high tide

The USA seems already to be taking on the appearance of a post-oil economy with growing poverty, mad politicians, pointless wars and a huge divide between the ignorant rich and the resourceful poor. Many are moving to New Hampshire and elsewhere where they can start living independently. Gold and silver is being hoarded, weapons purchased and new skills acquired. House prices have plumetted and the current government continues to develop George Bush's post-9/11 version of socialism. Collapse is in the air. So the latest story coming from the US is both weird and understandable. It's all about Tide, the detergent!

This from Whiskey and Gunpowder, essential reading for anyone who wants to survive over the coming years!

Money Laundering (by Means of Laundry Detergent)

The story from The Daily swept through the Internet with blazing speed. The report: Criminals around the country are stealing an inordinate number of bottles of Tide laundry detergent. This is not because the criminals plan to go into the laundry business. There is not a "grime wave." It seems that these Tide bottles are functioning as a store of value, even a form of money, within many black markets.

As the story memorably puts it, on the street, Tide is known as 'liquid gold.' Harrison Sprague of the Prince George's County, Maryland, Police Department says that his undercover agents are asking for drugs but being offered Tide instead. They are busting drug rings and finding more blue liquid than white powder.

To be sure, some news outlets are raising some questions about this story, pointing out that Tide theft doesn't seem to be a national problem. For my part, I have no problem with the credibility of the report. In fact, it seems entirely reasonable that new forms of currency are popping up in black markets. This is why stores are starting to add anti-theft devices to the bottles.

The driving force here is a war on the dollar. Carrying around vast amounts of cash raises questions among the authorities. It is increasingly difficult to "wash" the money through the banking system. And in any case, dollars are always losing value. So it makes sense to look for other ways to facilitate exchange. This is hardly unusual. The digital economy is getting ever better at bartering services and software as an alternative to letting dollars change hands.

But if we are to think of Tide as money, that means its use goes beyond the barter stage. People aren't acquiring Tide to wash their clothes, but rather to trade for other things, like drugs. In a limited sense, then, Tide is being used to facilitate indirect exchange. That is to say, it has become a money.

Actually, there are many conditions in which alternative monies can come to exist. You can see this among kids when they trade candy following Halloween night. The kids will gather and first begin to barter, but as the trading term continues, one candy will emerge as the one to get -- not to consume, but to trade for other things. For a brief time, one candy will emerge with monetary properties. As trading comes to an end, that very candy will be demonetized and re-emerge as a consumption good.

Money is frequently reinvented under the right conditions, emerging from a commodity currently in use. Cigarettes become money in prison. War zones become hotbeds of currency competition too, in anything from liquor to matches. Throughout history, money has taken many forms, from shells to salt to animal skins. The usual qualities of a commodity that economists say make for good money: durability, divisibility, high value per unit of weight, uniformity of quality (fungibility), recognizability.

Tide doesn't qualify in every respect. However, it is durable in the sense that it doesn't spoil. It is divisible. The tamper-proof top provides a measure of security against counterfeiting. True, it's not as good as a precious metal, but traders aren't worried about that. They are just looking for some marketable commodity that can take the place of the dollar, which has become extremely risky to use for blatantly illegal purposes.

The government's war on the dollar as a means to fight the drug war wins nothing in this case. So long as there is a market, so long as there is demand and supply, there will be pressure to come up with some means to make indirect exchange possible. Or so Ludwig von Mises explained in his treatise The Theory of Money & Credit, written in 1912, at the dawn of the central banking age.

One major problem is Tide doesn't have a stable supply, so its value as a means of exchange will be subject to inflationary pressures. The more that enters the black market, the more its price falls relative to the goods and services it can buy -- the inflationary tide could rise and rise.

But as you think about it, as bad as Tide might be as a currency, there is a sense in which the dollar is actually worse. It costs less to print on linen than it does to make a bottle of laundry detergent, meaning that the dollar is more likely to be inflated into oblivion. And whatever is wrong with detergent, if the price falls low enough, the producer doesn't have any reason to keep making it. Profit and loss signals govern how much is produced. Its physicality alone imposes some limit -- and this is not the case for the Fed's data entries that it calls money.

The monetization of Tide demonstrates something critically important about the institution of money itself. Its existence in the market owes nothing to the government or some social contract. Its emergence, as Carl Menger argued in the late 19th century, grows out of market exchange. Selecting which commodity is to become money is a matter for entrepreneurs and market forces.

No central planner -- even one within the black market community -- decided that Tide should become money. Also note that Tide is produced entirely privately, which provides an indication of what could be true of all money today. We don't need government to select it and make it. The market can handle this just fine.

There is a final lesson to observe in this case: It is sometimes asserted that only government is smart enough to be able to select, make and manage monetary affairs. Surely, private parties can't handle this job, and the attempt will just lead to chaos. But this is not so. Private markets can do all these things, including juggling many different currencies in competition with each other and managing the price relationships between them. This goes on in the developing world all the time, with even young children learning the math and workings of the currency market.

The biggest problem Tide money now faces is a security issue. When you see the armored car driving up to the local Walgreens, you'll know that they are working on getting the problem solved. The sight can make us all nostalgic for the old days when our official money was something at least as real and useful as laundry detergent.

lessons from the usa

Taken straight from Whiskey and Gunpowder.


Whiskey & Gunpowder


by Brandon Smith


March 9, 2012



How to Become an American Extremist...In Style!






For most of us in America today, childhood was a time of vast and unassailable dreams. What we could become, what the world could become, was limited only by the strength of spirit setting aloft our ideas, and this strength, as all young people instinctively know, is infinite. While the possibilities of the future seemed boundless, few of us, including myself, ever considered “political extremism” as a viable lifestyle decision. Astronaut? Maybe. Filmmaker? Sure. Enemy Belligerent? Not so much...






Frankly, history has proven over and over again that the majority is usually wrong about most things. Groups and collectives do not create, or discover, or advance humanity. Only individuals are capable of this. All great concepts begin as seeds within independent people, and then spread like wildfire as they educate others. A society that strives for artificial normality and collectivist harmonization is a society on the verge of chaos and death. Only free hearts and minds give man hope of survival.






