$200.00 a barrel…now that’s what I want

In America, we pride ourselves on our individuality and innovative nature. As BASF proclaims “we make things better”. However, within this “I” first mentality is a dark side. A side of apathy and aloofness, translating into an “I don’t care, unless it happens to me directly frame of mind”. If someone is robbed then it is their problem, not societies. If your child doesn’t learn in school then “it is your problem, not mine”. If the polar ice caps are melting we give a collective shrug and go about our day. Direct impact is the only way Americans become active. A meteor shower can pummel the plant, but if the rocks miss my yard, then it isn’t my problem.

Oil is our meteor shower. And this time everyone needs to get hit. Corporations, households, schools, grocery stores, community living spaces, hotels, recreational activities, and of course everyone’s daily commute. We need to paying $10.00 (I dream of 100.00 a gallon so even the signs of the local gas station must be enlarged) a gallon for gas. That’s right; to stop the addiction we must have an intervention. This intervention will not be made up of family members; however, it will include something much more fungible: Money.

Money talks in this country and it is high time we understand, as Paul Roberts puts it in his seminal work The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World, that oil is too significant a resource to be used for fuel. Oil has reshaped our lives; however the use of this resource as a fuel source must end. Combustible engines be damned. So let the meteor shower begin and have it include everyone in its wake. We need an overhaul and there is no time like the present.

God and Mortal Conscience

The reality television genre has gripped this nation for the last decade (sports notwithstanding) starting with the Survivor series and Real World series; each containing well scripted drama and edited scenes of anger and deception, great for thirty minute or hour viewing sessions. Now the reality market has grown to such an extent that some networks are now becoming dominated by the collective reality show buzz. The two networks which have a virtual struggle hold on these shows are A&E and Bravo. We have an insatiable appetite for vicarious living and the supply is finally catching up with the demand.

Personally, I find them laughable and quite tiresome; however they do become addictive if given time and a deep suspension of disbelief. For example, during a long respite, I encountered a reality show centered on the Roman Catholic Church and men deciding whether or not to enter the priesthood. It is called God or the Girl. A&E states that the series is a documentary series but the essential reality show themes are clear: different contestants, same goal, elimination, and melodrama.

The men have their differing reasons for contemplating a life devoted to the church, or as the series comments in bold white letters underneath each man’s face when they are interviewed: “called to the priesthood”. Called? They point of contention is a calling from God to become a priest. Consequently, they must decide between the secular life and a devoted religious life. Should they become a priest or was that calling just some form of mild indigestion disguised as the word of God? Should they as the title indicates go for God or go for the Girl (I don’t want to get into the issues of positive and negative connotations with women, once again, placed in the role of evil and conflicting with God).

What is an interest to me is the notion of God as a machine for answers and the systemic way God has become an indefinable scapegoat for all choices popular and horrific. In Arabic this reasoning is called Inshala-God willing- and in this series it has a profound effect on any decision. If God wills it then it will be done. If God wants you to become a priest then you will become a priest. If God wants you to go on a mission trip to Guatemala then you will go (this is one of the situations a ‘contestant’ is in on the series).

Thus, we have created a situation where an individual’s conscious has evaporated. You did no wrong, God willed it. You are not responsible, God is responsible. This is an old story of ‘the devil made me do it’ however the issue still remains that it is now plausible for people to absolve themselves of guilt, remorse, and empathy. God was in charge not me, so consciously I bear no blame or fault. This is of coarse occurring on a grand scale in the Bush administration as well as in many Middle Eastern governments. This is a poisonous way of acting and even a more dangerous way of governing. In effect, you live with a clean mental shield and relax faithfully knowing that if harm befalls an individual or group then they must have deserved it. God does not punish the innocent, therefore all who are punished are guilty and you remain guiltless; creating a hideous circle of righteousness and might. My advice: go for the girl.

