“Every single empire, in its official discourse, has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort.” – Edward Said
The increasingly fragile American Empire has been built on a foundation of lies. Lies we tell ourselves and Big lies spread by our government. The shit is so deep you can stir it with a stick. As we enter another holiday season the mainstream corporate mass media will relegate you to the status of consumer. This is a disgusting term that dehumanizes all Americans. You are nothing but a blot to corporations and advertisers selling you electronic doohickeys that they convince you that you must have. Propaganda about consumer spending being essential to an economic recovery is spewed from 52 inch HDTVs across the land, 24 hours per day, by CNBC, Fox, CBS and the other corporate owned media that generate billions in profits from selling advertising to corporations schilling material goods to thoughtless American consumers. Aldous Huxley had it figured out decades ago:
“Thanks to compulsory education and the rotary press, the propagandist has been able, for many years past, to convey his messages to virtually every adult in every civilized country.”
Americans were given the mental capacity to critically think. Sadly, a vast swath of Americans has chosen ignorance over knowledge. Make no mistake about it, ignorance is a choice. It doesn’t matter whether you are poor or rich. Books are available to everyone in this country. Sob stories about the disadvantaged poor having no access to education are nothing but liberal spin to keep the masses controlled. There are 122,500 libraries in this country. If you want to read a book, you can read a book. The internet puts knowledge at the fingertips of every citizen. Becoming educated requires hard work, sacrifice, curiosity, and a desire to learn. Aldous Huxley describes the American choice to be ignorant:
“Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don’t know because we don’t want to know.”
It is a choice to play Call of Duty on your PS3 rather than reading Shakespeare. It is a choice to stand on a street corner looking for trouble rather than reading Hemingway. It is a choice to spend Black Friday in malls fighting other robotic consumers for iSomethings, the latest innovative, advanced TVs, flashy Rolexes, and ostentatious Coach bags rather than spending the day reading Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, a brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning history of the outset of World War I, which would provide insight into what could happen on the Korean Peninsula. It is a choice to watch 6 hours per day of Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, Brainless Housewives of Everywhere, or CSI of Anywhere rather than reading Orwell or Huxley and discovering that their dystopian warnings have come true.
Conspicuous Consumption Conquistadors
Americans have chosen to lie to themselves. They have persuaded themselves that buying stuff with plastic cards while paying 19% interest for eternity, driving BMWs while locked into never ending indecipherable lease schemes, and living in permanently underwater McMansions bought with 0% down on an interest only liar loan, is the new American Dream. They think watching the boob tube will make them smart. They soak in the mass media hype, misinformation and lies like lemmings walking off a cliff. Depending on their political predisposition, they watch Fox or MSNBC and unthinkingly believe the propaganda that pours from the mouths of the multi-millionaire talking heads who read Teleprompters with words written by corporate media hacks. They tell themselves that buying stuff on credit, giving them the appearance of success as measured by the media elite, is actually success. This is a bastardized, manipulated, delusional version of accomplishment. Americans have chosen to believe the lies because the truth is too hard to accept.
Becoming educated, thinking critically, working hard, saving money to buy what you need (as opposed to what you want), developing human relationships, and questioning the motivations of government, corporate and religious leaders is hard. It is easy to coast through school and never read a book for the rest of your life. It is easy to not think about the future, your retirement, or the future of unborn generations. It is easy to coast through life at a job (until you lose it) that is unchallenging, with no desire or motivation for advancement. It is easy to make your everyday troubles disappear by whipping out your piece of plastic and acquiring everything you desire today. If your brother-in-law buys a 7,000 sq ft, 7 bedroom, 4 bath, 3 car garage, monolith to decadence for his family of 3, thirty miles from civilization, with no money down and a no doc Option ARM providing the funds, why shouldn’t you get in on the fun. It’s easy. Why sit around the kitchen table and talk with your kids, when you can easily cruise the internet downloading free porn or recording every trivial detail of your shallow life on Facebook so others can waste their time reading about your life. It is easiest to believe your elected leaders, glorified mega-corporation CEOs, and millionaire pastors preaching the word of God for a “small” contribution to their mega-churches.
Americans love authority figures who act as if they have all the answers. It matters not that these egotistical monuments to folly and hubris (Bush, Obama, Paulson, Geithner, Greenspan, Bernanke) have committed the worst atrocities in the history of our Republic, leaving economic carnage and the slaughter of thousands in their wake. The most dangerous man on this earth is an Ivy League educated, arrogant ideologue who believes they are smarter than everyone else. When these men achieve power, they are capable of producing catastrophic consequences. Once they seize the reigns of authority these amoral psychopaths have no problem lying to the American public in order to achieve their objectives. They know that Americans love to be lied to, so the bigger the lie, the more likely it is to be believed.
The current lie proliferating across the land of the free financing and home of the debtor is that austerity has broken out across the land. The mainstream media and the government, aided by various “think tanks” and Federal Reserve propagandists insist that Americans have buckled down, reduced spending, increased savings, and have embraced austerity.
Austerity – Circa 1932
Austerity – Circa 2010
They now proclaim that it is time to spend again. It is the patriotic thing to do, just like defeating terrorists by buying an SUV with 0% down from GM was the patriotic thing to do after 9/11. Defeating terrorists by going further into debt was the brilliant idea of those Ivy League geniuses Bush & Greenspan. Let’s critically examine the facts to determine how austere Americans have become:
- Consumer credit outstanding is $2.41 trillion, the same level reached in early 2007, and up from $1.5 trillion in 2000. This is a 60% increase in ten years. Personal income has risen from $8.4 trillion to $12.6 trillion over this same time frame, a 50% increase. Americans have substituted debt for income in order to keep up with the Joneses. The mass delusion lives.