In my view, that which is extreme is NOT that which violates the boundaries of “normal” society, but which violates the boundaries of inherent truth, and conscience. In an honest society, an extremist is someone who denies the universal foundations of existence, and tries to play demigod in a fantasy world of moral relativism and rationalized criminality. A disjointed freak of nature that seeks to impose his twisted will upon others. Unfortunately, “normal” society is not honest. And the honest definition of extremism is not the most popular amongst the frothing elitists that reside over the functions of our political structure today.






Life is a bummer like that...






So instead, why not embrace the label that the establishment is so keen to pigeonhole us with, and make it our own? I have found that the less I care about the critical eye of others, the more free I am to change things for the better. Certainly, by any standard of our current national leadership and by the throngs that support it, I am an extremist. Luckily, this does not concern me. It is not important to be accepted by the mainstream, it is only important to remain objectively correct in one’s position. In the grand scheme of the world, to be a thorn in the side of so-called “proper society” is a sure fire path to a life without regret. America was founded by undesirables, and built by non-conformists. We are a nation whose blood is thick with defiance and outright knock-out revolutionary badass anti-authoritarian hostility. We cut kings down to size.





At least, we used to...







In modern America, it’s not nice or pleasant or practical to approach political problems with the attitude of a radical. That puts people off. And there’s nothing worse than having people not like you, right? Better to play the game and hope that a better world will simply materialize out of the ether. Don’t rock the boat, especially when you’re in it...






For those of us in the Liberty Movement, this passive approach just doesn’t satiate our ravenous hunger for the bizarre. And by “bizarre”, I mean honest. Our time here is short, and usually ugly, and filled with people and circumstances and disasters and biases and abhorrences and painful moments and sometimes smells that we would much rather not deal with. The least we can ask for is a little truth. If I have to be confronted with crusted wheezing gas-bloated nightmare figures like John McCain or Joseph Lieberman, men who would label me a terrorist if they could, then I should be allowed the satisfaction of a concrete fact or two before I am shipped of to the nearest Halliburton run military sanctioned prison facility for re-education and naked dog-piling (which these men seem to particularly enjoy).






The truth is the first and greatest sin in the dark pestilent pit of any active tyranny. I recommend it highly. Seek the truth, and ye shall be fined...or jailed. This is the first step towards a glorious career as an American extremist, and living such a lifestyle can be fun and exciting, if one follows these simple guidelines:








1) Make A Ruckus






Identify the imperative issues of the day that most people don’t want to be confronted with........and then talk about them constantly. But don’t just talk about them; talk about them intelligently and with an informative stance. That really drives the willfully ignorant crazy. Make your position and the facts behind it visible in the mainstream, through writing, videos, protest, graffiti, bumper stickers, tatts, whatever...






The establishment’s first line of defense is not necessarily to suppress the truth, but to keep it on the fringe of society, out of sight of the average citizen. Your job is to shove the truth in people’s faces, so that they are forced to at least acknowledge that it exists, even if they don’t want to accept it.






2) Laugh At Petty Authority






Most authority in our modern world is, really, only petty authority. True authority is fostered by a sense of respect that is earned through leadership by example. The greatest authorities are those who teach, not those who command, and political governance is null and void if that governance was attained through subversion and lies.






Of course, this view is a proven fast track to the nearest solitary confinement cell, but hey, living such a rock ‘n roll flavored “extreme” existence is not without risks...






Extremists recognize that a dishonest politician is only a conman in a nice suit, and nothing more. They recognize that a law enforcement official that has no regard for Constitutional liberties, or for human decency, is just a gun toting goon in a badge and costume, and is not due any more respect than a common criminal. They see alphabet agencies as extensions of a system that no longer holds any principles beyond sustaining its own wretched existence, and rightly look down upon those who would sell out to such cancerous bureaucracies for a paycheck and some undeserved prestige. They laugh at such people, because in the grand scheme of things, these “great pillars” of our nation are, in fact, tragically ridiculous.






3) Refuse To Be Pegged With Arbitrary Labels






I once entered into a debate with a long time Democrat over the painfully farcical presidency of Barack Obama. After discovering that I held the same exact views on George W. Bush, he became frustrated and nearly infuriated, because he could not place me into a preconceived political box. He complained that my stance could not be readily categorized, and this interfered with his ability to argue with me.






I replied.... “Good! That’s exactly the way it should be!”






Extremism itself is an arbitrary label, whose definition is shifted by those in power to fit any person or group that happens to get in their way at any particular time. However, to take this label and make it ours, we definitely can’t allow ourselves to be affiliated with hollow and meaningless political parties like the Democrats or the GOP, not to mention all the prefabricated and shallow philosophical platforms they engender. Every problem and situation should be approached as new, and should be dealt with using social and legal methods that WORK, as opposed to those that happen to follow a particular party line. There should be, at bottom, as many political viewpoints as there are individuals, not only two homogenized standards that we are forced to choose from in the hopes that one will be “less destructive” than the other.






4) Prepare For Life Without Window Shopping






A surefire way to become an extremist today is to suggest preparation for any kind of disaster. For the average American, there is no such thing as a tomorrow without Happy Meals and Nikes. To suggest the possibility is akin to dancing naked on the freeway with a Gadsden Flag. Despite the fact that in countries across the planet setting aside goods for survival is as common as mowing the lawn here in the U.S., many in America can’t fathom adopting such habits. This is because many still believe that the system will protect them from harm no matter what happens. The “extremist” thinks differently.






He realizes that there have been too many instances in the past when government was not helpful to those in the midst of catastrophe, and in some cases, was even the cause of greater harm. He seeks to remove his dependence on this system, and procure the insurance necessary to help himself if the need ever arises.






The Federal Government has seen fit to identify the mere act of prepping as a sign of possible extremism, so, let’s get “extreme”, shall we? I would rather be extreme and alive, than a non-threatening and law abiding corpse.






5) Build A Terrifying Gun Collection






If the contents of your house doesn’t scare the living hell out of your yuppie next door neighbor, then you aren’t an extremist yet. Time to pay off the layaway on that 50. Cal!






Firearms ownership is a widespread American pastime, and is growing by the month. However, there seems to be a misconception that this pastime is about our “sportsman’s heritage”, or self defense against local crime. Nope. That’s not why the extremist stockpiles an arsenal (an arsenal is defined as however many guns you happen to have when the ATF shows up at your doorstep). He owns scary guns to defend against rogue governments and the rise of the totalitarian dynamic. Freaky, I know...






