tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post1185606142139984492..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: Hell is Other PeopleJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-12802618723413729822012-10-31T18:40:58.450+01:002012-10-31T18:40:58.450+01:00There certainly is some synchronicity going around...There certainly is some synchronicity going around. I posted a similar essay on my blog two days before Jason:<br /><br />http://dex3703.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/peak-oil-forever/<br /><br />As far as advice for Jim, I'm in a similar spot. Currently unemployed, I fell into web coding and UX design. The pay is quite good when I can find a job, and I have about two years' savings. I'm taking the time off to meet some writing goals I've had my whole life, as well as relax post-divorce and post-white-middle-class life expectations. I bought a new townhouse in Seattle and spent a whole $200 for extra attic insulation, to further lower my negligible electric and gas bills. There's no emergency, but I'm depressed at the sudden, unexpected passing away of my cat and the letdown after a summer in NYC, so would go back to work again if I could find anything.<br /><br />The advice, such as it is, would be to not panic. The point I made too many times in my blog, and probably to convince myself, is that nobody knows the future. Certainly the consumerist cornucopia we've known cannot continue, but exactly how it won't is really anybody's guess. I would disagree with drawing and illustrating being without value. It is important to follow bliss, and you're learning many other things while you're learning that. <br /><br />Accepting your freedom and that nothing but fear holds you back is the most important thing. I could move to New York or the beach right now. The true friends I have will stick with me, by phone, email, or letter, or whatever happens in spirit and thought. In the end we are just poor mortals and we should be kind and honest about our powers. There are many ways to save yourself. <br /><br />I hope this is helpful and not condescending. Thanks Jason for a great blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-32495116042320468812012-10-30T18:54:42.799+01:002012-10-30T18:54:42.799+01:00Thanks William - doin' the best I can with wha...Thanks William - doin' the best I can with what I've got. <br /><br />However, the adaptiveness of any location is, I believe, highly subjective. For example, the Archdruid used to live hereabouts but left for a 'better place' for a variety of reasons, among which may have been the rather strange mix of personalities here in our smallish enclave. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04410439088299142773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-59991854145722992162012-10-30T09:00:52.040+01:002012-10-30T09:00:52.040+01:00Hi Toni. Thanks for your enlightening comments. I ...Hi Toni. Thanks for your enlightening comments. I agree that collapsing in slow motion is what it's all about. When we look back in a couple of decades we will realise that the music stopped fairly abruptly, but that it didn't seem so at the time. Financial paralysis and worries about job security seem to be the things keeping people stuck to the same spot. And although I (cheekily) only really mentioned people in this post, I agree that there are a host of other factors to consider (with a great big one being sea level rise, as you mentioned). Anyway, I will check out you blog. Thanks again.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-71740338347553027112012-10-30T04:40:47.984+01:002012-10-30T04:40:47.984+01:00Many from elsewhere also find BC's personal co...Many from elsewhere also find BC's personal communities hard to break into. The Prairies and the Maritimes have the reputation for being socially open and welcoming places; BC is often not--people have established communities that they are not always willing to bring new people into, despite friendliness on the surface.<br /><br />Vancouver Island has a lot going for it, but it's expensive and will be affected by sea level rise; personally I would stay out of Vancouver and out of the desertifying Okanagan. The rest of the province has winters not dissimilar to those in Manitoba. So I would be wary of romanticizing.<br /><br />That said, I am all for following your heart. My suggestion would be to come out for a couple of weeks and explore a bit and talk to people with a realistic ear. Listen to your heart. But for us, family is a really important factor. Our options are hub's family on the east coast, in the weather-battered zone, or here, where we suffer the expenses and more financial risk, but where we do have jobs right now and a house with a big garden that we're expanding every year.<br /><br />I have to say that I have recently also begun to feel like the time to move has actually come and gone. When I first began to think about what was coming seriously, I too had the "we're still mobile" feelings. But I'm actually starting to feel like that's already an illusion. Perhaps it's different in Jim's case, as a renter (?), but around here, things aren't selling. The economy is OK, but not great, and most people are in limbo. I actually think that we could make a decision to move and then be hit by the economic reality that there is no longer a real estate market that makes that viable--sales are down by 30% here over last year. Prices haven't come down yet, but nothing's moving. I think those like JMG who are suggesting that we have to adapt in place because where we are now IS where we're going to be forced to stay are right. We're beginning the collapse in slow motion at the moment, IMHO.<br /><br />That said, whatever's true is never true for everyone. Some people are still successfully moving and starting over even now. There's no perfect place. There are some bad places that are worth getting out of. But there's so much unpredictability that your evalutation of "who do you want around you" is as good a criteria as any.<br /><br />Hope that's helpful--sorry it's such a long comment!<br />Good luck to Jim with his decision,<br />Toni @ BackyardFeastAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-46850276433531529982012-10-30T04:39:19.510+01:002012-10-30T04:39:19.510+01:00Hi all,
Jason, I'm another reader who found y...Hi all,<br /><br />Jason, I'm another reader who found you through JMG, and I really enjoy your perspective from Europe. By chance, I live in BC, blogging about my homestead on Vancouver Island. Jim's question is a tough one for me, as my husband and I have wrestled with the same question of would we be better off somewhere else? I've come to believe it's a bit of a futile question for us, though perhaps it isn't for Jim.<br /><br />First, I think it's a very natural reaction to "waking up" to feel like this is all SO dramatic, that we need to take what feels like equally dramatic life changes. That urge to DO something in the face of the coming crisis can be overwhelming at times. <br /><br />But I think moving is something to be cautious about. The question of who you want around you, and what services and resources will be available to you where you are is really important. Winnipeg, or any city downtown, has some advantages and disadvantages. The culture of the Prairies is a down to earth, can-do, not phased by much one, which has a LOT to offer. Winnipeg's isolation will also mean that it is out of the conflict zone--and being a little farther north of the US border than some Canadian cities may also prove helpful! It's also a big plus in my mind that you don't have to go far out of the city to access cheap land. And even though the winters are harsh, they will be warming, and the big plus relative to BC is that MB has sunshine all winter, which makes greenhouses a really viable proposition (if you can anchor them from the wind!). As in the US midwest, there's lots of opportunities for the resourceful.<br /><br />BC may be a romantic option for some, and I'm born and raised throughout the province. I love it here, but mostly simply because it's my home. But there are major downsides to someone new. Number 1 is the cost of living--it's WAY higher than other parts of the country. Culturally, the leftist pockets are counter balanced by a lot of right wing survivalist and corporate-dependent communities. Cheaper places to live are those already devastated by resource-busted economies. It's a province polarized politically, which can make it hard to get things done.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-76682597310376728712012-10-29T14:32:42.246+01:002012-10-29T14:32:42.246+01:00Here's a link to a how-to site on which I post...Here's a link to a how-to site on which I posted some pictures of a guy living off his bicycle. Also lots of good comments there from people who have done similar things.<br />www.instructables.com/id/How-to-hit-the-road-on-the-cheap/<br />The instructable web site is also a great resource for making almost anything on the cheap by yourself from stuff other people have thrown away. Type in bicycle trailer or yurt or tent or anything you want to make and you will find a whole handful of instructions on how to make your own.<br />And yes, I believe that in third world countries most of the people are already living the kinds of low-entropy lifestyles that may be in store for the rest of us. Maybe that's a good place for Jim to do some research. In the US and perhaps to a lesser extent in Canada which has better social services, examples of off-the-grid living are probably harder to find, but they are out there.<br />Wolfgang Brinckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314364206955412017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-63323804113478322072012-10-29T01:52:41.256+01:002012-10-29T01:52:41.256+01:00Martin,
Best of luck in your locale. Adapt well.
