As a follow up to my recent essay submitting that the 2016 Presidential Election has actually done a favor to America by exposing the hypocrisy of all political persuasions, I decided to review the official 2016 party platforms of the Republican, Democrat and Libertarian parties. (links provided to each for your reading pleasure) I focused really on each respective Preamble rather than specific policy intents, primarily because the preamble contains those statements and beliefs upon which the policies purport to derive.

Not surprisingly, all three mantras are filled with similar expressions of who they think they are. Not surprisingly there are many similarities in the overarching “value statements” even though each party would have you believe that they are very different from each other. I boiled out the main points for each, and adjusted them to the first person perspective so you can review them yourself. However, I also added some color (literally and figuratively) to show how I understand the adherents of each party actually internalizes these values, based on the behavior of the last several decades worth of American political attitudes and realities, and in particular what has bubbled to the surface in this election cycle. There will always be bad ideas and good ideas in governing. We will not always all agree. But we simply cannot continue our present course and hope to ever surmount the challenges we face today.

Agree or disagree- your choice. But as I alluded yesterday, when you look into the mirror and fail to recognize your own shortcomings, or worse yet, insist that others are to blame for all your problems, we all lose. In that spirit, I propose my own political platform at the end of the article. I invite you all to join me in restoring some semblance of sanity to the conversation.

(In no particular order…..)

2016 REPUBLICAN PLATFORM

I believe in American exceptionalism. (Despite evidence that America falls behind many other industrialized countries in many measurable categories)

I affirm that all are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Unless they are illegal immigrants, Muslim, LGBTQ, female, atheist, or Democrats)

I believe the Constitution was not written as a flexible document, but as an enduring covenant. (Except for the parts about corporations being equal to people. All amendments after the 10th (Bill of Rights) are probably unworthy since they weren’t part of the original document.)

I believe our constitutional system — limited government, separation of powers, federalism, and the rights of the people — must be preserved uncompromised for future generations. (Except for things like drug laws, reproductive rights, unborn people, aide to Israel, and corporate welfare rules- those should all be mandated by the government regardless of my claim to support limited government.)

I believe political freedom and economic freedom are indivisible. (Especially for corporate money in politics and the right to avoid taxes.)

I believe that people are the best stewards of our country’s natural resources. (And by people, I really mean private business – there should be no restrictions on private business with regard to land use and environmental quality.)

I wish for peace — so I insist on strength. (I mean I insist on forcing other countries to bow to our will.)

The men and women of our military remain the world’s best. (But the leadership of the military are a bunch of idiots.)

I seek friendship with all peoples and all nations. (And by friendship I really mean fealty. Except for Muslims. And gays. And atheists.)

Our economy has become weak with stagnant wages. (And the only solution is lower taxes on the wealthy.)

Our standing in world affairs has declined. (Because the world won’t do what we tell them to do.)

Remove the power from unelected, unaccountable government. (By power I mean regulations on companies, judges who don’t agree with me all the time, and protesters.)

Relieve government regulations. (Like, totally.)

Return to people and states the control and power to make  decisions about what’s best for themselves, families and communities. (Unless those decisions have to do with unwanted pregnancies, who can get married, or anything to do with guns.)

(Next….)

2016 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

Out of many, we are one. (But I generally don’t like right-wingers.)

Wages have barely budged and the racial wealth gap remains wide. (And the only solution is higher taxes on the rich.)

Congress is full of gridlock and dysfunction instead of finding solutions to the real challenges we face. (But that’s only because of the Republicans refusing to compromise. It’s not Democrats fault….as much.)

Cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment. (Unless you don’t agree with our policy positions that is.)

We are stronger when we have an economy that works for everyone. (But especially the public sector employees and their unions.)

I need an economy that prioritizes long-term investment over short-term profit-seeking, rewards the common interest over self-interest, and promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. (This is mostly just because it sounds great, but I strongly value nepotism in awarding long-term contracts and have no problem when tax schemes are diverted into pet projects.)

I know that our nation’s long struggle with race is far from over. (And I will use this as a distraction instead of adopting real plans to change this reality.)

I believe a good education is a basic right of all Americans. (But don’t worry too much about how they get it or what constitutes “good.”)

I firmly believe that the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street must be brought to an end. (Just so long as it doesn’t screw up my 401k or harm my investments personally.)

I will fight to end the broken campaign finance system. (And by fight I mostly mean say it’s bad while doing very little to end it, especially if it helps my candidate.)