Forget all this sportsman nonsense! We own weapons to dissuade oligarchy from getting comfortable on our couches! Our concern is not the wildlife...






6) Question The Accepted Reality Of Everything






You can’t be an extremist if you believe everything you hear from the TV. Actually, you can’t be an extremist if you believe ANYTHING you hear on the TV. An extremist takes absolutely no stock in what the mainstream media says without further investigation, and would rather be caught dead than caught parroting talking points from cable news broadcasts.






Is a certain philosophical or political position suddenly considered “common knowledge”? Be suspicious. Is a particular methodology or debate point appearing in every journalistic outlet at the same exact time with the same exact one sided narrative? Time to pull out the B.S. detector. Is a politician opening his mouth and talking? Have a shovel handy...






The extremist’s job is not necessarily to be contradictory just for the sake of contrariness. It is, though, his job to be critical, discerning, and discriminating against that which doesn’t hold up to the light of candid examination. While there is always room for a certain amount of “interpretation”, ultimately, if a circumstance rings false, it must be exposed. Period.






Even if that exposure is harmful to the state of our country or our culture in the short term, deceit left unchecked in the long term is the single greatest destroyer of entire civilizations, and is absolutely unacceptable, especially to the extremist...






I think it is clear that extremists in an environment of despotism are in most cases people who refuse to abandon that which makes humanity whole. We are, indeed, dangerous, but only to those who would do liberty harm. A life of conformity is a life wasted, and a life of slavery is no life at all. Whatever we may be called today, what we leave behind is ultimately what defines us. Labels are irrelevant.






If I am an “extremist” because I refuse to participate in the delusion that is America in the new millennium, then so be it. I am more than happy to join the long list of insurrectionaries who inhabit this nation today and who have been the legitimate makers of the world for generations. Everything in history revolves not around governments, but rule-breakers. They alone decide whether humanity will live tight in the fist of the authoritarian machine, or live free in the wilds of unbridled independence.

british boys

There's something special coming out of Bristol right now, the fantastic Marmalade Sky. With their memorable anthemic songs and mod style they blast everyone else off stage at the moment. As Dan ambitiously declared at the start of their Louisiana gig last night 'We are the Future!'

You know I'm good at tipping bands and if you'd taken my advice over the last few years you'd have got to see Plan B, Enter Shikari and Mumm-ra well before they got, respectively, too bland, too big and broken up ...

The Louie is probably my favourite venue. In all my years in bands I've never played anywhere so small. I've been in bigger living rooms! Last night was fun but too many people missed it!

Their next gig is at the Cooler in Park Street on Good Friday. You will really doing yourself a big favour if you get to see them whilst you still can. But be careful, if you're a bit delicate or wimpy keep out of the moshing area!

things are getting scarier

We're looking at buying a crossbow. And learning how to use it. But I'd much rather get in a store of guns and ammo. Dangerous times are getting closer.

This from the superb Whiskey and Gunpowder with a rather more robust US view on our seemingly inevitable future.

The Other Things

The Boy Scout motto -- Be Prepared -- is probably considered evidence of terrorist (or at least extremist) inclinations in the USSA Today. I won't even get into the parts about hiking in the woods, carrying knives and practicing "survival" strategies. In my day, we even had a merit badge for marksmanship with a gun.

But, weekend camping expeditions aside, how to be prepared in situ? In your home? For when the SHTF?

Guns (and ammo) are obviously good things to have. And every person who wants to be prepared for a possible fecal-flinging scenario ought to have them. So also food supplies and medicine. Check.

Then I got to thinking about related stuff that is arguably just as essential which some "be prepared" people may not have taken into consideration -- but really ought to.

A heat source, for example.

Not just for cooking, either. What if the SHTF in winter? If the utilities go down, and stay down, how will you keep from freezing? How will you keep the pipes in your house from bursting? Imagine three or four months, potentially, of freezing winter weather on your own. Some people heat with natural gas, propane or oil -- the latter two of which, not being dependent upon a grid pipeline, can supply you for a few months if need be. I however prefer old school.

I prefer wood.

For one, it is free (provided you have some land -- which you ought to, if you took steps to Be Prepared) and doesn't require you to leave your place to obtain it -- or even to deal with the outside world at all. For two, it is simple and (if you get a good wood stove/insert) extremely efficient. You might even look into something that's very popular in my neck of the woods: An outdoor wood stove. It heats your home and your water, too. The other advantage to these puppies is you only have to feed them wood twice a day. They'll slow-burn all night. And they run on other fuels, too -- such as pellets. (See here for an example.)

Provided you planned ahead and bought a least one top-drawer chain saw (I recommend Stihl) stored up a few spare chains and a sharpening tool for it, plus plenty of chain lube and treated gas (two five gallon jugs will last along time) you're covered -- and won't freeze or have to eat cold food. Since we bugged out to the Deep Country, I have made it policy to cut and split wood at least one year in advance. So right now, I am working on wood for the winter of 2013-2014. I already have the winter of 2012/2013 covered.

You should, too.

Next, illumination. Lighting that's independent of the grid.

Ordinary candles are ok (and cozy) for a normal, short-lived blackout. But what about a more severe scenario? Regular candles don't last very long -- or those that do (like those nice-smelling Yankee candles your wife probably likes) cost a fortune. Propane/gas lights (i.e., camping lights) are not a good idea indoors. I bought a case of 100 hour (four days' continuous use each) liquid paraffin, smokeless and ordorless emergency candles. Used prudently to provide a few hours of necessary light at night, a case of these should keep you out of the dark for six months or more. If you shop around, you shoud be able to find them for about $5 each -- which is a deal compared with something like those $25 a piece Yankee candles. (See here for some more details about this.)

Next item, dihydrogen monoxide. You know... water. If the poo flies, you will need a steady source of safe water. In suburbia, where people are dependent on the grid, the water could be turned off -- or worse, contaminated. This worry was among the many reasons why we fled to the country, where our water is in fact our water -- literally ours. It comes from underneath our land, from our private well. So long as we have power to operate the pump (for which we have a generator, which with a manageable amount of stored, treated fuel -- say 20 gallons or so -- will run the pump as necessary for six months or longer) we will have reliable -- and known safe -- water. Storing a few gallons for Just in Case is fine, short term but if you haven't got the ability to provide you and your family with safe drinking (and cooking; freeze dried food is not much good without it) water for several months, you ought to be thinking about how to do that.

