UNVOTE
Well, the near deafening
sound of feet stampeding towards the exits has now died down. Today we talk of the drastic decline of the
numbers of readers here at the worlds best and most ignored blog. Sure, I could talk about Hurricane Harvey (
it is Tuesday August 29th, a few days after it became an event ),
but there is so much contradictory information out there right now I can’t even
guess what the heck is going on. Is it
such widespread flooding half the city will never be rebuilt, or will it be
like the fires that burnt down half the state and then they went back to
normal? Will gasoline refineries stay
closed and we lose a quarter of the nations oil products, or is it just another
reason to shut down another few units as gasoline demand has fallen the last
year or two of the newer and improveder economic collapse? Is it just another flood, albeit a big one,
or a 500 year flood? Peak Prosperity
says it is a huge event, but then they said that about the California damn
overflow and nothing came of that. Plus,
Peak Prosperity sold out like a $2 whore, going from systematic collapse to “thrive,
don’t just survive, all is well, invest towards wealth as we collapse”. Enough to make one taste the bitter tang of
vomit in the back of ones throat. Well,
dude, you did me a solid with your original work ( even though I bought the DVD
rather than downloaded it free ), so I’ll return the favor. Betting on prosperous customers is not a good
business model. You’re welcome.
*
Normally I ignore as much
of a blog or web sites administrator tasks as possible. Dammit, Jim, I’m a writer not an editor (
Star Trek reference )! So I never paid
too much attention to my reader numbers.
I’d usually check about once a week or even once a month and note the
ongoing average. About a month ago I had
noted we went from 750 ( we-yes, there is a mouse in my pocket ) to about a thousand. Then our good buddy ‘Ol Remus put in a good
word and I went up to 1200 and stayed that way.
After that, a week or two later, a loyal minion put the word out on The
Social Media Site That Dares Not Speak Its Name and suddenly I saw a spike in
readers, from 1200 to 3,000 ( the spike to 3300 was a one day one off event
). Then of course that dropped as I knew
it must. Social Media Survivalists, if
they match the behavior of other site clients, are moronic airheads. So I imagined they would easily be scared
away. The 3,000 quickly dropped to 2k,
which would have still been a nice bump in numbers.
*
But then it dropped again,
to 1500. Okay, still, great! Since 1200 was about my maximum I ever
achieved in eleven years of blogging this was still good news. I figured my increased length, increasingly
detail oriented analysis and seven day a week format would have attracted more
than ever. Perhaps the economic fright
infusing everyone’s consciousness was driving folks my way. DINGdingDING!!! Wrong answer!
Boom, suddenly just like that I was back to 750, minus a hundred or two
a day. No big deal, right? I’ve had three or four days underperforming
numbers as folks go to work and stay off the InterWeb, then they all flock back
at once and the numbers by the week average out ( again, this is all just seat
of the pants figuring. I rarely pay
attention all week long to the numbers-so this was old observations ). Nope, not this time. Now, obviously I’m more confused than
ever. What in the name of all that is
holy and good and just is going on here?
I make my product three times better and I lose more readers?
*
Well, I finally get a
bright idea and go back to read the three articles where the waterfall collapse
in readers was. Did I offend everyone? First, I mentioned we all have a gayboy love
of the military which isn’t deserved, how the institution is dysfunctional and
unworthy of our veneration. Well, okay,
that didn’t win me any friends since accidental preppers seem to be firmly in
the Militia Porn Army and love their hero’s, their hero’s weapons and their
tactics. They probably all started
mumbling about how I should love or leave ‘Murica. But only about 25% left after that. The day before I brought up how others didn’t
like the redoubt concept, plus I might have mentioned that one religious nut
job ragging on another fundamentalist religious fanatic was funny, so I won no
friends of the Right Exalted Grand Poo-Ba Of The Idahoan Survivalist Guru’s. But hey, they were just FaceButt preppers (
my apologies to any of my loyal minions who frequent that site-I tend towards
regarding the GENERAL reader there as lacking in intelligence, but there are
always exceptions and I imagine you are one since you are smart enough to be
here ). No loss, even if it was a third
of my new total numbers.
