Embargo On Iran Rapidly Killing US Economy

Congress has declared today, 'Train Day'. Wish they would spend some money rebuilding our crummy rail systems!

May 10, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

As the cruel US embargo on Iran tightens more and more the entire planet is seeing the price of oil shoot upwards faster and faster. Too stupid to figure out the obvious, the leaders of the G7 nations run about in circle screaming about how all this is the fault of speculators. Then the central banks hand out a trillion in lending to these same speculators! On top of this, Iran is now refusing to accept dollars for oil at all anymore. The dollar's bizarre problems are very much attached to the business of the Iran embargo the US is imposing on behalf of Israel. As chaos broils out of Lebanon, the US is tightening these same screws yet some more, blaming Iran for all this. And in the end, it is a race to see who will destroy the global economy first: Iran or the US. I am betting Iran will win this race with us, we will hit bottom before them.

Paulson, Trichet Signal Welcome at Dollar's Recovery Since G-7

U.S. and European officials signaled satisfaction that the dollar is stabilizing after Group of Seven policy makers expressed concern a month ago about its decline.

The dollar has advanced 3.4 percent from its record low of $1.6019 per euro on April 22, and is up 2.1 percent since the G-7 central bankers and finance ministers met in Washington April 11.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said May 8 he ``would be happy'' if traders take account of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's admonitions that the U.S. wants a ``strong'' dollar. A Treasury official said on condition of anonymity yesterday that the G-7's statement was aimed at getting investors to look past short-term U.S. financial-market turmoil.

``They've got to be quite happy as things are moving in their favor now,'' said David Gilmore, a partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Connecticut. ``There's a sense the market is finally getting the message of the G-7.''

While the dollar's drop helps spur U.S. exports, it has also fueled a record commodity-price surge that is hammering consumers. The G-7 last month warned against ``sharp fluctuations in major currencies'' that could have ``implications for economic and financial stability.''

As if global traders listen to anyone! Or rather, we must understand that they ARE the G7 itself. Namely, the rulers of the rulers are these same people. The people who own the politicians are these people! Or are directly the politicians like Mitt Romney, for example. Goldman Sachs openly runs the US, just for example. So when various members of the US imperial alliance chatted with each other, they collectively decided to artificially up the value of the dollar in spite of a huge trade and even much bigger budget deficit in the US as well as rapid deterioration in the US economy, this is a CONSPIRACY. And boy, are they proud of it!

Of course, this makes hash of the entire concept of 'Let's drop the value of the dollar to fix our trade deficit', doesn't it? But as I have pointed out many years ago, a weak dollar=higher energy prices. This is the inescapable trap, the dread Horns of Dilemma I refer to frequently. When one is destroying a system, the sign that it is entering its final stages of destruction is, all choices are evil, all alternatives are destructive. There is no escape.

It is hysterically funny that the same day the G7 goof balls are boasting about this scheme, the world price of oil rises to a new record. No longer are they saying, 'Compared to last time we didn't buy Iran's oil, if you include the rate of inflation, oil is still cheaper than in 1982'. Now it is not cheaper at all. And note that just like back then, the price of oil is high due to Iran being unable to sell oil to the G7 consortium! Duh! Since this happened in the past and we saw what it did to the US economy, why are we doing this a second time?

The cost of all this is horrific for the US consumers and industries. The delivery service industry, for example, is plummeting towards bankruptcy. Truck drivers are being driven out of business. Airlines are going bankrupt and crashing to the earth! The entire US 'tax rebate' that was supposed to induce consumer spending will be sucked down this black hole. One would imagine our media and our politicians would say, 'We are seeing tremendous oil inflation EXACTLY LIKE DURING THE IRAN/IRAQ WAR in the 1980's because we are repeating what happened back then!' The solution is obvious.

And totally invisible. The problem last time was fixed by higher interest rates in the US and the Iran/Iraq war ending! Duh! Yet here we are, at war in Iraq, Iran being attacked and the stupid embargo designed to beggar and weaken Iran means there is a huge reduction in oil suppliers and the remaining suppliers get to hike prices! What a shock. Just like before. And since I love history and look to see repeats, here it is! We want war with Iran, we get monumental price hikes in oil.