- The MSM declares that the reduction in overall consumer debt from its peak of $2.56 trillion in 2008 to $2.41 trillion today proves that consumers have been cutting back and paying off debt. This is another media lie. Non-revolving debt, which includes car loans, education loans, mobile home loans and boat loans sits at $1.6 trillion, an all-time high matched in 2008. Credit card debt has “plunged” from $957 billion to $814 billion, not because consumers paid down their balances. The mega Wall Street banks have written off $20 billion per quarter since early 2009, accounting for ALL of the reduction in credit card debt. Clueless consumers continue to charge at the same rate as the peak in 2008.
- Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,788
- There are 609.8 million bank credit cards held by U.S. consumers.
- The U.S. credit card default rate is 13.01%
- In 2006, the United States Census Bureau determined that there were nearly 1.5 billion credit cards in use in the U.S. A stack of all those credit cards would reach more than 70 miles into space — and be almost as tall as 13 Mount Everests.
- Penalty fees from credit cards added up to about $20.5 billion in 2009.
- The national average default rate as January 2010 stood at 27.88% and the mean default rate is 28.99%.
- Total bankruptcy filings in 2009 reached 1.4 million, up from 1.09 million in 2008. Bankruptcies in 2010 are on pace to exceed 1.6 million.
- 26% of Americans, or more than 58 million adults, admit to not paying all of their bills on time. Among African-Americans, this number is at 51%.
Does This Look Like Austerity? Really?
This data clearly proves that austerity has not broken out across the land of delusion. The billions in consumer loan write-offs by the Wall Street banks that run this country have masked the fact that Americans have not cut back on their spending habits at all. GMAC (taxpayer owned) and Ford Credit continue to dish out car loans to anyone with a pulse and a 600 credit score. The Federal Reserve and the FASB have encouraged, if not insisted, that banks fraudulently value the commercial real estate loans on their books. The Federal Reserve has bought $1.5 trillion of toxic mortgage loans from the criminal Wall Street banks at 100 cents on the dollar. The government’s corporate fascist public relations firms then spread the big lie that the economy is recovering and consumers should join the party and spend, spend, spend.
If Americans were capable or willing to do some critical thinking, they would realize that those in power have created the illusion of a recovery by handing $700 billion of your money to the banks that created the financial meltdown, spending $800 billion on worthless pork barrel projects borrowed from future generations, dropping interest rates to 0% so that the mega-Wall Street banks can earn billions risk free while your grandmother who depended on interest income from her CDs edges closer to eating cat food to get by, and lastly Ben Bernanke’s blatant attempt to enrich Wall Street by buying US Treasury bonds in an effort to make the stock market go up, while the middle and lower classes are crushed under the weight of soaring fuel and food price increases that exceed 30% on an annual basis. The illusion of recovery is not a recovery. With a true unemployment rate of 22%, a true inflation rate of 8% and a real GDP of -1.5% (Shadowstats), we are in the midst of the Greater Depression. You are being lied to, but most of you prefer it.
The Little Lies We Tell Ourselves
“Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know.” – M King Hubbert
When Jimmy Carter gave his malaise speech in 1979, Americans were in no mood to listen. Carter’s solutions were too painful, required sacrifice, and sought to benefit future generations. The leading edge of the Baby Boom generation had reached their 30s by 1979, and the most spoiled, pampered, egocentric generation in history could care less about future generations, long term thinking, or sacrifice for the greater good. They were the ME GENERATION. The 1970s had proven to be tumultuous episode in US history. M King Hubbert’s calculation in 1956 that U.S. oil production would peak in the early 1970s proved to be 100% correct.
The Arab oil embargo resulted in gas shortages and economic chaos in the U.S. Hubbert used the same method to determine that worldwide oil production would peak in the early 2000s. If long term planning had been initiated in the early 1980s, combining exploration of untapped reserves, greater utilization of natural gas, development of nuclear plants, more stringent fuel efficiency standards, increased taxes on gasoline, and more thoughtful development of housing communities, we would not now face a looming oil crisis within the next few years. Instead of dealing with reality, adapting our behavior and preparing for a more localized society, we put our blinders on, chose ignorance over reason and pushed the pedal to the medal by moving farther away from our jobs, building bigger energy intensive mansions, and insisting on driving tank-like SUVs, Hummers, and good ole boy pickups. Kevin Phillips in American Theocracy explained that hyper-consumerism, fear, and inability to use logic have left our suburban oasis lives in danger of implosion when the reality of peak cheap oil strikes:
Besides the innate thirst of SUVs, some of the last quarter century’s surge in U.S. oil consumption has come from Americans driving more – some twelve thousand miles per motorist per year, up almost one – third from 1980 – because they as a whole live farther from work. In consumption terms, exurbia is the physical result of the latest population redistribution enabled by car culture and the electorate that upholds it.
Family values are central – if by this we mean having families and accepting lengthy commutes to install them in reasonably safe and well churched places. In the 1970’s such households might have been fleeing school busing or central city crime; in the post – September 11 era, many sought distance from “godless” school systems or the random violence and terrorist attacks expected to occur in metropolitan areas.
We willingly believe the lies espoused by the badly informed pundits on CNBC and Fox that if we just drill in Alaska and off our coasts, we’ll be fine. The ignorant peak cheap oil deniers insist there are billions of barrels of oil to be harvested from the Bakken Shale, even though there is absolutely no method of accessing this supply without expending more energy than we can access. Environmentalists lie about the dangers of nuclear power, while shamelessly promoting the ridiculous notion that solar, wind and ethanol can make a visible impact on our future energy needs. Ideologues on the right and left conveniently ignore the facts and the truth is lost in a blizzard of their lies. Here is an explanation so clear, even a CNBC “drill baby drill” dimwit could understand:
When oil production first began in the mid-nineteenth century, the largest oil fields recovered fifty barrels of oil for every barrel used in the extraction, transportation and refining. This ratio is often referred to as the Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROEI). Currently, between one and five barrels of oil are recovered for each barrel-equivalent of energy used in the recovery process. As the EROEI drops to one, or equivalently the Net Energy Gain falls to zero, the oil production is no longer a net energy source. This happens long before the resource is physically exhausted.
