You might want to buy a diesel

[Eric]

You might want to buy a diesel-powered car or truck before things get really bad. Reason being, gasoline is apt to become both expensive and scarce in the near-term future - whether as a result of "peak oil," the machinations of Big Oil or, more likely, the Big Collapse that's probably just around the corner.

Don't believe the happy talk about "green shoots." Unemployment continues to rise and is closing in on Great Depression levels of 15-20 percent. More fundamentally, though, the past year has seen anywhere from 20-40 percent of the average middle/working class American's net worth simply disappear. It will take years for them just to scrabble back to where they were - if they ever do. The idea that we can just soldier on is childishly silly.

But, back to the subject at hand.

The thing about gasoline is you have to refine it and that is a task beyond the skill set of just about anyone whose name is not ExxonMobil. Diesel, on the other hand, is something that can be home-brewed by just about anyone. It can be made out of old fry oil, a variety of vegetable byproducts - etc. Neither complex equipment nor high-order skills are needed.

Here is a video that explains how: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/957640...memade_diesel/

Home-made diesel fuel is also inexpensive (compared with what Big Oil demands) and it's also free of the obnoxious federal and state motor vehicle fuels taxes you pay at the pump. This alone could save you anywhere from 50-75 cents per gallon. On a technical level, some engineers say vegetable-based diesel is actually better for your diesel engine than petroleum-based diesel fuel because t lubricates internal parts better and because it produces fewer harmful byproducts when burned.

But the big point is that you won't find yourself in a Mad Max scenario when the gas spigots are turned off by politics or economics. And it's not just being able to drive, either. If you have diesel generators or farm equipment, you'll still be able to use them. You will have power and electricity, even if it's not as convenient as it once was.

Your flatlander friends may not even be able to cut their lawns anymore.

It's food for thought.

Spending money on anything right now may seem crazy - and in ordinary times, it would be. It is ordinarily smart to save money, but keep in mind that today's U.S. dollars are just pieces of paper with pictures of politicians on them. The only value they have is our faith in their continued value. And that faith may evaporate when it finally dawns on the general public that the government is broke and the only option left to it is to flood the country with more pieces of paper with pictures of politicians on them - i.e., massive inflation.

Whatever savings you still have could be worth 20 percent less (maybe 50 percent less) a year from now, simply because the government turned on the printing presses in a desperate effort to create something (wealth) out of nothing (pieces of paper with politicians' pictures on them).

In which case, having spent those increasingly worthless pieces of paper on something that has tangible value could be the best move you ever made.

[swamprat]

I have never thought about having a diesel vehicle for that reason until now. Good idea. You could also retune your car to run on 100 percent ethanol, which can also be made at home. There is some site out there that shows you how to do it... I'll find it and post.

[Eric]

I have never thought about having a diesel vehicle for that reason until now. Good idea. You could also retune your car to run on 100 percent ethanol, which can also be made at home. There is some site out there that shows you how to do it... I'll find it and post.

How many of us would have thought, four or five years ago, that we'd be talking seriously about such things today?

Strap in - it's going to get turbulent...