Sooner rather than later.

Finally, cheap preps. It's fine to talk about buying large cans of freeze-dried food or cases of MREs -- if you can afford to spend a couple grand on that. Not everyone can. But quick oats are cheap; pasta, too. You can buy large quantities for almost nothing (example, I just added another "two pack" of Quaker Oats -- 4.5 pounds each, 9 pounds total -- enough to keep your belly full for 10 days or more -- for less than $10).

For a protein supply, think about chickens. Live ones. A small flock of 15 or so birds will give you 6-10 fresh eggs a day on average. Do not eat the birds themselves until they are no longer productive (about two years). If you have land enough for them to forage, they are nearly self-sustaining. (You'll need to buy feed for winter, or at least, feed them something). But they are very inexpensive and easy to keep and will keep you supplied almost perpetually with high-quality protein to supplement your stocks.

All this is surely far from perfect or all-inclusive. But it's a good start -- and that's what being prepared is all about, ultimately.

the end of the occupation

Seven views of Bristol's magnificent College Green.

This was the loaction for the disgraceful 'Occupy' camp which was finally evicted a few weeks ago. This was a vile Third World shanty town full of rich kids, drug addicts, the mentally ill and violent perverts. It was presented as some sort of 'protest' camp, which is hilarious considering the reality. The scum that were 'living' here promised they'd pay to make good the site, but of course vanished back to their posh homes before their names and money could be taken. So the bill falls on the ratepayers of Bristol, but I reckon it'll be worth every penny.

After clearing all the used needles, broken glass and filth around the site, the land is now being prepared (giving a worm feast to the seagulls, it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good!) and turves will be laid soon. The site will be available to the REAL people of Bristol again in April,  just as Spring kicks in.

So what was this visitation that descended on our fair city just a few short months ago? A bunch of reactionary students pitched tents, immediately churning up the grass, followed shortly by all the dregs of Bristol, the homeless, the mentally ill, the drug takers and the sex offenders. My own stepdaughter was pestered by one of these bastards.

We were then subjected to being banned from using OUR own green space in the city by these outsiders and dregs. This lasted almost three months. Our weak council and even weaker church just let them get on with it, whilst 99% of Bristolians seethed! We had our very own No-Go area in the middle of OUR city. Interestingly when the long overdue eviction order was issued all these cowardly scum vanished, no doubt before they were asked to pay for the damage their decadent indulgence had done.

And what were they 'protesting' about? Everything and nothing it seems. They supported a strong state, jobs for all and pensions for all - but also supported the destruction of the system that provides all this! They supported extreme left wing communism whilst also supporting 'freedom' for everyone - as long as you were prepared to live in a future where a strong state decided where you worked and lived, who you'd marry and how you'd fill your spare time.

They seemed to have no idea of Climate Change or Peak Oil or the real issues that face all of us. They knew NOTHING of economics or human nature. They were the ultimate outsiders, upper middle-class bureaucratic socialists who just want to be coddled from the cradle to the grave, whilst at the same time removing the very system that provides the excess wealth to alllow this to happen.

They also did two things that would disgust any right thinking person. They claimed to represent the majority, indeed the '99%', reducing all of us individuals to a percentage, robomen perhaps? In reality do any of us really know anyone who is actually like this? Perhaps in the 1960s, not now. In reality the 99% are hard working anti-Occupy types who are desperate to keep their families fed and well and would fight to the death to preserve capitalism. The '1%' are these freeloading, unthinking, unwashed retard scum.

And secondly they tried to paint revolutions around the world, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, as part of the Occupy 'movement'. Greece, oh that was Occupy. Libya, that was Occupy losing their lives on the streets of Tripoli, Syria, Occupy again, even the English riots of 2011 - Occupy of course! They even stretched back into the pre-Occupy past and tried to claim those events as Occupy inspired!

In reality this was a nasty, small minded attempt to wind people up. There was no philosophy behind it, no interface with reality, no substance. A few people who should know better stupidly tried to jump on the bandwagon, ranging from brain-dead linguistic upper middle-class retard Noah Chomsky to Martian refugee Ed Milliband. All with their own agenda, taking advantage of the chaos Occupy were trying to spread.

So Occupy is now dead, not just in Bristol but everywhere. Of course. Without substance they have just withered away. I'd recommend they get drug-free, start businesses, learn some post Peak Oil skills, get married, start families and start becoming part of the community, rather than parasites on it. We shall not see their likes again, the last decadent, reactionary fling of the Oil Rich Age.

turning back the socialist tide

I had the misfortune to glimpse the screaming headlines of socialist rag the Daily Mail today. Something about attacks on christianity. Good!! About fucking time ...

.... except that it turns out it's nothing of the sort. It seems that councils have been illegally including 'prayers' in their agendas even though it is banned! Yet if you read the Daily Mail it seems that 'christians' are being prevented from worshipping their invisible friends.

For fuck's sake!! No one is preventing retards from their wishful thinking nonsense. What has happened is that this drivel will no longer be forced on normal people.

Remember that 'christianity' is a foreign religion, imposed on Britain through the use of fear and violence., It has no part to play in a modern country and hopefully it will retreat to the barbaric Middle East which spawned it and where it belongs - if it belongs anywhere at all. Let the christian mullahs in Saudi Arabia continue to teach kids that the sun revolves around the earth. Who cares?

Britain has its own religion, which goes back tens of thousands of years, in fact before the earth was even 'created' according to the christians. But we don't expect non-Pagans (or Pagans) to have to take part in some sort of ritual before discussing council matters!

The Green Party used to do a thing called 'attunement' before meetings. My first act as party leader in West Sussex was to ban this ridiculous hippy practice which was clearly preventing many people from joining the party. This is the same sort of thing.

And remember, christianity is one of the five pillars of socialism, along with envy, violence, ignorance and middle-class guilt. It has no part in the modern world.

Good riddance!

one step beyond

You know things are reaching a crisis point when your local subpostmaster starts talking about the end of growth and the importance of building local suppliers so you can keep going when the wholesale food market breaks down!

