I think this is the beginnings of an economy based on perpetual growth and fossil fuel energy running headlong into geological energy constraints. Basically I see an undulatory downward path for the rest of my life. From here out, I think any rallies in our economic condition are going to be met with spiking commodity prices that knock us right back down.
Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Massachusetts
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:12 pm Post subject: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Ok, so here I am. I’m a little late to the party and I’m new to peakoil.com, but thanks to that article on the drudge report I found you guys. I must say it’s a bit overwhelming to see all these different people, all who to some degree think like I do that there is an “event” forthcoming that could/will alter the way we live forever. Overwhelming to see how dire some of you think it will be. Will it be a Nuclear attack ala the TV show Jericho? Maybe. Famine? Maybe. Zombies? Unlikely. But when I talk to people about my concerns I say Zombies so that we both chuckle and it lets them know I’m not a Militia kook or something.
My wife and I own a house in the suburbs, I have an office job. So some of you think I’m screwed. Which is also why I’m looking to sell our house, move up to New Hampshire and get a Police job at some point in the not to distant future. I’m also in the process of learning some useful skills for life after the “event”. I unlike some of you think we still have some time left. Preparations are being made on our part to gather enough food and supplies to outlast the “event”. Guns are in the process of being procured (Massachusetts has some strict laws and since I’m not a degenerate scumbag I don’t have one illegally.)
Funny thing is I’m kinda looking forward to it. My favorite movies and books are those in the Post Apocalyptic genre. So for me, 5 billion less people and not having to deal with all kinds of degenerates I know have no clue what going on right now makes me smile. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the way home and looking around I laugh sometimes thinking one day maybe nature will find a way to think the herd and give me (hopefully) some breathing room. I think it’s going to be like the film the Postman- No jobs, no currency, just trade and barter and doing it all on your own with some remnants of the past still at our disposal. Hopefully I can find some people on here that share my vision and want to make a go of it near me. I don’t think it will be a dire as some of you do. I think there will be enough fuel in aftermath to remain comfortable for a while. But I think the “event” will come one fast and brutally. People will turn on each other almost immediately and then TSWHTF. After that there will be a “feeling out” period where whoever is left poke their heads out and take stock of what’s left. After that new communities will hopefully take shape and life will be simpler, cleaner, and a lot more rewarding. _________________ Don't Tread on Me...
Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 743 Location: northern California
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Office_Clone wrote:
Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the way home and looking around I laugh sometimes thinking one day maybe nature will find a way to thin the herd and give me (hopefully) some breathing room.
I lived for a year in Massachusetts awhile back and spent some time sitting in commuter traffic too. One day during gridlock, looking in my rear view mirror, I noticed the guy behind me get out his car, open his trunk, pull out a baseball bat, walk forward, past me, and remove all the windows from the car in front of me with his baseball bat. I sat there contemplating why my car was different than the one in front, and how to get the hell out of there. The guy then walked back to his car, put the bat back in the trunk and climbed back into the driver's seat. That was 24 years ago--one can imagine how things will go there in the future. They don't need no stinkin' guns either. _________________ "When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
Thomas Paine
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Welcome. You're going to fit right in.
I think there are two personal PO phases to consider and plan for. The first is "'the Event' as you called it. Argentina and Russia both endured social collapse where food storage and personal defense were critical at times and in places. But in both instances society returned to a somewhat 'normal' but reduced convention.
I expect something similar will happen in the US as the consumer society wilts in the face of declining credit and product shortages. 75% of our economy is dependent on selling stuff. This just-in-time paradigm (that rhymes ) will collapse particularly fast because little inventory exists to spread out the employment curve. Folks can be fired very quickly now without hurting one particular retail/distribution/management business, but at the same time damaging the entire economy.
You can plan for this first phase by reducing debt, learning gardening, arming yourself, even moving to a better neighbohood. But unfortunately this will be followed by a second phase that is still little understood here at PO or anywhere.
We have never lived through a declining-energy regime under an ever-increasing-growth economic paradigm. Our system is built on credit and future growth. How it handles that is anybody's guess. How do we deal with 6 billion sustainably in a world designed for perhaps 1 billion? It'll be quite a ride and I am mostly glad I am hear to watch. _________________ ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap
Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 277 Location: Second Vermont Republic
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:35 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Do the optimistic doomers (those who look forward to doom) feel at all guilty about looking forward to seeing 5,000,000,000 people die of starvation, disease, and war?
More specifically, why do you think NH will be better than Mass? There are fewer people, of course, but also less arable land and harsher winters, not to mention that southern NH is very similar to the Boston area in many respects.
Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 743 Location: northern California
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:46 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
KingM wrote:
Do the optimistic doomers (those who look forward to doom) feel at all guilty about looking forward to seeing 5,000,000,000 people die of starvation, disease, and war?