I believe that climate change poses a real and urgent threat to our economy, our national security, and our children’s health and futures. (But I’ll actually do very little to make changes in my lifestyle to help.)

I believe we should strengthen our alliances, not weaken them. (But I don’t really know how to do this because I still think we’re the best around.)

I believe in the power of development and diplomacy. (Absolutely. Almost always.)

I believe our military should be the best-trained, best-equipped fighting force in the world, and that we must do everything we can to honor and support our veterans. (But really can’t we all just get along?)

I respect differences of perspective and belief. (Except for those on the right. Primarily those on the right.)

I believe in protecting and guaranteeing civil rights and voting rights for all citizens. (Because there is never a good reason not to, right?)

(finally…)

2016 LIBERTARIAN PLATFORM

I seek a world of liberty. (And by liberty I mean leave me then hell alone.)

I believe all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one should be forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. (So like, no taxes man. Because I can build my own road and put out my own fire and educate my own family.)

I believe that only through individual freedom can peace and prosperity be realized. (And by freedom I mean leave me the hell alone.)                                

I defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. (So really, fewer rules and laws are best. No regulations because corporations will naturally do what is best for everyone.)

I seek a world where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power. (Who cares if you want to marry your pet horse, cut down all the trees that block your view, or dump paint in the local water source. I mean, if that’s your DREAM….)

(Another way…)

A MORE RATIONAL PLATFORM

I believe that no one country is better than another simply because they claim to be.

All are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our Constitution is a valuable guide but can change with modern needs and expectations.

Limited government is great for some things, but where people can’t agree or where corporations cause harm or where we all need to share resources, government has a role.

I seek friendship with all peoples and all nations so long as they seek the same from me. If they choose to not seek friendship that doesn’t automatically make them my enemy.

Cooperation is better than conflict and empowerment is better than resentment- but compromise for the good of most over the good of a few should be the guiding principal.

I believe in the power of diplomacy.

I believe in protecting the civil rights of all citizens.

I believe a comprehensive education is a basic right, as are health care, clean water, air, food and shelter.

All people have a right to not be judged on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other difference over which there no personal control.

I respect differences of perspective and belief and encourage healthy debate instead of belittlement of others.

I defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest.

I seek a world where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, but within the agreed upon constraints of society.

I believe that government in general should not bind itself indefinitely to most things and should expect changes as attitudes change over time, provided they always remain committed to fostering betterment in the world for all.

I believe in freedom of thought and speech, but not speech or thought based in discrimination, hate, or retribution.

I believe in a fair economy, one which rewards innovation and hard work without penalizing lower skilled tasks.

I believe in shared responsibility and shared benefits for the common resources, new technology and infrastructure.

I believe politicians should have limited power and terms and that governance shouldn’t be a “zero sum proposition.”

I believe that governments and individuals together have a duty to protect, preserve, manage, and develop our natural world in ways that promote longevity of resources, minimize short and long term destruction and foster renewability while looking out for the other species on this planet.

I believe military power should always be a last resort, should never be used to advance a single national ideology, and a shared responsibility by all nations who seek to work together.

I believe that no one person or profession is innately superior to another due simply to their current station in life.

A fair, responsible, fact based news media is vital to cooperation and rational discourse. Jaded or politicized reporting hurts us all.

I believe that religion in general has no place in governance so long as a plethora of religious thought exists.

Nothing would make me happier than a wholesale abandonment of our current party system towards something even slightly more agreeable. Let me know if you want to join the “Rational Party.”

The title of this post sounds a lot like a high school essay assignment, and in some ways I feel like it could be. Election 2016 has much in common with adolescence-from the nasty name calling to the easily debunked fallacies, from the widespread rumors to the false friendships- that it would be more appropriate as a class election than one for the leader of this country. Yet as I realize this truth, I also finally understand that this election cycle deserves more than just contempt. Instead, Election 2016 should be celebrated, for in this election the fallacy of American excellence has finally been laid bare for all to see. The notion that American democracy is pure, that American voters are responsible, that Americans  want decent leaders, and that Americans as a people value equality, respect, tolerance, progress, and basic human goodness….all those ideals have been exposed as little more than window dressing at a bankruptcy liquidation sale.

