don't feel like a weirdo who is worrying about nothing.

[AirlinePilot]

I come here for the kindred spirit aspects, but over the last few years as I have truly begun to grasp the larger picture, I come to challenge myself and my beliefs. There are plenty of folks here who force one another to be better. Its like an intellectual exercise room. I enjoy the debates, discussions etc but I also feel as others that this is a place where people who are not afraid to face truths come to dialogue with others who feel the same.

I come to learn also. I have learned an awful lot about the oil industry, energy, global economies, and human behavior. As others also have duly noted, this isnt a perfect place, but its a darned good enough one for me.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Beery1', 'I') came here to keep abreast of peak oil news, but recently, with the forums awash in a sea of global climate change, 9/11 nuttiness, natural disasters, Obama-baiting, nuclear power, electric cars, nuclear weapons, wacky conspiracy theories, ancient aliens and pie-in-the-sky technology posts, and scams such as the LENR, E-cat, Rossi and Defkalion nonsense - i.e. anything BUT peak oil, and since actual posts on peak oil are becoming a rarity here, I'm beginning to wonder why I bother.

[Quinny]

I agree with you on most issues, but feel you overestimate the resilience of global capitalism in the face of peakoil. Having said that you are correct so far! For how long?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'M')aybe we should reflect on the fact that the very tool we are using here is part of the problem. Get rid of the Internet and people will again have to relate face to face. Small local businesses will have a chance to renew themselves and thrive. Outsourcing would be more difficult. An economy reinvented to produce things of value rather than invest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Then again, you can't stop the clock, although we will soon learn what it's like to stop what we think of as progress.

[careinke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'M')aybe we should reflect on the fact that the very tool we are using here is part of the problem. Get rid of the Internet and people will again have to relate face to face. Small local businesses will have a chance to renew themselves and thrive. Outsourcing would be more difficult. An economy reinvented to produce things of value rather than invest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Then again, you can't stop the clock, although we will soon learn what it's like to stop what we think of as progress.

[americandream]

Capitalism is a cultural mindset and all immersing. To that extent it is as resilient as the sum of its parts (the wealth consolidators and the "middle class".) Subject of course to the eventual exhaustion of accumulation or the destruction of the planet (whichever comes first.)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Quinny', 'I') agree with you on most issues, but feel you overestimate the resilience of global capitalism in the face of peakoil. Having said that you are correct so far! For how long?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'M')aybe we should reflect on the fact that the very tool we are using here is part of the problem. Get rid of the Internet and people will again have to relate face to face. Small local businesses will have a chance to renew themselves and thrive. Outsourcing would be more difficult. An economy reinvented to produce things of value rather than invest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Then again, you can't stop the clock, although we will soon learn what it's like to stop what we think of as progress.

[davep]

Americandream, I'm not sure the infinite growth paradigm is a direct result of mercantile or capitalist tradition. I think it's more to do with the debt-and-growth economic requirements of fractional reserve banking.

[americandream]

Fractional reserve banking is a myth. The use of forwardised value (fractional reserves) merely reflects the forwardising of gross labour surplus (for example outsourced value (forget nationalist sentiment within capitalists) as valued by global capital which includes American capital. Without the social relations that arise in a globalised system like capital, the use of labour value forwardising (fractional reserves) would be an absurdity. Hence the resilience of systems which engage in easing (the application of the socialised component of labour surplus) to the market place in the midst of this practice which seems to defy the logic of thrift...this can go on for as long as accumulation is robust.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'A')mericandream, I'm not sure the infinite growth paradigm is a direct result of mercantile or capitalist tradition. I think it's more to do with the debt-and-growth economic requirements of fractional reserve banking.