[NetBehaviour] FWD: petrocollapse

Ryan Griffis ryan.griffis at gmail.com
Fri Oct 21 03:48:25 CEST 2005


System failure requires visionary opposition movement

by Jan Lundberg

The failure of the system and of the nation's leaders means that a
course-correction is too late at this time.  What we can do is prepare  
the
lifeboats and eliminate toxic cultural baggage for the voyage "home."

The U.S. government is aware of the crisis to the degree readers of this
column are, as this report will show.  Just as bad as "keeping a lid on
it" is the absence of any realistic mitigation that can help people and
the environment survive petrocollapse.

The increasing chance of our extinction due to extreme climate change is
as outrageous as the social injustice that’s allowed to continue without
meeting resistance.  But the mind of industry and even "progressives"
seems to favor denial right to the end.  This is why I propose a  
visionary
opposition movement to implement lifestyle change toward a new culture.

September was the hottest September on record.  There is no more time to
lose being mesmerized by entrenched institutions and their distractions.

The U.S. and the industrial world are running out of gas.  How this is
playing out is well known from headlines on Iraq and our Gulf hurricane
disasters.  But the end game is near, and needs to be described and
anticipated.  Only then can the next phase of our history be glimpsed  
and
influenced.

The state, the economy and energy shortage are closing in the American
people.  The massively overbuilt cities are set to be abandoned and
crumble.  In the face of people’s despair and lack of opportunity, the
image that the U.S.A. tries to project is phony.  The real story is one  
of
warped values: Torture for freedom.  Health care only for the rich.
Growing cancer epidemic.

With all these, including avian flu, we are caught up in the  
government's
crisis (mis)management, adding to people's sense that there is no one to
care for them or prop them up in harder and harder times.  With the
illegal war on Iraq still raging, and the planet melting from fossil  
fuels
and deforestation, how can there be any legitimacy due the government,
felt by a downtrodden citizenry increasingly hurting from the rat race?

An awakening of diverse players

The Petrocollapse Conference in New York City on Oct. 5th offered an
honest assessment of where we are, having moved beyond accepting the
reality of peak oil.  The large array of experts (authors, prestigious
scientists, in-the-trenches activists) accepted that a new world is on  
the
way.  But what it will look like is harder to imagine, and there is much
debate among us as blind visionaries waiting for either a new dawn or
worsening darkness.

The trick is to marry the visionaries of petrocollapse and a new culture
to the existing anti-globalization movement and other activists working
for a new society.  A viable opposition movement should immediately
prepare for social upheaval and widespread deprivation, to minimize the
pain and chaos of collapse.

Even if it involves massive die-off due to the loss of ample petroleum  
for
the continued feeding of hundreds of millions of people, we must prepare
for a transition to sustainable practices and social structures.   The
Washington Post covered community preparedness on Oct. 16, but did not
touch on national, regional or global petroleum supply.  However, the
subtitle to the article ("Hurricanes Prompt Many to Be More Prepared for
Disaster") was useful: "Lesson Learned: You're on Your Own".

As for New York City, it is a functioning disaster.  It’s not very
different from the rest of civilization, although a 25-million
metropolitan area is daunting to anyone knowledgeable about
sustainability.  New York demonstrates the limits of American  
consumption
and despair.  Observers of society should visit New York occasionally  
lest
an erroneous notion of megacity sustainability has gotten a mental
toe-hold.  Die-off is denied by those trying to tow the “politically
correct” line.

System belief to the death

Classical and neoliberal economists do not deserve much respect,
especially when they have failed to see what is in front of their noses
regarding petroleum dependence.  These analysts believe in a  
never-ending
cycle of growth, an eternal industrial way of life for a huge  
population.

"Demand destruction" comes from serious developments outside the  
so-called
normal business cycle.  The business cycle's recessions have been  
delayed
and suppressed by growth schemes such as "free trade agreements" and  
more
blatant forms for corruption and exploitation.  The typical economist
believes religiously that price governs supply and that a "slackening"  
in
demand will result in another cycle of lower prices and then rising
demand.

But instead, the cycle will be broken... [to read remainder of this  
essay,
go to
<http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php? 
option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=2#cont>
- make sure all the address is pasted into browser.]
and the USA Today article
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2005-10-16-oil-1a- 
cover-usat_x.htm




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