After the briefest of lulls when oil reached $145 per barrel, Americans have resumed buying SUVs, pickup trucks, and gas guzzling muscle cars. They have chosen to ignore the imminence of peak cheap oil because driving a leased BMW makes your neighbors think you are a success, while driving a hybrid would make your neighbors think you are a liberal tree hugger. It boggles my mind that so many Americans are so shallow and shortsighted. According to Automotive News, at the start of 2008 leasing comprised 31.2% of luxury vehicle sales and 18.7% of non-luxury sales. This proves that hundreds of thousands of wannabes are driving leased BMWs and Mercedes to fill some void in their superficial lives.
I bought a Honda Insight Hybrid six months ago. It gets 44 mpg and will save me $1,500 per year in gasoline costs. I put 20% down and financed the remainder at 0.9% for three years. My payment is $450 per month. I will own it outright in 2 ½ years. I could have leased a 2010 BMW 328i with moonroof, bluetooth, power seats with driver seat memory, lumbar support, leather interior, iPod adapter, 17″ alloy wheels, heated seats, wood trim, 3.0 Liter 6 Cylinder engine with 230 horsepower for 3 years at $389 per month. At the end of 3 years I’d own nothing. In 2 ½ years I’ll be able to put $450 per month away for my kids’ college education and I’ll be saving more on fuel as gasoline approaches $5 per gallon. The self important egotistical BMW leaser pretending to be successful will need to hand over their sweet ride and move on to the next lease, never saving a dime for the future. I’m sure they’ll make a killing in the market or their McMansion will surely double in price, providing a fantastic retirement.
Delusional Practical
The delusion that cheap oil is a God given right of all Americans can be seen in the YTD data on vehicle sales. Pickups and SUVs account for 48.5% of all sales, while small fuel efficient cars account for only 16.5% of all sales. Americans will continue to lie to themselves until it is too late, again.
| Oct 2010 | % Chg from Oct’09 |
YTD 2010 | % Chg from YTD 2009 |
||
| Cars | 448,127 | 3.9 | 4,840,525 | 5.3 | |
| Midsize | 220,998 | -0.2 | 2,407,457 | 9.9 | |
| Small | 142,983 | 9.7 | 1,616,840 | -1.5 | |
| Luxury | 78,487 | 9.7 | 742,278 | 7.2 | |
| Large | 5,659 | -31.9 | 73,950 | -0.8 | |
| Light-duty trucks | 502,038 | 23.5 | 4,730,196 | 16.7 | |
| Pickup | 147,207 | 16.9 | 1,334,133 | 13.9 | |
| Cross-over | 195,274 | 20.0 | 1,928,191 | 16.8 | |
| Minivan | 55,596 | 21.0 | 561,736 | 15.1 | |
| Midsize SUV | 51,494 | 86.6 | 443,922 | 37.9 | |
| Large SUV | 23,946 | 1.5 | 202,806 | 12.1 | |
| Small SUV | 14,861 | 53.6 | 146,000 | -3.8 | |
| Luxury SUV | 13,660 | 22.1 | 113,408 | 26.2 | |
| Total SUV/Cross-over | 299,235 | 27.4 | 2,834,327 | 18.3 | |
| Total SUV | 103,961 | 44.3 | 906,136 | 21.7 | |
| Total Cross-over | 195,274 | 20.0 | 1,928,191 | 16.8 | |
Americans are so committed to their automobiles, hyper-consumerism, oversized McMansions, and suburban sprawl existence that they will never willingly prepare in advance for a future by scaling back, downsizing, or thinking. Our culture is built upon consumption, debt, cheap oil and illusion. Kevin Phillips in American Theocracy concludes that there are so many Americans tied to our unsustainable economic model that they will choose to lie to themselves and be lied to by their leaders rather than think and adapt:
A large number of voters work in or depend on the energy and automobile industries, and still more are invested in them, not just financially but emotionally and culturally. These secondary cadres included racing fans, hobbyists, collectors, and dedicated readers of automotive magazines, as well as the tens of millions of automobile commuters from suburbs and distant exurbs, plus the high number of drivers whose strong self-identification with vehicle types and models serve as thinly disguised political statements. In the United States more than elsewhere, a preference for conspicuous consumption over energy efficiency and conservation is a signal of a much deeper, central divide.
M King Hubbert was a geophysicist and a practical man. He observed data, made realistic assumptions, and came to logical conclusions. He didn’t deal in unrealistic hope and unwarranted optimism. He knew that our culture had become so dependent upon lies and an unsustainable growth model based on depleting oil and debt based “prosperity”. He knew decades ago that we were incapable of dealing with the truth:
“Our principal constraints are cultural. During the last two centuries we have known nothing but exponential growth and in parallel we have evolved what amounts to an exponential-growth culture, a culture so heavily dependent upon the continuance of exponential growth for its stability that it is incapable of reckoning with problems of non-growth.” – M King Hubbert
Our country is at a crucial juncture. It is time for thinkers. It is time for realists. It is time to deal with facts. It is time to drive the ideologues off the stage. Are you tired of lying to yourselves? Are you tired of being lied to by the corporate fascists that run this country? It is time to wake up. Right wing and left wing ideologues will continue to spew lies and misinformation as they are power hungry and care not for the long-term survival of our nation or the unborn generations that depend upon the decisions we make today. It is time to see how we really are.