*
The third day, I might
have accidentally hated on: Gore Warming Fanatics, our Founding Fathers,
intrepid frontiersmen, Yankees and the US imperial system. That didn’t seem to drive anyone away. The numbers held steady. Fair enough, those were my usual, daily
touched upon philosophies. Everyone was
used to all that. But then, tragedy
struck on the last day. I went down
another 60% of the newer lower number.
One day, and it never recovered.
My sin? Peak Oil. I really should have known better, but in my
defense I don’t think I’ve EVER allowed my readers to tell me what I could or
couldn’t write. I take suggestions,
gladly, and I’ve had some of my best articles from minion ideas. But it is all according to my whim. In fact, sometimes, I write MORE of what
everyone hates, just to be contrary. But
in this case, Peak Oil was secondary to the article which was on surviving
without carbon fuel stockpiles. Hell, I
thought I was doing everyone a Solid.
Here are three relatively cheap strategies for eliminating petroleum and
petroleum products. You think? Hell, no!
Ingrate sumbitches. All the
FaceButt Fool left, the new ones from Ol Remus and half my old timers. Bitches!
*
This happened before. I submitted an article to Creekmore, not
expecting to win the writing contest but wanting exposure. It was on thermos coffee, a subject I hadn’t
seen and I was trying to save folks money over French Press or perking pot
methods. Was I commended? No.
One sentence, ONE, merely off handedly mentioning Peak Oil as a
secondary benefit to the method, and every asshat whorebag dog piled my
ass. No mention if the coffee method was
sound, just loud and obnoxious denials of Peak Oil. On a supposed survivalist site ( and
conveniently, his WordPress site then crashed and my article was “irretrievable”. Might be, but he seems to avoid controversy
as that endangers profits, so I’ll never know ). The only other article besides the new one on
the Green Mountain Dudes site on eating wheat ( the booklet-and I imagine I
pissed of the guy after that by pointing out historically farmers get
indentured, enslaved or raided ) I ever did was the Doomstead Diner and that
was on the hot water heater everyone tried to gay up with expensive
improvements. Needless to say, after all
that, I really should know my frugal methods, as well as my adherence to
reality and logic, are NOT marketable.
Most everyone hates me for being the messenger.
*
You would think I’m
standing over a toppled Confederate statue yelling “All ( N-Bomb ) Must Die”. No, Nancy, I’m only pointing out the obvious
to those buried under a mound of horse crap.
I mean, yes, of course I understand most survivalists and preppers aren’t
serious. Never were and never will be. Because living in a dirt hovel is so bad you
might as well put a gun to your head, right?
You guys get it. I don’t need a
lot of readers, as the loyal ones I have are generous enough to keep me
going. I only would like more to get the
message of frugal and realistic prepping out there. Okay, that is not to be ( and actually, I don’t
even want a choir to preach to, either.
A little rational well argued resistance is welcome as it forces me to
think better ). Sad but true. I just find it amazing Peak Oil starts so
many attempts at putting out any fire under everyone’s ass. I get that there is no coming back, no
recovery and less than optimal needs to be met to combat the trend. But it ain’t like it is the end of the world,
just the end of luxury. You would think
I was suggesting they go to bed with Michel Obammy. Hey, if you are still hanging around reading
this, thank you.
END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2wH2ewF )
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there
Stop making fun of Jesus and Christians.
ReplyDeleteStop the anal rape and poop stuff.
This was suggested before by several readers, myself included, the last time you wrote about falling numbers.
Hey, now, I'm not making fun of Jesus, just those who think they are they next Jim Jones and Jesus speaks through them. Anal rape, well, kind of hard to NOT reference that when describing the actions of most of the population against everyone else. Scatological humor-what can I say? It's the German in me :) I hear what you are saying, in all seriousness, but I simply can't see curbing my delightfully wicked prose to get all serious. That just isn't me, and I'm not writing journalism here. But, hey, at least you struck around, right? But my point still stands. My asshatedness did not drive folks away, but my insistence resources are contracting. For those who take this stuff-survivalism-seriously, that pisses me off. Pussies, all of them.
