Fever Pitch

Guest Post by Jim Kunstler

In case you’re worked up about the looming federal government shut-down, this is exactly how we’re supposed to roll in the long emergency: everything organized at the gigantic scale is going to wobble and fail. It’s nature’s way of saying, “get smaller, get realer, scale down, and get local.” The catch is, we probably won’t listen to nature. Instead, we’ll just behave like bystanders and do nothing until the full force of failure is upon us, just as we’re doing with climate change — the tragedy of the commons at planetary scale.

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The failure of national party politics is deep and systemic, as you would expect from activities nurtured in a shit-hole called Washington, corruption being the manifestation of sepsis. The lethal vector of this illness is money. There’s the money flowing into the “campaign funds” (so-called) of congressmen and senators, of course, but there’s also the “money” that is flowing in and out of the leviathan government — a whole lot of it is not really there. It’s a figment of promises to pay back loans on top of a monumental heap of past promises that will never be kept. The threatened government shutdown is just a symptom of the illness: a society doing things out of scale, trying to run its excessive activities by check-kiting and accounting fraud. What could go wrong?

Not the stock and bond markets, I’m sure. Though… wait a minute… that hockey-stick surge in equities looks a little bit like the action of a thermometer measuring the rising body temperature of a very sick patient. From 25,000 to 26,000 on the Dow — in what? seven days? — is kind of like the flu victim going from 98.6 to 105 after onset. And we know what happens to humans up around the 105 Fahrenheit body temperature level: the brain starts to sputter and smoke. Soon, it’s lights out and don’t let your karma smack you on the butt going through the exit.

Will a government shut-down be the final insult to the matrix of extreme fragility that holds itself together on little more than inertia and faith? (Oh, you’ll get paid back… don’t worry.) The hubris around this delusional state of affairs seeped over the swampy Washington landscape this week like one of those malaria-laden miasmas of old. The president crowed about the lowest unemployment in decades and the lobotomized media just swallowed it like a wad of masticated pepperoni. Nobody notices the roughly 100 million adults out of the work-force. Do they even figure into the statistical picture? Lowest black and Hispanic unemployment ever. You’re kidding, right? Well, we make our own reality. Karl Rove and Oprah agree on that.

I had a lot of fun last night, after the Thursday evening fiddle jam, clicking back and forth between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Anderson Cooper was trying — with flagging conviction — to sell another “Trump Dossier” story. Over at MSNBC, Rachel Maddow was in full snide fulmination mode about Russians infiltrating the NRA to get to Trump. Rachel’s clarion call, “we now know,” is beginning to sound like Senator Joseph McCarthy’s battle cry, “I have in my hand a list of fifty-three communists…!” On Fox, Sean Hannity almost busted a cerebral blood vessel over the unspooling shenanigans in the top ranks of the FBI-DOJ. With each click of the remote control I felt like I was arriving and departing different planets.

Expect the turmoil to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The Mueller investigation is festering into a constitutional crisis. The bond market is having a heart attack with the Ten-Year shooting above the 2.6 percent interest rate line. The dollar is flirting with a sub-90 DXY hashmark. Risk has supposedly been banished — only to come screaming out of the attic like Norman Bates’s mother at the last moment, slashing your misplaced confidence to shreds.

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Anonymous
Anonymous

How would I be negatively impacted by a government shutdown?

Other than, maybe, not being able to see Mt Rushmore for a while which I have no particular desire to do anyway.

YourAverageJoe

We will be giving government workers free, un-earned days off to go fishing, hunting, or whatever they can do knowing they’ll get back pay when the latest continuing resolution gets passed.

Dutchman
Dutchman

What get’s shutdown but the National Parks – shutdown is a joke.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

Climate change. Good one, Kunstler.

Mossberg
Mossberg

Climate change is pretend, so your whole argument is tainted kunt.

Done in Dallas
Done in Dallas

Yeah, I quit reading right there…

DRUD
DRUD

Doesn’t matter what the Truth is about “Climate Change” anyway. None of us know for sure–industrialized society is certainly having SOME effect on the climate, 00.1% is some, so is 99%…nobody has ever given a number, because it cannot be tested without a “control” Earth.

