> But beyond all this, what truly annoys me is Kunstler's belief that
> large scale civilization was an invention of the oil age. Reading and
> listening to him, you'd never know that the ancient Chinese, Romans,
> Greeks, Assyrians and, for Horus' sake Egyptians (among others) all
> managed to create truly massive civilizations without the benefit of
> petrol. Gigantism, bureaucracy and large-scale agriculture were
> invented long before the industrial age. Oil bestowed new and
> expanded powers but did not bring these things into the world. For
> Kunstler, it's as if oil is the source of all human ingenuity.
Bingo, exactly what has bothered me about his thesis, such as it is.
I always thought (probably imposing my own views) that his fascination with the Northeast and Midwest had much to do with the relievingly archaic patterns of land use that were locked in during the pre-automobile era and would be much easier to re-adapt to more efficient transportation infrastructure, such as inter-urban rail. But his sometimes weirdly xenophobic imaginings slot very well into your annoyance with his regionalist stereotyping.
I also find his kneejerk scorn for Modernism tiresome.
-- Andy