It is happening out there, there are signs everywhere. Fluctuating oil prices, revolutions, pay freezes, historically low interest rates, long established names vanishing from the high street, sacred cows being slaughtered.

There is, at least amongst thinking people (which excludes by definition politicians), a concensus that growth has finished, probably for good, and the more enlightened among us realise this is due to the end of cheap energy, followed by the reduction in energy of all sorts.

Even Transition cling on to the idea that the future will be different, slower, more community-based but also familiar. We all try to cling on to the idea that most of the things we have now - with the exception of cars and meat - will still exist, but in a  different form - in the future.

But will it? Will we create a network of sustainable electric railways, or will many of them revert to (wood burning) steam? That's quite a change. Will we really generate our own electricity in our homes, or will we learn to live without electricity? Will we still have a network of shops - not supermarkets obviously - or will we all just grow our own food and make our own stuff?

Will the future lay at some point between these two points?

Who knows?

The point I'm trying to make is that the future may be even more different than we imagine, and we need to psych ourselves up for that possibility. It may not be quite as smooth a transitional ride as we hope.

blonde elephant

I don't get Boris Johnson. I get the buffoon bit, and the amiable upper class dodderer, that's easy.

But why on earth is he trying to push this new London airport lunacy?? Why isn't he spending his time

promoting a city wide tram system for London? New bike routes? New railways?

What is it with toffs and nostalgia?

The reality of air travel is that it has, at most, two decades left. There are no alternatives to kerosene produced from oil to fuel the things. Oh, they might make a few prototype solar or electric gimmicky machines, that will end up in museums and are totally unscaleable, but the days when you and I can just jump on a plane and travel just about anywhere for next to nothing are soon coming to an end.

The conclusion? We need to start planning the scaling down of air travel and the associated infrastructure. We need to be thinking about how airports will be used in twenty or thirty years' time when the planes have stopped running. The idea of a new airport is absolutely hilarious. It will never be needed. It's such a waste of time and money to even think about such things.

So let's get real and start putting in real infrastructure that is sustainable and useful, in other words railways and tramways. Forget the rest, that's the past.

2011 holidays

A strange year.  We only took three holidays, which perhaps reflects the economic situation. Cuba in May was horrible, despite there being a few redeeming features! I wanted to visit a communist country before they all vanished from the earth. It was horrible seeing people in such poverty with no way out, until the system's overthrown. It's beginning to collapse, and no doubt in 10 years time will be a thriving capitalist nation, providing the whole world hasn't slipped into permanent depression by then! We are seeing the end of growth and the start of a  new Rail Age, so all is not lost!

In September we visisted Switzerland, ostensibly for a Vagabond Reunion, but we knew few of the people there and they weren't from my generation. After the opening meal we had nothing more to do with it - it seemed terribly disorganised. So the rest of the holiday was BRILLIANT, with trips to Montreux and Gstaad being the highlights. The weather was superb.

In December we visited New York City for five nights, staying in Greenwich Village. Fantastic! We had a great time and saw a different side of the city with visits to the High Line, Roosevelt Island and the Meatpacking District for example. We also had a great day out with a friend from Bristol who's lived out there for years, with a trip to Bear Mountain, a classic US mall and Ramsey, a typical suburban American town (with TWO railway stations!)

redundancy

I've aimed a lot of vitriol at the faltering Occupy middle-class movement, and it's not difficult to explain why. They are trying to present themselves as radical, even sustainable, but in reality they are desperately trying to hang on to the past of plenty, where people like them breezed through life, enjoying free education (often in a useless subject), getting their own home in their twenties and having a job for life, followed by a pension through their dotage. They are so tied up in their middle class world that they've missed the fact that the world is totally changing and leaving them miles behind.

I can write, but sometimes others can write better than I can (and it's so much easier to cut and paste). This is the brilliant Bill Bonner on normality. If you're a member of Occupy you'll probably be far happier not reading this. But for the 99% of you out there that don't have closed minds, here goes ...

*** What if the entire period from the invention of the steam engine to the invention of the internet were not the normal thing, but the abnormal thing?

What if the ‘lost decade’ we have just gone through is actually the mean... the usual... the normal thing? And what if – after nearly three centuries – we have just now reverted to it?

Until about two weeks ago, we thought human beings had only existed for 100,000 years. Now, archaeologists are guessing that we’ve been around as a species for twice as long.

You know what that means? It means that our mean rate of growth – already negligible – is actually only about half what we thought it was. In other words, it took not 99,700 years for humans to invent the steam engine, but 199,700. And now, what if we are not going on to something new, but back to something old? What if the new age is really more like the old age... where growth and progress were unknown.

Let’s see, the typical person in 1750 lived better than the typical person in say 100,000 BC. The person in 100,000 BC lived in a cave or maybe a wigwam. The typical person in 1750 lived in a hovel. There were some great houses too, of course. By the 18th century, humans had been building with arches and columns... and domes... dressed stone with elaborate decoration... for thousands of years. But most people had no access to those monuments. They lived in whatever they could put together – usually of wood or mud.

They lived on what they could grow... with their own hands, or with the help of domesticated draft animals. They hunted wild animals... or got their calories from their own herds and flocks.

The person from 100,000 BC was a hunter-gatherer. But his life was not all bad. At least he got plenty of fresh air and didn’t get caught in traffic jams or have to watch television.

But the progress between 200,000 BC, when mankind is now thought to have emerged... to 1765, when Watt produced his first engine... was extremely slow. In any given year, it was nearly negligible... imperceptible. Over thousands of years there was little progress of any sort, which was reflected in static human populations with static levels of well-being.

Then, after 1765, progress took off like a rocket. Over the next 200 years, the lives of people in the developed countries, and the human population, generally, changed completely.

It took 199,700 years for the human population to go from zero to 125 million. But over the next 250 years it added about six billion people. Every five years, approximately, it added the equivalent of the entire world’s population in 1750. ‘Progress’ made it possible. People had much more to eat. Better sanitation. Better transportation (which eliminated famines, by making it possible to ship large quantities of food into areas where crops had failed). The last major famine in Western Europe occurred in the 18th century when crops failed. After that, the famines in the developed world at least have been intentional – caused largely by government policies.

