Book Trailer: World Made By Hand, by J.H.Kunstler

[bertapelleja]

one of the best books I have read! it took me away on an adventure I would not have been on.

[DonCarina]

For the record, after gareball's post, crude oil hit $34 a barrel.

Ron Russell

Author of "Don Carina"

[gareball]

I stand by my comments 100%. It's called Econ-101 for a reason. Those are the most rudimentary laws capitalism follows. All else revolves around that basic concept. Emerging economies in China, India etc. are taking supplies off the market. The dollar continues to slide and the price of oil contiues to rise. What about this do you not understand? The 'Great American Century' is over. The 21st century belongs to China, India etc. As I said before, ignore these warnings at your own peril.

[Halo4Lyf]

@gareball Why does the 21st century belong to China? Give me specific reasons why the PRC is supposedly poised to become the preeminent military, economic, and cultural force for the next 100 years.

[blaked495]

As much as I like Kunstler's New Urbanist ideas and deplore automobile sprawl, this vision of the future is about as off the mark as Ghandi imploring Indians in the 1930's to return to their spinning wheels. If you go to places like Ukraine, you can see how people manage to live despite things like 20% interest rates. People still have electricity and have gained things like mobile phones and internet access.

[OzClawhammer]

You can't uninvent the wheel. Coal fired steam and electricity will remain when oil becomes too expensive. The traintracks will roll electric and steam powered trains and electric tramcars will run in the cities. The powerlines and telephone cables will still carry messages to/from phones and computers... oil has only been around for a century or so.

[Postcarbonman]

I just read the book this weekend. Made me want to jump off a bridge and learn how to farm all at the same time. It messes with your head a little and I am not sure if I am better or worse for reading it....

[karaokevox]

JHK has seperated himself from the pack of other doomsday writers by romanticizing the genre. If you want to call turning women into concubines and whores and turning men into power mongers and feudal lords 'romantic'. I think the last line of MY version of things would be: People will surprise you.

[AhuraWerewolf1]

This guy came to speak at my school

[MrEnergyCzar]

this is one of the greatest books ever on post peak life in the states....it helped motivate me to change my life and convert my families home in CT to a net-zero solar powered home that uses no oil or gas.....

[scatcatpdx]

Seem like the typical Evirometalist doom and doom and gloom and romanticism of 18th century life.

[lizbethbrown]

this is not doom and gloom at all. you misunderstand...

[scatcatpdx]

@lizbethbrown

You got me.

Correction: its dystopian with romanticism of 19th century rural life.

[ehswan]

No one has yet mentioned in this comment stream that we are killing off this world. The self centeredness of our kind is mind nummingly selfish. Ps I don't know if nummingly is spelled right.

[Theriomalstrom]

All species are selfish - it's how nature works. If bunnies had industrial civilization they'd be doing the same thing.

[oncelosthorizon]

No, it isn't.

[pompusmaximus1985]

Just finished reading this. It's a very interesting prospect on our future and a highly recommended read. The signs certainly point to a world similar to the one depicted in this book. Solid story with good character development. You really seem to be drawn into this world while reading.

[KiwiSentinel]

US oil production peaked in 1970. Since then it has been downhill. The only thing that has kept America in the quality of life it expects has been via overseas oil.

The American Dream has been racking up the credit and now it is payback time and no functioning mass industry to generate revenue needed.

[proadmin1]

Actually that's something of a nasty myth, as it stands, the US is still the worlds largest manufacturer, as year over year our manufacturing sector increased by 5% just a couple of years ago and even today we outproduce everyone's favorite China by 100%.

See the Nationmaster website for a good feel for the numbers.

Secondly I suspect we can choose to guide our economy away from oil in a sustainable and much more civilized fashion than Mr. Kunstler, who seems to pine for the apocalypse.

[GeoffreyRahl]

Every single alternative energy solution is derived from oil, be it solar panels, biofuels, windmills and so on. The solution IF peak oil happens is to drastically reduce our energy consumption.

[v1m]

"The future is not what you expect."

In Kunstler's future, everyone dresses like a Mormon and the banjo makes a big comeback.

A Luddite's wet dream -- the world saved from iPods. And from irony, too. Whew!

Good night, John Boy!

