Techno-fuckery

As far as I am concerned, there are two types of people in the world. It may or may not be their fault that they are the way they are, but the psyche of the American citizen is disturbing to me. I am becoming increasingly disinterested in communicating with these people beyond pleasantries. They are not interested in any point of view that may challenge their own comfortable futures they have mapped out for themselves.

No matter how much you want a future of space travel, floating skateboards and cars that run on garbage, it is not going to happen because even technology has limits…

1. Cornucopian Techno-Fuckers

These are people who – mostly ignorantly – look at the future and see some technology (battery, hydrogen or biofuel-ed cars) that will be developed to maintain the status quo. What they do not take into account is that there are no realistic alternatives. Even Boone Pickens’ natural gas wet dream requires an overhaul of 40-60% of the American vehicle fleet in 5 years. Given the spectre of dire economic times over the next few years, this seems all but impossible.

Instead, they kneel down in front of technology and start sucking. Periodically, they come up for air and mention that there is hope in whatever they have read about most recently. When challenged, they inevitably fall back on some anecdote from history to prove that the sky won’t fall because it hasn’t before. The problem, of course, is that the future isn’t history. Whether it rhymes or not, it won’t necessarily rhyme with the happy times they want it to sound like.

2. Pessimistic Reality-Fuckers

People like me will tell you that your way of life is fucked and there is not some shiny new technology waiting on the other side of the global oil peak. Sure, some of these technologies may produce some decent products. But there is no reason to believe that the government or the private sector will somehow conjure up a cure for our impending lack of liquid fuels. In the best possible circumstances, they might be able to buy you some time. But they are interested in only short term profits or superficial results they can campaign on for the next election, respectively. As investors and voters, we have made them that way.

Given that the first section of the population is the vast (+90%) majority, we are in a lot of trouble. The biggest hurdle to any serious risk mitigation strategy on any level is the mentality of this majority. They consume optimistic conjecture relayed to them from press releases (AKA Mainstream Journalism) and assume it is true. They have also developed a sort of expectation of future returns for themselves. From business they assume continued flow of cheap goods and services that will enrich their lives. From government they expect both continuation and expansion of government programs to support them and their extended families without feeling a burden (read paying for it all). Both business and government continue to oblige because they don’t want to upset their current standing. If anything, they promise you even more in the future.

At a time when real leaders should be standing up to tell you that your life will most likely not be as easy as your parents’ generation, we elected a President that wants to prop up a failed system with resources that don’t exist. Needless to say, this will not work. All of you techno-fuckers need to either educate yourself about how the world actually works and wake up or just give up now. You will be taking up valuable space and resources in the future, and you are expendable.