“Most of one’s life is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself from thinking. People intoxicate themselves with work so they won’t see how they really are.” – Aldous Huxley
Admin – the first thing I ever taught my kids about driving is the 18-wheeler rule. I even keep clippings to show them the result of being in front of one when the shit hits the fan. I got rear-ended by a station wagon once with my family in the car when I came to a quick stop. An 18 wheeler looked like it mught not stop at the light, so I stopped on a green. The guy behind me was furious. Tough shit – the 18 wheeler rule must NEVER be broken.
Smokey – thought of you on a moped is hilarious. No way you can get 2 hookers and a case of beer on a fucking moped. I call bullshit.
The missus recently bought herself a 2003 Jetta TDI. She loves it. When the time comes to replace my car (Her old car) I am getting a diesel. My uncle makes his own bio diesel and is only getting better and bigger batches. He spends about 60 cents a gallon, plus his car smells like french fries. You can stick anything that burns in a diesel motor, cooking oil, moonshine, whatever. You could probably pour goat piss in a diesel and run it. Versatility.
Speaking about critical thinking when you think that keeping a good credit crap score and comparing yourself to the welfare folks who is draining your cash remember this. If you took the defense budget and divided by three hundred million people that live here everyone could retire very comfortably without ever having to work.
LLPOH
You have no imagination.
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSW0nEhx2M2DAbbB5kw7NqHXHeLz-SFOvJPslZ2GDBJQDQrHARG[/img]
Punk – let’s see, we have you sleeping on the couch when she is a bit too tired, hiding under the bed, rubbing her feet, and now you get the hand-me-down car. What’s next – her second hand dresses and blouses? You look good in pink?
You seein’ a trend here, Punk? You is whipped. Totally, thoroughly whipped. This is you in a few more years:
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I mean the entire defense budget but who knew.
Punk – for sure that is the way Smokey would make the women ride!
LLPOH
I put that in just for you.
Theos – I get you point but your math is WAY off. The defense budget is approximately $670 billion. That is around $2233 per person. You won’t retire for long on that, my friend.
–
The frustrating thing is I have not been writing for months, just too damn exhausted–and you end up saying everything I have been thinking about writing about before I can get to it, and do so in a far superior manner! than I could ever do!!!
Barbara Tuchman was one of the great historians and the “Guns of August” has applications to not only Korea but to the entire coming economic tsunami– “March of Folly” as well–pursuit of policies clearly contrary to a nations long term rational self-interest…..
In Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.
———Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Neil Postman and Andrew Postman ( must read book )
M.A.S.H. theme song playing in the background…
Often you have written great articles. I hope you create more. Your latest however, while spot on in the beginning, is quite hypocritical and half of it in my opinion is flat out wrong.
You described the materialistic shoppers and the ignorant quite well. In other articles you’ve gotten after those who have debt too, with the idea that it is a good idea to get out of debt and to save, yet here you are showcasing your newly acquired debt as somehow virtuous.
That % you’re paying for your car loan could have been saved.
You could have paid cash for a used car that gets better M.P.G., they’re out there.
Lastly, from what I’ve read there is no shortage of oil, and technological advances may allow people to drill for oil while expending less energy. So I’m not on the peak oil bandwagon and I’m surprised to see you are too. That can be overlooked, but the hypocrisy of telling others to avoid debt, to avoid the shiny BMW while getting into debt yourself for something other people see as just as shiny as a BMW just does not look right from this viewpoint.
Oh, and it’s not entirely bad to drive a big pickup or SUV, just drive it less and you wind up using just as much gasoline as the person putting more miles on the car that gets 44 M.P.G. Plus, I’d rather be in a big pickup or SUV if I experienced a crash instead of a pop can car, it’s an insurance item for some and not simply an image or social status symbol.
For the times I wind up sliding off an icy road and into a snowy or muddy ditch, I’m glad I have a 4×4 SUV and not some small car that leaves me stuck.
Someone else said, “You don’t want to live so frugal that you stress about every penny you spend or have to save” …maybe that’s not a good outlook either, I guess it just depends on what economic conditions you expect in the future. If things get really really bad, you might be glad you were so frugal today, ask an Argentinian.
Clark
I could have paid the $20,000 with a check. If someone is going to let me pay it over 3 years, then I have the ability to put the cash into gold and silver. Therefore, I will have a net gain versus paying the full $20,000 today. Get it?
You need to read a little more. Are you so lacking in curiosity that you can’t do the SIMPLE research needed to understand that peak cheap oil is a fucking FACT? Wake up from your stupor. Your technological advances depend on OIL!!!!! THINK please!!!!
My commute is 60 miles roundtrip per day. A 44 mpg hybrid makes tremendous sense for me. You keep driving the 15 MPG pickup. You’ll love it at $5 a gallon gas. I don’t stress about money because I’ve spent less than I’ve made for decades. I continue to do so.
Back to your delusional “everything will be fine” life.
Clark – I will leave you to your fate with Admin, as I am sure he will have something to say to you!
I will point out that with an interest rate of 0.9% his average interest bill will be south of $100 per year. When interests rates are that low, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense to tie up $16000 in cash that may well be better invested elsewhere (he might be taking a position on gold, for all you know). His biggest cost in financing was probably, in my humble opinion, the lost opportunity to really haggle with cash in hand. Maybe not, tho.
In any event, you really do not seem to understand money/investment/relative rates of return/etc. I would stick with what you know about.
Admin – over to you.
LLPOH
Clark has been dispatched with extreme prejudice.
clark—–If you aren’t on the peak oil bandwagon, you are a fucking idiot. Do some research or engage your goddamn brain before shooting your mouth off. As far as the Administrator buying a car using some credit, he knows he’s paying the loan off with cheaper dollars because of the blatant devaluing by the federal reserve. When he criticizes the use of debt, he talks of the IRRESPONSIBLE use of debt for short term gratification. Consider the context of his statements the next time you feel compelled to criticize, asshole. It astonishes me how dumbasses like you believe that anything you say possibly makes a shit one way or another to anyone. You are a fucking retarded inbred.