[yerk3]

And from keeping all your teeth after the age of 40, and from living to see 60, and from surviving now-preventable illnesses. Without modern medicine, I would be crippled, my right leg would be completely non-functional, my sister would have died shortly after she was born, my father would have died two years ago from cancer. My disability might doom me to starvation, or maybe I'd totter around with my crutches and alms plate, living on stale bread crusts.

[46ace]

Yerk3 : and your point is????" the modern world has advantages(?) of course it does the problem is nature doesn' t give a rats ass as to how much you like your teeth, eating balanced meals or watching dr phil.... world energy demand rises daily; world energy extraction plateaued in2005." sithlord cheney said "the American way of life is notnegotiable".

I beg to differ:

Nature doesn't negotiate... oil boy.

[yerk3]

46ace: You equate keeping your teeth and not starving to death with watching Dr. Phil? Did you know that people with bad teeth are more at risk for heart trouble? Until you've torn a ligament and needed modern surgery to be able to walk again, you have no right to equate crucial medical advances with talk shows and useless luxuries.

[nappytedd]

there is no such thing as a oil shortage. we are being tricked into thinking that by big oil so we wont be upset about the high price that the oil monopaly has risen. oil companys drill wells and cap them for later use everyday. besides that we were doing just fine in the 1800s without it, we can do with out it again. it's not the cars that are the major problem it our overdependence on plastic that is ruining the world. try to stop buying plastic for one day to see what I mean. ^everywhere.

[yacetube]

I found it amazing how many youtube US citizens are so often confident and proud of their system and stuff, of human and american superiority, their world being perfect... as if they were living in a bubble sometimes, ..creationism, anti-environmentalism, oil-for-ever dreamers ...etc

[NunsAllowed]

Then, unexpectedly, huge oil reserves were discovered in Canada, enough to last 1000 years.

And, they all lived happily ever after.

[xinosaj]

Be sure to let me know when they find that 1,000 years worth of oil. I've got my eye on a new Hummer.

[proadmin1]

Well, if you mean the Alberta tar sands - at our current rate of consumption we use nearly 1 trillion barrels in a little more than 30-35 years so you might be able to get as far as 2040 before things look decidedly less modern.

[dallasrocker]

WHY IS THE VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

I wanted to download it with my favorite software, TubeSucker - Youtube Video Downloader

[Manwithfishhead]

Wait a minute.. Robert is supposed to have a beard!

[mrmultidextrous]

Hirsch report

M.Hubbert King - Hubbert curve

Wealth, Virtual Wealth and debt -(George Allen & Unwin 1926)

Thermoeconomics

[DrLepper]

Jimmy..Bad news, dude: oil is crashing, hardcore. We're awash in the cheap stuff. Sorry to burst your semi-psychotic bubble but you and your Barnes and Noble Assistant Manager followers will have to revert back to UFO conspiracies and 9/11 fixes.

[Geostars]

Keep your head up your ass doood. You'll be swept away with all the other SUV driving, beer guzzling ignoramuses. Short term fluctuations aside the long term trend for oil prices is clearly up. One day soon production will go off a cliff and $150. will seem like the good old days. "Twilight in the Desert" details the facts & figures by an oil industry veteran.

[mrmultidextrous]

DrLepper, Most geologists think that oil has peaked - and the figures say it is now in decline. Demand could be 1.5 times what it is now, there's enough people around for it.. so demand has now permanently outstripped supply.

[DrLepper]

It should be called "World Made By Giving You A Handjob". If Jimmy lived in a tent gorging on raw deer meat and raw yak milk, I might take him somewhat seriously. His big fans are the UFO flyers/bitter victims of capitalism who have an average income of perhaps 13 dollars an hour. He loves to sell you a shit pile and he'll glady send it COD.

[xelnagahomie]

Ludditism is NOT cool.

[talkietiki1]

my college just had all the freshmen read this book for the summer and i absolutely loved it!

[frogiigurl]

woaaah awesome, my college made me read it too! hahaa the book was good, but i still have to write the paper -_____-

[michaelispan]

I got this book last May.A very good read.

[hilly777]

ehswan, lol, I thought that was already.

[ehswan]

I did so like the film "road warrior" (sp?). As it depicted a shattered culture where none were sane.

[TombKaios]

Read the book and liked the Book.

Gives a good immpression of the Future-Maybe/Long Emergency. Granted when reading folks shouldn;t take in the whole Nuking part as "Going to Happen" as from what I can infer that really fast forwarded America into Depression-Emergency. If we can avoid that the Long Emergency at least could be stalled for a shot bit.

