Peak World Articles

Some people are of the opinion that those of us that have Peak World and Peak Oil views are alarmists and pessimists. I think that opinion is wrong, yes we do talk about topics that may not be that terribly uplifting and fun. However, just because the topics are heavy in nature doesn't make them any less true. The rest of you can choose to keep burying your heads in the sand and ignore the issues at hand if you want. Just turn up the volume on your TV/video games, which are used to distract you from the real upcoming issues that will eventually affect us whether we choose to ignore them or not.

While I believe it is healthy and necessary to talk about such topics, I also think that sometimes we focus too much on the problems without talking about possible solutions. I know that many bosses I have had in the past would get mad if I would present them a problem without also presenting some possible solutions. So, in this article I thought I would deviate from discussing the problems and talk a bit about some possible solutions. But, I would like to say upfront that there are likely many more solutions than I can think of just by myself. I'd love to hear your ideas on the discussion board at http://peakworld.org/discuss I have created a forum at the bottom of the list dedicated to talking about possible solutions. It's a new forum, so there isn't a lot of action in there yet, but don't be shy... get the ball rolling and lets get to discussing the topic as a group.

Preserving food and if you have room, growing food is definitely an area that people can work on to help prepare for the declines ahead. Even if you don't have a very large yard you'd be amazed at how much food you can grow if you get rid of the majority of your grass and turn most of your yard into a garden. Also, you can try edible flower beds. Try removing some of your current inedible bushes and flowers with things like blue berry bushes, and strawberry plants for ground cover. Research canning and other forms of food preservation. Be careful of relying on frozen foods alone, as the modern world declines more and more, you can likely plan on many long lasting power blackouts unless you are lucky enough to live off grid already with solar and or wind power. But, most of us average citizens don't have these expensive systems.

Water is an area that is harder to prepare for. Most of us are hooked up to city water, and if the source dries up or gets too polluted we would be hard pressed to get water. I would recommend having reverse osmosis filters, and distillers available. It is probably wise to use those technologies now, since a report recently came out that prescription drugs are now showing up in many major city's water sources. But, as the quality of water keeps declining it will become even more necessary. I'm tempted to see about adding a backup well, even though I'm currently on city water. Also, you could install rain barrels. Rainwater, isn't particularly safe now either, but at least you could distill it if you got in a bind.

Many of us have shelter now and take it for granted. If you rent or pay a mortgage it would be possible to loose your shelter quite quickly if you loose your job. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck and would be on the street very fast, if they lost their job and the government could no longer afford to pay unemployment insurance benefits. In case you haven't noticed the US government is struggling to pay their debts so don't count on them. One only need look at the Great Depression to see how quickly things can fall apart. I would make sure you have good cash reserves with some physical gold and silver to use in a bind. Also, try to pay off your house now. This might sound hard to do but many of you are living in 3000 square foot houses and don't need them. Try selling your house before the market crashes more then buy a cheap smaller house. Downsizing makes sense. If you own your home, the banks can't kick you out. You then only need to make sure you have enough cash to pay property taxes so the government doesn't take your house. Also, consider installing a wood stove, so you have a backup heat source if you loose access to electricity or natural gas. You can also get wood stoves that you can cook on which is another important factor to keep in mind.

Safety is an area that people in 'civilized' countries definitely seem to take for granted. As society collapses safety will become more and more of an issue. Please see an earlier article I wrote for more information on that topic. http://peakworld.org/blog2.php/2008/03/04/social-collapse-and-peak-oil But, to keep things short and simple in this article just realize that as resources get scarce people will be trying to steal resources from others. I'm not a fan of guns, but I think as society crumbles they may be a necessity to keep your property, food, water, and family members safe. Try taking some gun safety classes and making sure you have one or more with plenty of ammo available. If you're not comfortable with that try making close ties with neighbors and like minded individuals. Just like settlers in the old days, there is safety in numbers, you can always 'circle the wagons'.

Transportation will continue to become an issue. Try to purchase houses that are close to bus lines and close enough that in a bind you could bike in to town if need be. That said make sure you have a few bikes on hand in good working order with spare tires, tubes and various parts.

Also, consider stock piling certain items that could be highly desirable during a harsh decline. If you stock pile more than you need then you can barter for items that you don't have but may be in need of. Bartering can be a great way to help insulate you from a future worthless fiat dollar and possible skyrocketing inflation.

Many articles have been written regarding peak oil and other areas that are peaking or declining. If you are curious about the concept that more than just oil is peaking, check out the main website at http://peakworld.org to read more articles regarding this topic and then discuss areas of decline with other folks at http://peakworld.org/discuss

These are just a few of many possible ideas for preparation, please take a moment of your time and post some of your ideas at http://peakworld.org/discuss