DeleteDark green mountain dude here. European humour is all based on bodily functions, religion or sex. This is a hold over from the Greek gnostic influence on the early church after St Paul made christianity a multi cultural religion. Now we are stuck with body issues. If you are insulted, you are doing christianity wrong. Embrace your persicution and take up your cross. Love anyhow. Jesus would spit on christian nationalists. Pharases.
DeleteBison. Its happening everywhere. I have been watching the drop for 3 years and declare "prepping is dead. Lond live prepping". As we move closer to the collapse, people dont want to hear it anymore. The Rambo Romantacism has worn of as reality sets in. This happened befor in the Great Depression. People wanted to watch movies about rich peoples lives. I dont even watch apocalypse movies like The Road anymore. Its too much on my soul. Belive it or not. I now use Star Trec to get me to sleep because it is the complete opposite.
The deeper into the collapse, people will want to here about it less. This is a sign that it is already here.
Your take on philosophy underpinning issues reminds me a lot of the Druid Dude ( Greer ). You are better to absorb, as you don't take yourself so seriously. I've often thought on what you speak-the escapism entertainment. As in, given a long enough economic collapse, what can I write about that isn't collapse orientated. But I always phrased that in terms of fiction, not my present non-fiction. Alas, you make a lot of sense. Just don't forget a lot of the decline is also the death of the advertising model.
DeleteWhen it comes to blogging, the numbers float up and down on readership.. where it really starts to move is when you get picked up by the bots and it starts to throw you into the google searches.
DeleteThere will always be times when the numbers move up because of this or that link back. Then they read for a bit and heaven forbid you jump subjects on them.. but James, I came to your site because you wrote about X.. what do you mean that you are now talking about Z K an P.. Dropped like a hot potato LOL
Still here.. still reading!
Thank goodness for my regulars! Don't know a thing about manipulated traffic-and don't want to. I'd rather have love other than eyeballs. But, you know, maybe a LITTLE more eyeballs :)
DeleteWell , I can honestly say that shtf here in the swamp. Been without power, the net, phones or running water since Sunday evening. So you haven't had my presence to attract others ?
DeleteWell, I'm back !
I actually noticed the reader numbers just jumped yesterday :)
DeletePerhaps you should seek exposure at places that concentrate on peak oil.
ReplyDeleteI understand the arguments people have against peak oil. But they are wrong. The best that they can really argue is that peak oil is being artificially moved up by faking hitting the actual peak while TPTB keep wells and fields hidden to increase their power and profits. But even that seems unlikely. The 'non fossil' source argument makes peak oil (and climate change) WORSE not better at least long term. And the 'Millions of barrels can be found at field XYZ' fails due to the fact we NEED BILLIONS of barrels for more than a couple year uptick in supplies, and current rate of usage will not continue to be the rate of usage if the price declines (usage will go way up again if it is cheap enough).
The 'replace the black gold with nat. gas, or coal, or the like', fail because those are fuels with their own peaks - including fission nuclear (based on uranium that has already hit peak extraction or is fairly near it - breeder reactors get more energy out of it and produce less radioactive pollution but they don't end up making more fuel than they use).
Solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, are all either site limited or intermittent or both and barely reach enough energy density for self sustaining industrial usage, and definitely don't help out the transportation infrastructure we have now (maybe electric trains could be made to work?).
Bio-mass, ethanol, algae diesel, etc are all a joke that can only work in limited amounts, in specific circumstances that are too limited to make a global impact.
Fusion.
It is the only power source on the horizon that might allow our current global civilization (and American Empire) to not crash from reaching its resource limits.
But Fusion has been on the horizon for over a half century, and we don't seem much closer now then when it was first dreamt up.
I suspect it will take more political will and financial investment than any government currently has to make fusion a reality before we begin plummeting down the reverse slope of peak fuels... But any nation that CAN achieve it and keep it secret, will be poised to become the next global superpower in just a couple of decades (other than energy almost all other resources can be recycled - with enough energy- to over 90% retention).
Fusion is as dead as colonizing space, unfortunately. Peak Oil can't be argued with ten years of production data, unless you ignore EROI, but no one seems to be arguing against Peak Oil, just ignoring it completely. Peak Uranium was, I believe 1979, for the US ( not sure globally ). We've been burning fuel from demobbed Soviet bombs for twenty five years as a stop gap for declining production-now there's a non=renewable resource
DeleteTake heart, Jim! The Canadian zombie book author, J.N. Morgan DID "acknowledge" (I call it it "dedicate") his book, "Living Amongst The Dead: Dark Days", to you.