Nero’s Guests

After enjoying a riveting lecture on Anti-Globalization, it does not matter which lecture, for you can Google scholarly articles and find a myriad of authors and subtitles to tickle your fancy, it struck me that there weren't any prescriptions. No solutions. No open discussion of new models and networks. No better way. No understanding. In essence, there isn't any real forethought on Globalization as a growing crisis in the world and how to mold capitalism and regulation together.

Yes, suicidal rates of Indian farmers are up. Yes, water rights are privatized in Latin America. Yes, jobs are moving to other regions of the world. The economies of scale are over. Global Capitalism has won. It should win. It is the only economic system that suits are primal nature. We are naturally competitive and naturally self-interested; these are historical and personal truths. We believe in the ability of the self to self-preserve. Locke, Hobbes, Plato, Aristotle, Montesquieu and numerous ancient historians have come to the same conclusion: man is still motivated by self interest and the need to survive. These are also givens within the free-market capitalist (FMC) model.

The focus now must be on blending FMC with sovereign regulation. A Westphalia model is needed of economic regulation, scaled process of trade and compensation to ingenious groups which have been displaced by the Globalization effect. Indian elites must compensate the disposed farmers before the noose is tightened. American representatives must provide FREE training to displaced workers, for this investment will come back ten fold, a much better return then top down tax rebates and corporate welfare. Latin American governments must not privatize water because there are LIMITS to capitalism. Just as there are limits to our own self interest there must be limits to the beast of FMC. We have a social contract and a relationship with the government. There are thousands of rules and laws which govern our self interest; for we are not as free as freedom might have you believe. Therefore, justice is maintained and the rule of law is legitimate.

This same scenario must be in place for Globalization to succeed. Laws and regulation must guide capitalism. Thus, FMC can move at a pace which does not destroy the lives it is supposed to help. Adam Smith and F.A. Hayek both revealed, even though in Hayek’s case it was a footnote, that regulation is needed in the FMC model. Consequently, solutions lie at the foot of democratically elected governments to see that economic policy is not dictated by corporations but solidified through negotiations with the people of each nation. Time consuming? Yes, but if the arduous work is done in the front end then ALL can prosper, without revolution.

Ecce signum*

I stopped blogging about a month ago for a couple of reasons.
First, I got married.
Second, I moved to Hawaii.
Third, I have written about the present already in the past.

Let me explain…

Sense my last piece of intellectual property was produced the Iran menace has become as, I foresaw, a real and tangible threat where the words of Condi have escalated to the point of hysteria. The GOP is gearing up for Fear Factor 2006 and this will again, as I predicted, win them the majority in the House. The Democratic Party is a hopeless pack of coalitional fools. Sitting around the volunteer table at the local fire station ranting about Bush and corruption when the GOP is mass canvassing in mini-vans paid for by PAC’s (this is a direct eye witness account of the Mayoral race in The Big Easy)

Thus we have the following political under cards:

1. volunteers vs. paid workers
2. socialism vs. capitalism
3. principles vs. incentives
4. fist waving vs. office holding

The GOP will win 3 out of 4 and you don’t get to make policy with high brow principles. The over card is the federal house elections. This as I have stated before will be re-won by the GOP. The liberal bloggers note that grassroot organizations and the internet have created a well spring of new volunteerism and political activism. THIS WILL NOT TRANSLATE INTO OFFICES!!

Until the DEM’s become more like the GOP elections will be lost. Money is the lubricate of elections and paying for volunteers to sit at every single corner in a district for six hours at a time is more effective than asking for activists to spare the time to help a candidate in need. WAKE UP DEM’S, YOU ARE GETTING YOUR ASS KICKED ON EVERY LEVEL!!

The GOP party is organized to one thing: get people elected. That’s it, nothing more nothing less. That is where the power comes from and that is where policy is enacted. If Howard Dean wants to truly re-change the world he needs to start with his own party. A network of coalitions is just that a network, not a machine geared to get candidates elected.

*behold the truth