15 March

It seems that rather than admit petrol and diesel is an energy source that will never be cheap or reliable again, the latest invented outrage we’ll use to try to not change what we do is to say it’s a massive conspiracy by oil companies and Albo/Bowen to rip everybody off. Most people never change unless they’re forced to change. All of history shows that. The pain those people feel right now is self-inflicted, and will only increase. The power of normalisation is also in play. Humans will accept even the most stupid and horrific things, if they’re regular. They ‘live with’ lethal viruses, for example. If fuel were to drop to say $1.70 or $1.80 a litre, people would feel that was a return to ‘normal’. That’s still hugely more expensive than fuel was even a few years ago, and enormously more expensive than driving an electric car.