Here is what I take exception to: “just as we’re doing with climate change”

Who’s WE? Train yourself to ask the question every time you hear the word. Theoreticaly, the masses are causing “Climate Change” (another poorly defined concept) and the Governments of the world are trying like hell to stop it. So, in the “Climate Change” delusion world, “WE” are doing something. In reality, the corrupt elite running the world couldn’t give two shits about the climate or about anything other that garnering more power, wealth and influence–the “Climate Change” narrative is nothing but another ploy to accomplish this.

The vast majority of people consciously do nothing one way or another about climate change…WE simply go about living our day-to day lives.

Who is WE?

karl
karl

I am doing something about climate change. I am causing it. I will be driving 1500 miles to the tex/mex border to have 3 crowns done.
10 days, 3400 miles of driving to save $1500.
Or, is the change caused by the greedy dentists that make this trip a rational choice?
And the change is caused by anyone who takes a 6000 lb. truck everywhere they go. Can’t go anywhere without 6000 lbs. strapped to their ass.

colin spenncer
colin spenncer

When South Florida disappears under the waves in the not too distant future, some people will still argue that climate change is pretend.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

You still watching that AlGore movie from 2006 where he showed Florida being submerged? The UNIPCC subsequently changed the guesstimated increase in sea level over the 21st century down from 20′ to 8″. That’s inches, Nigel Tufnel.

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

The DoD thinks differently.
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a518100.pdf

“Climate change is included as one of the ten trends most likely to impact the Joint Force. For example, sea ice has been shrinking dramatically in Arctic regions each summer, and in the future this could open new shipping routes across archipelagic Canada and Northern Russia that could dramatically shorten transit times between Europe and Northeast Asia. Furthermore, shrinking sea ice opens new areas for natural resource exploitation, and may raise tensions between Arctic nations over the demarcation of exclusive economic zones and between Arctic nations and maritime states over the designation of important new waterways as international straits or internal waters. As an early move in this new competition, in 2007 two Russian submersibles made an unprecedented dive 2.5 miles to the arctic sea floor, where one ship dropped a titanium capsule containing a Russian flag. Retreating ice creating access to previously unavailable natural resources is but one example of potential security challenges that did not exist in the past.
“Global sea levels have been on the rise for the past 100 years. Some one-fifth of the world’s population as well as one-sixth of the land area of the world’s largest urban areas are located in coastal zones less than ten meters above sea level. Furthermore, populations in these coastal areas are growing faster than national averages. In places such as China and Bangladesh, this growth is twice that of the national average.
Should global sea levels continue to rise at current rates, these areas will see more extensive flooding and increased saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers upon which coastal populations rely, compounding the impact of increasing shortages of fresh water. Additionally, local population pressures will increase as people move away from inundated areas and settle farther up-country.
“In this regard, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural catastrophes have been and will continue to be a concern of Joint Force commanders. In particular, where natural disasters collide with growing urban sprawl, widespread human misery could be the final straw that breaks the back of a weak state. Furthermore, if such a catastrophe occurs within the United States itself – particularly when the nation’s economy is in a fragile state or where U.S. military bases or key civilian infrastructure are broadly affected – the damage to U.S. security could be considerable. Areas of the U.S. where the potential is great to suffer large-scale effects from these natural disasters are the hurricane-prone areas of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and the earthquake zones on the west coast and along the New Madrid fault. In the 2030s, as in the past, the ability of U.S. military forces to relieve the victims of natural disasters will impact the reputation of the United States in the world. For example, the contribution of U.S. and partner forces to relieve the distress caused by the catastrophic Pacific tsunami of December 2004 reversed the perceptions of America held by many Indonesians. Perhaps no other mission performed by the Joint Force provides so much benefit to the interests of the United States at so little cost.”

kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2
kokoda the Deplorable Raccoon and I-LUV-CO2

— the tragedy of the gullible at a planetary scale.

