The Oil Drum

I agree, NeverLNG.

While the change may be painful, a quieter, more inward-looking existence certainly has its rewards. The consumerist treadmill--a huge public relations success brought about by over a hundred years of incessant propaganda--may not be all it's cracked up to be.

That said, it nevertheless may be human nature that makes consumerism and our Baroque modern culture, a culture in which every waking moment is filled to excess with a whirlwind of activity or entertainment, so appealing. As Eric Hoffer observed:

"The individual's most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action. For it is only the few who can acquire a sense of worth by developing and employing their capacities and talents. The majority prove their worth by keeping busy."

RE JHK Memmorial Weekend Post

"This is certainly the golden heart of the great wish out there, as the empire of Happy Motoring begins to run down on $4 gasoline. It seems inconceivable that a society so bold as to put men on the moon (fer crissake) can't overcome such a prosaic problem as finding something other than oil byproducts to run our cars on."

This is the heart of the issue for a lot of people. I gave a Peak Oil Presentation last week and a gentleman who said he'd heard of it smiled knowingly and told me that I forgot about hydrogen fuel cells.

"They'll get that going when they need to..."

How do you explain to people who have never known hunger (arriving home famished because you ran in a Labor Day 5K doesn't count)or need the concept of peak oil and that that means the end of the world as they know it.

Leave it to "JHK" to get the cynicism just right. And you know, he is right... rather than public parks dictated by wise zoning rules, we have (in my area) car dealerships, car repair facilities, and restaurants jammed up against each as tight as could be arranged and to maximize the dollar return on the land. How could a society be healthy when that is the environment into which it places its children, and forces its adults to live?

Re: JHK's Memorial Day Essay

One thing I rarely see JHK talk about (though I don't read him every week) is population. "World Made by Hand" sounds like a good idea and all, but the planet isn't going to support 6.5e9 people that way. As we have discussed here, the biggest edible bang for the buck (or barrel) is still industrial agriculture. If we can't feed the residents of those suburbs, the last thing anyone will care about is poor taste in architecture. And all the rapid transit, high-rise condos, low-rise condos, or 19th century-esque farmhouses etc that you care to build, will not really help that much.