FUEL PRICES: WORSE TO COME

The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) has spoken out about the rising fuel prices and the impact this is having on transport companies.

VTA CEO, Philip Lovel said: “The transport industry is carrying the burden of these fuel prices and we need to ensure that transport operators are sharing this burden with their customers, or they will not survive.”

World oil reached a new record price above 120 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday as concerns over the United States economy continue. Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic have nearly doubled in a year and have continued to soar since the benchmark New York contract broke through the 100 US dollar mark at the start of the year.

Philip Lovel said that the only positive is that the Australian Dollar is at record levels, and if it ever drops below 90 cents to US dollar we are all in trouble!

Supply jitters in Nigeria and geopolitical tension over Iran have added to the price surge. Nigeria has lost about half its oil output amid a strike and rebel attacks. A group of Nigerian militants attacked an oil ship off the coast of West Africa.

Problems continue in Iran, which said on Monday it would reject any offer that violates its right to the full nuclear fuel cycle after world powers said they had prepared a new package to end a long-running standoff over its nuclear programme. Oil players fear the ongoing tension could result in Iran using oil as a bargaining chip. Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel.

Our Aussie friends are so lucky. Their own media will actually explain why prices are so high! We, in the benighted US, nearly NEVER hear a peep about the fact that Iran is OPEC's #2 oil producer and sits on one of the world's biggest untapped reserves. We are absolutely certain the US military, the G7 creeps who are boasting about raising the value of the dollar and our rulers are hyper-aware of this information. They just don't want to share it with the poor US peasantry who are deliberately being driven to madcap wars with the promise of cheap Iranian and Iraqi oil once we smash the peasants over there. The war drum beating continues and rises. While the finger pointing in this business is just as loud and misleading as well as cruel.

Refusing to explain all this is very important. They cannot have the US public realize we are paying a WAR TAX via oil and that this tax is now over 15% of our incomes and rising and NONE of this is flowing to our government, it is all flowing to private individuals, kings, dictators and overlords of the ruling elites! And our military costs are borne by ourselves, on top of all this craziness. The kings, despots and ruling elites demanded a stronger dollar last week and got it. But this won't help us since they also raised the price of oil even as the dollar supposedly grew stronger.

And this is due to this war for Iran's oil. Iran knows that if they drag out this struggle, the US will go bankrupt. So they play along. Note how, every time it looks like the embargo is relaxing, Iran's leaders say something about Israel and it is renewed. I believe this is a strategic policy which the government of Iran is deliberately using. It is a brilliant strategic tool and will be studied by future historians as a prime example as to how a very small, militarily weak nation can destroy a huge empire and all of its allies! Wow.

Oil Costs To Offset Stimulus Package---Fuel Costs Dash FedEx Forecast By $100 Million

On the eve of President Bush's visit to Saudi Arabia, crude oil prices set a record for the fifth day in a row yesterday, eating into tax rebates being mailed to U.S. households and prompting FedEx to slash its quarterly earnings forecast by $100 million because of rising fuel costs.

Since Congress and Bush unveiled an economic stimulus package Jan. 24, the price of the OPEC basket of crude oil has jumped by $32.51 a barrel, raising the cost of U.S. oil imports enough to offset the entire stimulus package over the course of the year.

When this stupid stimulus package was announced, some of the bears online mocked it and said this would happen. I am proud that I was one of these bears. People who can predict the future and make accurate forecasts should be in the news a lot. We have the internet now and can look backwards through people's writings to see who is the most accurate. I am one of the most accurate of all when it comes to forward-predictions. But few mainstream media want accuracy or foreknowledge. They want fantasy and then hope reality conforms to their desires.

$33 a barrel rise since January is huge. And is continuing since Iran said something about Israel last week. I bet they have a chart at their headquarters that tracks how long it takes for the US to react to these pokes in the eye. One week? Two? Then the Iranians track the rise in oil prices and then plot forwards, when to say something again. This is why there is no escalation of rhetoric, just occasional pronouncements. Today, poor Obama had to trot before the cameras to denounce Iran and state that we will have a knee-jerk response if Iran says anything about Israel. This is cart blanche for more fun for Iran. Poke-poke-poke. There is no escape for us. The media wants us to do this reflexively because it is a Zionist entity. And Iran knows this and uses it to their advantage.