...Martin,<br /><br />Best of luck in your locale. Adapt well.<br /><br />Hepp,<br /><br />Back in the day I hear, CIA agents were fond of LSD too. A very neutral hallucinogen. As for the shrooms, it's about damn time they started testing. I heard too they started testing ketamine on people with depression. It is said to work in the extreme, instantly. William Hunter Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03659156353754825272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-4894497685606617562012-10-28T17:36:52.803+01:002012-10-28T17:36:52.803+01:00Some sterling advice there Wolfgang. When I was yo...Some sterling advice there Wolfgang. When I was young free and single I lived out of a backpack for a year around Asia and Australia, picking up seasonal work in the latter on fruit farms. In Asia I learned how people could live with next to nothing and still get by (whole families living in cupboard sized 'houses' in India, including workshops) - so if this is what in store for us I am not worried at all.<br /><br />These days I am working in a 'safe' job, but spend a lot of my time (and money) buying old tools, learning new things and generally getting ready for whatever direction the universe cares to take us in next.<br />Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-728652477556540172012-10-28T17:23:05.918+01:002012-10-28T17:23:05.918+01:00Ed - yep, there is no 'safe' place to esca...Ed - yep, there is no 'safe' place to escape to. I have come to think of late that the reason peak oil, energy speculation etc is so hot in the US as opposed to, say, the UK, is that we (in Britain) have been trudging this long and weary road for many decades.<br /><br />Back in the 1970s we were basically in a state of collapse. Margaret Thatcher and co. hauled us out of it by flooding the economy with cheap oil (courtesy of an obliging North Sea). We thought the party was never going to end, but the reality is that the planet doesn't owe us any favours. <br /><br />I should have included another type - the whinger. These are people who never stop moaning about how everything has gone to the dogs and how great it all used to be. I suspect there will be a fair few whingers around in our low energy future.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-21881855378325982052012-10-28T17:16:31.595+01:002012-10-28T17:16:31.595+01:00Don't worry about complicating my categories -...Don't worry about complicating my categories - there's only so much you can say in a blog post. I could have included many more, but from my own experience, these were the ones that stuck out in my mind. I should point out that mine was a bit unusual because most of the people involved already considered themselves pioneers, to some extent. They had already packed in their previous dull lives and taken the leap to move to Spain and try their luck (well, most of them). When the Spanish economy collapsed and the little expat bubble with it we quickly found ourselves divided into predators and genuines - or wolves and lambs. The robots came in from outside in the 'real world' we had fled. As for the flakes, that was more of an observation from life here in Denmark, observing people who have hit financial hard times.<br /><br />As for finding a place out of history's way - exactly! I'm trying to develop a formula along the lines of: lack of historical invasions+lack of stealable resources+numerous hobbits (see last post)+fertile land+lack of natural catastrophes and nuclear power stations = one of the safer places to position yourself. I sense a new post coming on ...Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-39783560736526011422012-10-28T17:08:57.156+01:002012-10-28T17:08:57.156+01:00William - I sometimes wonder whether my occasional...William - I sometimes wonder whether my occasional acid trips while I was living in London had some bearing on my outlook in life. Then I think of the people I was with at the time - they have all turned into investment bankers and IT people, so maybe it had nothing to do with it.<br /><br />BTW, did you know they are now trialling magic mushrooms on cancer patients? Apparently it gives sufferers a chance to 'put things into perspective'. <br /><br />http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/magic-mushrooms-and-cancer-my-magical-mystery-cure-8212368.html?origin=internalSearchJason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-64019376415714679452012-10-28T17:04:01.754+01:002012-10-28T17:04:01.754+01:00The best way to adapt to a life with less is to st...The best way to adapt to a life with less is to start living a life with less. If you are married and have children, that may be a difficult sell for the rest of your family. However, if you are single, you are all set to go. <br />I suggest some long camping trips as a good way to practice simple living. For one thing, you have less when camping, and for another, you get to meet all kinds of people who are not camping for practice but out of necessity. These are the people who have already stepped off the bus so to speak. And they are out there living at campgrounds. <br />If you have the stomach for it, try some urban camping. Live out of a backpack or a shopping cart. Sleep on door steps. In less than a week you and your clothes will develop the kind of patina that will make you invisible to most people except the ones living on the street.