Say You Survive Die-Off: Then What?

[katty]

cont'd: http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

(Jenna Orkin directs the World Trade Center Environmental Organization (WTCEO).
She moderated the Petrocollapse Conference in New York, October 5 (website: petrocollapse.org)
The WTCEO's website is www.wtceo.org)

Say You Survive Die-Off: Then What?

Written by Jenna Orkin

They're a rum bunch, those Peak Oil folk. You watch The End of Suburbia and get the feeling that inside their buttoned-up suits and behind their reasonable-sounding explanations, those experts are scared out of their gourds.
Likewise when you read The Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Management, also known as the Hirsch Report —commissioned by that nest of left-wing dissidents, the United States Department of Energy.

The good scientists of SAIC (one of the largest military contractors on the planet, according to journalist Michael Kane) know their way around writing a scientific article. Most of the language is dry enough to delight the heart of the dreariest bureaucrat.

Then in a section called “Wildcards,” while suggesting possible ways out of our predicament, they let the cat out of the bag. The cards are so wild, it's obvious that in the interest of preserving hope, the bearers of unpleasant tidings have morphed into fantasists:

First comes the pipedream, touching in its whimsicality: "Huge new reserves of natural gas are discovered..." (under the refrigerator.)

Then, the vortiginous descent into increasingly outlandish scenarios: "World economic and population growth slows and future demand is much less than anticipated..." (because people get tired of profits and sex.)

"Middle East oil reserves are much higher than publicly stated..."

That one might almost sound plausible if it weren't for that kill-joy Matt Simmons telling us that the public statements do indeed paint an inaccurate picture, only in the opposite direction.

Finally comes the grasping at straws: "Some kind of scientific breakthrough comes into commercial use, mitigating oil demand well before oil production peaks..."

(Some kind of scientific breakthrough...any kind. Anybody got any ideas?)

[applegrove]

1. After the dieoff - we start an oral tradition warning children & society

about the dangers of power, fundamentalists of all kinds, elite rule & neocons.. and teaching them the love of community, the golden rule & to value spirit & character over hate. We teach this tradition as a religion or as the values we pass onto children.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jrw14125]

7. An oral tradition that, 100s of years later...

becomes the twisted orthodoxy of a conservative, hateful, and glutonous set of religious factions?

I'm just sayin...

[applegrove]

10. Also teaches you to value some things. Like human life (all monotheism

teaches that). Yes .. there is good and bad in much humans do. But hell - fire was also in the early stories. Allowed humans to develop bigger brains by having control over the timing of when they ate. So they could eat meat. And it was no longer feast or famine. Also could preserve food.

Humans learn. Unfortunately we seem to have to learn the horrors of nefarious type leaders every 50 years. Don't know why. Maybe this is the last time. Maybe this time the UN will require brain scans for all world leaders. I can dream can't I!

[400Years]

2. good post, here is my answer

after the die off, if you survive, there should be plenty to eat for everybody. white tail deer will be abundant, it will be a time of oppurtunity. :-)

this is all assuming you outwit the roving hoards of cannibals until they all die out too.

[anarch]

3. what, haven't you seen "The Road Warrior"?

After the die-off, any survivors should roam the devestated landscape, scavenge for food, and wear outlandish costumes. Or perhaps form communes and defend them against violent hordes of raping and pillaging guys with mohawks.

[400Years]

4. after the die off I'm gonna sport a bad ass mohawk

[anarch]

6. here you go...a pic to take to the post-apocalyptic barber

[WilliamPitt]

8. Dibs on all your stuff

[pitohui]

9. apparently there have been many die-offs in history

i read a few months ago abt the desertification of iraq several thousand yrs ago, causing the collapse of an entire civilization, it was one of the articles in the new yorker series on global climate change

we also know of desertification taking place in the american southwest a few hundred years ago and killing off native peoples

and for all the thousands of years and miles in between, we seem to keep finding records of once-proud civilizations that collapsed in a few decades or even a few years

no one learned anything, no one passed on any oral traditions other than a few platitudes, the cycle continues as it will always continue

if i survive the die-off as the other dude said there will be lots of deer and space, a pity abt not having any dentists around tho