Smokey
I wish I had responded to Clark as clearly and concisely as you. I bow down before you.
LLPOH—-You’re not quite as outspoken as me. LOL
Geez Smokey, and here I was trying to leave a piece of Clark for the Admin to chew on, and now there ain’t nothing but bones and fur left.
LLPOH & Smokey
I can’t understand why more people don’t post. Do you think we aren’t welcoming enough?
Excellent article! I lived most of my young adult years in Argentina during the military police state of the 70’s, the institutionalized rampant financial fraud of the 80’s and then the subsequent economic collapse of the 90’s. I came back to the US to escape it, only to find I’m once again trapped in Argentina. The parallels between both countries are mind-boggling. I’m seeing all the same issues I once saw in Argentina here in the U.S., namely rampant institutionalized fraud, massive corruption, the beginnings of a Police State,transfer of wealth from the working classes to the oligarchs. Stupid mindless TV shows purposely designed to distract people from more important issues. Most Americans cannot detach themselves enough in order to take a long hard OBJECTIVE look at what’s going on in America.
I personally think you can go ahead & stick a fork in it, because the U.S. is DONE.
R.C. aka “Real True Freedon”
You’re a fucking moron. You advocate scrapping the Constitution. When you call for the abolition of Congress (it’s Article I for a very good reason, jackass), you’re essentially throwing out the entire Constitution, you fool, and replacing it with a one-liner, “DO NO MAN OR WOMAN HARM IN THEIR PERSON OR THEIR PROPERTY.” WTF is that? Some sort of political hypocratic oath?
Read the First Fucking Amendment. It starts with “CONGRESS shall make no law…….” So now what, genius? Congress is gone, and who is in place to guarantee liberty? The fucking president? The fucking Supreme Court?
What a complete, total idiot you are. You’re more dangerous than Quinn’s chocolate Kentucky Fried Chicken sweetie.
SSS—-I concur that R.C.’s suggestions were poorly conceived, especially the suggestion for abolishing the legal system and converting it to “Common Law”.
The BMW issue…. The BMW and even the newer Mercedes are close to crap, but so are most new cars. You see the resale values drop like a stone, why is that? Sounds like the buyers got taken,eh?
I talk to Mercedes experts who say they (newer Mercedes) now rust out. The old ones don’t, but most can’t figure it out anyway!
As for me, I drive a 30+ years old car and bothered to learn to fix it myself. If you bother to check, these OLD CARS go up it value almost every year.
Same goes for all the other modern crap you buy, even clothing, all junk.
Did you know that most cotton is now dangerous? Thank your leaders for that too.
Better research the food you eat as well…and other things.
I probably already made most of you hit the denial button by now as you scream “IGNORANCE IS BLISS”. Although, if you have read this site, then maybe you could be saved, except those BMW loving denial fools.
Admin – it looks like it is picking up, but I think you may be being sarcastic, what with the scalding we give the newbies on occasion. Difficult to suffer fools, tho, isn’t it?! I mean, you have 93 comments on this article by over 40 different posters. That is moving in the right direction, for sure, and the overnighters haven’t hit yet. I think that is pretty good going.
By the way, Smokey has called you out in a major way re the “Julian” article. Time to man up, ‘casue it looks like it may be on. Also, haven’t seen SSS/Stuck weigh in yet, and I figure its only a matter of time for him on that subject.
I also have a comment I need to resubmit as I think you probably missed it while drinking rum and cokes. I was pretty pleased with myself, so I will attach it when I know you are active.
Thank you for the great article and also to those commenters who were actually using their rational minds as they posted. I am one of those Baby Boomers and am hopefully in the minority of those who are also able to think for themselves. Formal education, now government controlled, reject rational thinking in favor of philosophical indoctrination.
I have been on a personal quest for knowledge and the truth especially in my later years and am satisfied that my views are my own and rational. It has been a long process. One of the catalysts which helped immensely was when I was exposed to the issue of Peak Oil. Thank you for reintroducing this concept to your readers. It is a very crucial piece of the puzzle.
One of the posters asked the question “how did we ever come to this?” I would like to try and shed some light on the answer. If by “this” he means, “how did we become a society devoid of rational thought?” the answer is pretty clear. I studied philosophy in college. I wanted to understand how we think and why. What I did not know at the time was that the philosophy departments in our institutes of higher learning had been taken over by the same German philosophers who had previously set the German people on the road to National Socialism (Nazi) which paved the way for the rise of the Third Reich.
Socialism is what they preached and socialism has been filtering into our society ever since. Socialism is just another form of collectivism and this has led to the types of governments we have today.
For our first hundred years as a country, we believed in individualism and this was the foundation upon which our country was created. It is the antithesis of collectivism. The Founders were very clear about this, and they were products of the enlightenment.
After turning to collectivism, we have abandoned our founding principles and changed from a republic into an empire. Our government has become taken over by criminals and traitors. Collectivist thinking is what has allowed this to happen. If you fully understand the nature of collectivism, you will find that no other outcome would be possible.
In modern philosophies, there is one which embraces individualism. Its founding philosopher was a lover of the American Founders and what was once our great country. Her philosophy has been denounced by the same socialists who were indoctrinated by the German philosophers. That should tell you something. One of our few congressmen, who actually has integrity today, is Ron Paul. He is a big supporter of this philosophy.
The Philosopher to whom I refer is Ayn Rand, and the name of the philosophy is “Objectivism”.