Most people who don't see this think Iran is desperate to stop this business. Why, they should want to work with the US and let us run things over there like we do in Iraq! Heh. What an example. Lebanon is blowing up again as the US and Israel tried yet another coup against Hezbollah. Hezbollah retaliated and war is raging again there. The Palestinians are still refusing to roll up and die for the Jews in the Holy Land and Saudi Arabia is growing fat and happy on the oil business thanks to Iran so they alternate between sneaky embracing of Iran and then egging the US into attacking Iran's oil industries. And they are abandoning their investments in the US this week. This is why Citibank announced they will drop half a trillion in assets and sell them all in a saturated market where they will lose a lot of value but so what? The Arabs who have the biggest stake in Citibank are jumping out of a sinking US ship!

Up until this spring, they were as anxious as the Japanese to keep the US economy afloat. They even pumped more oil to keep prices down. But the dynamics have changed since then. I suspect the Arab oil kings will shift to China for investment opportunities. This is a double plus. China is not pro-Zionist expansions. And the Arabs have no desire to chop China into small pieces. So a prediction: the oil nations in the Middle East will cease supporting the US economy bit by bit as they exit our banking system. This will make the banking collapse here worse. And if we keep this stupid embargo on Iran going, we will go bankrupt in less than 10 years.

Suspend deliveries to U.S. oil reserve, lawmakers say

With fuel costs becoming a crucial election-year issue, members of both parties -- separately -- pitched their ideas Wednesday for bringing down prices.

Democrats called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies, rolling back tax breaks for the industry and new protections against price-gouging, while Republicans urged increased exploration for new domestic oil sources. About the only proposal their plans had in common was to stop the delivery of 70,000 barrels of oil a day for the emergency stockpile.

President Bush has resisted suspending deliveries, contending it would weaken the nation's defenses against an interruption in the flow of foreign oil. The reserve, set up after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, holds about 700 million barrels in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.

Bush also has asserted that halting deliveries would do little to bring oil prices down. After all, 70,000 barrels represents a small fraction of the 20 million the nation uses every day.

HAHAHA. During all this price hike business, the US government has been buying oil in other nations and pumping it right back into the ground again so we have some oil for WWIII or if we go bankrupt! And Congress knows this. But they see the writing on the wall: if oil prices go up and up this summer and neither the pro-Zionist Republicans or the pro-super-Zionist Democrats do absolutely nothing, the public will rightfully blow up! Peasants storming the palaces while carrying flaming torches is the nightmare of all rulers. Since we live in a land saturated with misinformation and crazy conspiracy believers, the explosion will install someone totally nuts like Hitler. This is why I hate misinformation.

It is important to understand that we cannot prevent the Iranians, a country invaded repeatedly in the last 100 years, from using nukes to defend themselves. We must understand that our diplomacy is directly responsible for high oil prices and the only way to reduce prices is for us to reduce tensions vis a vis Iran. This means surrendering to Iran. But the alternative is suicide. The US rulers will say to the screaming mob, 'It is the FAULT of the Iranians, let's nuke them!' And off run the crazed mob to do that terrible thing and we have WWIII. I make predictions. And the one thing that ties all things together here is the future world war which will be inevitable if we follow the present path. The only way to evade this war is to not support ethnic cleansing anywhere on earth [we can't stop it but we shouldn't pay for it or protect people doing it] and for us to retool America to use much, much less oil. A war won't fix that.

This is why the reserve is being filled. So our rulers can have WWIII. This is why I want it STOPPED. These reserves are a provocation and a danger to us all. If we don't have them, we won't be tempted to do this war with Iran that will launch WWIII. WWII, after all, did not start with the German invasion of Poland! It began in 1930.

US Energy Department:

Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and ranks amongst the world’s top three holders of proven oil and natural gas reserves. Iran is OPEC’s second-largest exporter after Saudi Arabia, and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil globally after Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Norway. Natural gas accounts for half of Iran’s total domestic energy consumption, while the remaining half is predominately oil consumption. The continued exploration and production of the offshore South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf is a key part of in Iran’s energy sector development plan.

