how in the heck are we supposed to live these days

[chiknwhisperer]

I don't know how people in small towns are going to be able to get to work much longer. My DH works an hour from home at a steel mill and while the mony is better then his old job it isn't that much better to help with the hurt of high gas prices. And as far as ethanol goes. They want to plant corn for fuel but what about the fact that compared to a few years ago the really isn't as many food crops as there used to be. People will not be able to afford to go to work soon and small towns don't provide public transportation to jobs that are an hour away. Our town doesn't offer any at all because you can walk from one end to the other in laess then hour. But most of the residents don't work close to home becasue there just aren't enough jobs here and the ones that are wouldn't be able to pay the house payments much less the bills. My neighbors aren't happy with me and think I'm crazy for having chickens. I'm trying to get a garden going for the first time but planting seeds just doesn't seem to be working for me and I think I will have to get plants that are already started. And Dh doesn't like the idea of spending money on this stuff but I told him he will appreciate me going back to the basic ways of life one of these days.

 

[msrma7670]

Hello to all from Northwest GA

Just think when per barrel of oil reachs 200 dollars gas will cost six to seven. But think about all we use oil for not just gas. Got anything plastic? Rubber? All contain oil. Before long people will have to either move closer to work or find another job closer to home hard for some to do. With moving into the city just think more people together equals more people getting sick more often. And all the resistant strands of bacteria out there you will get one. Most people have one and don't even know it. I know i work in the hospital and deal with it daily. It really does not matter either who the presdent is b/c they have no control of it. if we want to complain call your congressmen they are the ones to get the ball rolling on auto makers. Oh well Got eat to live my chicken may not make it much longer yum yum.

 

[pattycake]

The problem is that so much of the country is set up around the idea of cheap gas. Suburbs have been built very far from workplaces, yards are too small for gardens. There are whole rural areas that grow just one crop, and depend on cheap gas to get all the other crops shipped to them.

So yeah, we're spoiled, and so on, but it will be a rocky transition, because we're so dependent on the cheap stuff. Those of us with chickens are the lucky ones, because we've already started to become a bit self-reliant.

But there are millions of people who live far from their jobs, who don't get paid enough to commute, don't have any place to grow a garden. And remember, there are already thousands of people losing their homes in the housing crisis. I can't see it getting better any time soon.

It's just going to be really hard to change the way we do things in this country.

 

[Skyesrocket]

I'm relieved to see people starting to understand just how bad things are and will continue to get.
For those of us fortunate enough to have room for animals and gardens at least we will have food, for a while anyway, if we are preparing for it now.
I have many amish neighbors and I would think they will do fine. I think we can learn a lot from their lifestyle. And their sense of community.
What kills me are the obscene profits the oil companies are making...on the backs of America's working class. They will end up breaking our backs...then who is going to fit the bill?
This really isn't, "the sky is falling".

 

[HR Patterson]

From a truckdriver's perspective here's my .02. We (Americans) have been living the "Good Life" for a couple generations now and it's time to pay. Why? All of the jobs that have gone overseas, all of the foreign "stuff" that we "need" have caused other third world countries to become what our country was just 50 years ago; and their demand for oil matches ours. Since the "Greenies" decided in the '60 to not allow any more refineries to be built in the U.S. our dependence on foreign oil has increased with our demand, but now because WE have caused other countries to flourish now we pay the price. And IMHO now this gives us the chance to stay home and enjoy all the foreign "stuff" we have been collecting. Unfortunatley, with all the manufacturing jobs gone and our society relying on "service industry" jobs I think this is just the beginning of a downward spiral. People stop buying new cars, the salespeople are out of work; people start eating out less, the servers are out of work, people stop buying gas, and the gas stations close (this is already happening at an alarming rate, I have seen 4 mom and pop truck stops close since the beginning of 2008) More people out of work means less "stuff" being bought and the mom and pop shops close leaving only the big ones to survive. More unemployment and the government tries to step in. The government cannot fix this problem. They tried in the '30's during the depression and only made it much worse. The government also cannot step in and fix the gas prices. This is a world economic issue and most people do not realize this. IMHO it does not matter who gets elected president, they are in for a huge mess that has been brewing long before I was a glimmer in my daddy's eye. We should have never taken the dollar off the gold standard; that was a knee-jerk reaction to hard times that has now come back to haunt us. So in closing, (sorry for the rant) buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride! (or get your fun in this summer, cause you ain't seen nothing yet!) --HR

 

[ZykloniaDark-GothikRanchr]

Quote:
NOPE!! I am still here!! I was actually talking last night about how those "don't buy gas on this day" boycotts. They don't work. At ALL! but what would work is if EVERYONE just called in to work, didn't drive at all, and everything just shut down!! that would send a message!
and I do know that I can make my own ethanol, but if the gov't would support more alternative fuels, we might get somewhere!! But, of course, there isn't as much money in the alternatives as there is in oil. check this out, it is AMAZING!!!

 

[tomjoad39]

It doesnt matter how we got here. The past is the past. Americans have got to realize that we are not the big boy superpower that we once were. We HAVE to learn to play nice with the other people who inhabit the planet. Starting wars (on oil producing nations!!) will not secure our freedom or do anything else other than give them a really good reason to choke us even more. To limit oil production. The truth is that they have what we need, OIL. I wonder why we cant learn the good old lesson ont bite the hand that feeds you. It hurts to humble yourself when you have been the top dog for so long, but facts are facts. India and China need oil just as badly as we do. Americans will have to learn to play by new rules. War and bullying and sabre rattling and "liberating" and forcing "democracy" on other countries is a thing of the 1800's. It will not work anymore.
The person who is president matters a great deal. A warmonger president will only hasten our fall to a 3rd world "old power" nation. The New World Order is now, and the sooner we learn the rules the better off well be.

 

[ginbart]

Quote:
I think you made an excellent statement. All true. God Bless America.

 

[HR Patterson]

Quote:
Matthew 24:
36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark

Where's MY ark? LOL

 

[rebbetzin]

Quote:

For those who are sitting on a few gold and platnium and silver eggs... the past few months have not been too bad.

But, my husband says what is coming upon the earth will make WW II and the Holocaust look like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood...