Peak oil in particular carries a seduction for a certain critic of modern life -- and here I think most prominently of James Kunstler, though he's not alone. Faced with the conclusion that current modes of living are unsustainable, we're given additional ammunition to say "See? I was right!" Kunstler, for his part, was viciously criticizing suburban living long before he learned about peak oil, and his enlightenment seems to have done nothing but sharpen his disdain. Having built his cart for years, he was overjoyed to finally discover the horse.
That, fundamentally, is my problem with proclaiming that peak oil, the climate crisis, or any other time of pronounced stress will finally "wake people up." We're taking our pre-existing beliefs and fitting data around it. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is exactly the thinking that led to the Iraq War.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Latest post at Grist
It's up, and if I say so myself, it's pretty good. Masturbatory self-quoting follows:
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