Iran is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. In 2006, Iran produced an estimated 4.2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of total liquids, of which 3.8 million bbl/d was crude oil, equal to 5 percent of global production.

I am including this government analysis to show clearly that our brainiacs in DC know perfectly well, what Iran means to global oil markets. If we had political leaders who gave two pisses for the voters, we would see them talk about the futility of our embargo and how it is directly responsible for high prices. But then, the Cone of Silence would slam down on any politician doing this and we would hear nothing. Do we see Ron Paul in the news? No? Gore managed to break through the Cone of Silence but he did this by not talking about these things. It is OK to talk about Global Warming but NOT about Iran and how we are responsible for high global oil prices thanks to our desire to destroy Iran.

The US government:

Iran produced 6 million bbl/d of crude oil in 1974, but has been unable to produce at that level since the 1979 revolution due to a combination of war, limited investment, sanctions, and a high rate of natural decline in Iran’s mature oil fields. Iran’s oil fields need structural upgrades including enhanced oil recovery (EOR) efforts such as natural gas injection. Iran’s fields have a natural annual decline rate estimated at 8 percent onshore and 10 percent offshore, while current Iranian recovery rates are 24-27 percent, 10 percent less than the world average. It is estimated that 400,000-500,000 bbl/d of crude production is lost annually due to reservoir damage and decreases in existing oil deposits.

The government report makes it clear that Iran's oil is being boycotted. This week, Saudi Arabia said they can't increase production since the extra oil per day is oil hard to refine anyway. Also, note the Hubbert Oil Peak information in the above paragraph. Yes, there is still oil in the ground. But it will always be somewhat less than present oil being pumped. As new wells are exploited, old ones slowly die. Remember, the Hubbert Oil Peak is when there is maximum production and half of the oil has been already pumped out of the ground! Pretty simple. 100% of the oil hasn't been pumped. 50% has. And Iran can have a huge effect on global markets. A 5% decrease in world oil markets due to the US/Israel embargo on Iran means prices can DOUBLE. It doesn't take much, in a tight market, to make prices double and triple. Slight shortages can equal huge price hikes as people bid for the restricted commodities.

This is one reason why all housing bubbles burst no matter what. Eventually, builders surpass supply. All they need to do is build 5% more housing than there are potential buyers and the bubble pops. Nothing ever runs up to infinity forever.

From 2003: Americans stymie Japan-Iran oil deal

Japan and Iran have missed a deadline to sign off on an important US$2 billion oil deal after two years of negotiations, apparently in the face of American pressure over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Given the importance of the American market for Japan's troubled economy and its reliance on Washington for security, Tokyo may condition its signing the contract on Tehran's satisfying the American demand on its joining the additional protocol to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 or a similar agreement.

Japan appears willing ultimately to sign the contract for the development of part of Iran's largest oilfield, Azadegan, located in its oil-rich Khuzestan Province. Tokyo sees it as a vital source of long-term energy supplies for its economy, which is heavily dependent on imported oil. Accessing the oilfield is especially important for the Japanese, who about two years ago lost their rights to extract oil from Saudi Arabia's Kafji zone. According to available estimates, the Azadegan oilfield contains 6 billion barrels of crude.

I am including this 5 year old article to show how the US has worked very hard to cause the present market meltdown. The US used all its diplomatic and economic powers to force Japan to boycott Iran. Japan buys oil from Iran despite US efforts but they did restrict this. To their rising fury. Japan's trade with the US has not been growing the last 10 years. It has stayed even while China, Canada and Mexico's trade has surged far past Japan's trade with the US. But the profits of this trade are still huge for Japan so they yield to us for now. But if we stop buying Toyotas, it will vanish. Already, they are forging much stronger diplomatic ties with Russia and China!

Fukuda, Hu promote 'strategic' interests

During a joint news conference after the signing ceremony, the two leaders indicated that major progress had been made on the sensitive issue of joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea.