If you are looking for answers to how we got to where we are, you might consider looking for some answers here. If you want to see the practical ramifications of “collectivism” vs. “individualism”, you might start with “Atlas Shrugged,” one of her most famous novels. Written over 50 years ago, it is almost prophetic in regards to what is happening today.
I’ve been hearing/reading about “peak oil” and limited resources for as long as I can remember and it never happens. Those comments are more of a lie – or an agenda – by the environmentalists and anti-industrialists than what this article implies. If the concepts in this article are so obvious and inevitable then what do you think the leaders of the developing nations think? Are they so stupid that they can’t see that industrial and middle-class development will be limited by natural resource/energy bottlenecks? Maybe they are, but the mass mentality – and this article expresses it despite its claim otherwise – is usually wrong. Furthermore, why should one preempt an unknown (e.g., “peak oil”) until it actually arrives – if ever? What can one really do? Buy a car that gets 45 mpg instead of 15? What if one can afford any scenario (e.g., gas at $100/gallon, say, and owning a car that gets 10 mpg.) What if one can’t, even if gas at $10/gal while owning a car that gets 100 mpg?
Bruce C.
The leaders of the US know that peak “cheap” oil is a fact. Why do you think we have boots on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, UAE? Try some critical thinking Bruce. Google the Hirsch Report. Read it. THINK PEOPLE!!!! THINK.
Google Joint Opertating Environment (JOE). Our own military concludes that the wheels fall off by 2015.
I watched in horror at the “consumers” packed in corrals, pawed and snorted at the Target store “feed lot.” on a Black Friday video. The livestock were people -or the people were livestock-you really could’t tell the difference. Oddly surrounding them to stave off a stampede were security guard cowboys-cattle prods in hand-directing the cattle-to their unfortunate slaughter.
$Merry Chri$tma$ Everyone$ Love $e$u$
Great article, and simplified….
“Easy Credit, PS3’s, SUV’s, XFactor, Social web sites, Free Porn = Happy Consumers (Slaves)….”
It’s what I would give the public if I were an Ivy League, Greedy, Anti-Societal, Power Hungry, Megalomaniac and I wanted them all to be willing slaves to my corporate friends.
“It’s a hard rains a gonna fall” -Bob Dylan
Jim Q –
Here’s a very basic English Grammar lesson: When I was in my first year of college, a student went up to the chalkboard and wrote “your late,” because the instructor was indeed late to class! I cringed, thinking “you retard.” Simple, basic English. Your statement above was similar when you wrote “Titanic, Your sinking.”
“Your” conveys possession of something, like “your car,” or “your house.” ” You’re” is a contraction which means “you are.” As in, “You’re a retard, Jim.” (lol, Jimmy). Jimmy – whenever you use the two words “your” and “you’re,” always check them. So when you write “Your sinking,” read it as “you are sinking.” If you don’t see the apostrophe, it’s not correct. “You’re” means you are. You must have been asleep in English class, Jimmy. Either that, or shooting spit wads at the young lads in class.
Oh, by the way Jimmy – Please don’t lie to your gullible readers and say that “cheap oil is a fucking FACT” (your words above Jimmy, not “you’re” words). Jimmy, Peak Oil is a DAMNED LIE!
PEAK OIL IS A DAMNED LIE.” Oh, but yes, I agree with you – Americans need to stop living above their means, and stop buying everything with borrowed money. Americans should start saving more, and should be more resourceful. So you do have some good points, Jimmy!
Jimmy – you use way too many profanities. If I had been your grade school teacher, I would have washed your mouth out with soap until no more profanities came out of it! Bad dog, Jimmy!
Titanic
Let’s hear you’re abiotic bullshit oil theory. Did you notice that I used you’re instead of your. Let’s get a grammar lesson from you again you pompous ignorant asshole. Try to wash my fucking mouth out with soap you douchebag.
You ignorant ideologues wouldn’t know a fact if it fell on your fucking head. Regale us with the facts of your unlimited supplies of oil Titanic. We await your words of wisdom dickhead.
Huxley was a rich, near-blind, upper-class, home-bound, talented twit. Then he met Maria. Maria said “You are taking me to Europe, and you are buying a Bugatti” She threw away his glasses, so he had to learn to see. In later years he went to California to show them what an intellectual was. California showed him what mescalin was. It was nearly as good as Maria.
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Maria’s message to Aldous? Life is for living, money is for spending, love is for giving.
Aldous’ message to America: Look at what you have got, and look what you have done with it.
windcatcher
Re 2013 — it will be enslavement. A bit of serendipity happened. I’d just been re-reading George Turner’s “The Sea and Summer”. He imagined a global economic collapse, ending up with 90% of the population in poverty. That collapse he thought would happen around 2050. But in the postscript to the novel, he wrote, “Some thinkers have suggested the second decade as crucial.”
I was musing on why ‘the elite’ would maintain a large population even at a subsistence level and then it hit me: the first country to do a cull would have painted a target on themselves. Turner does make reference to potential war, and an ongoing defense industry making weaponry that was obsolete as soon as it was produced — but everyone was doing that, a global standoff, so to speak. And also that everyone feared a nuclear war and that kept it from happening. “Those capable of it knew the cost: nobody left to loot the losers.”
Seeing the issue from the Australian perspective: The cannon fodder does have a use.
Koolaid drinkers like Bruce C. will NEVER understand. King Hubbert was a geologist, not a tree hugger. Duh.
Thank you for this post.
For many, ignorance is definitely a choice. I have many of my blood relatives who remain in a racist, homophobic, misogynistic cult mainly for economic and social reasons. They choose to be willfully ignorant.
And you’re right. Becoming truly educated is hard work over a long period of time. In mainstream American culture, this work is not rewarded.
It is frowned upon, and it will yield you outcast status.
