243. OIL DRUM SWIRLING DOWN THE TOILET OF DOOM

philipmartin has posted a comment which deserves its own article:

This is off-topic..but there's an interesting discussion over at The Oil Drum over conservation versus vacation travel etc.
It seems really to have brought some loonies out of the woodwork and a few surprising admissions from regulars.
I've cut down my travel because I think it's the right thing to do for myself but others, on one hand, are really relishing the peak for various weird reasons, whilst others have the 'I want to see everything before I die' attitude. I have to hand it to you JD I think your analysis of these people, generally, is more right than wrong. I really thought this bunch had a different attitude. They criticize profligate behaviour day after day and then - behold! - it's all been a big joke. Fuck me...

This is the thread philip is referring to, and here's the doomer argument for those of you who are just tuning in: Peak oil is going to cause the collapse of civilization, so you might as well "party on" and waste fuel while you can, OR (alternatively) live as wastefully as possible in order to bring on the collapse sooner. These attitudes are the predictable endpoint of doomerism, as we have previously described in 78. DOOMER TYPE #3: THE PARTYER, 77. DOOMER TYPE #2: THE FULL THROTTLE "SURVIVOR", and 75. DOOMER TYPE #1: THE SOCIAL DARWINIST. It's very sad to see the Oil Drum -- a site with many redeeming qualities -- slowly succumbing to this nihilistic garbage.

We here at POD take a different view. We believe that the task of our generation(s) is to meet the challenge of peak oil, and work relentlessly to ensure a good outcome. Partly, that involves taking personal responsibility and not making up stupid excuses to waste energy.

At the moment, I live in Japan, and have the greatest admiration for Japanese frugality and social responsibility, as I have previously described in 156. BICYCLES IN JAPAN and 144. YOUR BUDDY: THE SPACE HEATER. Check out this amazing material about Japan from a recent Washington Post article:

Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Page A01

KAMIITA, Japan -- When the Japanese government issued a national battle cry against soaring global energy prices this winter, no one heeded the call to arms more than this farming town in the misty mountains of western Japan.

To save on energy, local officials shut off the heating system in the town hall, leaving themselves and 100 workers no respite from near-freezing temperatures. On a recent frosty morning, rows of desks were brimming with employees bundled in coats and wool blankets while nursing thermoses of hot tea. To cut back on gasoline use, officials say, most of the town's 13,000 citizens are strictly obeying a nationwide call to turn off car engines while idling, particularly when stopped at traffic lights.

Takao Iwase, Kamiita's husky administrative director, joined other locals in switching off the heat at home, too -- leaving his family to quickly hustle from steaming nighttime baths to the warm comforters on their traditional futons. "We're saving [$100] a day at city hall by shutting off the heat," Iwase, wearing four layers of clothing and a winter coat inside his office, said proudly. "But we no longer see this as just an economic issue. Japan has no natural resources of its own, so saving energy has become our national duty."

This is the kind of cheerful, "can do" commitment our world needs more of, not the spoiled nihilistic swill the Oil Drum is spreading and catering to.

-- by JD