tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post555612551715827533..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: Looking for a place to crashJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-78666178633029279702012-04-16T11:20:13.275+02:002012-04-16T11:20:13.275+02:00Wow - great post - glad I found this blog :)
green...Wow - great post - glad I found this blog :)<br />greenJamieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-83185804083347219362012-04-13T19:59:19.553+02:002012-04-13T19:59:19.553+02:00Hi Jeffrey,
I would also worry about Canada being...Hi Jeffrey,<br /><br />I would also worry about Canada being too rich (I love your analogy of the toothless sow!). It looks mighty tempting to resource hungry giants like the US and China, so I could see a kind of proxy struggle developing there. Saying that, it could be quite regionalised, your guess is probably better than mine.<br /><br />Yes, the real tragedy will be in the whiitling down of our numbers - not just the old and infirm, but the young and the healthy. Take a look at much of north Africa and the Middle East. Much of the food there is imported and paid for with petro dollars. Ironically, as the price of oil goes up, so too does the cost of their food. With skyrocketing population growth and falling aquifer (and oil field) levels, it's not going to end well ...Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-30289220225830534592012-04-13T19:51:40.512+02:002012-04-13T19:51:40.512+02:00Hi Phil, you're right about property on low gr...Hi Phil, you're right about property on low ground - I'd never even consider buying a house in a danger area. Here's a <a href="http://flood.firetree.net/" rel="nofollow">link</a> to an online tool you can use to check.<br /><br />I also agree that systems collapse would herald a pretty quick corrective to our numbers. I'm sure we've read the same Orlov book - it looks like males are the ones who basically commit suicide (through alcohol and car accidents, fighting, actual suicide etc) because we can't cope with systems that are in freefall. Women, by and large, just get on with it. Did you see that David Dimbleby doc last year ('Russia') in which he travelled through Russia and visited a village where every single man was in the graveyard and it was only the women remaining? Fascinating stuff.<br /><br />And, yes, how on earth is the health system going to cope? Every time I see a headline saying we're all living longer and longer I think 'no we're not'. We're on a kind of life support provided by cheap energy and money. My own father, in any other system, would have been dead ten years, but instead he is kept alive with little quality of life because his health insurance pays out every month for his care (he has severe dementia and has had a triple heart bypass). The monthly cost of this is almost double what me and my wife earn - so, in the future, how would that cost be met?<br /><br />Anyway, it's heartening to hear that organic techniques have progressed so much. I'm personally quite interested in forest gardening, and can't wait to get planting. I'm quite happy to live off a less carniverous diet and have cut my meat consumption by about 90% this year. People can't quite understand why (at least, here in the carnivore's paradise that is Denmark) so I find it easier just to say I'm a 'part time carnivore'. <br /><br />As for the riots. Well, the media love a good riot don't they? It's not half as much fun reporting on all the communities that cleared up the wreckage and started to rebuild anew.<br /><br />So yes, like you, and despite all the evidence, I'm cautiously optimistic. There are worse places to be, that's for sure.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-50593709526758965702012-04-13T19:08:21.109+02:002012-04-13T19:08:21.109+02:00Hi Jason
I share your view about England and ther...Hi Jason<br /><br />I share your view about England and there are lots of regions that are survivable for a few hundred years yet. With the risk that climate change really takes off it would be a good idea to buy nothing below 50 feet above current sea level. Its true that the population has along way to go down. Orlov seems to think that a lot of the deaths will be middle aged men who lose their jobs and the will to live, take up alcholism and quietly fade away. Thats what happened in post Soviet Russia. He points out the soviet healthcare system was great but it didn't treat old people or cancer. Makes you wonder how the NHS will cope when the cash is turned off. <br /><br />On the food front, organic techniques have developed alot since WW2 and much of our population could be fed, albeit a more boring and less carnivorous diet, off the cultivatable land we have. Either way it makes no sense to encourage our population upwards through either breeding or immigration. Making do with what we've got applies to people too! Anything we can do to wean ourselves off consumerism and career dependence and increase self community reliance has to be a good thing.<br /><br />Despite the impression fostered by last years riots the pockets of potential anarchy are relatively small and one issue that msm didn't cover in any detail was the way communities turned out to defend themselves and clear up.<br /><br />I am optimistic that even with diminished resources, it is still possible for us to make a happier future for our childrens children.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13101839570887335114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-26547486749523026142012-04-12T16:57:30.093+02:002012-04-12T16:57:30.093+02:00Nice post as always.
I've had similar discuss...Nice post as always.<br /><br />I've had similar discussions with myself about Canada. At least where I come from, Winnipeg (in the middle of the prairies, powered by hydro electricity, a major rail hub and enjoying a junction between two rivers - one coming up from the US too) would probably be one of the best places on the planet all things considered. Even with skyrocketing petroleum prices the rail network will continue to function and vast agriculture is readily visible just biking to the outskirts of the city. Cities like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto might suddenly become uncomfortable, but even then with martial law and appropriation of agricultural commodities I imagine everyone -could- be fed (in theory).<br /><br />One fault though in all this is that the country is maybe too rich. China is buying up a lot of resources in Canada and will claim their rights to it in the future even if things go sour between the two nations. Without the umbrella of the US protection Canada is a big fat sow without any teeth.<br /><br />In any case, the real tradegy will be that the world will return to pre-industrial population levels which means six to seven billion humans (or more) will be wiped away and it won't happen painlessly. It is already perhaps starting in many places where inflation and petroleum prices are making food prohibitively expensive for many people. People can't afford to eat and international relief is insufficient. I just see it getting worse.Jeffrey Kotykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11466850119342584826noreply@blogger.com