ReplyDeleteHey, how many of us get that?
True. Plus, I got a vote on my Jim Washer in an actual published book ( and for a book on suburban prepping it was well done ).
DeleteYou Have been doing yeoman work. Many people don't really want to consider the real effects of our current situation. Denial is easier for them. Good luck. RRK
ReplyDeleteHell, I don't always want to consider the real effects. Mongol hoards decimating cities, endlessly, isn't a very prepper friendly future.
DeleteHell, man, this is your blog, not ours. You keep on writing your content and the ones (like me) who appreciate someone who can both comment and laugh about what is going is right on the money. People who read blogs to validate what the reader thinks - well, there's the door man, good luck with that. I learn more from people I don't agree with than the 'Yeah That' content.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great as far as I'm concerned.
It'll take more than a few hurt feelings to get rid of me! You'll have to try harder than that.
ReplyDelete-Novice
See, I always have to work harder and harder here :)
DeletePerhaps a day or two a week write it out as fictional story lines like randy and his dog bush narratives and insert your own "brand" of poor-boy survivalism techniques written as success stories in a contrast to yuppie scum lard asses failing down the road or across the river as an example. The fictional writing will hold a reader better as you "paint a picture" of an example in action for their modern mush minds to wrap around in support of your theory. This will also give you a running series so as to extend your episodes of topic and hold readers to tune in again next week like batman t.v. shows. Takes more effort, plot and character developments but your brilliance of the topics will be better absorbed and student attention/retention will be enhanced as the story lines will place them there. "Boots on the ground" good luck, and love the hair!
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking along the lines of one day a week. That won't scare away regulars. I think. I never give up on wanting to write fiction, I just hate competing in a crowded market and worry my extra efforts will be ignored. Plus, there is the question of the whole needed skill thing. I'll consider it anew, anyway.
DeleteOne paragraph into anything you write, and it should be pretty clear to anyone reading it that this site isn’t directed at the pink tofu crowd. Having a sick sense of humor myself, nothing that you write here even comes close enough to grossing me out enough for me to not consider coming back.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the most comments that you get are when you post on post-collapse gun topics, and even then, mostly when they’re somewhat controversial (Semi’s suck, the AR sucks, etc). That’s when you get the 40+ comments. This tells me a few things right off. The majority of survivalists are probably just armchair survivalists, and rather then being interested in the “vegetables” of survivalism (food stores, shelter, clothing, medical, etc) they’re more interested in the ‘meat and potatoes” (mostly guns, and in particular, semi’s) of survivalism. Too many hollywood westerns and John Wayne movies, coupled with a totally unrealistic expectation of what the odds of surviving such an encounter are, I’m afraid. For a more realistic view, pay closer attention to the wounded warrior commercials the next time one comes on the television, but post collapse, you won’t even fare that well.
Don’t know what to suggest as far as increasing revenue to your site. More ads maybe?
No, revenues aren't an issue. Always been Book Money levels. More pre-2009 economic collapse, less while I had the JMD blog. The few loyal minions have always been generous with Amazon purchases, even more since I went full time writing ( a pleasant surprise! ). Revenues aren't the issue at all. Mainly, I hate to see such a small turnout to my greatness :)
DeleteWhen talking BIG I like the numbers 2 and 8. Add zero's to them as you see fit but they cover a broad scope.
ReplyDelete20% of the people do the work while 80% drag their feet.
80% of the people are not interested in what you write.
20% of what you write is of interest to everybody.
You can write what you honestly believe and have few readers or you can write what you think the most people want to read and have lots of readers.
The gov't is 80% inefficient.
If you enjoy what you do that in itself is like a pay off.
If you had to work 16 hours a day for the rest of your life would you rather A) work at something you don't like for $8 an hour, or B) work at something you do like for $2 an hour?
When you think that idea over remember the part about "16 hours a day for the REST OF YOUR LIFE."