We’ve known for some time now that our politics are broken. We’ve known that our media is corrupted. We’ve known that equality as an ideal we’re far from realizing. We’ve known all this and yet been pretending the opposite is the truth, blaming “the other side” as the cause of all misinformation and negativity while lapping up the same drivel from our own “truth bringers” as we demonize those who support whatever we don’t personally abide. These things didn’t happen overnight, but Election 2016 bubbled them all up to the surface in such a way as to force anyone paying attention to either admit that everything is broken or be exposed as a total tool living in a house of cards.

Republicans can no longer deny that their base is heavily populated by racists, bigots, hypocrites and liars.

Democrats can no longer deny that their base is heavily populated by nepotists, apologists, hypocrites and liars.

Libertarians, Greens, and Independents can’t deny that their groups are heavily populated by contrarians, deniers, excusers, hypocrites and liars.

The media can no longer pretend to be unbiased, truthful, thoughtful or investigative.

And America can no longer pretend to hold the high ground when it comes to democracy.

“Hold on there partner!” you might be saying to yourself as you read my condemnation of nearly every person around. I’m a (insert political persuasion here) and I’m not a (insert negative attribute here). Take a good long look in the mirror. Yes you are. And so am I if the truth is to be told.

We are all guilty of one or more of the aspects I’ve associated with the political persuasions listed above- and in some cases it’s just a part of human nature. At some point or another we have all told a lie or been part of a hypocritical conflict, decrying the position or behavior of another while secretly indulging our own internal demons. And while we’re not all racists, bigots, nepotists or contrarians, this election has exposed that a vast percentage of America is one or more of those things. We’re an unruly mob of ugliness when it comes to politics, and in some cases, when it comes to our deep beliefs too.

How else can you explain the tacit acceptance of the filth that Donald Trump puts forth daily? How else can you explain the ability to brush aside the barely legal activities of Hillary Clinton? How else can you explain the unrealistic positions of Johnson or Stein? How else can you explain the wavering of the great mass of “undecideds” who will throw in behind one of these candidates? When Hillary Clinton spoke of baskets of deplorable she should have included more than just the supporters of Trump- she should have included us all and put herself, Trump, and the other candidates at the top of the heap.

Listen, nobody is perfect, and I’m not expecting them to be, but let’s at least be honest with ourselves and recognize that what seems like a vile departure from decency is really just an unvarnished look behind the mask of who we really are. You can’t consider yourself a good religious person and then reduce the behavior of the two main candidates as mere foibles while decrying the other one as “the destruction of all that America stands for.” You can’t consider yourself to be intellectually honest and then craft excuses about why certain behavior should be overlooked because “that’s how it’s done” or “well the other side did it first.” What we have to recognize here, and to say out loud, is that America needs an intervention or we really will become that proverbial demagogue of international humanity.

It’s time to step back from our self-imposed brinksmanship and accept that we need to become better people. It’s time to stop making excuses for each other’s worst behavior while fomenting our own discord. It’s time to put an end to divisive politics for sure, but also to divisive living in general.

It;s OK to disagree on the amount of and proper use of taxes. It’s OK to debate whether or not we should provide support to other countries or explore outer space or how to educate our children or protect our citizens.

But it’s not OK to devalue each other based on race or gender or sexual orientation or personal religious beliefs. It’s not OK to support others who would divide us for their own personal gain. It’s not OK to turn away from the hypocrisy others only to embrace it for yourself.

All these things have been boiling under the surface of our “polite society” for far too long. Finally, thanks to the 2016 Presidential Election, we are seeing ourselves for who we are. It’s not a pretty picture and we have some serious work to do moving ahead. Our next president is going to be someone none of us should admire. Deal with it. But let’s perhaps take the next four years to actually make ourselves better-as people, as parties, as a country. Let’s work on us, and demand better than this from our leadership- political leaders, business leaders, spiritual leaders-and come back as a better country altogether.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.  To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

-Colin Kaepernick

I’ve heard a lot recently about how a professional athlete’s refusal to honor the American flag and anthem before a sporting event is probably the most indecent thing any American citizen can ever do.

I’ve heard it from friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and many multitudes I’ll never know through articles and social media posts.

To all those so quick to condemn actions they may not even understand, or worse yet, refuse to attempt to comprehend and see only the pale surface of what they think is going on I have a few things to say of my own, starting with this: Calm the fuck down.

If you are among the offended, which is your right incidentally, ask yourself a few simple questions to determine if your outrage is genuine or simply a product of our never-ending and ever divisive new media culture.