"We were in agreement that an early agreement should be reached after hammering out the details," Fukuda said.

Hu added, "The total picture for resolution of the issue has come into view. We agreed to accelerate the discussions in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible."

I predicted last year that China and Japan would resolve this issue between themselves without either of them using the US as intermediary just like the US flubbed the negotiations with North Korea and handed them off to the Chinese who were delighted to take over the negotiations and bring them to a successful conclusion. I expect Hu to sign a treaty with Japan that will insure both nation's energy futures. And this is yet another step down the diplomatic ladder for the US which is focused solely on protecting Jewish ethnic cleansing.

Asahi Shimbun:

Hu touched upon the recent start of discussions between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

"A major door will be kept open through dialogue," Hu said. "We are opposed to activities that lead to the breakup of our country as well as any action to destroy or interfere with the Beijing Olympics. We will continue the dialogue."

Fukuda asked that discussions continue, saying, "It is a fact that voices of concern are spreading in the international community."

I am including this to illustrate how China is very pissed off about the lunge at Chinese sovereignty and how this is a prime motivating factor in all negotiations. Note how Fukuda is backing China on this while not being loud about it. Triangulation time!

Japan set to open up defense use of space

Japan cleared the way for a law allowing non-aggressive military use of space on Friday, overturning a decades-old policy of limiting space development to peaceful uses.

The move comes during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao aimed at warming long-fraught bilateral ties.

A lower house committee approved the bill, which is to be submitted to a full session of parliament in the next few weeks, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker's secretary said.

China alarmed the world in January 2007 by using a missile to shoot down one of its own disused satellites, demonstrating its burgeoning prowess in space and military hardware.

Pacifist Japan's space scientists complain that separation of space development from the military under a policy maintained since 1969 is one reason why its own technological progress has been slower.

And yet another step away from the US and towards Japan being on its own. Just as the Arabs are now triangulating with Russia and China, so is Japan. And like the Arabs, they know that they need to have some traction here in the form of their own military systems. Eventually, all our 'allies' will move away from us, all except for Israel who will clutch at us with increasing ferocity. The time for this is not yet at hand. But the trigger will be the US going bankrupt.

When that happens, the planetary map of power will change utterly and very swiftly. Our Pentagon brainiacs and our rulers know this. Instead of avoiding it, they seem driven to make it WORSE as fast as possible. I suspect it is due to a hope that we can fight WWIII quickly and win. And this is total delusion. There is no hope of this happening. It is already too late. But they won't admit this. They can't.

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Comments

[Jim Smith]

Elaine, I've seen several references to Citi's divestiture plans, but yours is the only one to mention they are forced by the Saudis and must sell forthwith at distress prices. Is there a factual basis for this, or is it based on your own observations and analysis?

You say if U.S. does not stop harassing Iran, it will be bankrupt in ten years. This implies, if U.S. does lay of Iran, the status quo could be maintained indefinitely. From other posts of yours, I thought bankruptcy was imminent, by way of derivative collapse, war or other force majeure. Can you clarify?

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

If we continue our trade deficit and budget deficits, yes, we will eventually go bankrupt. If we drive energy prices to the moon, this moves upwards very rapidly.

10 years OR LESS is a short time span. We will be bankrupt anyway in about 30 years. But if oil is very cheap, this delays it significantly.

Everyone at the top knows we are in a race against time. But this is the funny part: the people at the top are getting rich on this system that is bankrupting our empire! So they cannot and will not stop!

Thus the sinking feeling this is all inevitable. Also, I fear they think using nuclear bombs will put off the dire side effects of this bankruptcy. Russians laugh at that idea.

[DeVaul]

I just finished reading a very good book:

"Mr. Secretary: The Making of a Spymaster"

It is about Sir Francis Walsingham and how he is credited with inventing many modern espionage tactics. The parallels between his time and ours are too many to mention, but there is one I would like to point out since it is similar to the Iranian strategy.

Walsingham wanted the queen to continue funding rebels in the Low Countries in order to "annoy" the Spanish. His reasoning, which proved correct, was that by keeping the Spanish occupied there, they could not prepare for a full scale invasion of England -- their real goal. It worked for many years.

