Andrea wrote:

I read the interview but have not read any of his books. This question/answer seemed the most light hearted.

GM - Rather than light hearted, I took it as an accurate discription of what all too many of us Americans are presently missing out on in our techno-toy isolation.

------------------------------------ ? - What advice would you give to parents -- should they be teaching their kids survival skills aside from how to cooperate and live in a small-scale community?

Kunster - Teach them how to be polite and fair, and teach them how to play a musical instrument -- we're going to have to keep our spirits up.

Make yourself a part of a cohesive community. Be prepared to carry your weight and deal with a hands-on vocation. There will be far fewer public-relations executives and far more milkmaids. ------------------------------------ 

Andrea wrote:

So what do you think GM. if the oil runs out, perhaps the air will get cleaner and then the water won't get fucked up and then survival will be possible. If not I believe it will be water wars in the future. Its been a rough day...

GM - Hope tomorrow goes smoother....

The air might be less poluted by autos but filthier from sources for heating and cooking. I suspect that water will be dirtier, in either scenario. Certainly if we lack the energy for manufacturing or water treatment plants. Clean drinking water will become a scarcity regardless! In fact, Enron some years ago was attempting to pull a Hunt' Brother's scheme but with aquifers and other primary drinking water sources. Undoubtedly someone will pull it off.

Simple workable solutions to many of these problems are readily available but it would have to be a concerted national effort, as mentioned elsewhere, in order to avert Kunster's highly viable national disaster.

Certainly we will 'have to be' much less wasteful in our energy/ electric consumption and a decidedly less mobile society individually, but contrary to Kunster, I believe we have the technological know-how to live pretty well if we were to begin preparing now.

But! the insurmountable 'but' is, many well respected someones' with a national presence would all have to live long enough to turn a nation preparedness campaign into an avalanche.

Sadly the workable solutions are being rejected by the powers that be. Probably because my proposals would facilitate decentralization, reduced quarterly dividends and a more humane standard of living.

Get yourself a Berkey Andrea. And a few extra filters. You'll be delighted you did. Clean drinking water, no electricity required.

To a better tomorrow.