"Anyone who believes that expotential growth can go on forever in a
finite world is either a madman or an economist."

That is one of the best quotes I've seen Bazz. In a few words it says it all.

*Anyone who believes that expotential growth can go on forever in a
finite world is either a madman or an economist.*

Oh I know that, I just don’t stress or panic about it, thats all.

If the world even now can't solve the problem of an ever increasing
population, then all the rest is pissing in the breeze. Nature
will sort it out in the end, usually with a crash. We’ll get back
to population levels that are sustainable.

Expecting the rest of the world, including China and India, to
all start consuming like we are, then the wheels will fall off
the cart somewhere along the line. So be it.

I don't think the Govt needs to do much, the market will sort it
out. Yup, it will be those who can afford oil who get to use it.
The problem is that this whole story could well bankrupt the West
and make the Middle East, Russia etc, amazingly rich. We are
already seeing signs of that.

As for Australia, well we are in a very fortunate position really,
compared to most.

When oil hits 2-300$, we might start to take notice. We could
go gas, or gas to oil, or coal to oil, so plenty of options. Look
around you, people could halve their fuel consumption if they
tried, or if it was expensive enough. At the moment its clearly
not yet an issue.

Personally I have enough land to grow enough canola to keep
all my wheels turning for the rest of my lifetime. I’m not
doing it yet, as the numbers don’t stack up, but when they do,
That’s what I’ll do.

The point is, 100 years ago, people lived quite comfortably
on a local village basis, without huge oil consumption.

If needbe, that is what we can go back to. Its those stuck
in the middle of large cities, that will have a problem, for
without energy, they are basically knackered. Even their
sewerage systems will collapse, let alone their food supply etc.