Abandon hope all ye merry motorists

Apparently some people still think the economy is actually improving, that the recession has actually ended.  It has not, the collapse is in full swing.  I think part of the non-seeing issue is folks not looking at the big picture.  It is difficult to take the time and step back from the myriad of little problems that harass all of us and really look at where we are, and how we got here.

So let's take a step back and say that petroleum IS our economy.  It is the alpha and omega.  It is the backbone which supports everything else.  That backbone is weakening.   Our economy is predicated on growth.  Growth needs energy.  Without a growing energy supply, the backbone atrophies and weakens. 

Ok, so you see the issue illustrated in these three charts?  In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina crude oil hit a record high of $75 a barrel.  When oil hit $147 a barrel three years later, production barely nudged upward.  At these prices producers want to crank out as much as they can. They can't crank it up anymore.  This IS the bumpy plateau of peak oil.  We are on it right now.

So guess what?  Like so many other things, The Powers That Be decided to try to paper over these issues, leading to charts like this:

Unfortunately we have now reached this point:

Lending, borrowing, throwing money at the problem is literally like adding fuel to a fire at this point.  See what it's doing to the banking industry?

What this means is that, since we are running out of energy, they have tried to pump our economy by throwing money at it.  They have always done this, but now it just won't work anymore.  People are resistant to change, and so, for now, a veneer of Business-as-Usual remains, but make no mistake, our economy, our way of life, everything really...is now a zombie.  It's dead, it just doesn't know it, yet.

Now for a discussion of these very issues, here are two of my favorite people.












I have been pondering why I'm even bothering with my goofy little blog.  A large part of it has to do with my "guilt issues."  I can see the inevitable collapse coming full steam ahead, and I don't know why so many cannot.  But, I will try, in my own way, to help others to see it while there is still time to prepare for it.  That way, when the shit hits the fan and most of the people I know are saying "I can't believe it, how could this happen, why didn't anybody warn us?"  I'll be able to say I tried.  I made a fucking blog to show you what's coming, and what you should be doing.  What more could you want from me?  This blog is basically an exercise to avoid future guilt that I anticipate having.  Don't show up on my doorstep looking for a handout, you won't get it, and I won't feel (terribly) sorry/guilty about turning you away.  The time to get busy is right now.  Good luck.