There are some wise folks predicting serious problems ahead for the United States and countries dependent upon it. They range from economists like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz to pretty much everyone who has looked into peak oil. I have said that the current recession is permanent (and will deepen) because rising oil prices are increasing the prices of food and transportation, which means less money for non-necessities – which means fewer jobs.
Political elites have been withholding the truth from Americans for a long time about certain realities like peak oil and climate change. As a result, no significant preparations have been made.
The longer you have untreated gangrene, the more of you the doctors are going to have to cut off to stop it. And if you wait too long, the sepsis spreads throughout your body and nothing can be done. You’re poisoned from within. You’re dead.
Gangrene has been spreading throughout the United States for decades now, and has been studiously ignored. The main reason is corruption of the political system by corporate executives. Elected politicians are supposed to represent the people. Were they doing so, they would have raised warnings and taken action some time ago. However, corporate executives – there is no sense putting the blame on ‘corporations,’ which after all are run by people – have been bribing our politicians for many years to put their interests over those of the people and the country.
In my book, this makes them traitors, but I’m just a crazy radical.
When the interests of the elites do not align with those of the people or the country, the people and the country will suffer and possibly die.
The problem of financial corruption has been endemic through Democratic and Republican administrations, leading to the repeal of regulations designed to prevent a second Great Depression. We can see the outcome; we are now in a severe and prolonged recession triggered by banksters profiting mightily from deregulation, while the people and the country suffer.
That the protective laws were repealed is a clear sign of corruption of the political system by banking elites. That, even following the financial meltdown, subsequent recession, and millions of Americans losing their homes and jobs, little has been done to reinstate protective regulations and investigate the profiteers indicates just how deep the rot goes.
Ultimately even more dangerous will be the influence the fossil industries have exerted on the U.S. government for decades. No attempt has been made to ‘get off oil,’ despite it being rather obvious that eventually the oil must run out – and increasing evidence that we have hit the peak and it’s all downhill from here on.
You will note that the price of oil is at approximately $80 per barrel – in the middle of the most severe recession since the Great Depression. That is about four times the price only a few years ago, and follows an unprecedented spike to $147 per barrel just prior to the recession. Some analysts state that the recession was caused by and continues unabated because the price of oil remains high. As I mentioned in Welcome to the Permanent Recession – Food and transportation prices rising, the employment rate roughly correlates with the price of oil. When the price goes up, people are laid off. Period. When the price stays high, apparently, people remain laid-off.
Despite this high price of oil, no new refining capability has been built. Why? Normally, when the price of something goes up, sellers are motivated to produce more. That is not happening with oil because the supply is declining and the oil company executives know it. Why pour money into refining facilities when there will be less and less to refine?
At the same time, these same executives block moves to alternatives and spend a great deal of money funding intellectually dishonest ‘think tanks’ to promote market fundamentalism, which is the idea that the magical market will solve all problems and government ‘interference,’ i.e., regulation, is inherently bad.
Reality bites back
This message has been echoed by corrupt or brainless politicians from both parties, and amplified by the corporate media, so as a result the average American is now utterly clueless about the real state of affairs, which is:
- The oil is running out
- As oil prices rise, so do food prices, commuting costs, everything imported, and many other things that Americans have taken for granted as their birthright
- As oil prices rise, so does unemployment, making this recession permanent
- There are no realistic replacements for oil that can be developed in time to maintain the non-negotiable American Way of Life™
The opportunity for a managed transition to a non-oil economy has been pissed away by elites bent on making as much as they can while they can. Again, this sounds like betrayal to me, but what do I know?
Given the state of delusion that most Americans live in, this new world order is going to come as a big shock. The stages of grieving are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and ultimately acceptance. These stages were developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and refer to someone aware that he or she is dying. (We are all dying, but generally only the terminally ill face that reality.)
I don’t honestly know that these stages will apply to the American psyche during a terminal decline in living standards, which is going to feel like death to many. Certainly we are in denial right now, and you can easily see the beginnings of anger, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything like real anger yet.
There is a very real possibility that, as living standards continue to drop – and more importantly, as hopes for a better future evaporate, that there will be an outburst of anger.
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UPDATE: The day after I posted this article, statistics came out showing that the suburbs are being foreclosed-upon at a higher rate than elsewhere. This is a symptom of peak oil.
7 comments ↓
We have a consumer-based economy, which at the same time is sending as many of our jobs overseas as possible. I’m sure there’s a more complex way of phrasing this, but basically the North American economy is based on idiocy.
It’s no surprise that most of Dick Cheney’s portfolio is invested overseas.