Mad as hell
Mad as hell

Yep, just more theater. Nothing more. The facts are that no one gives a shit anymore, at least no one with an IQ over about 110. I doubt anyone that is not on the government teet would even notice the government was shutdown, other than the TV would be quieter, you would not have to worry about sending in your protection money to IRS on April 15. BFD, shut it all down….

Regarding the national parks, simply walk around the fences. I doubt that the mountain Rushmore is built on will refuse your presence without the consent of some government drone.

RHS Jr
RHS Jr

In the first para he implies we are stupidly destroying the planet with Global warming; definitely a jerk, probably a paid CIA jerk.

Trapped in Portlandia
Trapped in Portlandia

Even with the federal government shutdown, I’m sure the campaign offices of our elected officials will remain open, accepting those campaign contributions from everyday Americans.

You can shut down the swamp, but you can never drain it.

i forget
i forget

‘tragedy of the commons’ is key.

Actually, it’s lock. There is no key.

Art
Art

They do this same song and dance every year, or is it twice a year? I forget. It’s all theater.

Hope
Hope

If I was Trump, I would:

1) Let the fucker shut down for several weeks. We will see exactly what these “non-essential” employees are doing (or not). That would be a great way to start whacking away at the bloated fed work force.

2) Make sure the blame gets laid exactly where it belongs – on the Dems. They had 8 years to deal with immigration and DACA and did NOTHING. Dems are clearly putting the interests of illegal aliens over that of the American citizens and the military.

3) Make Turtle McYrtle McConnell look like the loser idiot that he is – then primary the hell out of him come election time.

4) Refuse to back pay any federal employee during the shutdown.

I will absolutely guantee you one thing: The web traffic for pornhub.com from DC IP addresses will absolutely SOAR during the shutdown.

Just like it did after the Hawaiian Islands got the all clear from the fakey ballistic missile warning.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-18/hawaiians-rush-pornhub-minutes-after-false-ballistic-missile-alert

CCRider
CCRider

It’s only value that I can see is perhaps to teach more people just how wicked gov’t is and how futile any political fix will be. Just consider that when the dummo’s whine about ‘dreamers’ we all know that their real aim is more ignorant voters to sustain them politically and the repo’s obfuscation on limiting immigration is only due to pressure from their corporate handlers. So we know they’re lying, THEY know they’re lying and they know we know they’re lying. Still the scam goes forth shamelessly with the straight faces of schumer, graham, ryan and the other hustlers playing the game. Looks like we’ve finally reached the final phase where democracy self destructs.

Or so we can hope.

BUCKHED
BUCKHED

So when the gooberment shuts down they send all nonessential folks home.

So my question is…if they are nonessential why in the hell are they employed by the gooberment in the first place ?

RHS Jr
RHS Jr

If we’d had a Wall, we wouldn’t have 3.6 million DACAs.

Jim
Jim

Our government has become a goat rodeo. Kudos to anyone with the stomach to watch tv news for more than 5 minutes without choking on the bile that rises in their throat.

Martin
Martin

Which causes more ‘global warming’ – 4 billion extra people in Asia & Africa or 5 million Malls & office buildings in North Amerika that leave all the lights & power on while empty from 10pm thru 7am ?
Hoax or not, why can’t these billions of lights ever be turned off ?

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

Civilization is a heat engine.

No way out? The double-bind in seeking global
prosperity alongside mitigated climate change
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1010.0428v3.pdf

Thermodynamics of long-run economic
innovation and growth
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1306.3554v1.pdf

See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_power_principle
“The maximum power principle can be stated: During self-organization, system designs develop and prevail that maximize power intake, energy transformation, and those uses that reinforce production and efficiency.” (H.T.Odum 1995, p.311)

This is a process with one direction only, favoring the maximum energy throughput.

Maximum (Em)Power


“Particularly during times of growth, when resources are still plentiful, what is economically competitive is increased rate of resource use rather than efficiency” (Odum, 1987).

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karl
karl

Because that’s when the poor fucks making 10 bucks clean them.

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