Progress abolished hunger. It permitted huge increases in population. And it brought rising real wages and rising standards of living.

By the late 20th century, people took progress and GDP growth for granted. Governments went into debt, depending on future growth to pull them out. So did corporations and households. Everyone counted on growth. Spending and tax policies were based on encouraging growth. The enormous growth in government itself was made possible by economic growth. After all, as we’ve seen in our Theory of Government, beyond the essentials, government is either parasitic or superfluous. The richer the host economy, the more government you get.

Today, there is hardly a stock, bond, municipal plan, government budget, student loan, retirement programme, housing development, business plan, political campaign, health care programme or insurance company that doesn’t rely on growth. Everybody expects growth to resume... after we have put this crisis behind us.

Growth is normal, they believe.

But what if it isn’t normal? What if it was a once-in-a-centi-millenium event, made possible by cheap energy?

the last gasps ....

If you still have any doubt that the world's oil is fast running out, the fact that even the UK may attempt to use oil produced from the Canadian Tar Sands - the most uneconomic, damaging to the environment and, frankly, CRAZY oil that has been or ever will be produced, should make it clear!

We have tied our econmies to oil, a dirty and finite resource that is now reaching its end, rather than making the infrastrucure changes (rail travel, renewables, either abandoning or rail-connecting the suburbs) governments are burying their heads in the sand and trying to keep things the way they were. This is not only stupid and dishonest, but extremely dangerous. If we don't start redesigning our societies NOW we will be leaving future generations living in extreme poverty, environmental destruction and violent climate change. Do you really want your kids and their kids to inherit this legacy, when we ALL know what needs doing?

Please read the following and act accordingly. Remember that the change from oil to post-oil requires that we use the remaining oil to help make these changes. The fact that many of us still think it's okay to waste this resource DRIVING to out of town shopping areas to buy more tat (made with oil!) shows that the government needs to take the lead. In this at least we are too dim or too selfish to think of anyone else!

This morning 50 Greenpeace activists are blockading the Department for Transport with two immobilised cars parked in front of the entrances and a giant handshake. Our government is trying to scupper legislation that will block tar sands oil - the dirtiest, most polluting form of oil there is - from being sold at UK petrol pumps.

Mining for tar sands is wrecking the Canadian boreal forest, destroying the homelands of indigenous people, and accelerating dangerous climate change.

So why then is the UK government trying to sabotage legislation that would block tar sands oil from European petrol pumps? Well it looks like they've been lobbied hard by the Canadian government and big oil. Now it's your turn to lobby.

Please write to Nick Clegg: he needs to tell the ministry for transport to stop standing in the way of green legislation. It's time Clegg acted on the green credentials he keeps talking about.

The tar sands deposits of heavy oil mixed with clay and sand lie below the surface of the Canadian wilderness. To extract the tar, oil companies destroy the Canadian boreal forest, gouge out hundreds of metres of top soil, and turn the landscape into a gaping black pit. Two tonnes of earth has to be dug up and processed to produce each barrel of tar sands oil.

Worst of all, tar sands oil creates three times the emissions per barrel that you would get from normal crude. There's no way tar sands oil makes any sense for our environment or climate.

Next week, officials will meet from across Europe to approve the plan that would prevent tar sands oil from ending up at the pumps. If the proposal goes ahead it would deal a major blow to oil industry plans to expand Canada's tar sands open cast mining operations.

Right now the vote could go either way because of the UK-led diplomatic effort to scupper it. That's why we need your help to put pressure on the government to stop its attempts to scupper the legislation.

Please join the lobby for legislation to block tar sands from Europe and write to Nick Clegg today.

lack of focus

Amazing that the Occupy protest in Bristol is STILL going on.

There is one HUGE problem with Occupy, and it is the reason that the whole thing is falling apart. They have stupidly aligned themselves with the left. The left has a TINY amount of support in the UK, about 1%. So the Occupy movement is doomed from the start for this reason.

And why has Occupy aligned itself with the left? I suspect it is because of the total lack of imagination of the people behind this. They really do believe that this is some sort of crisis of capitalism when the opposite is of course true. The bail out of banks and car companies, insurance and finance set ups was 100% SOCIALIST, in a peculair attempt tp preserve jobs and ailing businesses. Capitalism would never allow this. For capitalism to progress, and if nothing else it is a fantastically progressive economic system, companies that are failing HAVE to close, so that new, leaner businesses can take their place. This is in reality the SECOND CRISIS OF SOCIALISM (the first was the collapse of the Soviet Union of course).

So what Occupy are proposing is more of the same thing that has caused the situation in the first place! This makes them probably the most reactionary and pointless 'protesters' ever seen.

In reality of course there is already a quiet evolution going on as we are faced with zero or falling growth and the end of cheap oil. The true evolutionaries are all involved at different levels in this process. Whether it's restoring closed railways, pushing permaculture, starting cooperatives, building and installing alternative energy set ups, relearning old craft skills or starting community initiatives.

I suspect you've seen the danger here. Believe it or not once, back in the eighties, the Green Party was a genuinely radical party, yet today it is just a watered down version of New Labour, with a tiny patina of green awareness. Result - all the radicals and progressives left. Some of us kept going with proper projects (such as the New S&D), others probably left politics altogether. I have heard that some in Transition are trying to set up a dialogue with Occupy - this would be a disaster if it happened. Occupy's agenda has nothing to do with the future, it is firmly set in old politics (socialism/communism) and assumes that there will always be a strong nanny state providing jobs from cradle to grave (so 1950s!). Occupy is the last fling of the old fogeys, the Empire Loyalists, New Labour, One Nation Tories, the BNP, every half thought out, of it's time, lack of vision 'movement' that was in reality just an agenda thing for a tiny minority interest group.

If Transition, or any other progressive movement, gets tainted by association with Occupy - which will be a laughing stock everywhere within months - it will be finished, which isn't fair.

To conclude, Occupy is simply a last gasp of the old world, a nostalgic hankering back for the big welfare state of the post war time of plenty, a fan club for the Baby Boomers, cornucopians who will refuse to get their hands dirty - in short the chaff that will not survive Peak Oil.

Harsh I know, but can anyone actually prove otherwise?

this is what Occupy want to preserve ...

