Article "A Blueprint for Preparation" Available at Life After the Oil Crash

The past few months I've been working on a rather extensive article for Matt Savinar of Life After the Oil Crash fame. He was hoping to offer a comprehensive yet concise picture of what we face in the coming years and how we might best prepare, and as he was evidently impressed by some things I'd written in the past he asked if I'd write something up. That was back in June. Now, three months and thirty pages later, I'm pleased to announce that it's completed and is available through LATOC under Matt's new Post Oil Bulletin page on a pay-per-view basis (or pay-per-paper basis) for $6. His hope in exploring this new fee-based system is to provide an incentive to challenge writers to create more comprehensive or in-depth practical plans for the coming "transition" period. Dmitri Orlov of the excellent "Post-Soviet Lessons for a Post-American Century" is on the hook for the next issue, and if you haven't read that three-part series then by all means click on the link and get going...it's fantastic, and is creating quite a buzz 'round these here parts as well.

"A Blueprint for Preparation" is kind of a magnum opus as far as this website is concerned, as it represents a culmination of everything I've been studying and writing about here. But that said, there is a great deal that will be new to even regular readers. I tried to address it to a broad audience in it's tone, while taking into account varying degrees of awareness that different people will have of our situation. I also tried to integrate certain crucial ideological aims into the purely practical "blueprint" of steps, to explain why I believe that's necessary, and then to present it all with a message of Hope...so that it might even perhaps serve as an introductory-piece for loved-ones who may have no interest in hearing "depressing" things like this....

And the only other thing I'll add is that, while it's certainly not perfect, I'm proud of how I was able to organize and present such a massive and difficult set of concepts. If you've found this weblog in any way stimulating or helpful, I'm confident you'll find that the article is as well.

Comments

[Commenter]

Well, you just made a sale.

My only feedback is that you should add a nice cover page to it with title and author's name, and copyright info.

[Commenter]

Maybe a table of contents too on the second page?

[Steven Lagavulin]

My gosh, you're right on all counts! I'll get something typed up and sent over to Matt as soon as possible.

Thank You!

[Commenter]

Excellent, I'm just going out to my local espresso place to read it.

[Igor]

yeah, it's a sound business model:

first, spread fear - for free, of course,

and then, when fools are hooked, offer the "cure" - for a fee, of course.

nothing new, still, it is what unscrupulous religious swindlers did since fools got some money...

What has happened to your fabled objective of "helping humanity", Steven?

Shouldn't the "survival how-to" be available for free to everyone?

[Cameron Wilson]

I downloaded and read your good Blueprint. I was especially encouraged by your tone --of hope, love and acceptance. You are being realistic and helpful, plus easy to read. My sense of it is that you yourself have grown in positive ways by the investment --of time, energy and will-- that you've made not only into this blog place, but also into actually DOING something for yourself and your loved ones. Action empowers, and your work illustrates this. I think your perspective and tone is invaluable in the Peak Oil & Coming Crisis discussion. Thanks, Cameron

[Commenter]

Please do not feed the fatuous Igor Troll and it will go away

[Commenter]

I marvel at Steve's patience with the Iggy troll.

I run a blog too as well as a forum. While I am loathe to ban anyone, and do so only if someone is being an egregious jerk for example, the temptation to punt our Igzsmod would be pretty strong right about now.

Perhaps the mere fact that our troll is lashing out even more abusively suggests that he is becoming fed up with being ignored and may leave soon?

Hopefully, for good.

[Commenter]

After reading the essay, I popped across the street to a small locally owned bookstore. There I came across two new books which may be of interest to you folks.

Is the American Dream Killing You? : How "the Market" Rules Our Lives (Hardcover)
by Paul Stiles http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060593784/qid=1128552031/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-3383406-4797606?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

and

The Collapse of Globalism : And the Rebirth of Nationalism by John Ralston Saul
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585676292/qid=1128552401/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-3383406-4797606?v=glance&s=books

Both hot off the presses!

I'm getting both.

[Steven Lagavulin]

Thanks Commenter...very interesting. It's amazing how fast social awareness of these issues is growing.

[Commenter]

Add a hotlink in the document to your blog.

Set up a Paypal account and sell it here as well. You can also sell it on my sites.

[Igor]

Collapse! Collapse! Collapse! Save yourself!

Even in our better times there are a lot of collapse-hailers... this blog's being perfect example of...

I wonder how hysterical would Steven be, if he lived, say, prior to WWII...
or in times of Black Death...

For as long as humans exist, the weakest ones always cried about "coming collapse", while others pulled the wagon of civilization thru obstacles again and again and yet again ... and peak oil won't stop humans, in spite of all your lamenting.

[.]

The troll is restless tonight.

[Igor]

yeah, I am big bad troll... BOOOO!

[Commenter]

Steve's paper recommends as further reading the book Final Empire which is now out of print. Fortunately, it is available online here and for free. http://www.rainbowbody.net/Finalempire/

[Charles]

This was an interesting article and I would recommend it for people after they have acknowledged that there is an upcoming economic crisis. Sections of the article are very reminiscent of Ragnar Benson's book, Survival Retreat : A Total Plan For Retreat Defense. The article is a little too general and should lead to further research for those who wish to learn how to be more self-sufficient (prepared). Personally, I want to see more details and plans on sustainable communities (ecovillages).

