So what are we all going to do?

You realize of course – no, I suppose you don't – that you could have written this same damned thing in 1908.

Seems to me folks made out pretty well back then, despite a rough patch around 1929 or so.

 

Absolutely they did. You notice that I didn't include the assumption that we wouldn't find an answer. It worries me, but I feel confident we'll find something. My question was what that something's going to be.

But, hey, sarcasm and insults are easier, so just go with those.

 

I have neither used sarcasm on this thread (depending on your age, I figured it's possible my point was valid) nor have I insulted you.

But I do reserve that right.

 

This is the future:

The main use of oil in the United States is for transportation. Once the crisis gets underway, there will be much less transportation available, of goods as well as of people, at any price, exacerbated by the lack of public transportation infrastructure. The U.S. Gross Domestic Product turns out to be almost strictly proportional the number of vehicle miles traveled, and this implies that large reductions in the availability of transportation will translate into similar-sized reductions in the size of the economy overall. A few years on, roads and bridges will start falling into disrepair, making travel slow and difficult even when enough fuel for the trip can be found. People will be forced to stay put most of the time, perhaps making seasonal migrations, and to make use of what they have available in the immediate vicinity.

...

Consumer society, as it currently exists in the United States, is propped up by the still relatively cheap and accessible energy, and by the fact that the Chinese, and other nations, are still willing to dispense goods to us on credit. This credit is secured by the promise of future economic growth in the United States, which is already being whittled down by the high energy prices. Thus, the energy crisis will in due course translate into a consumer goods crisis.



Therefore, as part of your exercise, assume that every supermarket and big box store is out of business, driven bankrupt by the high cost (and low availability) of diesel, electricity, and natural gas. Shop only at the local farmer's markets, small neighborhood groceries, and thrift stores. Buy as few new things as possible: trash-pick what you can, and repair items instead of replacing them. Learn to grow or gather at least some of your food. If you do not wish to go strictly vegetarian, raising chickens and rabbits is not so hard. To buy staples such as rice, travel into town and buy them in bulk from small immigrant-owned groceries – you can be sure that these will be around even after the supermarkets are gone.

...

If your lease or mortgage requires you to have a full-time job in order to afford it, find a way to change your living situation to one that you can keep even when there is no more work. If you can cash out your equity and buy a place that is smaller, but that you can own free and clear, do so.



Pay particular attention to how difficult a place will be to heat; do not assume that heating oil, natural gas, or large quantities of firewood will be available or affordable. Also, pay very close attention to the neighbors. Are they people you know and trust? Will they help you? Do not assume that there will be police protection or emergency services. If you live in an area with a history of ethnic strife, how sure are you that you will be able to find a common language and make peace with everyone there, even people whose culture and background are vastly different from yours?

...

There are some steps you can take to prepare yourself for life without money. For a time, you might not have an income at all, or an income so meager it will not be enough for even one meal a day, so find out just how little money you need to stay active and healthy. Learn to rely on family, friends, and acquaintances. Find out what you can take from them, and what you have to offer in return.



Perhaps most importantly, assume that your retirement income, whether government or private, will in due course become quite close to zero, and make some other arrangements for your old age. If you have children, start buttering them up now – you will need their help to survive in your dotage. If you do not have children, then think about having some, or adopting one or two. If you do not have or want children, then be sure to have some good friends who are younger than you.



For each economic arrangement involving money, try to come up with an alternative arrangement that does not involve money. For example, if you pay a baby-sitter, try to find a baby-sitter who is willing to work in exchange for lessons. If you pay rent, find a caretaker situation where you pay with your labor. If you pay for food, start growing your own food.

...

The U.S. legal system, as it stands, is a luxury, not a necessity. It is good to those who can afford it, and bad for those who cannot. As ever-increasing numbers of people find that they cannot pay what it takes to secure a good outcome for themselves, they will start to see it not as a system of justice, but as a tool of oppression, and will learn to avoid it rather than to look to it for help. As oppression becomes the norm, at some point the pretense to serving justice will be dispensed with in favor of a much simpler, efficient, streamlined system of social control, perhaps one based on martial law.

http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2008/OrlovPartOne.html

 

Sarcasm, condescension, whatever. But let's put that aside.

Much of the growth of the 20th century was fueled by a remarkable surge in technology, something unrivaled in human history. Much of that technology (cars, planes) took staggering resources to build. Now, we can build these older technologies largely with robots. Meanwhile, the new technologies are much smaller, physically. Computer chips, iPods, etc. They're all built largely mechanically too. So, again, where are the jobs for humans? (Other than building and maintaining robots, I guess.)

Of course, the other major driving force in the recovery from the Depression was the war. Effective as it was, I don't think we want to go down that road again.

 

TSP -- always a ray of sunshine.

Thanks for copying and pasting something from a Web site that's been linked sporadically around these parts for years now.

I guess I'll have to start eating at all those pregame buffets so I can save money for the Fall Of Civilization.

And if society does collapse, just think of what will happen to the bloggers! Oh the humanity!!

 

Google employs over 10,000 people and hires them at a rate of 9 people per day. You don't think about them like you do GM or Ford or anything like that, but these companies are out there, and they'll be the ones hiring people.
We might be a very white collar nation, but the jobs will be there.

 

I plan to live in a one-room cabin high in the mountains, furiously typing my manifesto on a solar-powered laptop.

 

I am going to go rob the drug dealers in Los Angeles and then I am going to write about it in my new blog titled LA Crime Watch.

 

I'm hoarding gas while it's still $3 a gallon. I'm filling my whole fucking house up - the kid's room reeks of octane. Laugh now, but by the time it reaches $20 a gallon y'all be knocking on my door, bitches!!!!

Just don't light a match, please.

 

Me, I'm going to find work as an English bad guy in the movies. I have a great accent, and can look really malevolent if in the mood.

 

Sean Bean level malevolent?