Gov't costs are always 8 times as high as they originally project. A $1,000,000 gov't venture will end up costing $8,000,000.
Hint: (and it's just a suggestion) Try to broaden the scope of your posts. You did that recently in a gun related post, where you didn't stick entirely to the cheapest possible means. Another example: Besides wheat berries and a grinder for nuke bread, what are some other, um, relatively inexpensive foods that can be stored in bulk for long term storage? Expand on this topic and spare no detail - show some finesse in your writing prowess.
If you ask 100 people on the sidewalk a question, any question, 80 of them won't provide the correct answer and 20 % will.
Another idea: Perhaps some categorical lists that show some guidance to the readers in what you believe is important to have on hand at all times. This one has lots of room for expansion and customization. I am SOOOO tired of the routine blogs out there that just steal shit from each others and post it on their site so they have something to post that day. If I see one more post about dredging cotton balls thru vaseline for firestarters I'm going to scream bloody assed murder.
20 years ago a builder hired me to design a new model home for him and I did. When he saw the presentation drawings his response was blunt: "All your shit looks the same." He caught me off guard cause I thought it looked pretty good. Then he said, "That house is only about 3 cents different from the last house you designed for me." Later after he left I printed out front elevations of the last 50 houses I had designed (not just for him) and taped all of them to the wall and studied them. He was right. All my shit looked the same with about 3 cents worth of diff between them. Oh dear, what to do, what to do? And why didn't I see this on my own?
You've heard of writers block, well I was suffering from designers block. As in all things to all people, I became relaxed in my approach and needed to get a handle on it.
This bothered me intensely for about a week and then I got the big idea to start studying how other designers did their work in other parts of the country, and the world. I gradually started incorporating various aspects of buildings designed by others into my own designs. Using this methodry, and the resulting accolades from plenty of my clients, I created a whole new style of home that drove the locals absolutely wild and my client based expanded 100 fold.
Go away, go way away, for at least a few days. Don't be such a tight ass and spend some money on the journey. Relax, open your eyes and your mind, get some new air flowing through your system. Take the NOL if you must but I believe a sole adventure is in order, only you can know what that might be. Point is, to clear the cobwebs out of that gray matter. Trying to live small makes everything else in your life small too and small isn't always a good thing. Think BIG, think BROAD, think LONG. Think NEW.
Best.
Damn-good detail, and ideas. Thanks.
Delete"there is the question of the whole needed skill thing"
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me...have you read the crap that passes for futuristic survivalist stories. Hit with what you got, if I don't like it I'll tell ya'
Have you read my only novel? Locos Gringos & The Apocalypse. If not, and you don't want to buy it, I'd be happy to e-mail you a PDF version. I'd be interested in what you think. It was my only-to me-semi successful fiction attempt as it had no tedious back-ground information on the pre=collapse economy and energy situation ( subjects I can't seem to keep out of most of my stories-a failing, I know ). e-mail me if you so desire, or just comment. jimd303@reagan.com
DeleteLocos Gringos was awesome! I've re-read it several times. MUCH more realistic portrayal of what could happen that the writings of a certain survival guru in a northwestern state. Far more entertaining, too.
DeleteArticle idea - low cost but effective ways to deal with pests and vermin (mice, flies, stinging insects, etc.) that will make the Pampered Peasant's life less pleasant. I'm guessing that with the degradation of sanitation and hygiene this will probably become a big problem. Surely in all your research you've read of ways that those folks handled the problem (aside from a huge helping of stoicism).
hi.
ReplyDeletefalling numbers--some probably due to hurricane blackouts.
a bit of fiction is a good idea. have seen at least a bit of your fiction and wanted to know what happened next.
as to foul language, when you write without it the writing is every bit as good with no discordant notes.
when i tell people to read a certain column i always have to say that they beware the language.
a lot of us are church-going ladies and some of us are old.
we are not former army and are not used to genital or toilet references in our reading or speech.
[although personally i could cuss the hide off a sailor].
i like your column because you tell it straight.
also made me stop worrying so much as i don't have $$ for a redoubt property [or any property].
you have made me feel that we may be able to survive decently nourished without a bug out humvee or an underground castle. many thanks for that.
your mane is magnificent!
i do recommend your site occasionally when the subject is apropos to those to whom i recommend it and the subject is what they may need to learn about.