[Anne]

My only question is, who receives the $6?

[Commenter]

I'm a big movie buff.

Suddenly I have a great urge to see On the Beach again a movie based on the Nevil Shute novel. Can you beat a cast with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053137/

[René]

Why don't you write a book? I've visited lulu.com lately and there seem to be a lot of websites/organisations that will produce your book for free. I'd rather buy a book than an article, but that's my personal preference.

René

Peak oil won't stop trolls either. They will lose quite a bit weight though (so will I for that matter)...

[nulinegvgv]

thank you steve for a wonderful piece of work.

[Steven Lagavulin]

Thanks for all the comments so far, I truly, truly appreciate hearing the feedback.

"My only question is, who receives the $6?"

As Matt Savinar explained on his site, the money is split 50/50 between us. I'm sensitive to the "money question", and I'll point out that I've never placed ads on this site (mainly because I think advertising is pollution). But I absolutely support what Matt is doing, which is to identify and encourage writers to create original pieces around the theme of preparation. The money is a "sweetener", plain and simple.

"The article is a little too general..."...."Why don't you write a book?"

Cerainly in the context of an single article it's not really possible to address in any more than a general fashion all the many different aspects of the various systemic crises we face, AND to indicate detailed plans that might help us to prepare for them, AND to address the possibility of completely transforming our way of life to meet these challenges most responsibly. In fact as already mentioned, I referenced William Kotke's fantastic book Final Empire just for this reason...because he's already substantially done all this (and it's very interesting to note that his book was written over a decade ago, and yet EXACTLY the same conclusions are still being reached by myself and others who are studying the issues today...).

Additionally, I don't have the time or the interest to write a more detailed study. I'm spending so much time right now just struggling to overcome the many resistances in life which are holding me "in place" and preventing me from following my own advice. Also, in my view things are happening very quickly in the world right now, and thry're bound to speed up even more. By time I got a book out it would likely already be obsolete, or leave readers little time to adequately prepare. As I've said before, the RECOGNITION of our situation is what I feel is going to precipitate events for real (as we've seen, the mere rumor of gasoline shortages spurs a run on the pumps), and that recognition has grown exponentially in just the last year.

My intent, as I mentioned in the first post I made here, is simply to document my questions and discoveries on this search to understand our situation better. I certainly hope it helps people--and that it doesn't mislead anyone--but I don't have any ambition to make a "profession" of all this.

Ultimately, Dmitri Orlov said it best when he noted that all the social critics who seem to blossom right before a crisis very suddenly become rather redundant (and unemployed) when their "theories" and "suspicions" finally give way to common acceptance.

[Matt Savinar]

Regarding the money:

My arrangement with Steven is detailed on the annoncement page. A 50% rate is the highest rate as per the recommendatioin of the National Writers Union.

Let's say Steven ends up making $5,000 from the article. Guess what? When I mention that on the site, I will have other top-notch writers coming out of the woodwork to write comparably-thorough articles that benefit all of us.

There are a lot of great writers in the peak oil blogosphere who work day jobs, have families, etc. . . How do you think they can explain to their spouse, "Honey, I'm working on a 15,000 word article that takes me away from you and the kids and my job and I refuse to accept money for it." versus, "Honey, I'm going to earn $5,000 from this article and we can pay for half of our solar pv system, send the kids to wilderness survival school, etc . . . "

I'd find myself in a similiar situation if I didn't generate capital from the endeavor either. In which case there would be less or no capital to flow to the writers we want to bring out of the woodwork.

Get it?

Remember Kunstler's article in Rolling Stone? Well RS pays a dollar a word to their freelance writers! That article woke up a lot of people and thus, in my opinion, did a lot of good. But it wouldn't have happened if there wasn't some money (which is a proxy for energy) flowing around.

Of course, you can watch Fox or read the NY Times for free. But, as they say, you get what you pay for.

Best,

Matt

[Charles]

You don't have to defend the "too general' case for me. I understand the reasons. Like I said, I would recommend the article once someone has acknowledged there is a crisis. You do go over the indicators (macro-issues) but when it's too general, it doesn't give a good argument. If an article was focused just on those indicators, it could help someone convince that there is a problem. Still, it doesn't mean you have to write it. There's plenty of other people out there like yourself. The problem is networking with all of those people.

Before Final Empire, there was was Building a Sustainable Society by Lester R. Brown back in 1981. Just imagine all this time we wasted knowing about these issues.

[Steven Lagavulin]

You're right, Charles, the info has been out there for a long time. I think I noted recently about meeting a couple old hippies who began building a sustainable community back in the 1970's specifically to prepare for the "crash" of civilization. Of course they were crazy...back then, I mean.

Actually what I've learned is that during the '70's there was a flurry of awareness of the approaching situation...widespread conservation efforts, the dawning of the environmental movement, the first seeds of a counter-culture that would grow into the eco-village movement, etc. Then the Fed started printing money money under Reagan, and all those concerns vanished in a puff of smoke and mirrors....