[Lighthouse]

...
Two weeks ago a friend spent $250 on glamor shots of her on the hood of her boyfriends corvette.

A year supply of food is $250....

$250 for a years food supply? The food is very cheap where you live but the photos are expensive...

[billp]

Be optimistic.

[basil_hayden]

Be optimistic.

OMFG billp, this is the first of your 314 posts that I could make any sense of, ever. You're right up there with Raph. Party on.

[RedStateGreen]

The average person, really, deep down, is a child who wants to be taken care of by others, told that everything is going to be just fine and be given just enough for their work to stay above broke.

This is so true.

[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

Oil prices arent high because oil companies are out to get us.

I had the opportunity to strike up a casual conversation with a trucker out of North Platte, Nebraska today. I asked him if he was an independent operator and he replied that although he leases the rig, it's basically his from front to back. So, now knowing that operating expenses come from his own pocket, I asked how his margins were doing considering the cost of fuel.

To this, he shook his head as he continued working to un-chain his load of BNSF railroad vehicles. "Let me put it to you like this," he said, "when I left North Platte I had $5000 and drove here (south of Ft Worth, Texas). I paid for a couple of motel rooms, ate for a couple days and right now I have $500 left." My surprise was obvious. "Yep," he said, "it ain't cheap."

I told him that having gotten curious about why gas prices were so high that I had been studying the issue and I asked him why he thought diesel costs so much. "Greed." he said. On whose part, I asked. "Well, the oil field is booming. They're punching new holes everywhere. They go through 10-year cycles. Drill 10 years then slack off as their rigs wear out. Then they build new rigs and drill again and rather than paying for the replacement of old equipment or manufacturing new rigs out of their own pocket, they get it from us at the pumps."

"Hmm," I said, "So you don't suppose all of that drilling is being done to address a supply issue? Perhaps inadequate supply is the reason fuel costs so much."

"Nah", he said, "the oil companies have us by the balls. And they're getting away with it."

I bid him a safe trip and continued on my way thinking about how surprised everyone will be when TSRHTF. People have no idea.

[LoneSnark]

Well, your trucker friend is right about the 10 year cycle. (10 years is actually an average, it gets shorter the more severe the boom or bust).

What Peak Oillers need to prove to people is why this cycle is different from the other cycles. And just saying that "well, this time we actually are running out of oil" just begs the question why people said that at the beginning of every other cycle in history.

[Jenab6]

As Captain Kirk said about Klingons, when their planet was in trouble, "Let them die."

[RonMN]

Quote:
OK. how does one prepare for this thing?

Focus on your 4 NEEDS only! Everything else is a want, not a need.

1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Food

In that order.

And if you have any one of the above you really should also think about defence.

[Twilight]

People will find out when they are ready. It is futile to ask people to believe something of which they have no personal experience. You are asking them to take it on faith. You can back up an argument with all sorts of references, but if they have never encountered it before, then it comes down to a leap of faith. A lot of people will wake up to peak oil when it affects them personally. There are enough intelligent people out there who fight for their own when they sense a threat. But most people will go to the grave bewildered. That you just have to accept.

[Ardalla]

I think when someone admits that PO is real and immediate then their life changes at that point. They become a maverick, a loner, and that's scary, especially if you have a family, job, commitments and responsibilities. Not that you quit your job and run screaming into the hills, but your attitude has to change. Your sense of a secure and plannable future is jeopardized.

Remember the movie "Close Encounters"? When the guy gets the message that aliens are real and on the way (ok it took him a while to figure it out), he lost everything, his wife, kids, home, job.

Sort of like that quotation from Brecht: The man who smiles has not yet been told the terrible truth.

Sometimes I wish I could keep smiling instead of wondering and worrying. Once you know something, it cannot be unlearned. People resist that knowing. It's understandable.

[zeke]

I think when someone admits that PO is real and immediate then their life changes at that point. They become a maverick, a loner, and that's scary, especially if you have a family, job, commitments and responsibilities. Not that you quit your job and run screaming into the hills, but your attitude has to change. Your sense of a secure and plannable future is jeopardized.

Remember the movie "Close Encounters"? When the guy gets the message that aliens are real and on the way (ok it took him a while to figure it out), he lost everything, his wife, kids, home, job.

Sort of like that quotation from Brecht: The man who smiles has not yet been told the terrible truth.

Sometimes I wish I could keep smiling instead of wondering and worrying. Once you know something, it cannot be unlearned. People resist that knowing. It's understandable.

wow...I can't think of anything to add to that!

well stated, Ardalla


z

[ONeil]

How do you present the concept of peak oil? Do you use facts and figures? If so this will not work. People are not motivated by facts, rather you must use emotion to challenge their world view.

Another technique to use is to appeal to the concept of consistency. Is the person you are talking to intelligent? aware of world affairs? news junkie? etc. If they are then they should know about peak oil. Wow they are ignorant of this issue. (Use the word ignorant, it's emotionally loaded and will challenge them to prove their consistency).

Most of the people around me are now aware. Some are still in denial however they have made the conscious choice to remain in denial. Living in a state of denial is consistent for them and they prefer to remain ignorant. Mostly I ignore these people or if they bother me ridicule them for their self imposed ignorance.

