I just saw a documentary about peak oil with my husband the other day and it really got us thinking (and a bit concerned). Do you really think it is going to be as bad as some are saying it will be?

If so, I'm thinking a big veggie garden, some mean ol' dogs and a shot gun might be in order to keep my maters safe!

Is the crisis that we are running out of oil? Or that we ever started using it in the first place?
See how nature turns us back? I am just not sure how we can view running out of the substance that has polluted our environment for so long as a bad thing. We've had way too much of it already.
People in crisis can surprise you. Instead of taking up guns to protect your tomatoes, why not think instead about educating people to grow their own food and work together to help those who can't?

Here's a link to a site about it;

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

It's a lot of reading but thought provoking.

No, it won't be the end of the world as we know it.

Adjustments, sure.

We still have tremendous fossil fuel resources other than petroleum (coal primarily), as well as numerous alternative sources of energy ranging from nuclear to wind. Biological sources are substantial as well -- from biodiesel to wood.

As petroleum becomes more expensive, we'll simply shift to other sources of energy.

The environmental arguments are a much more interesting area. In economic terms, while there may be pain during times of transition, in the big picture it's pretty much a non-issue over the course of decades.

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People in crisis can surprise you. Instead of taking up guns to protect your tomatoes, why not think instead about educating people to grow their own food and work together to help those who can't?

thas exactly what I'm worried about. I don't mind helping others one bit, but if you look at the Katrina disaster, there are those who refuse to help themselves or like to harm/take advantage of others. In Katrina you had people roving about, shooting, beating, raping other people. You can't tell me that if resources get short, you wouldn't protect yourself and your family against that possibility? Heck, look around there are people taking advantage and doing harm to others even without having a disaster. I would help my neighbors, no doubt about it. but I certainly would be warry of strangers in which there is no way one can tell what their intentions are.

You have a right to protect yourself and your family from harm. I think alot of what we are seeing lately is all politically motivated and I don't like the scare tactics.
If it gets more people interested in being a little more self reliant, then its a good thing.

lisann this thread is in right forum. as for getting heated, the nasty posters from the last this subject was raised have mostly left never to return.

nope

Am I a bad person to think that this might NOT be such a bad thing? I know that if we don't find a good alternative to oil within the next 10 to 20 years, all heck is going to break loose. Civilization as we know it now will vanish. But...is that a bad thing? Sure, the 'Net goes poof, but so do nuclear bombs, germ warfare and massed armies with weapons that can lay waste to entire countries in a week.

Once the dust settles, it will be people like us who will usher in a new world. A world were life drops back down to a crawl. We will become neighbors again as we start to depend on each other to make it through the winter, as we plant our spring crops. Small villages will pop up that rely on nothing that they can't make for themselves. Crime, after a heavy rise, will drop down to a fraction of what it is now because everyone will literaly know each other.

Many people see a world without technology, where a cold wind moans over the graves of billions. I see a mountain meadow or forest clearing with a small village, surrounded by crops and cattle pens. A place where kids can play outdoors and only worry about mosquitoes. Where everyday people gather after work on the front porch and talk about what they will do tommorrow. A place where the whole town gets together on dark harvest nights to keep the cold back with barn dances and loads of good food they've raised themselves.

Am I wrong? I feel in my heart of hearts, that if we don't find a new fuel source, that this will be my future, not some apocolyptic nightmare.

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Originally posted by Locke:

Am I wrong? I feel in my heart of hearts, that if we don't find a new fuel source, that this will be my future, not some apocolyptic nightmare.

I like to think the same thing too so if you are wrong then that makes two of us.

Sure, it will get mighty rough for several years until the dust settles but in the long run mankind will get back to the land we should never have left.

There are several alternatives to oil, they are just not economically feasible yet. One key road block to plugin hybrids is a reliable, safe, and economical battery. When that is developed several forms of alternative energy like solar, wind(google MaGenn power), new nuclear plants(yeah I know waste but the fuel Could be recycled), and tidal that generate electricity could be used. Biodiesel is a very promising fuel, much more so than ethanol at this time at least. Houses could also be built in a much more energy efficient manner, my latest favorite in insulated concrete forms(google Nudura).
Unfortunately when we last had the level of technology you are talking about the world on average was a much more warlike place. Think the Inquisition, the Black Death, the Hundred Years War, the moslem wars of expansion, the crusades, and famines to many to name. For a very good fiction series that deals with this scenario, try S.M. Stirling's series that starts with "Dies the Fire" out in paperback now.

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Originally posted by Major:

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Originally posted by Locke:

Am I wrong? I feel in my heart of hearts, that if we don't find a new fuel source, that this will be my future, not some apocolyptic nightmare.

I like to think the same thing too so if you are wrong then that makes two of us.

Sure, it will get mighty rough for several years until the dust settles but in the long run mankind will get back to the land we should never have left.

I do believe the earth is capable of healing itself. --J--

A wounded earth is like a scab, if left alone might be able to heal itself, but can't because Man keeps picking at it.

True, but we can also help that scab. By turning in manure and compost, we can help the Earth instead of hurting it.

We won't go back to an Agri society. The alt's to oil are too many. Biodesiel can be made in your garden shed. I make it on the farm for the tractor. Next truck I buy w/ be desiel, so I can run BD in it. W/ minor alteration to the heater, I can burn it instead of Home Heating Oil.
I have a 5K PhotoVoltaic system on my house, my meter spins backward most of the time. There are simply too many alternatives to go back to the 1800's technology. & much as I love the low tech lifestyle.... I wouldn't want to have lived in the 1800's. I lost a child & people thought it was such a tradigidy. It was to me, but... infant mortality was brutal pre-WWII. Life expectancy was not good for anyone. I like it here better.