Via Chris at Club Orlov

I have recently moved from Australia, where Peak Oil issues are just
beginning to gain traction belatedly in the mainstream press, to the
Philippines, where seemingly nobody has even heard of peak oil -- yet.

I have read that the USA is leveraged up to a debt ration approaching
15/1 (1 real dollar for each dollar borrowed). I believe Australia's
ratio is about 3/4 of that. The Philippines has a debt ratio of
approximately 1/1. Hence when the wolf is finally at the door the
Philippines may be in a better fiscal position than countries
currently far richer.

However, this is all semantics. The real issue is preparedness.

I believe Australia is in a similar position to the USA and Europe in
many regards, beyond financial issues.
The looming disaster in these countries is mostly to do with the
feckless assumption that the status quo will somehow continue:
private car ownership and food being transported over vast distances
being prime among many key vulnerabilities in these societies. Other
factors include simple laziness, poor health generally, and
addictions to substances both legal and illegal.

Very few people in these countries under the age of about 80 remember
anything about what it means to have to survive somehow in the
environment, from that environment. Look to the evidence online; how
many sites are telling people to stock up on guns and ammo or to
stockpile massive amounts of food? The guns will attract violence,
the ammo will make those using it targets for those who have less
ammo; the food will perish, attract rodents and thieves. In
comparison, how many are teaching how to build suburban gardens,
recycle small power and methane generators, and other practical
adaptations?

The Philippines, like a number of other countries, is living in a
paradox of different proportions. Outside of the biggest cities here,
food is growing everywhere, in the villages themselves, as well as
the agricultural lands around them. Most people here can tell you how
to grow a list of useful plants and to raise chickens.
They are also very much used to sharing. There is virtually no
government safety net here. To become eligible for social welfare
payments, one must have held the same job for ten years; this almost
never happens. Yet even in the moderate-sized cities, nobody starves.
Interdependence is local and regional rather than national and
international. Of course, there is a degree of modernization
contributing to the welfare of people. Some people work in the cities
or overseas and send money home to support the extended family. But
even without this money life would go on.

Most people here are very fit compared to developed nation's. I have
seen hardly any overweight people, let alone obese. Washing is done
by hand in water pumped by hand from the ground. "Sounds horrible," I
hear the average reader murmur: but it works and it means the people
are physically fit. The main diet is locally grown rice with
similarly grown meats and vegetables. Fruit can be expensive because
a lot of it is exported, yet whatever is in season is abundant. The
fishing trade here is mostly very small boats with small crews using
small nets and lines; there are very few industrial scale fishing
boats. I live near a fishing village where 95% of the income is
derived from fishing in these small boats; the population of over
2,000 people is the healthiest, happiest bunch I have ever met.

Transport here is a world away from that in developed nations, yet
there is no problem getting anywhere. Locally, there are tricycles
and jitneys going past all the time in all directions; these and the
buses are very affordable for most people. Only about 2% of
households have a car, and maybe half have a private 125cc motorcycle
or tricycle. These vehicles get about 100 miles to a gallon of fuel.

The paradox is this: the Philippines greatest asset in the future may
be its lack of assets now. Less debt, less dependence on expensive
gadgets, less laziness and complacency. More communalism, more
integration.

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2008/11/poverty-asset-assets-burden.html