OT: What is the biggest

[Tnarg]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
What s the biggest threat we now have facing us and the planet?

I would say over population, lack of resources (Namely Oil), and laws for just about everything from breathing air to sleeping.

There was a time when we had far more freedom to do as we wanted than we currently have now. You could go to the woods and camp, now you need a permit and you have to pack out your waste. (ALL WASTE! Yup, 1 & 2 are included).

As the population increases, resources dwindle and freedom to be free is dramatically reduced. Hell at one point I bet many of you could simply walk out side at any hour and take a whiz, but to do that now you'd more than likely end up on some survalence video.

What used to take 20 minutes to drive now takes an hour with all the traffic, new signals, road revisions, etc. The more people we have, the less mobility we enjoy, hence the less real freedom we have.

Only 20 years ago it was ok hunt, now it is impossible to find an area. 10 year ago we could ride our dirt bikes in the woods, now that area is all houses and closed off for logging. 5 years ago we could ride our quads on the beach, now that is being closed to preserve the sand.

What used to be free camping is now reservation only.

I know that many call this evolution, but I call it what it is, a sincere and continuing threat to the freedom and enjoyment of life.

Move to South Dakota. The pub across the street actually has a "landmark" rock out back that is the urinal.

I used to drive 7 miles to work in Portland and it took about 30 to 45 minutes. I drive 30 miles to work now, and it takes 25 minutes.

I have a creek in my back yard and I can fish with out a permit, don't know if that is legal or not?

Everyone knows everyone here, so you just ask Elmer if you can help him with his dear problem.

This life style isn't for everyone, I admit I miss the city, but I would have to say we are pretty free to do as we please within respectful manners.

I would have to say our biggest threat is winter! Then the next biggest threat would have to be some fanatic that wants to poison the food supply with Mad Cow or something. So I guess people are are biggest threat, good call Atrocities, but I beleive that there is a great deal of land left, maybe not resources, but there are alternatives.

[Taz-in-Space]

There are hundreds of potential disasters more capable of exterminating all/most intelligent: Nuclear war, pollution, diseases (both natural and genetically tailored and wilfully released), country music .

Ummm, that Last one...Someone is going to sing the ultimate sad country song and everyone suicides?

[Kamog]

I don't think we'll run out of oil in the next couple of decades. I thought there's oil in the ground but the deposits that haven't been tapped yet are more difficult to get at. So the price of oil will keep rising as the cost of extracting the oil gets higher and higher. But we won't suddenly run out of oil; that will take much longer.

[Dragonswrd]

Actually, current estimates put us at 15 to 20 years left of oil. So yes it will be soon.

[ March 30, 2004, 13:57: Message edited by: Dragonswrd ]

[Slick]

Originally posted by Dragonswrd:
Actually, current estimates put us at 15 to 20 years left of oil. So yes it will be soon.

They said that during the "energy crisis" during the '70's too.

Slick.

[dogscoff]

country music

No... anything but that... please...

When the Arab world says that all Infidels should be killed, I think the only way to eradicate the threat would be to kill all of them.

OK, now that statement scares me.

look at what happened just before WW2, when everyone let Hitler do what he wanted and believed his crap because they didn't want to take a solid stand against what he was. We again have this type of feeling in the world today.

I agree Mac, fascism is on the rise again, and I think it is a serious threat to humanity. Bush seems determined to push the entire world into irrational fear, hysterical hatred and uncontrollable conflict, and then to dominate the survivors and strip away any kind of freedom from them. IMHO he is a major threat to the future of civilisation.

Re: oil. We will run out eventually, no-one can deny that there is only a finite supply of it (unless you want to wait a few million years for some more to be naturally formed). When it will run out I don't know, but most estimates I've seen seem range from around 5 to 100 years, depending on the agenda being pushed.
however much is out there, it all depends on how quickly we burn it up, and in particularly, how quickly the 3rd World catches up with the 1st in terms of consumption. If everyone in Africa, India and China went out tomorrow and bought a Ford each (and magically had sufficient roads/ fuel stations/ money to run them) we'd all be living in 3rd World conditions by the end of the decade. We will proabably have sufficient alternative energy sources by the time oil runs out, so that doesn't really worry me, but what are we going to do about pLastics and other oil derivatives? Imagine having to build everything out of wood, metal and other materials again. Many (most?) manufactured goods we take for granted would be impossible to build out of anything else without making major sacrifices in terms of weight and/or cost and/or strength. Look around the room you are sitting in, and try to imagine the contents without pLastic. Just think about how much pLastic you throw away every day...
Maybe pLastics could be manufactured without oil somehow, but that is bound to cost a lot of money and energy.

Re: environment. Global warming/ climate change are going to cause a lot of devastation, suffering and extinctions, but humanity and the the environment will adapt and survive. That's not to say we shouldn't work against it, it's still a very very bad thing, just not *quite* as bad as some other problems we face. Pollution is a problem and a potential planet-killer, but I believe we have what it takes to beat it and we have been on the right track for quite a few years now. Big companies and their pocket politicians are determined to change/bend/break the rules in order to continue polluting, but the world's public is against pollution, and I think eventually the will of the ppl will win.

Re: Asteroids. I'm not worried about asteroid threats- we probably (statistically speaking :-p )have a long while until we are forced to deal with that one, but we ought to be watching the skies more carefully, just to be sure, and we also ought to colonise the moon and mars, just in case.

[EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro]

Regarding Oil: I think the actual fear is running out of CHEAP oil. I think Atrocities had a link to a scary site about that. When it starts costing alot of money to pump out, process and protect the oil, people are gonna freak. Society will crash, and more wars will break out as countries try to protect or posess more oil to offset the costs.
I'm not worried, I'm counting on it. I hate this oil based society and being forced to change is a good motivator.