Meet the doomsayers of our time

For millennia, doomsayers have been predicting the end of the world as we know it. These days, theory dovetails with fact: oil is disappearing. Should we be listening?

…In the jargon of his peers, Paul is a ‘doomer.’ Those who don’t share his concerns are ’sheeple.’ And sheeple don’t rank in Paul’s world.

The high priests of the doomer set include the acerbic critic of suburbia, James Howard Kunstler, and Matt Savinar, founder of LifeAfterTheOilCrash.net. They envision the Peak Oil aftermath as something out of Mad Max. Chronic oil shortage will dovetail with urban violence, ecological degradation and financial chaos to create a series of cascading catastrophes. They expect the 21st century to look a lot like the 18th. Scary scenario: primitive. Really scary scenario: primitive and dangerous.


Others see the oil dip coming, but cautiously hope that we will roll with the blow, rather than be floored by it. The disappearance of cheap, ready oil will get us out of our cars and refocus us on a less materialistic local economy. Toronto political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon captured the spirit of that group in the title of his last book, The Upside of Down.

Toronto Star