There is value to waking people up. Are we looking at a catastrophic event or are we looking at the extinction of our species? The answer to that question may depend on how many people we wake up.

[zeke]

How do you present the concept of peak oil? Do you use facts and figures? If so this will not work...

I have done that..I have used a rational argument. people don't like the idea of peak oil, so they launch into any of a number of counter "arguments" like I mentioned in my initial post.

But people don't really GET the meaning of the words "peak oil."

Lots of my friends say "yer crazy! the oil isn't going to run out next week!!"

They don't get that it doesn't HAVE to "run out" to cause problems. They don't get that half of all oil will remain in the ground after we can no longer pump out oil at a net gain.

So...I think the answer here is don't TRY to discuss with them. they aren't going to listen because it's too threatening to their sense of how they need things to be. Plus, yeah, "kill the messenger" is a real threat as things get more and more tense.

z

[ONeil]

How do you present the concept of peak oil? Do you use facts and figures? If so this will not work...

I have done that..I have used a rational argument. people don't like the idea of peak oil, so they launch into any of a number of counter "arguments" like I mentioned in my initial post.

But people don't really GET the meaning of the words "peak oil."

z

Exactly, the rational argument is not going to lead them to change. Play on their emotions. We are already seeing the effects in the high price of oil and gas. Ask them if they like being suckered by the gas companies. 'Cuz big oil is using this peak oil thing to shaft us every time they get!' You and I know this statement is not factually correct, but, until they are knowledgeable enough to correct the statement it will serve it's purpose which is to embed the words peak oil in their mind and associate it with high gas prices. When they ask what Peak Oil is, don't tell them. 'What kind of rock have you been living under! If you are that ignorant I'm not going to waste my time explaining the world to you!'

No one likes a know it all. So by offering to provide all kinds of unsolicited information people are going to naturally resist. By pointing out their ignorance and then refusing to provide them with any kind of relief you create within them a desire to resolve the situation. They will want to know what it is.

This also takes care of the messenger problem. Your not the messenger, they have to find out about the issue themselves.

The first time you mention it in this way they may not grasp it and they may not be sufficiently motivated to search. However each time they gripe about gas prices, food prices, inflation, etc, etc. bring up peak oil and then ask them if they are still ignorant.

[bonehead]

I've become like a clown,laughing on the outside and crying on the inside.I've started to withdraw somewhat.I've been told that i'm too depressing or negative.Eventually i won't talk about it anymore except for this site.

[kadoomsoon]

Are we looking at a catastrophic event or are we looking at the extinction of our species? The answer to that question may depend on how many people we wake up.

Plan for the total extinction of the species within a few years, and it doesn't matter if anyone wakes up. If they did the extinction would come sooner. In fact if you were really kind you would be quiet. Don't tell tell the old grandma she had cancer and she won't know anything was wrong for months, they had a really happy family for a few months longer.

I have stopped watching DVD's and doing silly things, and spend more quality time now, going to bed early and getting up very early, like 4 AM, and go for a walk, I enjoy it much much more being aware, and thankful everyday that is normal for one more day.

Total extinction means you are not surviving either.
Stop wasting time writing about solar panels and windmills, go visit the family. Enjoy the dog, see the deer on the property, get up early and watch the sun rise, the mist clearing, smell the air, enjoy. Above all do not think what could have been if there were no retards. There always will be bulls in the china shop, just get out of the china shop and don't worry, be happy.

You don't even have to move, it would just make a few months difference anyway.

Finally, when and if you find out yuou are still alive, and have survived, you can only be happy... Doom is dooming, depression is useless.
Don't worry, be happy.

Live each day as if it was your last, spend 100% of your time, energy and money on making other people happy, and you will be the truly happy one. Your life will change. Stop thinking of yourself, and try and lighten someone else. This is why we are here, let's do our job.
Telling people about peak and sure destruction is not going to make them happy. If it could be stopped I could see trying, but it can't.

[Plantagenet]

TIME MAGAZINE just had an article saying Peak Oil occurred in 2006.

The word is getting out.

The truth cannot be denied.

[zeke]

TIME MAGAZINE just had an article saying Peak Oil occurred in 2006.

The word is getting out.

The truth cannot be denied.

Hmmm...does it mention duffeyes' identifying peak as occuring in december of 05??

z

[Ayoob]

IMO, there's no reason to try to "raise awareness" or anything of that nature. What's it going to help?

If you were planning on building an eco-community, would you prefer to have an experienced gardener, or a truck driver that just figured out peak oil? Gimme the gardener, even if he's riveted to Xbox 23 hours a day. Who cares? He's productive.

Would you rather have a chick whose life in the Accounts Payable department is great, and who is peak oil aware, or would you rather have a high school dropout carpenter who can get walls up and fix your bathroom? Gimme the dropout.

I don't give a shit whether somebody's "passed the IQ test" or any of that. I want to be surrounded by people who can rig up what they need to rig up to make life as safe and comfortable as possible.

Talking about peak oil is like dancing about architecture. A nonproductive waste of time.