 It is astonishing how the supermarkets shun locally grown food - even when it's readily available.

Local, seasonal food is healthy, cheap and environmentally-friendly. It supports British growers and reduces air-miles.

But in a survey by the Independent last year, researchers took 10 foods that were grown in the UK. They found seven major supermarket chains were importing these foods from as far away as South America.

Asda sold asparagus from Peru, strawberries from Spain and cauliflower from France. Marks & Spencer sold beans from Guatemala and broccoli from Spain.

These were foods that were in season in the UK!

It all comes down to costs and sales. It's better for supermarkets to buy some imports because of cheap overseas labour. If their customers keep buying this stuff instead of the local version, there's no reason for them to change.

This is an example of how we should be leading the supermarkets, not the other way round. After all they're not charities or environmental agencies - they're just businesses trying to make money.

So it's up to us to use our purses and wallets to make them change - force them to deliver what we want.

a working class view on too thick to fail

The middle class bone idle 'protestors' currently infecting St Pauls and various other locations around the world - generously paid for by US, the taxpayers - are a very tightly-knit bunch of upper middle class low achievers who live only to cause trouble and are selfish to a point beyond psychosis.

They won't listen to me, as being working class I am an untermensch, a subhuman. The Nazi philosophy behind this 'movement' is sickening. They are classist, racist, authoritarian and ambitious for power over the rest of us. They are opportunist thugs, a blend of the SA and the Bullendon Club. They DARE to try to lump us in with them, disgustingly calling us (and they doubtless include me - and you - in this) the 99%. For we must ALL be the same, think as one.

They blame the wrong target - the idiot bankers who are the biggest beneficiaries of this horrible socialism every western government has been practising for years, rather than the governments themselves, and their thoughtless supporters.

Now, the solution. Empty these Waitrose refugee camps, by force if necessary. They bring shame on us all. Take the details of all the participants and their supporters, stop their benefits, and deport any that don't belong. Send the remaining ones to compulsory lessons on economics and capitalism, and give each of them seed capital (as a loan) to start a business. Let them understand Peak Oil and Climate Change (two terms I doubt any of them have ever heard) so they can see just how difficult the future will be. Educate these idiots, so they can become valuable members of society, rather than the dregs.

And will they listen? Of course not. I'm working class, this is nothing to do with me. This is middle class types playing games with other middle class types, the real 99%. It's up to the 1%, the working class, the artists, writers, professionals, craftsmen, businesspeople etc, to sort this mess out.

post-capitalist living

In their breathtaking hubris the 'Too Thick to Fail' zombies are offering the following course to the bone idle middle class chumps that form 100% of the miserable campers.

POST CAPITALIST LIVING

Remember that after capitalism you will be required to live where we say, do the work we say and share your house with others.

Remember that state controlled food supply can be VERY chaotic, so try to grow some fruit and vegetables in the tiny part of your garden that we allow you to keep. However do not under any circumstances attempt to sell any produce, as this will be illegal.

If you have a business close it immediately. We are NOT interested in people that can stand on their own two feet, earn foreign exchange (money is wrong!) or live free of state benefits.

You will be required to join one of the armed services and fight for your fatherland if capitalists threaten our country.

Have any pets destroyed as they are decadent and capitalist.

Trash your environment. Care of the environment is a decadent capitalist trait and will NOT be tolerated. Socialism decrees that EVERY natural resource is to be exploited and depleted - there will be no opposition to this.

JOIN the party, which will be the only one allowed. Otherwise your career will stall and your life, and those of your family and friends, will be in danger.

Destroy all decadent art, music and literature. There is no room for beauty or art in the post capitalist future.

SMILE at all times. You are FREE. Remember you are one of the 99%, the proletariat. The 1%, those old comrades  of the Occupy Movement, will be the elite.

wanted - robomen!

WANTED - ROBOMEN

We are seeking men and women who are prepared to do exactly what we ask, who will not question authority, who will be like everyone else, who do not think.

We offer superb tented accomodation, central city locations, no need to wash, chance of a good fight.

Intelligent, educated, free-thinking people need NOT apply.

Apply to 'Too Thick to Fail'

c/o St Pauls Cathedral

LONDON

Uniforms (hats, matted jackets, combat trousers, bovver boots) provided.

Unpaid as we do not believe in money.

Applications are NOT wanted from working class people, people who have not been to university, supporters of capitalism, the most successful economic system ever invented.

foggy thinking

The thinking behind the 'Too Thick to Fail' 'occupations, otherwise known as 'Occupy' is a bit of a mystery to normal people.

I read blogs and newsletters from a whole range of political types, from stodgy seventies Stalinism, through progressive right wing business orientated blogs to environmental and Peak Oil sites.

The best answer I've had yet is that this is a result of two things - rampant consumerism and a sense of entitlement to stuff, and a boom in university attendance on courses that don't actually teach any marketable skills.

So you have a big mass of 'middle class' types, who are middle class more through their aspirations, tastes and expectation of an extremely wealthy lifestyle, rather than because of their economic status, many of whom also have or are taking degrees in subjects that had little relevance even back in the growth times, let alone now, when growth is finished.

So this is an extremely middle class 'revolt'. These people were brought up by well-meaning parents to expect the future would be cosy, full of material things, drizzled with classical music, experimental theatre and super friends, in a world that would just get wealthier and wealthier. Their parents were idiots, and their little Aramintas and Lukes are the ones paying the price.

So what do they want? Well for one they want all the trappings of capitalism - mobile phones, stereos, cars, designer clothes, but they don't want capitalism to provide it, because through their perusal of Nazi anti-capitalist diatribes and foul cartoons (depicting capitalists as top-hat wearing, Jewish featured elderly men) they have a totally wrong image of capitalism and capitalists.

So they've turned to a failed system - socialism - which could never provide anything like capitalism did, destroyed the environment, destroyed freedom of thought, art and music and killed millions through neglect and nastiness. And because all western governments are socialist with a capitalist sheen, they are working with the government to destroy freedom, especially economic freedom. They are fighting the battles of the 1960s, fifty years on.

So what DO the protesters need? They need to understand that the future will be far poorer than the present. That billions of people will die over the next few decades as the oil runs out and the climate turns vicious. They need to learn the skills that will get them through this, forget decadent, consumerist socialism and start building their own lives and communities without expecting the rest of us to do it for them.