“…corruption of the political system by corporate executives…”? More like INFILTRATION.
Insightful piece, and I agree in general that our government has been bought and paid for. However, I think your anger at the so-called “market fundamentalists” is misplaced. Any self respecting market fundamentalist would advocate truth in pricing in the petroleum market. If there weren’t a hidden subsidy amounting to $10+ per gallon of gas (roughly the price of our foreign wars, direct subsidies, preferential treatment and the other activities the USG does for oil companies) we would have been off the texas tea a long time ago.
Whetam – Idiocy indeed. It’s amazing how many very smart people are doing such foolish things.
Clayton – Thanks. Market fundamentalists is a term used to refer to those who believe the market will solve all problems. In the article, I was referring to the resources that have gone into convincing the average American that the market must be left untouched – even when it is clearly failing. Fundamentalists cling to this belief in the face of all evidence. I am against subsidies in general, although think they will be required to ramp up alt-energy quickly. I agree – had we never subsidised oil, we would not be in this mess today. One thing the market fundies ignore is that markets are invariably corrupted by the power brokers.
what this article fails to mention is that if the US goes down, so follows other countries which have built their growth on the US and/or economic principals that are unsustainable. It is true the US is beholden to oil, but oil is the fuel of industry around the world, not just in North America. In China and India, a drivers license is a big deal because of, yes, OIL! I agree, now is the time for change, but this is not a big conspiracy, it is not limited to the US/Canada, and it not being kept secret by some “elite mechanism”. Access to information is greater than it ever was. A lot of smart people have access to a lot of smart research. You should read some of their research and of course be skeptical. But failing to look at the big picture means you will be the first to panic which will put you at a big disadvantage. You will be the guy who says stock up on canned fish without remembering to bring the can opener.
It is a mistake to think that there has been no effort made “to get off oil”. We are a market driven society. Money drives our country. And that is what is driving all the discussions related solar, wind, wave, electric, nuclear, and even coal? How about the TESLA auto company (3 of their execs died in a plane crash last week-sad/setback)? How about what is happening in the midwest with Solar manufacturing? How about the east coast cape cod debates about wind? or even the CLEAN COAL industry? All of these are market driven. No big conspiracy. No puppet master. Stop looking at easy blame and start looking at how you can contribute to any oil shortage. This article doesn’t help! It does nothing except simplify the complex realities we face as individuals, as nations, and as the world.
PA – You’re reading conspiracy where I said no such thing. It is simply common, and has been throughout history, for elites to attempt to protect their position – typically at the cost of everyone else. As to ‘getting off oil,’ no serious attempt has been made – there are no substitutes for gasoline for cars, diesel for trucks and trains, and jet fuel for aeroplanes that are anywhere near being available in quantities needed. And the subsidies keep flowing to the oil industry; the market has been corrupted and this is the reason we are still hooked on oil.
“Political elites have been withholding the truth from Americans” and “these same executives block moves to alternatives and spend a great deal of money funding intellectually dishonest ‘think tanks’ to promote market fundamentalism” both take a conspiratorial tone. Furthermore, there are many think tanks that also promote conservation, reductions in green house gases, and bike lanes which are all issues that would not necessarily be associated with “Think Tanks”. These groups are idea factories and their message is one aspect of the advertising culture we find ourselves in…all of these interests are competing for our attention not just “Political Elites”. I am not sure what your argument is, but if you are saying that North America is in for a rude awakening, then I agree. Our culture rewards consumerism, and I am embarrassed by the materialism. I have travelled around the world and nowhere is a culture so boorish and self entitled. We are wasteful and can be very narrow minded.
But we are also industrious and hard working and creative. To say that there is not an effort being made to move us from oil is wrong. Look around, everywhere you see companies working hard, being creative-developing, researching, and bringing to market products that they believe will provide alternatives. I don’t know what you expect? That one day the we will have hydrogen cars -who is going to build the stations? where is the infrastructure? who is going to buy them? how is the market defined? What is occurring today are organic-market driven-steps toward achieving self sufficiency-but they are not building solar panels to unite a country, they build them to make money. I am no right winger, but the reality is that government cant force companies to build products. It can help by providing incentives, but we live in a free market system where people build what the market wants them to build. And if you don’t think the energy companies (yes I have a great distrust them too) want to develop alternative energies, you are narrow minded. The future is about making money and that money is not going to come from oil.
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This post was mentioned on Reddit by eian: No comments? Is this because it’s rapidly becoming “old news?” Great, I guess everyone is content with spiraling down the drain….
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