Arrr but I hate it how Suburbia sucks so much, I keep paying Gas and my Suburb is across town and over a highway from work.

[bluemamie]

I just finished World Made By Hand, and I highly recommend it.

I found this to be a very hopeful book. After reading this and The Long Emergency back to back, I'm left with the certainty that I am still invested in the project of human civilization, regardless of impending hardship or potential devastation.

He doesn't write women well, but most male writers have trouble with that. The most prominent female character was a young character, which was a wise choice in that regard.

Read it!

[AmericanRuffian]

I just paid $4.11/gal for gas in Philadelphia, PA. When I was putting the receipt in the side pocket of my car I found an "old" receipt from March, three short months ago. Price paid: $3.19. I was like, "damn! gas was cheap back then!". We are a nation in deep doodoo. Gas ain't ever getting cheaper.

[ramaldo61]

Don't know about what price oil will reach but one thing is for sure - much of American suburbia is just plain ugly. The landscape is so ugly and paved with asphalt that even if you want to walk or bike, the sheer ugliness of the barren landscape will stop you in your tracks.  Architecture took a vacation for the 40 years following WWII. Hopefully, we can infill the parking lots and convert lanes on roads to flower beds and recover some sense of community back into our lives.

[FunnyDigestion]

I've said it before: I think it'll be really cool to see weeds and shrubberies and kudzu growing all over the Interstates.

[jennathepest]

i'm a huge fan of kunstler's non-fiction books, his blog, etc. i love the way he can make me laugh while describing the most depressing things. i'm not sure about his novels, however. i'm getting this one from the library rather than buying it.

i do think he is a visionary. and i've read enough about peak oil to know that he is NOT wrong on the science. the timing of some of his predictions may be off here & there, but pretty much everything he's talked about in his books is coming true now.

[DrLepper]

Kunstler is a great huckster and entertainer, and never seems to be without something to sell you, but his "vision" of the future is a steaming crock of shit. He's telling a fanciful story and extracting, or attempting to extract, your cash for this purpose. Every stock market prediction he's ever made has failed. Nobody can predict the future, but it sure sells to the masses.

[gareball]

Do you mean the "stock market" CAN'T predict the future? Oil traders do it every day. You seem to place a great deal of faith in capitalism. Tell you what: you bow and pray to the gods of capitalism and I'll listen to Mr. Kunstler. 20 years from now we'll see who's predictions ring true. What REALLY sells to the masses is the pipe dream that everything is OK, that government and commerce will protect us from the harsh realities of a "World Made By Hand". Ignore Mr.Kuntsler at your own peril.

[DrLepper]

Kunstler travels here and there by kerosene-fueled planes and yaks about peak oil and the evils of suburbia. This sells well to the doomers and fringe whack jobs who feast on bad news like those green flys on shit. The problem is twofold: 1. He hasn't a clue about the science and geology behind his sweaty rants and 2. his disciples tend to be the victims of capitalism..Barnes and Noble assistant managers, reiki healers, etc. If oil goes to 50 he'll be a footnote, at best.

[gareball]

You are certainly one of the most myopic people to frequent this page. "If oil goes to 50"...probably the most absurd statement ever to grace a YouTube page. Oil will hit 200 before the summer's end, count on it. It's chances of seeing 50 again are as small as your intellect. You can't see past the hood of your Hummer H1 that you absolutely NEED to navigate the treacherous streets of Manhattan. Yes, we have a limitless supply of oil and there is absolutely nothing to worry about. What a fool.

[Glomerol]

@gareball :

Based on what I've been reading, such as at 'The Oil Drum', the price of oil seems to hit a "ceiling" of $150, after which-- bang!-- we're into "recession" again. Ouch. :)

Regarding the below dystopia comments, I'd laugh if it weren't for the fact that our entire culture is already dystopic, with soil and biodiversity loss, pollution, possible population overshoot, global warming, etc..

So any novel that's somehow dystopian relative to our current status, seems to make it utopian.

[InfiniteMushroom]

@gareball After two years, what do you think of your derisive comments now? You were predicting the price of crude from a purely academic supply and demand paradigm. An utterly useless concept outside of Econ-101 classes.

Had you considered the Machiavellian machinations of the NYMEX, and the agenda of the ruling plutocracy, you would have seen their plan to starve out rebellious oil exporting nations, like Venezuela and Iran with low prices.

