Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend I wrote this piece to explain to people how to safeguard themselves from different aspects of peak oil. That includes inflation, and ultimately financial (currency) collapse, shortages of water, food and fuel, and how to produce your own. The instructions for doing these things are detailed and specific, quite unlike the generic and vague advice found elsewhere. Product details and pricing info |
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6 Customer Reviews Posted
- Advice is mostly common sense, but a few useful hints
- This writeup may be helpful and perhaps a good introduction to those who are new to the topic, but most of the material presented is basic common sense and the presentation lacks necessary detail. For instance, he suggests keeping gold and silver coins in small and widely recognizable denomination which seems like common sense. There are a few tidbits of useful information (such as ready-to-eat canned bacon, the existence of which I was not aware of) but the text is not sufficiently detailed. The author mentioned backup electrical power, rain water collection, and so forth without going into sufficient details to implement his suggestions. The author also mentions certain possible events (goods becoming unavailable for any price, etc.) without discussing when those events might actually transpire or the warning signs that would suggest those events may be imminent. There are no charts, photos, illustrations or other graphics.
- 2007-02-16, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- 50 cents I won't have to spend after The Crash
- This short piece by Woeste is only the most basic introduction to a survival manual. His ideas about silver and gold currency are the most interesting part of the paper. Otherwise he advises the reader how to horde canned food and water.
The portion about growing food for survival is next to useless. A few short paragraphs advise the reader to get bagged dirt from Big Lots and grow "dwarf varieties" of tomatoes in 18 gallon tubs. Worst of all he directs the reader to an ornamental bonsai dealer to purchase miniature fruit trees. [...]
This paper is merely a brief overview of what a 1960's fallout shelter might have sitting on its shelves. Save your 50 cents to invest in silver coins. - 2007-02-15, 3 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Intriguing ideas
- Dr. Woeste (an emerging science fiction novelist and molecular biologist) turns his focus to the question of survival in a post-oil world. His focus is not national or international activism and/or research into alternative energies (this has been and should continue to be debated elsewhere), but the question of what individuals can do if "the worst" happens and society collapses due to resource depletion. The questions he raises I personally find fascinating, and somewhat reflective of the 1960's atomic bomb scare. What do mainstream citizens need to survive a commercial collapse? What can we do to prepare right now? The article goes into detail about buying precious metals to use as a medium of exchange, selecting preserved food and water, and preparing a generator. Also covered are techniques for after the collapse: collecting water, growing food, and generating heat. I rate this article highly because it does exactly what it purports to do- provide a workable plan for preparing for an extended emergency. Dr. Woeste leaves it to the reader to determine how much, if any, of this plan he/she deems significant enough to follow. Will I begin collecting cans of food after reading this article? Not necessarily, but if the energy crisis reaches a tipping point, I'll be pulling this article out again.
- 2007-02-01, 6 of 8 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Swaim Missed the Point
- A agree with reviewer Swaim that "Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It" does not address energy needs in a species-wide, we-are-all-in-this-together way. "Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It" also does not include instructions for operating a radio telescope or instructions for programming in FORTRAN. However, "Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It" does not promise to do any of these things.
"Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It" is held out as one point of view about how to prepare as an individual. And it delivers that. And it does so inexpensively.
I have a personal affinity for global, long-term solutions. However, that is not the point. "Peak Oil and Personal Preparation for It" delivers what is promised. - 2007-01-06, 5 of 7 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Review Posted Is From Jim Otis - The Optimist
- I think this short delivers substantial value by focusing reader attention on the problems related to peak oil and solutions that individuals can do for themselves. Swaim must really be attached to the 49 cents he paid for this if he cannot find value here. I was actually disappointed after getting this based on Swaim's review. Swaim led me to believe that I would learn something helpful about hoarding gold and silver, but Woeste's short has nothing like that. Woeste does recommend buying precious metals now because their prices will skyrocket as an energy crunch drives all prices higher for everything we will need. However, Woeste then advises people to sell the precious metals (to get cash to purchase other essentials to prepare for life after peak oil) because things might get bad enough that no one would take gold or silver in trade. I am an optimist, and I think precious metals (which were real wealth for thousands of years) will have real value for a long time in the future. Sure, part of one's wealth should be used for preparations as Woeste describes, but another part should be physical silver and gold which are safely stored and kept in one's possession regardless of price. That real wealth will be an essential insurance policy against some unimaginable problems in the future. There is another description for people who "hoard" a reasonable amount of their wealth in silver and gold: good planners who are smart and careful about protecting wealth for their families.
Woeste delivers useful guidance and good value in his short article, but Swaim fails to get past regret over the 49 cents he paid to read stuff that he may have already known.
You may see articles and commentary of mine at [...]
- 2007-01-04, 3 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
