https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/ Building science knowledge, HVAC design, & fun Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:32:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-708 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:32:10 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-708 Scott, it sounds like we’ve
Scott, it sounds like we’ve gone through the same process after reading The Long Emergency. It took me a while, too, but eventually I realized that Kunstler’s vision of the future was just one possibility, and a bleak one. Yes, we absolutely face some big problems, and it could be a tough century. We have a choice as to how we respond, though, and you and I have chosen to respond with optimism. Let’s hope more people educate themselves about these issues and join us in proving Kunstler wrong.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-707 Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:55:33 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-707 Great post, Allison! One
Great post, Allison! One thing you wrote here that really resonated with me was how reading The Long Emergency affected you. Reading that book, and the World Made by Hand that followed left a cloud of anxiety and doom over my head for months. I think it affected me most as a father- imagining what kind of world my children and grandchildren would inherit.  
 
I’ve since decided that Kuntzler is quite possibly the most pessimistic author I’ve read and I can only stand him in small doses. But his book forced readers to take a hard look at the reality of our situation. For me, it reaffirmed my intentions to be part of the solution. I think the work we do as raters and trainers is part of the solution, and the fact that we’re still in business doing that is a reason for optimism. For that matter, each day that you are still “upright and pumpin’ air” is reason for optimism.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-706 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:45:33 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-706 Great post – I think this is
Great post – I think this is the only one of the letsblogoff contributions I’ve read where the writer related their own personal business to the larger problems of the national economy. (Don’t quote me on that, there were so many, I’ve started to forget their contents.) Excellent way to make the large and scary problems relate-able to the little people. And you are right that a little economic pessimism is just what we need to be realistic and show a better understanding – we can’t have such high expectations and NOT be let down.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-705 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 05:17:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-705 Steve, fortunately there are
Steve, fortunately there are significant parts of The Long Emergency that don’t read like history (not yet anyway). It’s a bleak outlook on what we’re facing, and, I hope, close to a worst case scenario.  
 
I’d known about peak oil for about 7 years already when I read the book and thought for a while that it meant we were in for inconvenience at worst. When I read Kunstler’s book, the full ramifications and potential calamity, combined with our economic fragility, started to sink in.  
 
I’m glad that I was able to get past the shock I felt then. Now I try to focus my efforts on playing some small role in shaping our future in this ‘fluid time in history.’

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-704 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:25:44 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-704 John, you’re absolutely right
John, you’re absolutely right about the “sobering, rational taking of account of things,” but the attitude a person assumes given the data before them is where the pessimism comes in. And there are a lot of very pessimistic people right now – those who’ve been unemployed for a long time, those who’ve seen their economic status drop even if they still have a job, and those who are just scared about they see but don’t understand what’s behind it. That’s why those of us who can help with the transition have to do all we can.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-703 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:07:30 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-703 Allison, I’m an optimist, but
Allison, I’m an optimist, but Kunstler is a friend of mine. I was very angry with him when he wrote The Long Emergency, in part because of my optimism. But if you go back and read it today, much of it reads like history… it was really prophetic about many things. I continue in my optimism, but with the realization that we’re at a very fluid time in history, when things could go in many directions.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-702 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:58:06 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-702 Allison,  

Allison,  
 
I’m not sure it’s pessimism as much as a sobering, rational taking of account of things, and how to adjust and bring forth a more stable, sustainable economy that’s not predicated on extreme consumption. I hope that I am ultimately able to play a role in bringing that about, along with you. 
 
– John

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-701 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:08:15 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-701 Cindy, you may well be right
Cindy, you may well be right about the timing of the end of growth. (As my wife told me recently, I need a new crystal ball, so I try not to be too specific about when things will happen.) I do believe that we’ll totter on for a while hoping to regain our lost economic momentum before we reach the end of growth. The key is that the economic downturn gives us a window of opportunity to ease ourselves into a new gestalt.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-700 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:00:37 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-700 Rufus, I certainly agree that
Rufus, I certainly agree that crazy and stupid are two of the best words to describe what has passed for planning in the suburbs. I like Kunstler’s statement that, “Suburbia is the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world.”

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil/#comment-699 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:52:37 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-optimism-of-pessimism-in-the-age-of-peak-oil#comment-699 You’re welcome, Paul. I’ve
You’re welcome, Paul. I’ve been eying the LetsBlogOff topics for a while now and just couldn’t resist this one, even though I didn’t really have time to write one and had already published an article earlier this morning. I wasn’t going to do it, but the article kind of wrote itself in my head during the day, so I poured it out a while ago.

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