BTW, I drive a '76 Beetle and '82 Mercedes 240D.

[Halo4Lyf]

@gareball Did oil make it to $200 a barrel? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't things peak around $150 and now been hovering between $80-$110 for the last while?

[Lappasman]

Seems like oil went to 140, and Kunstler's name has been popping up on several well known websites around the world. I think we can savely say your statements are flawed, DrLepper

[spurcross]

As of 11/21/08, oil did dip below $50.

It's a straw man argument, though. The reality is that oil will run out sooner or later and we will be living in a 3rd world civilization if we don't make a planned conversion to non-fossil fuel energy.

[iiopen]

"The future is not what you expect"

*****

[manuelcvaz]

Things will be far worse for most of you, before they settle down. While there will be no land and food for most, the world will be like a Mad-Max movie.

[achromy]

JHK will be on The Colbert Report May 1.

Should be interesting.

[ravioneu]

This trailer is far better than the book. Kunstler paints a picture of small town America that looks like the 1870's & then throws in a junk yard, guns, a shooting & a predictable religious angle. Women are described by their physical attributes. Kunstler should have incorporated more of "The Long Emergency" into this book. That book opened your mind & broadened your perspective. This book, in contrast, zeros in on a small, dreary, rural community & ignores the bigger picture. Disappointing.

[TombKaios]

Well maybe that just narrows in on the point of with the lack of far-travel things become more local, so he focused on that local.

[hugEguy610]

Very thought-provoking book. 1st thought: I'd love to hear from JHK a discussion about what he was trying to illustrate thru the "Hive Queen" character and JB's two mysterious "disappearances." I don't have a guess. 2nd: This was the story of Union Grove and its people. Every locality will have a unique story. Most will be more gruesome, depending on the foibles & faults of their leaders and followers. Most Rugged Individualists will not survive. Too much to know/do for small groups to succede.

[hugEguy610]

I totally agree that ignorance, regret, lethargy, inertia, and apathy will be major killers, right along with germs and weapons. I also argue that anyone who thinks the era we are now in can be a planned "regression" to some "past" doesn't get it. The local tipping points will be catastrophic. It will be a "straw" that breaks the locality's back; some seemingly minor but missing element. Have Fun!

[tenevah]

It's a good, engrossing read. Although it's a work of fiction, it gets closure to the truth than the pollyannaish views most 'futurists' propigate. One minor quible with the trailer -- in the book Robert has a full beard rather than a mustache.

[ThisCanadian]

the more I think about his book, the more Margaret Atwood-esque it sounds... remarkable. thank you! ~~~ Spread Love... BlueBerry Pick'n can be found @ ThisCanadian com ~~~ "We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid. ~~~ "Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"

[ThisCanadian]

*** applause *** We love the Kunstler! ~~~ Spread Love... BlueBerry Pick'n can be found @ ThisCanadian com ~~~ "We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid. ~~~ "Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"

[unchiekun]

It seems that there is no longer any idea of what the future may become?

Seems the Americans that I used to know are all now wishful thinkers hoping that the Free ride can go on forever ! Rather than the Hard working and fighting bastards, I knew in my Youth. God Bless Long Island, and St. James Irish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jawzza]

I like Kunstler's future-pop "research", but watching this makes me feel like NOT buying the book. His work and premises are usually much more interesting and plausible.

Why do I feel he hired the wrong editor who entirely changed the plot?

[remoran]

I like Kunstler's work but, as a tech, I find issue with his new book as it depicts a world totally devoid of any tech coming from the 20/21st century. This is not believable. Past peak, the collapse of the car crazy civilization, yes but no tech carryover in the age without oil. Not possible.

I also agree on the KB effect. Well done here.

[ThisCanadian]

Remoran: the point is that the World has squandered a resource which could have created more than a short-term solution & profit from which we'll have to crawl out... I recently visited Trinidad, Cuba. Like other ancient prosperity... it was in tatters, shreds. North America has created next to NO long-term solutions which will be useful past PeakOil. Why? *it was created that way* ~~~ Spread Love BlueBerry Pick'n ThisCanadian com ~~~ "We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid

[lemmiwinksau]

Agreed, a return to the technological past is no future at all.

[razmataz31]

Here's the thing - there's still plenty of energy left! It's in the form of coal, and tar sand and all manner of very dirty, very nasty stuff. Not to mention the diversion of crop land to grow bio-fuel plants. The future is much more likely to bring us ecological disaster than rural idyl.