Better to remain willfully ignorant so as to fit in with the lemmings, and have friends, right?
A lot of people are quick to make assumptions here, and vicious too.
What’s up with that? Can’t have a discussion without Ad Hominem attacks?
Yes, I get it, you spent $20,000 you didn’t have to.
And, you live too far from your workplace.
I never said, “everything will be fine”
My transportation costs will be less than yours at $5 per gallon because I drive much less than you do. Where I’m at, the road conditions and weather require the tool known as a 4×4, some people need them, especially if city services such as snow and ice removal are reduced or eliminated.
If you think things are going to be as bad as you make them out to be, perhaps you’d better be doing more than spending less than you’ve made?
When you say, “If someone is going to let me pay it over 3 years, then I have the ability to put the cash into X” how’s that any different than the shoppers putting items on their credit cards and the Boomer generation putting off all costs on the future generations? Why, they’re just paying it back with inflated Dollars, don’t you know.
Perhaps it is you who needs to study the issue of oil supplies a bit more?
Please quit with the assumptions of what people do or don’t know, and the Ad Hominem attacks, they’re not the least bit productive or inspirational, and that’s what we need more of, increases in productivity and inspiration.
clark
This is a vicious site. If you don’t have facts to back up your assertions, you will be attacked by a pack of wild dogs. This is the wild west. If you want academic politically correct discussions, go to some liberal site like Huffington Post.
You completely missed my point. I don’t care what anyone drives. I was showing that someone who leases a luxury car in order to appear successful is a an example of why consumers have such a massive load of debt, virtually no retirement savings, and will be screwed when the shit hits the fan.
I’m doing plenty to prepare. I find that those most outraged by my articles are the ones that have done the exact things I talk about in the article. Have you heard of cognitive dissonance? Look it up.
Nice retort on oil supplies. Loaded with facts to back your view up.
If you want to be on this site as a regular, your going to need to take that dress off and man up.
Dear Peak Oil Deniers:
1. Peak Oil theory was formed in the 1950s, well before the environmental movement.
2. Peak Oil was the work of a geologist who worked for Shell Oil in Dallas.
Respectfully, get your heads out of your asses. The fact that the environmental movement may have co-opted and is using Peak Oil theory to advance its agenda has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the accuracy of the theory itself. It has been proven true, beyond a shadow of a fucking doubt. King Hubbert was a self made man and a genius. He nailed it.
Now, back to you. Your heads truly are up your asses. You are the people Quinn writes about, those who are so tied in to the status quo that you will fight the truth because you don’t like it. It’s gonna be fun to watch you whiners in the brave new world. Sorry for the pun. I couldn’t resist.
Clark, you sound like a little girl. Man up or head on back over to a site where everyone thinks like you do. They exist. You and your little knickers would probably be more comfortable there.
Thunderbird
The message would have to spread across the country and if and when a majority of people want this type of govt. they would organize for calling together a constitutional convention to amend the Const. as I described.
As a Christian I know God created me yet He doesn’t control me, not so with our present system of govt. I’m trying to suggest a system of govt. that would be similar to the way God treats we humans – His creation. I’m open to any suggestions you or others may have. God Bless.
R.C.
R.C.
The political elite do not listen to the people anymore; they won’t allow a constitution convention. A real time example is Ireland. The Irish political elite are handing over Irish sovereignty to the EU/IMF against the wishes of the people to save the primary bondholders that funded their corrupt housing bubble. I am waiting to see what the Irish people do about it. I have a feeling it is going to be bloody.
The mass of our people are sheep that are easily led due to their lack of critical thinking. The only thing that is going to make them move is pain. They are presently lost in the pleasure of gratifying their animal senses. When the economy crashes the pleasure ends. So then what? Does critical thinking begin? I think not. The collective non thinkers will probably die out leaving the individualist to pick up the peices and start a new government. Then the constitution can be revived.
Thunderbird
I hear and understand what you are saying ,but the love of true freedom must be in the peoples heart. Our present system is a farce and full of corruption like “earmarks.” We are no longer a free people, Freedom in present America is nothing more then an illusion of it. Take Obamacare. The vast majority of Americans did NOT want it, yet we got it whether we wanted it or not because of corrupt politicians – our so-called “leaders.” How can one be free when our reps won’t listen to the majority. Keep in mind that every time a “law” is enacted some part of our freedoms are diminished and freedom is reduced to nothing but rhetoric. I honestly believe that the phrase “do no man or women harm in their person or property” is all the law = principle that is needed to maintain civility in such a diverse country like ours. Simplicity is the key. God bless.
R.C.
While I agree with just about everything said in this article, by blaming the victims, you fail in your ‘critical thought’ process by not following the self-destructive behavior of the masses to its root cause. Always, in any population of heard animals, it is only a small percentage that leads. While I would love it if all humans became informed and enlightened overnight, I don’t believe it has or will ever happen (and I do share your frustration). The ones that are actually leading right now hide and use all means of diversion (be it political or entertainment) to continue their insatiable lust for power and money. These are the real cancer of the human race and only by casting a strong light can we hope to control them.
RobinH
You need to read a few more of my articles if you don’t think the ruling elite have felt my scorn and contempt.
A liberal site like Huff Po? More assumptions. Psft.
I didn’t miss your point.
It seems you have missed mine.
Thanks for the unnecessary slams.
I expected more and better from this website.
I would discuss facts,… up here X.
—– the bar —–
But you all seem stuck, down here X.
clark
You confirm my opinion of the ignorant masses. If you don’t think Ariana Huffington is a liberal, then you are about as brain dead as they come.
You got nothin. You have no argument to back up your ignorant assertion that peak cheap oil is not a fact.
R.C.
