Originally Posted by genericbikedude
Sorry guys. I hate wal-mart and all, but the end of oil won't stop the world as we know it. The rich-and-powerful of the world won't let a little thing like lack of oil bring us back to an agrarian, communalist utopia, unfortunatly. There will be a big economic depression. People will lose their jobs, be stuck in the suburbs unable to buy food, etc. Then we'll go to war with somebody, and the economic stimulus of the war will cause massive investments in nuclear plants, which will of course be located in low-income and minority neighborhoods. This is America.
This nuclear energy will be used, among other things, for splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen for hydrogen fuel cells. Hummer Hydro (R) anyone? Any while we won't be burning gas and making CO2, who knows what all that water vapor will do to the climate...
Good one.
I want to say that if Walmart can't make money on fruits and vegatables, they'll simply turn to something else like guns and bullets which you'll need if all the oil runs out! Walmart's savings does NOT come from this fictional "scales of economy" but from not having to pay health insurance to it's workers. New York City just passed new legistation forcing major retailers with "X" number of employers must provide adequate health insurance to it's workers. Guess what? Walmart decided it's not coming after all.
This is a company that's making BILLIONS in profit each year and they don't want to give health insurance to it's employees but some expensive Mickey Mouse policy that few of the workers can afford unless they intend to work for heath insurance.