<br />All of this by way of mental conditioning and to develop some appreciation for which part of society is willing to accept you as a member when you have nothing.<br />I would not quit my job just yet but use it to finance my education in low entropy living, learning some new skills purchasing some new stuff like tools or a vegetable plot. And if nothing else, if you discover that you are not cut out for poverty, hang on to prosperity for as long as you can and embrace poverty only when you must.Wolfgang Brinckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314364206955412017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-41544327459181765492012-10-28T17:03:42.997+01:002012-10-28T17:03:42.997+01:00Lucid, maybe there's some kind of mind meld go...Lucid, maybe there's some kind of mind meld going on here :-)<br /><br />Great post, btw. I'm not the best one to give advice, but I have had the experience of being hauled out of blissland back to 'reality', so can appreciate your dilemma. I have plenty of 'genuine friends' in the same position down in Spain - only thing is they'd love to have jobs but there aren't any! Not quite sure how they manage to stay alive, but somehow they seem to (and enjoy life too)!<br /><br />I read a book called Farm City last year by Novella Carpenter (whose blog sometimes appears on the right hand side here). That gave me a few ideas ... I'd recommend it.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-90275250913430456282012-10-28T13:19:44.101+01:002012-10-28T13:19:44.101+01:00once again you've managed to pen another serio...once again you've managed to pen another seriously synchronistic blog. So much so, in fact, that it sparked me to wake up at 5 in the morning to write a blog in response to the gears you got turning with the bad faith bit. <br /><br />http://emtmusings.blogspot.com/2012/10/standbyeauthenticating.html<br /><br />I linked to your blog several times in the piece and gave credit where credit was due. I'd say more but I blogged it already. Jim may find some value in reading it. He should just know that I don't know what the hell I'm talkin' bout half of the time. Luciddreamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02128676983998762432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-92088344768461768432012-10-27T23:44:44.523+02:002012-10-27T23:44:44.523+02:00Amen, William. Also, given that Jim seems to have...Amen, William. Also, given that Jim seems to have become 'aware' only recently, it's likely that his network in Winnipeg consists mostly of the first three types. <br /><br />If was a young man and didn't already live in a really good location for adaptation, I'd likely hie for B.C. myself.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04410439088299142773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-3895296138299840452012-10-27T23:25:11.380+02:002012-10-27T23:25:11.380+02:00Personally, I prefer the new look - it is much eas...Personally, I prefer the new look - it is much easier on these old eyes. Thank you.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04410439088299142773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-47525117354552468182012-10-27T23:01:41.628+02:002012-10-27T23:01:41.628+02:00My advice to Jim, would be to quit his job, fly to...My advice to Jim, would be to quit his job, fly to Peru and spend 90-120 days in the jungle, acquainting himself with Ayahuasca, with the intent of opening himself up to the divine, to find his purpose. That, or find a place to land in BC and start smoking copious amounts of pot and consuming every so often about 5 grams of Stropharia cubensis. Or do that in Winnipeg, while planning how to stop suckling at the great beast tit. <br /><br />Now is not the time for half-measures and hym-haw I'm comfortable in the status-quo but I'm screaming inside. Make a commitment to yourself Jim, to take your awakening somewhere you know you must go, despite what anyone you know might say about it. That may very well be Winnipeg, but if you stay make it count. Trust your judgement and become a genuine one - and I recommend blogging about your transformation - you write well.<br /><br />Nice assessment, Hepp. Hopefully what remains after this all shakes out is mostly the #4 type.<br /><br /><br /><br /> William Hunter Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03659156353754825272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-71423070955940555652012-10-27T18:24:45.864+02:002012-10-27T18:24:45.864+02:00Great post, touches on many of the themes I've...Great post, touches on many of the themes I've thought about since my mind lost its progress habit. Generally I think it is right to stay in place, and adapt - learn skills, grow some food, work with your hands, build up your local contacts, all that stuff. Nobody knows what's going to happen, so making bold plans to go somewhere new is always going to be a shot in the dark to some extent. But there was another line on JMGs blog some time ago that also stuck with me - find a place out of history's way. And maybe out of extreme weather's way as well. Since Jim is in super cold Manitoba, it might be a good idea to get to someplace where getting through a winter without fossil heat is more doable. But who knows? I'm living in southern Connecticut, where I've chosen to stay, and right now Hurricane Sandy is barreling down on us. So I'm going to keep adapting in place, but mostly I'm focusing on enjoying each day, doing practical things, and accepting that I don't have a great deal of control over events anyway.