Appreciate the recommendations. And you are right to do so sparingly. I'd be the first to admit a lot of the week simply must be filler. I try not to swear, but I am crude. The peasants are generally a course lot.
DeleteDon't worry about pleasing the masses. The masses always want to be part of the "elite" - which they see as the big name sites... they don't understand the true "Elites" are right here, talking with you :)..
ReplyDeleteI figure it isn't my business to tell you how to write something as personal as this new genre, identified by the neologism "blog." And that sentence is meant to be an example of how style differs.
ReplyDeleteYou have tangible evidence that I appreciate your style and content.
Do I agree with everything you say? Of course not! But you have a position on a subject of interest to me and you attempt, on occasion, to support it. I learn something, or a spark is struck in my mind and henceforth feeds itself.
All of which makes your stuff worth my while. Noting that time is my most precious asset.
Regarding vulgarity, scatology, barracks room talk, whatever you call it: most of the time it adds nothing, is at best verbal punctuation. Very occasionally it can be clever, even poetic. Very occasionally.
Altho it has other meanings and connotations, “vulgar” is merely Latin for ‘common’ The use of the Anglo-Saxon simple, four-letter symbols is certainly common these days. For me, they add nothing except evidence of a lack of imagination.
You might try finding other modifiers and metaphors. It would be an exercise in good writing, but it might not be what they call ‘authentic’ these days.
It is a stylistic choice, and most certainly yours alone to make.
I’ll most probably keep reading, but I may not be representative of the larger audience you seek. A clear idea of audience is essential to success when writing. That is professional advice, and free, this time. How do you see your reader? To whom are you writing? Such consideration is not pandering. After all, you write in what passes for English, don’t you? Because that’s what your audience expects and needs.
English is my third language, but I don’t feel lessened by doing a bit of audience analysis and choosing English in this case.
To establish my bonafides, I can go off grid, shut the gates, and do well for at least six months . . . on five minutes notice. Longer than that is beyond my ability to plan, but I believe myself pretty flexible and would not have trouble living safe and well for a cycle of seasons. This state of preparation is neither casual nor accidental. Without a doubt I’ve forgotten some things which will be inconvenient in the event, but not, I hope, fatal. I don’t know if I could survive indefinitely; death comes to all men . . . and out there somewhere is a man smarter, faster, stronger, and more highly motivated than I am. Am I prepared to meet that guy?
Too many words here. Please excuse me; it is an indication of concern for your discomfort.
I wish you the very best, and regret we cannot meet and talk. I have questions and no one to ask for answers.
Cheers.
Sam Caffer aka Kaffir
I like to think this blogging is just a continuation of my old newsletter I used to mail when stamps were twenty cents. I could post once a week, sticking to that format, but it just seems blogs have replaced newspapers and if I don't do daily my readers shift to those that do. I myself feel the need to connect daily, as the blogs are the only news anymore. Then of course, e-publishing cheapens the content of everyone-no pressure financially to skim off the cream. Hey, who knows? In the age of FaceButt all communication is wanting. As to vulgarity, sorry, part of the stream of consciousness. And perhaps a unconscious desire to test the reader. Are they willing to read content or is pretty presentation all. I'm making my own brain hurt. Be cool.
DeleteYou need pictures of sexy women in bikinis holding AR's. That will up your numbers. Sex always sells. (Though, I would prefer beefcake hunks, sweaty, in camo, holding battle rifles) :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you're doing fine. Though, I do miss the trials and tribulations of your last relationship. LOL
In my neck of the woods, every thing is rosy. Businesses are hiring, people have a little money in their pocket. Economy is doing pretty good. (And that's saying something when you live in North Idaho.) Hard to sell doom during good times.
I think your biggest problem is that Trump was elected. Those of us who felt the end was imminent have feelings of reprieve since Hitlery lost. (Though watching her go on her "blame everyone else for losing" book tour is like watching a slow motion train wreck. Boy, did we dodge a bullet!)
For me, I sometime find your post a hair long. Depends on the topic. I'm not a big gun aficionado so I tend to skim those articles.