I really recommend this book. It is amazing how not much at all has changed in 500 hundred years.

I think Iran will keep our imperial forces tied down in Lebanon, Iraq, and other places so that we can never really invade them before we go bankrupt. It is a good strategy and a brilliant form of self-defense, from a dispassionate point of view.

[rockpaperscizzors]

USA putting the screws to Royal Dutch Shell:

Shell pulls out of Iran gas deal
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has pulled out of a planned gas project in Iran, after coming under pressure not to participate from U.S. lawmakers who were concerned about Iran's nuclear programme.

A spokeswoman said on Saturday that the world's second-largest non government-controlled oil company by market capitalisation was pulling out of Phase 13 of the giant South Pars gas field but may yet join later stages of the field's development.
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSL1048416520080510?sp=true

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Yes, the cutting off of all Iran's energy exports is an ongoing enterprise. And is NEVER mentioned in the news as Americans wail like babies about high energy prices. This is malicious and supported heartily by nearly the entire major media. Imagine the NYT breaking a story about this. Imagine Krugman figuring this out.

Impossible. This is one of several significant 'black holes' in our ability to understand things happening to us.

[rockpaperscizzors]

Middle East Money Starts Flowing to Asia
Arab investors have typically looked West, rather than to China and India. But with oil at over $100 a barrel, that's changing in a big way

Backlash Against the West
Typically Arab investors have looked west to the U.S. and Europe, rather than east to China and India, but that's starting to change, says Ashraf Zeitoon, director of special projects for the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Foundation in Dubai. Zeitoon, like Shankar, was one of several hundred business leaders from the Middle East and Asia to attend a two-day conference in Dubai on Apr. 15 and 16 organized by BusinessWeek. "There's tremendous interest in China across the Arab world," says Zeitoon, whose foundation plans to start sending MBA exchange students from Arab countries to Chinese universities. "There are a lot of synergies between our region and Asia."
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb20080416_677577.htm

The pro-Israel policies/Wars are the catalysts of the current alliances of China, India, Japan, Iran, Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and Arab countries. The question; why is the US giving carte blanche to Israel in dictating disastrous foreign policy in the Middle East? In the long run they've become a noose around the US neck with fewer and fewer countries signing on to the Coalition of the Willing?

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Thanks for the link, Rock. Yes, the Asia/Arab connection is rapidly growing as I figured several years ago. Both were focused on the US but no more. Both figure, the US has little left to 'give' so it is time to grow other relationships, fast. Or die.

The US can't do this. We can't shift alliances or gears. We are not able to see that NO alliance is 'forever'. This is impossible. The US must treat all alliances with the same logic and examine them yearly to see if they are viable.

We will be forced to do this in the end, anyway.

[Gavin Gaskins]

Dear Elaine,

I know that our current governmental policies make this idea very difficult to envision, but couldn't America be great one day? When one considers its ideal geography, its fertile farmland, its network of lakes and rivers with thousands of miles of ocean (and Gulf) shoreline, one could conclude this is a wonderful place. Granted, America needs to attain a sustainable energy source, but like with all big problems, ones needs to break them down into smaller ones and assess accordingly. Without going into a long report, I think we can become energy independent in America. Remember, Americans are hard-working, generous, creative, and innovative.

The question is,"Can we change our bad governmetnal policies?", which are completely ruinious. When I think of the rise and fall of the dollar in FX markets over the longer term, I believe these two polar views must be considered - bad government but great possibilites.

Thank you for your great work,

GMG

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Yes, just like in the Great Depression, the US has lots of great potential. We just can't waste in on driving SUVs.

[DeVaul]

Dear Gavin,

I think the same argument could be made about Spain or France or even Italy. Why cannot these countries become "great" again?

I think, as Elaine has pointed out many times, that total national bankruptcy due to imperial overreach is very, very hard to ever recover from. One exception is Russia, but do we have a lake of oil underneath our country that we can pump right now and sell to balance our books? No, and as Blues has repeatedly pointed out, our factories are gone.

The question is this: what would make us great again after our total bankruptcy? Do you have any realistic ideas?

