tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post2302717874182431942..comments2024-03-29T06:38:18.116+00:00Comments on Energy Balance: The Death of Grass.Professor Chris Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-60297637967428838322012-01-26T12:56:22.317+00:002012-01-26T12:56:22.317+00:00It is an interesting book, and ground-breaking in ...It is an interesting book, and ground-breaking in its time. The parallels between this kind of social disintegration and what might happen post peak oil if food and other supplies suddenly "disappeared" are clear.<br /><br />So perhaps the message is to try and build resilient communities in advance of calamity. So, we shall see what transition Towns can achieve in this respect. One motivation of TT is a lack of conviction that "The State" will come to our aid, and may not be able to even if it has the will, to cope with peak oil and climate change. Thus the thinking is to work from the ground-up and see what communities can provide themselves working at the local level.<br /><br />In The Death of Grass, before the Lancaster bombers start dropping A- and H-bombs on the cities, key figures of The State (senior government ministers and the Royal family) are flown out of the country to the safety of Canada.<br /><br />But would we be getting that 4 in the morning Stazi knock on the door before things really began to melt down? I think how the State responded would depend on the rate at which the calamity developed.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />ChrisProfessor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-47906539565166094312012-01-26T11:55:59.439+00:002012-01-26T11:55:59.439+00:00The book makes Cormac McCathy's "The Road...The book makes Cormac McCathy's "The Road" sound positively idyllic! <br /><br />I am not sure to what degree the state would disappear in any kind of collapse. I think someone commented with regard to one of your previous posts that we would hear the knock on the door by a state commissioner with a requisition order (much as in the early days of the Soviet Union-think Dr Zhivago).<br /><br />Not sure how the 'get off the grid and get self-sufficient' bloggers such as 'The Automatic Earth' would fair in such a scenario.The Rational Pessimisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15839671809950298150noreply@blogger.com