I do like articles on peak oil, the doom is nigh, cheap survival, shortcuts you've discovered, basic storage items, and your observations on current events.
The bottom line is that it's your blog. Do what you like.
Idaho Homesteader
I do the same on other blogs. A boring subject, wayyy to long. If I like it, it can't be long enough. I love how the "proof" of Hilary Hate is the book was cut 40% in price. I'm thinking, doesn't Amazon cut that much off most every book? :)
Delete"I think your biggest problem is that Trump was elected. Those of us who felt the end was imminent have feelings of reprieve since Hitlery lost."
DeleteVery astute observation, IH! I agree! Unfortunately, I believe that many people viewed it as a long-term remedy and not (as you stated) a reprieve that only buys us some time.
Some of my friends and relative believe that Trump will put everything back the way it was when the US was a prosperous superpower. I gently remind them that we don't have a political problem that a politician can solve - we have a math problem that is intractable. We have a $20 trillion national debt, a $1.4 trillion annual budget deficit, and a $550 billion trade deficit. Couple that with resource depletion and thirty years of outsourcing our industry and the future doesn't look nearly as rosy.
People's hopes have been raised enough to lull them back to sleep, lessening their concern about what's coming. It's like giving pain relievers to someone with a disease - when the symptoms disappear so does the concern. Hard to reach people like that. Reminds me of an old saying from the marketing world: "You can't sell prevention, you can only sell cures."
Keep at it, LB!
I think after eight years of surviving through a depression ( in large part thanks to fracking and doubling that debt to 20T ) way too many folks think we just need to keep on business as usual and we will muddle through. Trump was just building on that blindness. Saw a vid on a indoor mall. Lost all but Sears as an anchor-guess how long that will last-and had about a dozen stores besides that. Most stores were shuttered, and the food court had just two places open. A customer service booth, but almost no customers in any store. And the place was well kept up, as if tenants would flock back. Good money after bad.
DeleteI too liked your fiction story with Randy and the get-home event from SLC, as well as the most recent one with the two guys with the Lee Enfields in a firefight at a warehouse. I don't particularly want to read about murder/gratuitous killing, or long strings of profanity and sexual perversion.
ReplyDeleteOn Hurricane Harvey, the latest news is that the flood waters are contaminated with sewage. Apparently people are getting staph infections, e-coli, flesh-eating bacteria, etc. There's also a whole group of people that are upset because "nobody told me" the water was contaminated and it was unsafe to wade through it and let the kids play in it. You might say these "nobody told me" complainers are contestants for winning a Darwin award, I would say they're too stupid to live.
Peace out
Both stories were the same novel-but I did take years to write it. Who alive during Katrina doesn't remember the sewage in the water???
DeleteAll anyone has to do is walk down the street and gaze in wonderment at the amount of traffic to realize peak oil is more than here. At least no one has tried to crucify you yet.
ReplyDeleteOf course, energy is more than gasoline. But I take your point. I'm of the mind we could very well be seeing more driving even as supply contracts-or, it is just far more drivers driving less distance. Or, more fuel efficiency. Or, a combo. Looking at my towns traffic you would think we were at 1920 levels of oil production.
DeleteThe major product, by far, of petroleum is petrochemicals, think plastic, but much more. Auto fuel is a quite small percentage. One could say that modern life is built on petroleum.
DeleteMost importantly, eating petroleum. I don't think we could even feed one billion without it.
DeleteLike anything, I just take away what is useful to me, in my situation. Do much appreciate your work. It's honest and not yuppie not cookie cutter not predicated on certain closed-minded views of the world. Like Cat5s work, which you pointed out and now I'm a big fan of as well.
ReplyDeleteI did say awhile back that I represent a kind of flip-side to survivalism, and it's true: My current situation is as a government flunky, the kind where if there were a plague or bioterror disaster they'd deck me out in a yellow suit with a rebreather and have me test water or clear bodies or, especially, find infected people and force them into quarantine. Yeah, it sucks but that's the job you've already paid me to do and I think its more honorable to perform that duty if I've taken the paycheck than to hunker down and out of selfishness or fear not do it even if I know the chances for riding it out are far better. OTOH, I have a tribe I guess.
