On soul searching, moving & politics

As I mentioned a month or so ago, recent gas prices has left me bummed (thus the gap in posting). Sure it's a great oil-buying opportunity (you have a little over a week left to buy until the election!), but the evil and stupidity behind it is terribly discouraging.

Further dismaying me is the notion that the survivalist lifestyle will not be a happy one - Going it alone can't be as good as working out a solution as a society.

This leaves me in a conundrum - All I feel I can do with any effectiveness is to prepare myself (and family & friends), but there's no way I can change how society thinks. And that's what I'd fundamentally need to do to prepare for peak.

So here are some options:

- Move. Find a place that won't get anhililated from global warming, and a place that is aware of peak oil. Portland still comes to mind. Or perhaps some place in Europe. But moving is a big deal, especially if it's out of the country (BTW - if you're serious about leaving the country, here's a book:
http://processmediainc.com/press/mini_sites/getting_out/ )

- Get involved in the political process. I hate it too, but think about it - if a politician is smart enough to be peak oil aware, he/she can't be a total dumbass - Maybe there's even a small chance that they'll be able to change things. So why not do what you can to help that person advance?
(BTW if anyone has any suggestions about peak oil aware politicians, let me know)

- Become a local politician. As Kunstler has noted many times, everything is going to get intensely local. That means that local politicians will become more meaningful in the bigger scheme of things post-peak. If you really want to impact society, perhaps the most impactful way is to become a local politician. I should ask a buddy of mine about this (he's a mayor)...

More evidence peak has hit - TIME TO BUY OIL

Global production is down, which isn't surprising because of Nigeria, but I think what's interesting is that Saudi Arabia is down:

http://www.energybulletin.net/21208.html

As the author notes, this may be voluntary, but I don't think so - When oil prices were $70+ they were saying they were doing all they can to supply oil.

BUY OIL NOW!!! BUY OIL NOW!!! USO is at $54.29 today - Watch it rise to $60+ at some point within the next four months, probably by year end.

How's this for controversial...

I've only heard one author say this "out loud", but I think it's one of the most important ways to prepare for peak oil, global warming, etc. - Don't have children.

Shocked? Don't be - Once you believe in peak oil, there's a lot of support for avoiding having children:
- Their standard of living will be far lower than ours. Why raise a child where you have no chance of providing them a standard of living that's at least somewhat close to yours.
- Perhaps more importantly, their standard of living will likely decline throughout most if not all of their lives. Think about what a miserable life that would be - to live with a continually degrading standard of living.
- The world is far beyond its carrying capacity. Every new child just worsens the problem.
- We'll have a hard enough time caring for ourselves, the elderly, etc. - caring for an extra child just adds to the burden, especially for the parent.

There must be some positives though. Here are a couple I thought of, not sure of the validity of any of them though:
- You will have likely prepared better than most, so your children's standard of living will be good relative to others. Perhaps that's good from a psychological perspective.
- If you decide to become a farmer, you may feel the larger the family, the better the standard of living.

OK - let me have it :)