[StormChaseTroopers]

Losing your family to influenza or other diseases, manual agricultural labor, no central authority or national economy. This is anything but an "rural idyll." Wars are usually fought over resources, so no stretch there. He covers that as well, if you read the book. Don't let the trailer's music fool you.

[lemmiwinksau]

After I posted my comment I found a review of the book, and you're right of course, idyll was the wrong description. But seriously, mad bikers controlling the dump and menacing the town? Puhlease! As for the opening line of the trailer, I dispute that too, I (and many, many others) will most certainly have electricity, grid or no grid. Anyone who's remotely resourceful will be just fine in this vision of the future, though of course they would still die from a simple bacterial infection.

[kitchawan]

what he describes already has taken place in much of Africa, exactly, w/ pop. leveling epidemics, gangsterism, mass migrations. 1st and hardest hit by global warming, peak oil and, of course, neo-liberal economics, aka globalization, this plague is only starting to make itself felt here now, but don't count on american exceptionalism to provide a happy ending. new technology may come into play as more sophisticatd means of political represson, by elites inexplicably disappeared in his account.

[StormChaseTroopers]

Mad bikers digging up the dump and abandoned houses for ten penny nails? Sounds like where I grew up in Maine. (They're not so much mad bikers as just trailer park people in the book). You and I? We're resourceful, we'll swing something. But the vast majority of this country ain't country folk anymore. They work in office buildings and such. They're gonna have a hard time of it...especially if the influenza kills you and me. ;-) Read the book, you won't regret it.

[MikeMyklin]

I doubt anyone would be "just fine" considering that those who have resources will be preyed on by those who don't. I can see feudalism and mob violence in our future, not a calm landscape that allows for much future expectations. Yes, I am one of those who have elect without need of a grid and food without stores but this will be a desperate existence while it is necessary. And I make a living with computers while they last.

[bluemamie]

How will you have electricity?

[lemmiwinksau]

Like most of Kunstlers views of the future it has more to do with projecting his dissatisfaction with American society than any basis in reality. Don't get me wrong, there appears to be plenty about American society to be dissatisfied with, however a post apocalyptic rural idyll is a laughable fantasy. By all means, indulge yourself, but don't be surprised or disappointed when it doesn't pan out. A new dark ages would be closer to the mark, and if it does happen, it will be a result of war.

[Azzenstudent]

Kunstler is a great writer but his apocalyptic vision tends to wash over what would be an absolute catastrophe for just about everyone not living by hand in some rural eden. For all I know, he might be right. But let's not kid ourselves. Even if the future is half as dire as he predicts, it will make a world war seem benign. Kunstler needs to state this clearly.

[totalcollapse1414]

Right now, I think that we need rural idylls more than frantic jesus-is-coming rantings. The future is scary, and we need to understand the that, but we also need positive visions of the way the world can be.

[Elienation]

Book review of it here elienation -dot- com

[explosivetwist]

Kunstler is a great writer. The Long Emergency is a pseudo scholarly analysis of what life will be like as the oil age winds down. Then he comes along with a fiction novel, that plays out parts of the The Long Emergency analysis. Definitely worth taking the time to read both, and if he's coming to your area try to attend his lectures, they are a lot of fun.

[unchiekun]

It is almost the future world that I wish it would become. Great Book!, Great inspirational thinking of a simpler life made by our own hands, where community and personal relationships mean more than greed and money.

Loved all the food talk in the book, good healthy eating for what it's worth. My small 200 sq. ft. garden will be better this year because of this book. Overall, I think the quality of life would be better in Jim's vision of the future. Might want a little better medical care!

[Raindogs111]

Excellent use of the "Ken Burns Effect."

[durangokid81301]

Read it in one sitting.

[durangokid81301]

Read it in one sitting.

[zozazumi]

Kunstler is a Kassandra well worth reading. I've been reading his books, articles, and website for some years. While I often disagree with his assessments of the near-term future, his long view is spot on.

[codesuidae]

I agree that Kunstler is worth reading, but not that his long-term view is unavoidable. His is is a future not yet come, we should take heed and see that it does not.

[alanhowitzer]

Can't wait to read it.

[misterstudebaker]

Cool. I look forward to reading the book. It has movie written all over it...

[dugfriendly]

I don't want to spoil the read.