Yes, it would be odd to get an invitation that says, "the party's over". Actually, my invitation is to read a book by that title, "The Party's Over" by Richard Heinberg.
There is a growing body of literature regarding the END of non-renewable fossil fuels, and what that will mean. A broad heading I have seen is the "Olduvai Theory" which you can Google for yourself. If you "believe in" the evidence that Oil and Natural Gas have reached their peaks (all sources having been discovered, though not all have been extracted), then you know, we have less than 20 years left of Industrial Society as we know it.
Why should that concern you?
We are all in competition for "energy" on this planet, in various forms. You and I might eat food, for instance, or need the Sun on our skins (to use our Vitamin D). That is the small end of needing it. The large end is - that there are 6 billion of us - and that's just the HUMAN population - that need this energy.
We (Humans) have so far been the most clever trappers and users of all sorts of energy on Earth, but we haven't been paying attention. There is a SPIKE in Human Population, that I know many are familiar with - it coincides with Industrialization - which came right after we invented engines and machines to do heavy work FOR us. And this was helped along by the discovery of oil and natural gas and coal, etc.
Do you know why we spiked? BEFORE we had Industry, we used MAN POWER and animal power, maybe a little water power, to get food, get housing materials, to transport goods and people. That tended to wear us out, kill us off early - all that work.
But when the work became EASIER - when machines replaced us - we had easier access to food. We stored it, we shared it - makes sense - we would still do the same now. But if you are not worn down by work and thinned out by hunger, you POPULATE.
We have had an explosion of population - one that the planet cannot sustain indefinitely. Although Mother Earth is greatly self-healing, we have taxed her to a limit now, and we will have to PAY.
When there is no longer OIL, there will no longer be Electricity - not for you in your home, and not for businesses. The giant turbines that make our electricity don't need to RUN on oil, but they cannot be LUBRICATED any other way. Vegetable oils and animal fats burn up and break down much too quickly for turbines. Everything that uses Electricity will stop - period. Never to run again.
We will not be as able to extract other fuels (like coal) from the ground without oil to lubricate the engines and electricity. We will not be able to make or repair the machines that do this.
The life that we know now will NOT BE POSSIBLE.
I know - you think we Humans are clever. We have always solved problems before, and we can solve this one. But I am not so sure. We should have started 30 years ago, and no one is really on it NOW. Small pockets of people, small businesses maybe - but not Governments - not worldwide.
If you thought Global Warming was frightening - and it IS - this is even more frightening.
Without oil, gas, coal, electricity - manufactured goods would become rare. Something as simple as a plastic bottle, which you now throw away, would become property only of the very rich.
Without these energy sources, we will not be able to make enough food to feed 6 billion people.
Please read that again. We would not be able to FEED 6 billion people. In fact, if we went back to how we used to farm, before tractors, before Agri-Business, before importation of foods like bananas, etc. - we would TOPS only be able to feed 2 billion.
Can you guess what will happen to the OTHER 4 billion?
I'm not pulling these numbers out of my nether regions, go read the lit! We would have to drop back to Pre-Industrial living, go back and look at what it was like to live then! The world population then was only sustainable at 2 billion.
Now I want you to picture the PANIC that will ensue, the looting when the lights go off, the deaths of the very young and very old and very sickly.
Before you think I am all about the doom and gloom - I am asking you to imagine all this FOR A REASON. Panic happens because people are afraid of what they DON'T KNOW. While we still have the lights on, we can FIX some of that.
Learn a TRADE - something you can DO with your hands and tools that you can MAKE by hand. How many of you know how to hunt? to fish? to grow grains or fruits or vegetables? How many know how to weave cloth, or baskets, or make clothing and blankets?
While we still have the lights on, and the Libraries have not been looted - LEARN. Gather as much information as you can. Don't let it STAY in books! Begin NOW to try out what you read, and really hands-on KNOW it for when the lights go out.
Al Gore is one of the more famous Global Warming whistle-blowers. There are others. And they are helpful. They can teach us how to STEP DOWN from dependence on power. But move PAST them as soon as you can - and read the Olduvai Theorists.
I am not asking you to build a basement bunker. Don't run for the hills with your families. But be prudent. THINK! And learn.
And be ready to SHARE that learning. Because there is another thing I have learned from reading history - we (Humans) have always done better in co-operative GROUPS rather than in isolation. In a group, there is a large pool of talent and knowledge, there would be people with skills that you have (in case you get ill or grow old, as we all must), and skills that you might NEED but cannot MASTER.
For all our faults, as Human Beings, we are capable of tremendous GOOD. If we are great problem-solvers, let us TRY at least, to solve THIS one, and save as many people (and other creatures) as possible.
You can't leave this to someone else. It has to be YOU, right where you ARE, to the best of YOUR ABILITY. Help yourself. Help everyone you can. That is a much better invitation, don't you think?
THINGS TO LEARN:
Food growing, harvesting, storage
Soil enrichment, preservation
Irrigation
Animal raising, slaughtering (for food)
Cloth making
Basket-weaving
Sewing (of clothing), repairs
Baking, cooking over a fire (remember, no gas)
De-salination of water
Purification of water
Crocketing, knitting (of clothing and blankets)
First Aid
How to hunt and trap without guns or manufactured weapons or traps
Basic house construction (possibly not out of wood, since this might be depleted when people panic over fuel loss and use wood for fuel)
THINGS TO DO:
Plant fruit trees, shade trees
Plant food bushes
Practice what you are learning
Get in the habit of feeding other people
Feed local animals (where this will not attract rats and insects, which cause health problems)
Get in the habit of boiling drinking and cooking water
Teach your body to want raw vegetables and fruits and basic grains/cereals
Try to do without sugar, caffeine items like coffee and tea and (s0rry ladies) chocolate!
Out-think me, come up with MORE!