The love of freedom is still in some people’s hearts. How many I don’t know. I know it is in my heart. Obamacare was passed because it is a bonanza for the government. They will be taking over all the nursing homes. This is where the old with ailments will go. They will give up their social security checks to go into these facilities. Then the doctors will feed them meds to manage their conditions until they die from their condition. Millions will go through this process and it will save the government billions in not having to perform operations and medical proceedures that extend life. The congress passed the bill and now the script is being written in back rooms.
Unfortunately few people care – out of sight out of mind. This is the mentality.
You have to start thinking about what you want to do. Freedom of movement is still in existance. As the police state expands freedom of movement will deminish. Where do you want to be when the darkest hour comes for America? Freedom is in the heart. Follow your intuition. Freedom still exists, you just have to forget about the past and think of the now. Right now the most free places that exist in the world are the Pacific Islands. Can you live on an island? Can you live on Mars? If you carry the knowledge of freedom in your heart and in your head feel fortunate. You carry the seed of liberty to be taught to future generations after this generation is wasted in bondage. If you are old then write down your thoughts on freedom so they can be passed down your family tree. But surely as the sun rises everyday freedom will rise again in this country.
Novista- Thank you for the book suggestion. I am on my way to the library to check out “the drowning towers” which I think is the American edition of “the sea and summer”. Do you recommend any other books along the same subject lines or similar lines? Your help would be appreciated.
Thunderbird
I take your wisdom and advise to heart, however I believe what I wrote is the epitome of real freedom. We have tyranical laws that are outrageous like the seat belt law. Who is govt. to tell me or anybody else what I can and cannot do with my own body. My body belongs to me,not govt. However under our present system of govt. they don’t care whether or not I put my head through the windshield its just another source of revenue, that is what gauls me. Laws always have financial benefits for our politicians and NOT for we so-called “Sovereigns.”
I believe with all my heart that what I wrote is honest to goodness real freedom and the key to it is
taking personal responsibility for all we say and do in our interactions with each other, in other words respect and consideration, a quality long lost in this great country of ours and it saddens my heart. I hope you understand where I’m coming from. God Bless you and yours.
All you peak oil people thinking that oil is going to run out. Get a life. The earth if full of oil. To get oil from shale, all you have to do is surround the field with a 4 foot frozen wall of water, put a bunch of 100 foot 10 gigawatt heater probes in the ground, heat it all up for about a year, and like magic, you get a couple thousand barrels of that liquid we all love to burn. How many barrels of oil do we need? I can’t imagine we in the US need more than a couple thousand barrels a day. Come on, get real.
Topper
If that is all we have to do, why the fuck aren’t we doing it you douchebag? What the fuck do you think will power your heaters for a year you moron? Who let you out of the insane asylum? A monkey would make more sense hammering away on a keyboard with his feces than you.
Welcome to the site nimrod.
Admin – I thought maybe he was being sarcastic and having a poke at the guys who think there is plenty of oil: “I can’t imagine we in the US need more than a couple thousand barrels a day.” Plus the icewall, and the 100 foot 10 gigawatt heaters for a year, for about $150,000 in oil.
Could he really be that stupid? Man, I gotta review my perception of how stupid people can be. That sets a new record low for someone with the ability to type if he wasn’t being sarcastic.
If he was being sarcastic, then I will give him a pat on the back, because he really sucked me in. I fear he was being serious. God help us all.
“Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!” – George Carlin
Come on, earth full of oil, 4 foot frozen water barrier, gigawatt probes, couple thousand barrels a day. I was pulling your chain! Kind of funny that whenever I try to tell my friends and family about peak oil, they call me a douchebag and a moron too. Keep up the good work. I don’t always agree with everything you write, but I like your perspective. Forgot who said it, but reading stuff off the internet is like dumpster diving, sometimes you find good stuff, and I believe your site is some of that good stuff.
Topper
I tip my hat to you. Well done. You are officially in the inner circle and will get the respect you deserve.
Admin
I was just browsing the latest comments and hadn’t intended to log in. But those warm words of welcome you sent to Topper forced my hand. Damn, that was funny. Easily matches Stucky at his best.
SSS
Topper got me good. He deserves applause.
I meant to respond earlier about you not liking me saying Assange is on the CIA hit list. Do you mean to tell us that the CIA has never assassinated anyone? I have no proof to show they did or didn’t, but I strongly suspect they have. Just between the two of us, let me know.
SSS
I’m still a little keyed up from the 18 wheeler incident this morning. I hope Avalon has a good dinner planned for tonight.
Topper—-Thanks for coming clean. We have some neat free-for-alls here, feel free to join the fray if you ever happen to stumble across one of them.
Topper – glad I spotted it. I gave you a thumbs up straight away for being funny, then Admin got me wondering if it was possible anyone could really be that stupid. If you see some of the knitwits that pass thru, you would understand Admin’s skepticism.
Well done.
Sorry, it was probably a rude introduction, Clark inspired me. I’ll have more productive comments going forward, or not, if the douchebags and morons keep saying dumbass things.
Titanic
You have an uncanny knack of writing six paragraphs and saying absolutely nothing. Do you have voices in your head where a brain should be telling you to type meaningless drivel? You go on and on about absolutely nothing. Your intelligence level is on par with a monkey that eats his own shit. If you ever make a point in your long winded rants, I will obliterate you. But, sadly you are incapable of a cogent thought. so I will just have to shit on you, as you are no more useful than the toilet in my bathroom.
Keep posting Titanic. The site needs a village idiot and you are just the idiot.
LLPOH
I don’t want to let Titanic get away. I hope he posts every day so that I can thrash him like a ragdoll. He is like a dimwitted rat in an experiment where it gets shocked when it does the wrong thing. Instead of learning, the dimwitted rat keeps doing the same thing over and over getting shocked. We can’t let this village idiot get away.