Me personally, not at all, for several reasons. I don't hold humanity in higher esteem than the rest of life on this planet. For the sake of all remaining life, those 5 billion need to go. Also, recognizing this at a young age, I chose to not produce any children, seeing that the species was more than taken care of. In my 61 years here I've attempted to make a relatively small footprint, using the rough guideline of "if everyone did this, could it work?" Of course, being an American and a product of this culture, I've consumed far more than my share od resources compared to some in the 3rd world. Finally, I fully expect to be one of those 5 billion, like it or not. _________________ "When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
Thomas Paine
Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 36 Location: Irish in Idaho
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Hi Office-clone,
welcome...I'm new here too, though not new to the idea of peak oil and the changes that may happen. I am not sure what camp I'm in:
1. the armed survivalists (much ammo needed against the zombies)
2. the little house in the praire-ists (chickens and goats required, pickling skills a plus)
3. the Religious doomsdayers (lotsa bibles and books with hellfire covers)
4. solitary cubicle observers (waiting to move out of the city)
5. Eco tribal primitivists (saving polar bears on the side...in Birkenstocks with bicycle trailers)
6. International rationalists (well they think they are..........will wait to see which way the wind blows and then will find the perfect place to move to..hoping the natives are friendly)
any more suggestions ?......someone else started me on this.
Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Massachusetts
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
KingM wrote:
Do the optimistic doomers (those who look forward to doom) feel at all guilty about looking forward to seeing 5,000,000,000 people die of starvation, disease, and war?
More specifically, why do you think NH will be better than Mass? There are fewer people, of course, but also less arable land and harsher winters, not to mention that southern NH is very similar to the Boston area in many respects.
Well I'm not looking forward to doom (most days), and NO I don't feel guilty at all because like it or not WTSHTF your either gonna pass or fail. So F 'em. As long and me and mine are taken care of I don't care they're not my problem. Why do I think NH is better then MA? Well for one- more woodlands ot hunt game in, more lakes to fish and drink from. The winter here in the Merrimack Valley is just as harsh if not worse then Southern NH so I'm not to worried about it. _________________ Don't Tread on Me...
Joined: Sep 25, 2004 Posts: 4680 Location: Boston, MA
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
For the summer, Norwell. Then it's back to Somerville.
Lowell is only a couple miles from the New Hampshire border so I don't see how moving north would make much of a difference.
Unless you're talking about northern New Hampshire (next door to Canada), you'll still be within the Boston-area Zombie Zone. _________________ "www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse."
Joined: Apr 08, 2006 Posts: 1434 Location: Somewhere there
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 5:54 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
[quote="dunewalker"]
KingM wrote:
For the sake of all remaining life, those 5 billion need to go. Also, recognizing this at a young age, I chose to not produce any children, seeing that the species was more than taken care of.
I always drop a little tear when I read something as sweet as that. But let me tell you a little secret-- men do not bear children, women do. Thanks for the spot by the way.
Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Massachusetts
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Tyler_JC wrote:
For the summer, Norwell. Then it's back to Somerville.
Lowell is only a couple miles from the New Hampshire border so I don't see how moving north would make much of a difference.
Unless you're talking about northern New Hampshire (next door to Canada), you'll still be within the Boston-area Zombie Zone.
Well yes and no. My buddy has a place in the Lakes Region. I want to get up to the central area of NH if possible. Well Lowell has 100K+ population. Most of them would be too stoopid to actually leave the city. We have alot of "welfare royalty", gang bangers, dope pushers, and the "gimme girls" not to mention the sick, lame, and lazy as my grandad calls them who wouldn't know how to do anything remotely useful or helpful for themselves.
They would make up the Mad Max faction for the first little bit killing each other off daily. So as much distance and woods as I can put between myself and that rabble the better.
As for my faction- I guess I'm part survivalist part little house. I have a feeling when all is said and done we'll all be looking to Ted Nugent for leadership! _________________ Don't Tread on Me...
Joined: Sep 01, 2005 Posts: 275 Location: New Hampshire USA
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
Southern NH is getting so overrun with Massholes, that there is less and less to distinguish the two states. Of course, I would be happy to make room for you Office Clone.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
I think you'll have to get further away, but that might be difficult from Lowell. I was just in southern NH and it's pretty crowded. There are some nice places around the lakes region, though.
Good luck with it. _________________ Deep in the mud and slime of things, even there, something sings.
Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Massachusetts
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 11:50 am Post subject: Re: Greetings from Taxachusetts
midnight-gamer wrote:
Southern NH is getting so overrun with Massholes, that there is less and less to distinguish the two states. Of course, I would be happy to make room for you Office Clone.
Well thanks. Nashua and Salem may be crowded but there is still plenty more land up there then there is down here. _________________ Don't Tread on Me...
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) will collapse particularly fast because little inventory exists to spread out the employment curve. Folks can be fired very quickly now without hurting one particular retail/distribution/management business, but at the same time damaging the entire economy.
ree rah rip ram. sunofabitch godamn. hidey didey christ almighty. rah rah crap 
