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Depression, It's not that bad!

Posted: 26-07-06

It's been sometime now since I returned from the UK and I feel altogether better for it. Before, I was a bit depressed you see. Almost - well properly depressed and about a great many things both personal and widely known. Among the latter one might consider increasing oil prices as an indicator of Peak Oil having already hit.

I still read and concern myself with this stuff, but somehow I don't let it get to me anymore. It still bothers me and I don't think about Peak Oil and it's potential impact any the less. I guess I have a little more perspective on things now, having spoken to a great many of my friends and family about it last month.

The upshot to my way of thinking now is: A reason why so many people may be up in arms about the whole end-of-cheap-oil thing is that they are keen to keep a hold of their lives 'as-is'; Supermarket shopping, labelled clothing, getting pissed-up on a Friday and Saturday night - that sort of thing. The fact is, and no matter which family member first had it cemented to the memory centres of your cortex - they were right: They never had things like cellular telephones, cheap and mass-produced food and clothing in 'their day'. Not like we do right now that's for sure. Besides, aren't you by now able to see right through the whole fabric of our 'global society'? They are gaping and obvious for all those who choose to look inside and see.

Sure, we've all heard about cheap child labour, producing shoes and garments for companies like Nike, GAP and others, but how many of us have come to realise that everything we consume on a daily basis has been toiled over, much of it by those far less fortunate than ourselves: coffee, trainers, jeans, toys, computer hardware and consumer electronics to name but a few. Or is it that these people are actually the fortunate ones? Because you see - as the Oil Crash worsens you and I may no longer be able to afford such luxuries as a drive out to the coast, or to work even, a new cellphone because the old one is out of date, or a flight to the pacific islands for a long weekend away. But it'll make little or no odds to those in the Nike factories in Indo, China or South America. They knew how to scrounge a living way before the multinational corporations came to town and so they will again once the corporations have left.

So how prepared are the rest of us?