permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

On 10/7/05 11:46 PM, "Kaia Bronte" <kaiabronte@gmail.com> quoted:

> Their depletion will lead to a Malthusian catastrophe as
> oil-driven economies crash, petroleum-linked world food supplies shrink,
> transportation costs skyrocket, and industrialized urbanization reverses
> itself, sending people fleeing their SUV-dependent suburbs for a rural
> lifestyle.


Setting aside the Y2k-style nonsense of end-of-the-world scenarios due to
Peak Oil, what sort of fool would flee the suburbs for the country? One who
doesn't know that rural dwellers are even more oil dependent than city
folks. In the country, nothing is within walking distance, there's no mass
transit, jobs are far away, and all supplies must be trucked long distances.
The only asset is land. Yet there is enough land in and near all but the
largest cities to grow all the food necessary for the residents. The suburbs
will wither, but most rural people will be even worse off. Having lived in
the country, I'll stay in the city as the oil runs out. It's hard to go
local if there is no local economy, as is often the case in the country.

Toby
www.patternliteracy.com