So I never did crap like BOLs and BOVs and BOBs. Best thing about this blog is it isn't about any of those things and it has a lot that I can build in - like the wheat berries, the bolties, all the simple things - to save my family foreseeable hardships and allow me to do that job. All you rugged fringe critters have to come back to civilization at some point so somebody has to at least try to keep the lights on.
Anyway, these are my thoughts. I have others.
Don't forget my biting social commentary :)
DeleteWell Jim, I like your biting social commentary, potty mouth comments. keep it up, It's a laugh every day I read it!
DeleteSee, that's what I thought! I used to write too seriously, and I think it showed. I was so full of myself, "let's take this life threatening subject seriously!", I had lifeless prose. Now, fun time Charlie! Now we can laugh to an early grave.
DeleteWell....
ReplyDelete1. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY! Read that sentence again.
Writing LONGER articles and writing for MORE days is the same as converting a single seat outhouse to a two seater and making the holes deeper. Just making it easier to fill it up with the same material faster.
Quality not quantity!
2. In general your fiction sucks. I remember in one of your works the dog eats his vomit and then licks himself. C'mon man! That is not the kind of stuff we read about in "Lucifer's Hammer". Aim higher. Aspire to greatness for it's own sake.
3. Be controversial! Most of your readers hate all these posing fake mother fuckers (sorry about those last two words) claiming to be "SURVIVAL EXPERTS". When you see one of their absolutely STUPID posts call them out. Do a review. Show them no mercy intellectually. (I know, I know... you want to play nice with them. (and what? maybe they will throw you a bone???))
4. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result? (Einstein?)
5. When you are riding a dead horse, GET OFF! Peak anything is old old and old. Coherently present population growth, finite planetary resources, declining western population growth, refugee crime sprees, never to be paid debt levels (bubble), etc.
6. Very seldom am I able to get a new idea from you. But it does happen. This last month you did one fantastic post that opened the clouds for me to see something new concerning survival.
Enough.
YKW
MM
Good gravy! That was classic, on the two seater outhouse. Believe it or not, I do aspire to make each post as good as I can. But even if I only posted once a week, material at times is repetitious and less than original. This many people, writing about a subject for fifty years-what is truly original anymore? If I spread out further to strictly source material, sure, it would be different, but it wouldn't really be survivalism anymore. I think the best I can do is just keep trying. As for quantity-I just need to write. Since I can't do fiction ( I thought the gang banger attack/dog licking vomit was the best part of the novel )and most of my articles are getting up there to near short booklet levels, and my revenues are mostly from articles rather than books ( like, $200 commissions and $10 books ), I'm not sure I can shorten my articles. It tires me physically to write past 3500,4k words a day, but if I don't write two hours I feel like I didn't do enough. Appreciate it all.
DeleteHey Jim, I like the Idea of 1 day a week you doing your fiction. Maybe do a chapter or part of a chapter each week.
ReplyDeleteI think, if I commit, I could easily do 4k words a week, one chapter, three months the novel is done ( I go by the SF award standard of word count, not publishers standards which is higher ).
DeleteAgree with 1:04 above. A large part of your appeal is the no sacred cows left unslaughtered. The potty humor doesn’t bother me in the least, and to be honest, I find it to be quite entertaining. After all, I’m the same dude that regularly roasts Rosie O’Dumbbell, Richard Simmons, and a variety of other hollyweird elites, in the comments section here all the time.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint, if you could call it that, is that sometimes it seems as if the articles drag on longer than they need to. I get the certain length in order to feel satisfied, but also keep in mind the economy of words.
economy of words. Like, with my run on sentences?:) I know, sometimes it seems 1500words are blathering, other times 2500 is squeezing it all in. Well, twenty five years on, it is still a work in progress. I'll get it right one day and the envy and awe will break the Internet.
DeleteJames, I'm not really a peak oil person, but I've always loved your web site. My problem is I don't have a lot of time to get online and read anymore. I have to work more to make the money I used to make after wages were cut. When I get a chance, I usually read on one day as much as I can. The rest of the week, I'm too busy. Love your sight though.
ReplyDeleteCool that you're doing what you can to be a loyal minion.
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