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Old April 15th 08, 06:43 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Phil J
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Posts: 142
Default More fuel for thought

On Apr 15, 11:52*am, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote:

While I agree that alternate forms of energy are a very good thing for
very many reasons there is no reason to do anything at this point that
will trash the world economy because there is still several metric
butt-loads of crude out there.


I don't know of anyone who is suggesting that we trash the world
economy. But I think now is the time to devote some serious resources
to find alternative, sustainable ways to keep our societies running.
If we wait until the end is clearly in sight, we probably won't be
able to afford to spend the resources it will take to solve the
problem.

If you want to get some good perspective on this kind of thing, read
the book Collapse by Jared Diamond. It's a very clear-eyed, down-to-
earth analysis of why past societies have flourished, but then
ultimately collapsed. Over and over again in human history, societies
have over-used their natural resources until they suffered a
catastrophic collapse. This is the rule, not the exception. It is
very rare in human history for a society to live in a way that is
sustainable over the long term. Clearly, our current society is not
sustainable, and if we ignore history we will be condemned to repeat
it.

Phil