[Revi]

I forgot my rule never to discuss peak oil with the uninitiated. I mentioned it yesterday with a friend who is a big farmer and uses a lot of oil. He didn't believe it at all and mentioned that the USGS said that there is a lot of oil. I shut my mouth, but I should never have said anything. Almost nobody wants to hear about it, so I quit talking about it about 5 years ago.

I keep forgetting. How can I learn to keep my mouth shut about it?

[ROCKMAN]

Revi - You never a need to argue with such folks. But that doesn't stop you from asking a question, does it? I know what you meant but your farmer doesn't use oil...he probably uses diesel. So the simple question: If the USG says "there's lot of oil" why has the price of his diesel increased 300% since 2002? He might explain it by those damn greedy oil companies or those sneaky speculators. But that doesn't change the fact he can't ignore: the increasing cost of oil derived products even though "there's a lot of oil".

So you don't argue: you just leave him hanging with the bitter taste of that question in his mouth. LOL.

[Plantagenet]

The sky is not less blue because the blind man does not see it.

-traditional Danish saying

[Pops]

Hey Revi,
Yeah, don't pontificate, better to act dumb and let them make the Jump.

"Jeeze, it sucks diesel is so high, Joe. The greedy oil companies are exporting 10 times what they were a few years ago because them other countries oil production is falling."

Or some such. The old us v them is always good, likewise "stinkin Oil Cos" and like ROCK says you just gotta plant a seed.

[Loki]

The first rule of Fight Club, Revi....that's it, you're out of the club.

[dashster]

I forgot my rule never to discuss peak oil with the uninitiated. I mentioned it yesterday with a friend who is a big farmer and uses a lot of oil. He didn't believe it at all and mentioned that the USGS said that there is a lot of oil. I shut my mouth, but I should never have said anything. Almost nobody wants to hear about it, so I quit talking about it about 5 years ago.

I keep forgetting. How can I learn to keep my mouth shut about it?

You should ask him why the price of oil has more than tripled in the last decade.

[sparky]

.
Nahh , he will answers it's the sheiks or the commies or the oil companies

Just think that he is right , there is no problem ,
from where he stand the world is still going round
his big problem is not crude oil production or climate change ,
his big problem is the weather and the quoted price on the Chicago board of trade

Farmer are obsessive about now and the harvest , next year is long term
giving their kids a good farm is a dream .

[Peak_Yeast]

The sky is not less blue because the blind man does not see it.

-traditional Danish saying

How funny - I never heard it said in Denmark and it doesnt appear if I search for keywords in Danish or in danish proverbs.

But we do have "behind the clouds the sky is always blue" and I can easily find english pages claiming the your proverb is danish. Strange.

[RepublicanfromEngland]

I haven't mentioned this subject to people in the past, but many are just apathatic.

I'm a longterm Job seeker, more than six years. I'm twenty five. So I saw the price go up as a benefit claiment. Being from the UK, those dependent on some form of welfare I don't know how it'll go for them. But everyone's situation is going to be different. I'm from a city.

[Plantagenet]

The sky is not less blue because the blind man does not see it.

-traditional Danish saying

How funny - I never heard it said in Denmark and it doesnt appear if I search for keywords in Danish or in danish proverbs.

But we do have "behind the clouds the sky is always blue" and I can easily find english pages claiming the your proverb is danish. Strange.

This proverb is included in a book containing a collection of proverbs published in 1887, so its not some modern internet mistake. It appears the proverb is still valid, even if the deaf man does not hear it.

collected proverbs (1887 )

[Keith_McClary]

This proverb is included in a book containing a collection of proverbs published in 1887, so its not some modern internet mistake. It appears the proverb is still valid, even if the deaf man does not hear it.

Yah, in 1887 they didn't just make shit up like nowadays.

[ROCKMAN]

And let's not forget that sometimes there's a dark cloud behind that silver lining. Like the high price of oil (the dark cloud) behind that silver lining (increased US oil production).

