Collapse

Collapse

Who is Michael Ruppert? Michael Ruppert is an ex-LAPD detective and an investigative journalist over the last thirty years who has written a couple of books, one of them called Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy & Money in a Post Peak Oil World which explains why Ruppert believes that civilisation will grind to a halt when natural resources run out. The subjects explored within this book are also explored within this film.

Ruppert appears to have an interesting, if rather strange, life. Whilst serving in the LAPD, he apparently uncovered evidence of CIA drug smuggling activities that led to him receiving death threats and at least 3 shootings attempts on his life. Ruppert's parents were involved with the Government which then, unbeknown to him and for reasons never explained, bestowed a Q security rating on him - this is higher than Top Secret according to Ruppert. Ruppert resigned from the LAPD in 1977, supposedly because everyone else was quite happy with the CIA drug smuggling, and became an investigative journalist. Ruppert is well known within the 9/11 conspiracy circles as believing that Dick Cheney and a secret cabal within the Bush administration were responsible for the attacks, with peak oil as the reason, covered in his book Crossing The Rubicon. Peak oil is the theory that the world is now beyond extracting oil from the earth at peak production and that from that point (happened sometime in the 70's I believe) we are now seeing ever-diminishing returns.

Ruppert also wrote and edited a newsletter called From The Wilderness which propagated these theories and more. Ruppert is actually also the only person to have submitted advance witness statements to the Select Intelligence committee but never asked to testify in person.

Anyway, back to peak oil - which is the basis of the film (and book) of Collapse. Ruppert believes that the collapse of the human race is inevitable based on peak oil and the dependence of man of this fossil fuel. Ruppert takes his time in laying out the facts as he sees them, well rehearsed diatribes on the scarcity of oil, withering attacks on any replacements to oil (solar power, wind power, hydro-electric, nuclear) as pathetic compared to our dependence on oil. In a way, he has a point. Oil is used in the manufacture of plastics, this much I already knew, but 7 gallons of oil in every tyre? How many of these things are manufactured daily and how many are just lying around?

According to Ruppert, everyone who is anyone knows that we are now past peak oil and suggestions of further oil reserves are scorned at. Control of oil is the reason behind the Iraq invasion and why we are more focused on Iran rather than North Korea, and even the Saudi's apparently won't admit the slow down of oil production in case of a revolution as the Saudi population realises that their opulent lifestyle is coming to an end. Although he stays clear of his former accusations of Dick Cheney and the Bush administration regarding the origins of 9/11, their hand in the post 9/11 invasion of Iraq is made abundantly clear.

The money markets won't help us either. Ruppert apparently predicted the financial collapse of the economic system, although he clearly doesn't realise that Vince The Cable has taken much of the credit for that. Ruppert doesn't blame the likes of Bernie Madoff with his Ponzi scheme as Ruppert claims the entire economic system is a giant Ponzi scheme. Still, we can help ourselves by using composting toilets, they don't smell too bad.

Director Chris Smith has Ruppert filmed in a dark basement in a chair, occasionally smoking a cigarette. It gives the impression of Ruppert preaching from a bunker on the upcoming apocalypse, and whilst Ruppert feels free to tell us what's wrong with the world, he doesn't actually give any answers (bar the composting toilets I already referenced). Helpfully he addresses this within the 2010 Update extra by pointing us to the accompanying book (although in fairness it came first), which has a 25 point action plan that without reading it just seems a little short for the bleak future that Ruppert is predicting. Whilst I'm not convinced, Ruppert is an engaging orator who links themes together seemingly quite effortlessly. I just don't buy it. I see Ruppert as another conspiracy theorist, although he denies this and states he deals in conspiracy facts.

An engaging view, it has to be said, but ultimately hokum in my humble opinion.