aletheia

(edited to fix lack of quoting -- reply to #763:) It's extremely difficult to live in the United States and not hear anything but the opposing viewpoint. Watch television, read the newspapers, browse the Internet. The oppressive group-think is overbearing, to the point that I'm concerned that Americans have become a bunch of zombies who have become programmed to buy as much crap as they can afford, and even buy lots of things they can't. And Edmund Burke doesn't apply to my consideration of history in this regard. Rather, I prefer to quote Winston Churchill (though I believe the quote is older), that the generals are always fighting the current war in the way the last one was fought. In this energy crisis, we are fighting it the same way we fought the energy crises of the 1970s. But those were geopolitical in nature. This time it's geological. No measure of political pandering, or saber-rattling or negotiations or even drilling can stop this energy crisis. The only way you can stop a geologically induced energy crisis is to use less oil than what's available for production. And if oil is depleting, which it soon will be if it hasn't already, then we have to reduce our consumption faster than oil production is declining. KJP, Your comments remind me of an old high school Spanish teacher I once had. With righteous indignation, he informed the class that we've "been told" that the Spanish conquistadors were bold and brave explorers, but he wanted us to know that they were a "bunch of S.O.B.s!" Of course, every teacher I had since, oh, fourth grade, had said pretty much exactly the same thing as my Spanish teacher. Perhaps my classmates really were told something different (I doubt it), but I find it tedious that some people continue to insist their entirely conventional and widely-disseminated viewpoints are somehow being suppressed and drowned out by the ignorant masses. It might surprise you to know that I've actually read several books on New Urbanism (James Howard Kunstler, of course, as well as Andres Duany & Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk). I've also read Robert Bruegmann's book on sprawl and a number of articles by Joel Kotkin. I do find some of the New Urbanist ideas attractive (I live a half hour from the Kentlands in Montgomery County, MD), but am generally turned off by the second-rate sociology (especially by JHK) and claims of the alleged alienation, cultural and moral impoverishment of suburban dwellers, claims supported by assertions but not evidence. It may be true that "peak oil" is upon us, and that may very well "change everything," but there is a long history of very smart, intelligent people making all sorts of apocalyptic predictions about population and resource availability (see Ehrlich, Paul and his supporters) that turned out to be not only wrong, but spectacularly so. No one is immune to group think (especially those who loudly proclaim otherwise). I do take the energy situation seriously (why aren't we discussing nuclear?). Given history, I also try to be respectful of other people's opinions and maintain some humility.