[agramante]

Hey Rockman-

Not entirely germane to the topic at hand, and it's been quite a while since I've posted on this board, but I recall your developing the thesis (and giving it one of your acronyms, like B.L.U.E.B.E.L.L. or something) of China's hydrocarbon acquisition policies. And you wondered several times why nobody else seemed to be paying attention. Well, it seems that quite a few people have been paying quite close attention:

http://www.cfr.org/china/china-runs-int ... ack/p32720

(www.cfr.org , along with Stratfor and your recommendation of The Diplomat, is one of my favorite international news and analysis sites. Even when I don't agree with the authors I find the essays thought-provoking.)

[collapsenik]

I forgot my rule never to discuss peak oil with the uninitiated.

Why is that a rule? Seems like a reasonable topic of discussion, as long as it isn't the zombie apocalypse version of peak oil?

I mentioned it yesterday with a friend who is a big farmer and uses a lot of oil. He didn't believe it at all and mentioned that the USGS said that there is a lot of oil.

Well, they are the scientist types in the conversation, and have some pretty hefty credentials when it comes to estimating such things. But they certainly don't use that information to deny the basics of peak oil. I don't think. The very idea that they put numbers on the problem signifies that someday...it will be GONE.

I shut my mouth, but I should never have said anything. Almost nobody wants to hear about it, so I quit talking about it about 5 years ago.

Well, you can always point out how when it happened, everything went in the crapper in terms of the economy, gasoline prices and whatnot? Shouldn't that angle be enough to counteract the reports from the scientists and such?

[ROCKMAN]

Howdy agramante. Been a coon's age. LOL. The Chinese move on all resources around the globe does touch on the subject of educating the public about PO because it adds to the discussion about not only how much A we have left but who is gathering control over the A we have left. Yes...made up another one of my silly acronyms but it wasn't BB. But I forget exactly what it was. It's enough of an effort to make up the silly crap I invent let alone remember all the details. LOL

Hang around some more. We've got a pretty good group of smarties here.

[agramante]

Absolutely, Rockman--and you're one of 'em. I just dabble in too many different topics, and I'll frequently focus on one thing for a few months at a time. Besides, we just bought a house and moved, so even my usual amount of onshore free time dried up. But I'd do well to keep up better with the nuances of the energy world.

[Revi]

Revi - You never a need to argue with such folks. But that doesn't stop you from asking a question, does it? I know what you meant but your farmer doesn't use oil...he probably uses diesel. So the simple question: If the USG says "there's lot of oil" why has the price of his diesel increased 300% since 2002? He might explain it by those damn greedy oil companies or those sneaky speculators. But that doesn't change the fact he can't ignore: the increasing cost of oil derived products even though "there's a lot of oil".

So you don't argue: you just leave him hanging with the bitter taste of that question in his mouth. LOL.

That's the funny thing. He was the one who remarked that the price of oil had gone from 65 cents to 3.65 a gallon. I just remarked that peak oil is here. I have talked to him before, but this time I got the distinct impression that he didn't want to look at reality. He finished the discussion saying that "they" would figure something out. I didn't press the issue, since I think it got him thinking.

[Ayoob]

I've had the same rule for long enough that nobody I hang around with today even knows that part of my thinking. The one guy who I actually got on board with me is losing his shit, and it's kind of my fault. I don't need to be the Prophet Ayoob, calling his flock out to the desert. Thankfully, I'm not that important.

No, I don't tell anybody anything about peak oil, preparing for the future, what I think is going to happen some day, etc. I keep my mouth shut. I stock up on things that I think will be quite expensive one day. I buy multiples of the same or similar tools. I plant fruit trees, I'm terracing the acre my house sits on, etc.

I venture to guess that in the next three years, I will have a microfarm around my house with a very useful and functional greenhouse. Including a productive chicken coop that should supply me and my family with abundant and cheap protein for many years to come. Supposedly, there is a way to connect a chicken coop and greenhouse to get some kind of synergistic benefit and I'm going to take a look at that. Some of those things are dependent on my plans working out in the near term but I think that will be OK.

I really don't want this depressing shit weighing me down all the time. Fuck it, let's see what the future brings.