[Peakoil] Wealth preservation and land

Sun Sep 4 17:24:02 EST 2005

Yeah, what Keith just came out and said has been running over and over in my 
mind for the past 6 months or so.  Planning for our future welfare is going 
to be extremely difficult.

Australia won't escape the pain, but I don't think we'll be hit as hard as 
other countries.  We'll probably go back to how things were before 
Federation, sustainable cities and towns will survive, the unsustainable 
others will slowly collapse.  And its not going to be the "designer 
lifestyle" of this day and age, where you can make 80K a year as a 
"strategic transition and service enablement manager", you'll actually have 
to be useful.

If you want to get along in this kind of society, it won't be about having, 
it'll be about being.  Invest your economic energy into things that will 
make you useful, and things that will help you survive.

The only thing I'm worried about is how to plan for my old age.  At some 
stage I'll be too old to labour effectively on a farm or whatever, I hope 
society won't have degenerated to the point where old people are managed 
Eskimo style.

Keith's point on land is also quite valid.  At the end of the day, whoever 
has the biggest army owns everything, and for a while, that's likely to be 
the state.  So even if a whole bunch of people started a big sustainable 
village thing, you could bet your bottom dollar you'd have the government 
interfering, requisitioning stuff to send to other areas that are sinking 
and imposing policies and laws on you that probably won't be the best way to 
go about things.

Cheers,

Leigh

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith Thomas" <keith at evfit.com>
To: "ACT Peak Oil discussion Oil discussion" <peakoil at act-peakoil.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 9:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Peakoil] Wealth preservation and land

> Here are four considerations before you take this route.
>
> In a post-peak world, gold will no longer have as many industrial uses 
> (that is, it will have lost much of its intrinsic value) and demand for 
> it will fall.  This will be partly compensated for by people like you 
> looking to turn their potentially worthless notes and bank balances  into 
> gold. The greatest wealth we have is NOT in the money or  possessions we 
> have but in our skills, our health (i.e. our ability not  to be a burden 
> on others), our ability to get along with others, our  knowledge and 
> wisdom. Invest in these now, by devoting hours learning  through 
> experience how to be close to self-sufficient on your present  block and 
> to functional fitness and good health.  The readjustment of  your daily 
> schedule to accommodate these changes will help you to avoid  the sort of 
> shock the New Orleansians displayed this past week when the  crunch comes.
>
> Land is the most secure and safe bet, but with a declining population  it 
> will fall in value. Land is not something you can own like a book, a  car 
> or a painting.  Land is not owned, but the state gives you a title  giving 
> you exclusive possession of that site for as long as it pleases  the state 
> to give you that monopoly. Although land in most of Australia  is 
> nominally freehold, it is actually vested in the crown (this is 
> demonstrated by compulsory land acquisitions of, for example, space 
> through agricultural land for roads, railways, pipelines, powerlines 
> etc.). There will be some drastic laws enacted by desperate governments 
> in the years ahead, so don't bank on security of tenure if you have a 
> site someone in power would also like.
>
> Buying land is a big investment and can tie you down more than you  might 
> want in uncertain times.  I'd also suggest you look at buying a  share in 
> an existing rural community. I don't know of any near  Canberra, but they 
> are rife in Nimbin and addresses north. there are  probably some in 
> Tasmania.  Tassie would be as safe a place as ANY in  the world.
>
> From the Australian peak oil sheet at www.natsoc.org.au: "Most  localities 
> have laws that restrict your ability to prepare: siting of  water tanks, 
> home renovations, sewage treatment and disposal, keeping  farm animals in 
> towns, growing hemp, tax disincentives."
> --------------------------------------------
> Keith Thomas
> www.evfit.com
> --------------------------------------------
> On 03/09/2005, at 1:19 PM, Alex P wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I am personally interested in finding land for growing food and  becoming 
>> a
>> bit more self-sufficient.
>>
>> To the list members who have rural or semi-rural properties: What is 
>> your
>> experience of purchasing land and using it to grow food?
>>
>> I'm interested in the posssibility of a land consortium. It's a big
>> commitment to buy land with other people, but I'd like to sound people 
>> out.
>>
>> I think Katrina was an economic tipping point. It will have a pretty
>> severe effect on US consumers. Since refinery capacity has been taken 
>> out,
>> it should lessen US demand, perhaps lowering oil demand and prices
>> somewhat.
>>
>> So for those of us with savings, are people interested in getting 
>> together
>> and buying gold? It can be ordered from Sydney and discounts apply for
>> larger quantities. Do any super funds cater to my gloomy outlook, or  is 
>> my
>> super practically worthless already? I'm also interested to know if  any 
>> of
>> you know financial planners who are Peak Oil savvy, or are aware of the
>> imbalances of the world financial system.
>>
>> Alex
>> O4O4873828
>>
>> ACT Peak Oil discussion list
>> http://act-peakoil.org
>>
>>
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