Man Burning: An allegory for human civilization

[levendis]

I recently wrote this to get a feel for what was in my head. I've read quite a bit about Peak Oil over the last few years, and have seen the similarities (up to a point) and thought I would post this to get some idea what others think.

"If you represent the whole history of man from the moment of agriculture to post collapse as an entire year, then industrial civilisation is represented by the Burning Man event. The main organisers of the event represent agricultural society. Their numbers are mostly consistent throughout the year. The beginning of infrastructure construction illustrates expansion of world exploration and intellectual thought with an increase in population as well. The opening of the event to theme camps describes the discovery of fossil fuels and the green revolution. Throughout the week the city becomes larger, more ellaborate and the population continues to expand, representing the rise of industrial civilisation. The Burning of the Man potrays peak oil production. The population mostly remains until the next day, when a large exodus ensues even though the event lasts through Monday. This suggests the energy plateau and the subsequent massive die-off of human population predicted when oil-fueled agriculture and transport becomes impossible due to dwindling oil supply. Event organisers and the city request a minimum 2 hour clean up by each citizen on Sunday. The fact large parts of the population exit the event with no cleanup effort and many are those who would throw trash on the ground or get in a fight expresses the huge portion of our current society who will suffer most during the post peak oil collapse. They are the mindless automatons of society oblivious to the coming collapse. The participants of Burning Man who do help with cleanup longer represent the environmentally conscious, who make a concerted effort to revert the disaster. After the event it takes at least a month or more to completely return the lake bed to its natural condition. This characterizes the struggling remainder of humanity as they try to cope with the collapse. After the last bit of trash is picked up and the last stake is removed, no people remain on the desert playa. Those individuals who organise the event remain working throughout the year now represent the return to agriculture. That they do not live on the desert the rest of the year illustrates that many of Man's cities are built in unfavorable locations and will not survive the collapse. They are dependent on cheap oil for their very existense."

Thanks for reading.

[spectabillis]

placemarker note: topic did not have guest happycat post

[Ugly Dougly]

You're making me think too hard. Brain hurt.