(Please do not mention jingoistic myths like "Yankee Ingenuity". There was nothing ingenius about giving away all our factories and turning our middle class into landless peasants.)

Also, I got the title of the book I just read wrong. It is actually titled: "Her Majesty's Spymaster". Sorry!

Which brings us to England. Is England ever going to be "great" again? I doubt it. It will be lucky if it stays in one piece, and so will we.

[Gavin Gaskins]

Dear DeVaul,

I feel that before we can ever improve upon our potential as a country, we must first get through the other side of the mess we have made for ourselves. This will mean that the country will have to endure a great deal of pain - economic and psychological. First, we must admit to ourselves that our foreign policies objectives and trade policies have been a failure and have hurt the American people.
Elaine is absolutely correct- we must shrink our military fast. Not only can we not afford it, we need to redeploy those resources into constructive ends- like sustainable energy. Imagine if General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman, and Lockheed Martin spent 50% of their research budgets on clean, renewable energy. This would serve as a good first step. After all, sustainable fuel equates to national security.
To realize our potential, we must put America first- America for Americans. Our trade policies need to be reconsidered. Industries need to be brought back to our shores. We may rue the day that one good paying job left this country. Small business and free enterprise is the foundation for our national standard of living. Within America, businesses must be allowed to prosper so that they can pay fair wages to workers. Workers, with a solid economic base, support the businesses so that the cylce can continue. However, the cycle depends upon energy- BTUs.
Devaul, I know my points are short on specifics. I advocate a simplified version of living- not living large. It comes back to body, mind, and soul. As a nation, we need to get back to the essence of being good citizens. Then we can cycle upwards instead of the downward trajectory we face.

Take care and thank you for responding to my post,

GMG

[hardrock]

DeVaul, Gavin,

Intelligent and thoughtful posts. Yes we can become great again, but the process may be left for our grandchildren. In order to 'root out' the rottenness in our system we have to go so low that those who have been 'our' parasites will have to abandon us as there is no 'blood' left to suck.

I think back to my early schooling and the reading of the wonderful old book, "I'll Take My Stand". This was written in the 30's by a group of gentlemen who called themselves "Southern Agrarians". Donald Davidson was one of them. Anyway, I remember the jest of the book being that, the commercial and industrial path that was being pushed on America would eventually come to haunt her. They thought it would be better to allow the agrarian culture to evolve on a much slower basis without the 'hell bent' need to rapidly extract the wealth Mother Earth had held close to her breast for thousands of years. I know Richard Weaver wrote later of these ideas as did a few others who were never widely read and certainly weren't popular at all.

I am convinced we are all addicted to some form of 'free lunch' mentality. Until this is broken and stomped upon we will never solve our problems and we will never become a community through agreements.
Communities...in the real sense of the word, come together out of necessity, not out of convenience. We are looking for a convenient exit to our problems....they don't exist. Someone wrote earlier here that the end is near when there are no easy answers or solutions..... well, the change is near, it may not be the 'end', but then, the world has come to a sad end for millions of people in the past who were trapped as we now are.

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

We can expand but outwards. Long, long ago, I supported space exploration leading to space colonization and to use this to remove the 'dirty' side of human modern living from our lovely planet.

In the long, long run, we have to do this or we fade back into the stone age which obviously means a 75% reduction in humans on earth.

So this is the future hope: to move outwards from our home planet. Strange as this sounds to post-modern ears.

[CC]

Dear Elaine,
beeing in this part of world for many years you got to the point. Iran Govn is just laughting about the oil market price. Why a country as US and most important U.S. people do not realize in which spiral ( better call black hole) Israel is dragging US economy? All this M.E. instability is only and exclusively about OIL & GAS reserves which are sitting down Iran soil. In Teheran we have power cut 2-3 hours per day due to lack of energy. While all EU nations and M.E. countries are seriously thinking to turn back to nuclear, why Iran which has also the prime resource ( uranium) shall not be allowed. US intelligence published a report that there were no real proves that IRan is devloping Nuclear weapons, but Israel is not believing it? Like the IRaq' WMD? So all the MUSG that US taxpayers in US pay for your super intelligence services are probably waste of money.....