<br /><br />I don't want to complicate your four categories, but one type of person we have over in my neighborhood are people who are quite sympathetic to the idea of an energy-limited, economically challenged future, and who wouldn't be surprised if it all comes tumbling down. But at the same time they don't seem to do much in their own back yard to prepare. So they are aware, but flakey - flake-savants perhaps? In general, these people think that some big political solution is what is needed; growing their own food or insulating the house or something isn't on the radar screen. I'm sure we'll see a lot more sub-categories open up as we go down the road a while. Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-39986810245758247572012-10-27T18:05:00.711+02:002012-10-27T18:05:00.711+02:00Good piece as usual, though I think its actually t...Good piece as usual, though I think its actually too optimistic.<br /><br />First, I think its harder to spot the various types of people than you make out. In particular the "predators" are quite capable of disguising themselves as "genuine people".<br /><br />Second, as this thing continues to deteriorate and people become more stressed, I think you will see fewer "robots" (and most of those who are left will be elderly), and more "flakes" and "predators". People will react either by essentially freaking out or grabbing as much as they can, by any way they can. And actually the predator behavior when you think of it is really a way of freaking out, unless you have cut a deal with the space aliens to haul yourself and your stuff off the planet.<br /><br />It will be a problem putting together a support network when most of the potential network is trying to con you and/or suffering from various sorts of personality disorders. There is no good answer to this one.<br /><br />Also, I am of the age where I am used to thinking in terms of outbreaks of nuclear war as the ultimate disaster, but I think that "the sh-- hits the fan", "when the balloon goes up", or other phrases we have for that are not a good mentality to get into. This is a little too meta for a blog comment, but I think its important to at least try to be clear-headed as to what is happening.<br /><br />The big push to increase agricultural yields through "the Green Revolution", essentially expanded use of (mostly petroleum based) fertilizers, and selecting for types of crops with the highest yields (at a cost to nutritional value and hardiness) resulted in an explosion of the planet's population up to the limits of the expanded agricultural production, exactly as Malthus predicted.<br /><br />The attempt to move more of these people into industrialized society resulted in so much pollution being pumped into the atmosphere that we actually may be in a situation where the climate heats up to a point where it can't sustain human life. Even if that doesn't happen, the increased demand for resources of all types has led to all sorts of stresses, including the depletion of the cheapest-to-extract fossil fuel reserves (this is what "peak oil" means). More resources are being devoted to extracting fossil fuel as a result, meaning the world is getting poorer.<br /><br />This is a long-winded way of saying that things going bad means living in an overpopulated world that is steadily getting poorer. Basically what is happening now. The future will be a somewhat bleaker version of what is happening now. Well absent actual nuclear war, which is still a possibility, or the global heat death planet thing.<br /><br />So my advice to Jim is to stay in Winnipeg until he gets laid off from his safe government job due to budget cutbacks. Try to amass some savings with the salary. At that point use the freedom to travel or move someplace else. The thing with staying on the job is that salaried, permanent positions are probably one of those things that are features of a more prosperous world and will get steadily rarer, so if you have one, keep it unless the workplace threatens your sanity too much. The thing with collapsing in place is that this is global, and the reaction of TPTB is unpredictable, so there is no "good" place to go and wait out the storm. But ties to your current location will likely weaken, and you may be happier elsewhere.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-55753774131515701752012-10-27T10:13:15.916+02:002012-10-27T10:13:15.916+02:00BTW apologies for changing the design theme of thi...BTW apologies for changing the design theme of this blog YET AGAIN! I felt that the black theme, whilst being suitably depressing for a blog about energy death, was hard on the eyes. Hence the new look.<br /><br />I promise I won't do it again.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.com