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The Wit and Wisdom of Gabe Cantu, condescending wanker supreme.
Occasionally I receive hate mail from nutters. Once in a blue moon a death threat will arrive from one of Dubya's brownshirts. The strangest of all emails is the sanctimonious gimp, basically a goon who seems to be under the impression that I owe him something.
Some of these beings are mentally unbalanced. Others are trolls. Some are both...
An odd little man called Gabe Cantu (yes, really) recently shared his wisdom with me, offering sage criticism on my unfair portrayal of Bush as a Fascist - while claiming to be an admirer of mine - just one who thought I was going a bit too far, don't you see? Apparently irked by my failure to respond (I think I've made my position on Bush damned clear by this point), Gabe seems to have taken my interest in the topic of peak oil personally:
| Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 From: "Gabe Cantu" gdcantoo@yahoo.com Subject: Peak Foil Ah Dermot... I see you have fallen victim to the mass hysteria of peak oil. Your site had some cool stuff on it but I'm afraid I'll no longer be able to stand reading between the paragraphs of peak oil bullshit. Nobody denies the eventual cessation of oil production but the doomsday soothsayers you've aligned yourself and your site with are slightly paranoid and more than a little confused about the realities of global economics. So, stick to your made imaginary bell curves and "fall of industrial civilization" nonsense. I hope the peak oilers actually put their money where their mouth is and run off into the hills so we can get on with the very interesting challenges ahead of us. I will survive and, what's more, I'll be wealthy. What else can I say? I guess you're an idiot. So long, Gabe Cantu |
Let's ignore his delusions of grandeur - he has to tell me that he can no longer grace my site with his regal presence (!) - OH DEAR GOD, SAY IT AIN'T SO!
I have no problem with someone disagreeing with the Peak Oil issue. If you disagree however, you might find it appropriate to construct an argument. An argument is "a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition." Gabe is apparently incapable of doing this, so he falls back on the ''debate'' tactics of AM radio and FOX news:
| "I see you have fallen victim to the mass hysteria of peak oil." |
This statement is a logical fallacy in the form of "have you stopped beating your wife?"
| "Your site had some cool stuff on it but I'm afraid I'll no longer be able to stand reading between the paragraphs of peak oil bullshit." |
I read lots of sites by libertarian and conservative writers (Joe Sobran, Fred Reed, Strike-the-root). They frequently make statements that I think are wrong or sometimes reprehensible, yet somehow, I summon the strength to ignore these and not take them personally. I don't feel the need to call them an "idiot" for having the audacity to say something that I disapprove of. This is an ability common to many sane adults.
Gabe then proceeds on a truly remarkable series of classic fallacies and factual inaccuracies. Hell, we all fall victim to these from time to time, but this guy is in a class of his own:
| "Nobody denies the eventual cessation of oil production" |
This is simply untrue. Many (if not most) free-market economists and politicians DO deny the eventual cessation of oil production, which only shows that Gabe is extremely ill-informed on the subject to which he expresses such expertise.
| "the doomsday soothsayers you've aligned yourself and your site with are slightly paranoid and more than a little confused about the realities of global economics." |
This is a fallacy known as guilt by association, in which a person rejects a claim because some of the people making the claim are disliked. He makes no attempt to explain the "realities of global economics", because, I suspect, he can't.
Note that Gabe makes no attempt to explain WHY he believes some of the most prominent geologists, businessmen and scientists in the world (including David Goodstein, Vice Provost and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Caltech) and Matthew Simmons (Chairman of the world's largest energy investment banking company) as paranoid and ignorant, he merely states it as if it were a proven fact. This is also an "Appeal to ridicule", in which he mocks the adherents of the peak oil argument as "a little confused", rather than explain why he believes them to be wrong.
| "So, stick to your made imaginary bell curves and "fall of industrial civilization" nonsense." |
More ridicule (and poor grammar). Gabe neglects to take account of the historical fact of oil peaking in the US in 1971 (following a beautiful and very real bell curve). Result: 1973 Oil Crisis. He also neglects to mention the peaking of North Sea oil in the UK in 1999, or the peaking of the Soviet Union's oil in 1987 (and we know what happened to them 4 years later).
| "I hope the peak oilers actually put their money where their mouth is and run off into the hills so we can get on with the very interesting challenges ahead of us." |
The implication is that if the Peak Oilers don't run to the hills, then they are wrong. Once again, Gabe is unable to formulate a single coherent point, he merely ridicules the proponents of the argument. Funny how the peak oilers that I've met DO put their money and their time where their mouths are, when they could be at the office making more money, or at home watching reality tv.
| "I will survive and, what's more, I'll be wealthy." |
The appeal to consequences - Gabe is going to survive and be wealthy, therefore his argument is correct. This single sentence makes me wonder what this selfish, grubby little brute was doing on my site in the first place. The boy ain't right.
| "What else can I say? I guess you're an idiot." |
One last appeal to ridicule to round off a dismal email from a mediocre mind. The truly odd thing is that the Peak Oil movement has no effect on anyone's life, other than the people involved. We choose to scale back our driving, our consumption and grow a little of our own food - in what way does this harm Gabe? If anything, it frees up some of the gas for wankers like him.
If this level of animosity can be generated by so little activity, then God help us when the shit really hits the fan. I have a funny feeling that political scientists like Gabe will somehow find a way to blame the crash on "Peakers" and Greens.
I hope his money is edible, because I won't be selling him any of my carrots.
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