M. Ruppert speech at the Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma Conference

[Viva_La_Revolution]

THE PARADIGM IS THE ENEMY: The State of the Peak Oil Movement at the Cusp of Collapse

A Speech by Michael C. Ruppert for the Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma Conference
April 27-29, New York City, at Cooper Union



April 28, 2006 1630 PST – (FTW) – NEW YORK - As a matter of necessity, in the course of a turbulent and often very difficult life, I have developed a pretty warped sense of humor. As most police officers, nurses, ER doctors, paramedics, and military combat veterans know, the best time to find humor is when things are at their worst. Sometimes the humor that emerges from these situations is strange, to say the least. And yet sometimes it remains the most memorable humor of a lifetime—humor that can actually sustain you in tough times. Humor is energy.

Too often Peak Oil activism reminds me of a statement that I found a long time ago in a book of famous quotations. In the section containing the last recorded words of famous people I found a quote that has stayed with me ever since.

The quote was simply, “We’ve got them now.”

The person who wrote those last “recorded” words on a dispatch to his commanding officer, General George Crook, was George Armstrong Custer.

During the course of this conference I have heard precious little attention paid to events in the world around us indicating that Peak Oil is about to have its global “coming out party” and what that might mean. In almost every nook, cranny and corner of the planet, stress points are beginning to fracture. For the past five years I have argued, emphasized, and repeated endlessly that perhaps the biggest mistake of all time was made on September 11th 2001, when the only real global operational plan to deal with Peak Oil was put into effect. On September 11th we began a war, now infamously known as “the war which will not end in our lifetimes,” to decide who will control the last remaining oil and gas reserves on the planet.

the rest - http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/042706_paradigm_speech.shtml

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Is this thing on?

sound check! sound check?

[amandabeech]

2. Yup,

Ruppert's right on a lot of things. What's going on now in Washington is just pure political theater. Nobody is ready to address a world in which there is significantly less, and I mean significantly less, transportation fuel.

Just look at some of the threads here in GD and even over in the Energy and Environment forum. Most people here believe that Peak Oil is simply a hoax or that we can use renewables in such a way that our lives won't change significantly.

Human beings seem to be relatively in capable of reacting in a creative way to news of a future world turned upside down. Why more can accept global warming than the end of the oil age, I'll never understand.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. It's always a little scary reading his stuff

but we should be reading it and preparing ourselves. Oh, but wait! Nuclear energy is going to save the day, and everything will be hunky-dory! :sarcasm:

[amandabeech]

4. You assume too much about me.

I think that nuclear energy will be a part of the mix, along with renewables and some fossil fuels while they last.

I don't intend to get into a big discussion about nuclear here, because the benefits and problems of nuclear energy have been and are being discussed ad nauseum over in the energy and environment forum.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. That wasn't really directed at you...

I had just gotten into one of those discussions this morning with someone else, and my ire boiled over. Sorry. :blush: