merely thought i'd channel some of the conversation on the new orleans thread over here
and here's what i said upon reading the kunstler article, which luka seems to have taken for a militaristic rant???
anyway, it looks to me like world politics is today a naked competition for control of oil
it's especially important to u.s. that oil continue to be denominated in dollars -- which is why u.s. wants to occupy the middle east, even though most of that oil goes to europe and japan
if oil and other key commodities weren't traded in dollars, then u.s. might be forced to pay its debts in some other currency, perhaps the euro
(simple fact is that u.s. cannot honor its financial obligations to china and japan -- u.s. trade deficits are so large as to be utterly mind boggling -- i.e., china and japan more or less pay the u.s. to consume their goods = vendor financing on a massive scale)
getting back to peak oil -- here's a balanced article
and i think all of this throws into question the viability of democracy in america -- i.e., this country has been so misruled!!! -- the whole suburban project completely at odds with the reality of oil scarcity, and so much of the country's manufacturing base shifted overseas in the name of corporate profits
what this country really needs is an ENLIGHTENED STATE to rule with an eye to the common good, regardless of what people want to have and hear and who they want to vote for
in fact i'd be willing to give up the right to vote at this point -- it's proven pretty worthless
of course the circumstances are about to become so dire, that i doubt there's any one person or group of experts smart enough to lead us out of this mess
even so, i pray each morning and night for a leftist egghead intellectual coup d'etat in america
or else something similar to happen in china -- i.e., maybe pay chinese labor a reasonable rate for their toil??? maybe a radical reevaluation of the chinese RMB upward = a radical de-evaluation of the dollar???
and yet even if people were to work out the weird economic relationship b/w the u.s. and east asia to make it healthier and more sustainable -- even were this to happen -- it'd all be set against the backdrop of increasing OIL SCARCITY
it's going to be a rough century -- and it seems we're all too damn powerless to do anything to change the coordinates, the mad acceleration to the end of the world as we know it
(though for people bored by affluence or nostalgic for the good ole days of isolated countries and comunities, the world post-oil and post-global trade might prove preferable -- so long as you can endure all upheavals and pain -- civil wars and global wars???)
and here's what i said upon reading the kunstler article, which luka seems to have taken for a militaristic rant???
anyway, it looks to me like world politics is today a naked competition for control of oil
it's especially important to u.s. that oil continue to be denominated in dollars -- which is why u.s. wants to occupy the middle east, even though most of that oil goes to europe and japan
if oil and other key commodities weren't traded in dollars, then u.s. might be forced to pay its debts in some other currency, perhaps the euro
(simple fact is that u.s. cannot honor its financial obligations to china and japan -- u.s. trade deficits are so large as to be utterly mind boggling -- i.e., china and japan more or less pay the u.s. to consume their goods = vendor financing on a massive scale)
getting back to peak oil -- here's a balanced article
and i think all of this throws into question the viability of democracy in america -- i.e., this country has been so misruled!!! -- the whole suburban project completely at odds with the reality of oil scarcity, and so much of the country's manufacturing base shifted overseas in the name of corporate profits
what this country really needs is an ENLIGHTENED STATE to rule with an eye to the common good, regardless of what people want to have and hear and who they want to vote for
in fact i'd be willing to give up the right to vote at this point -- it's proven pretty worthless
of course the circumstances are about to become so dire, that i doubt there's any one person or group of experts smart enough to lead us out of this mess
even so, i pray each morning and night for a leftist egghead intellectual coup d'etat in america
or else something similar to happen in china -- i.e., maybe pay chinese labor a reasonable rate for their toil??? maybe a radical reevaluation of the chinese RMB upward = a radical de-evaluation of the dollar???
and yet even if people were to work out the weird economic relationship b/w the u.s. and east asia to make it healthier and more sustainable -- even were this to happen -- it'd all be set against the backdrop of increasing OIL SCARCITY
it's going to be a rough century -- and it seems we're all too damn powerless to do anything to change the coordinates, the mad acceleration to the end of the world as we know it
(though for people bored by affluence or nostalgic for the good ole days of isolated countries and comunities, the world post-oil and post-global trade might prove preferable -- so long as you can endure all upheavals and pain -- civil wars and global wars???)
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