The same disease is present throught he current 'Too Thick to Fail' protests, back through the August riots and further back to the Student Protests. It's all about the same - entitlement and lack of personal responsibility.

That's what this is all about. And it will end in tears ...

nazis swarm

The Nazi 'Occupy' movement continues to splutter from one disaster to another. Gaining the nickname 'Too Thick to Fail' hasn't helped their cause one bit, neither has the indifference of 99.9% of the population, who think they are a bunch of spoilt middle-class brats. And the St Paul's debacle brings shame on the whole country.

But what is really sinister is their method, and the madness behind it. We are in the middle of the Second Crisis of Socialism, as the money being pumped into failed banks is still not doing the job. The stupid corporate types who are the vanguard of weak capitalism should actually be hanging from lampposts, not being bailed out by their fellow socialists in government. This started with George Bush and is now spreading around the world.

What are they scared of? Why have they abandoned capitalism? Why suddenly do people like Bush, Obama, Cameron et al suddenly think that socialism will work when it never has before? Why don't they just trumpet Schumpeter and let creative destruction run its course?These banks MUST fail, then we can start rebuilding the economies of the world. Instead socialist measures like nationalisation and currency debasement are still being tried.

This is the real problem of democracy. Because politicians depend so much on their 'jobs' of being politicians, they have to appease the people, so they will continue to vote for them. So they offer these easy fixes, rather than tackle the problem. All it does is put things off, and when the shit really hits the fan it will be that much worse. With luck the politicians will be able to blame other politicians. They are a bunch of morons.

So where do our dear little middle-class 'protestors' fit into all of this? Well, they are thick as shit, so probably couldn't tell you why they are doing it. (The bright ones are out building businesses and communities of course). I suspect they are all Daily Mail readers, and really believe the lies and propaganda they read. And then they try the old Nazi trick of 'Us and Them'. 'We are the 99%,' they bleat. Really? I don't know ONE person that believes in any of this. 99% of people couldn't care less, and the other 1% hate them. I have even seen Nazi-style cartoons depicting 'capitalists' as fat, Jewish looking 1930s types, wearing top hats for fuck's sake! This is the level these idiots have already sunk to.

Fortunately the cold weather is coming, and the little loves will soon be sniffling into their Gucci mufflers and running out of chilbain ointment (they are all so delicate!) They will finally do the decent thing and let St Paul's reopen, and the squalor where once they were will soon disappear.

Luvvies - you are 40 or 50 years too late. Socialism failed in 1990 and is now in its final death throes. The future will be strong capitalism, single-person businesses in small communities, working through Peak Oil and Climate Chnage. There'll be no big states, no central government, no huge bureaucracy to try to create a command economy, no snazzy posters reaffirming your membership of the 99%, no more racist cartoons, no benefits, no rich parents. You'll all have to fucking work! And it's that thought that keeps my smile big and broad as I hear about your latest anti-social exploits on the news. Babies.

'too thick to fail' succeed - in closing st paul's!!

Hitler would have been proud of the 'Too Thick to Fail' zombies who are infesting the area outside St Paul's (because they're too scared to confront the city types). Their little gas stoves are a fire hazard, their tents are unhygienic, and they insist on using the font as a toilet.

They are so stupid it's beyond belief. They have a big banner screaming 'Capitalism is Crisis'. What the fuck? They can't even spell 'in' properly! This has NOTHING to do with capitalism, it's a crisis of socialism, namely governments who insist on intervening in the market to win votes by putting off the REAL economic crisis that will be riding the twin pigs of Peak Oil and the End of Growth.

I detest these little middle-class protestors who have all managed to get Friday off work (LOL!) They don't have a clue what they are protesting about. And I bet they all pop to Starbucks for their espressos and paninis.

I've done my share of protests. Raiding council meetings, monkeywrenching and of course the FANTASTIC Poll Tax demos that brought the sow Thatcher down. Now that WAS socialism at its worst, a flat rate tax on everyone, no doubt predating a flat rate of pay.

Zombies that have closed St Paul's - you are not the 99%. You are not even 1%. You are a tiny nano% of a tiny priveledged minority of chinless, posh, middle class off cuts that are embarrassing the rest of us. Go back to your detached homes ...

part of the 1% - and EXTREMELY proud of it

For fuck's sake! So the little sheep (read middle class lefty scum) are trying to bring down the system! It's YOUR system you divs. This is a crisis of socialism, not capitalism. Bailed out banks are socialist and socialised institutions. You are attacking your own!

The battle of the future will be between weak capitalism and strong capitalism. If the sheep want to attack weak capitalism I don't reallly mind, as long as it doesn't affect me. If the sheep want to attack the very socialist institutions that will provide their pensions and underwrite the UK weak capitalist system that pays billions intaxes to pay for their health care, roads, schools etc then let 'em do it. They are far too thick to understand what they are doing, though that's not an excuse.

Morons, your battle is a fight from the last century. Each and every one of you sheep has benefited from our government's socialist bail out. You supported it, you ARE the weak capitalist bankers! You are now (apparently) arguing against deficit cuts because YOU didn't cause them!! Of course you did. You use state services, you use credit, many of you shared in the house price 'boom', all parts of this problem.

I detest being told I'm part of the 99%. I'm not! I'm not part of this great weak capitalist revolution that is merely WASTING yet more money when we should be saving it.

The war of the 21st century will be between STRONG capitalism - small, mainly one person operations actually creating something with one eye on the environment and WEAK capitalism, which is what you lot LOVE. That's banks, oil companies, corporates, luxury goods sellers, the meat industry, chemicals, all the vile, pointless set ups that really only exist to keep people in 'jobs' and exploit the planet. If we don't reduce the deficit these socialist set ups will continue to plunder the planet's resources, foul the atmosphere and keep consumers mired in 'things' they don't need.

Be proud to be part of the 1% - the rebels, the independent thinkers, the strong business owners, the railwaymen and women, artists, musicians, writers, nurses, teachers, doctors and organic farmers. We're the future.

The 99% - the sheep, the bankers, the Daily Mail readers, the weak business employees, the racists, the Labour party members, the tories, the trade unions - can all go to hell. You've had your chance and you've blown it. Time to let the 1% run things from now on!