Question One: When watching a televised sporting event, or when listening to one on radio, do you demand silence from yourself and your viewing/listening partners for the duration of the anthem or pledge?

Question Two: Again, when watching TV or listening on radio, do you put down your beer or your bowl of chips, standing reverently in silence, hand over heart, staring at the televised image of the flag?

Question Three: Do you heartily condemn others as a regular part of your life when you notice them not honoring the anthem or pledge as much as you’ve done so in this case or do you give people “a pass?”

Question Four: Do you even own an American flag? And if so, do you display it, honor it, treat it reverently?

Question Five: Do you object to the image of the flag on sports helmets or uniforms?

(EXTRA CREDIT)

Question Four: Do you have any knowledge of the history behind the pledge, or the fact that “Under God” was only added to the pledge 50+ years after it’s original conception, and only then to bolster the “red scourge” of McCarthyism in American politics, a time of irresponsible witch hunts in American society?

Question Five: Were you aware that there are additional verses to the national anthem that specifically rejoice the subjugation of African-Americans?

I don’t really need to hear your answers to these questions, they are simply for you to reflect upon as you bask in your righteous indignation at one man’s refusal to honor a symbol in the same way you choose to. But I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and assume that (a) you don’t put down your beer or silence your football guests; (b) you don’t generally berate strangers who aren’t standing at attention during the anthem or pledge; (c) you’re probably not aware that flag code prohibits flag patches on athletic uniforms or costumes; and (d) that your actual knowledge of American flag and anthem history is limited to something you heard briefly in grade school. And actually, that’s all OK.

What isn’t OK is to demonize another American citizen for exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of speech, which includes peaceful protest. What isn’t OK is to fine a person for that same activity or to threaten their livelihood or personal security. Agreeing to disagree, even over closely held personal beliefs, without resorting to threats or violence or retribution….now that IS the American way.

America, while a fantastic country with immeasurable freedoms and remarkable opportunities, also has a dark and torrid history, especially for people of color which includes African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans….basically anyone who isn’t a white male with a particular religious association. Sadly, much of the dark parts of our history are either ignored or glossed over in our schools. When confronted with this reality, the reality that America is not now, nor has it ever been a perfect example of humanity, some people ask how to make it better while others simply pretend the opposite is true. When given the opportunity to learn and understand the serious issues still facing our culture and to seek common solutions that live up to the spirit of the words in the preamble of our Constitution, some will shine a light on injustice while others will don shades.

This particular protest is not about dishonoring the people who fought in wars (some just, some not so much), or stirring up controversy for fame. It’s about one more man calling attention to a problem that never seems to go away in a way that will make some people take another look at what they believe and why they believe it. If your flag and anthem mean so much to you, if the freedom they purport to embody has any real meaning at all, understand that they hold the same freedom for everyone, they propose the same promise to us all, and that when the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric perhaps you too are obligated to call attention, to make a stand, to right a wrong. The symbols are meaningless if they are simply icons of blind allegiance.

Whether or not you agree with how a person makes a statement is less telling than how you react to their statement. If you do not understand their intent, ask for clarification instead of putting forth condemnation. We are all here together. We have a long ways to go towards perfection.

They either do not see their own hypocrisy or they do not care.
These so called conservatives, both the voters and the “leaders” alike are the actual and true reason our systems have become bankrupted, broken down and untrustworthy.

For all their talk of welfare queens, immigrants stealing jobs, educational quotas and any other excuses for their own economic failings, it is their own policies and exploitations that are to blame.

And while there is plenty of apathy and acquiescence from the political leaders on the “other side of the aisle,” when it comes to everyday people I’ve met far more “conservative” takers and far more “liberal” givers out in the world.

Chew on that for a bit…..

Far right religious institutions claim incursions onto their faith by the government where none really do exist. They seem to forget, or rather ignore the fact, that our constitution is a secular document, creating a secular government, where no religion has priority over any other in the public sphere of influence. Despite this, Christianity has an outsized role of favoritism within US government led institutions and laws that has existed since the early days of our nation.

Churches aren’t taxed. Religious schools and affiliated businesses are exempted from health statutes to excuse their desire to provide specific women’s health care matters. Traditional religious holidays are legislatively recognized national holidays. Every single politician concludes major speeches with affirmations to the Christian deity and many legislative bodies open sessions with prayers. Religiously connotated euphemisms are liberally laced into our common vernacular as to be ubiquitous.

It’s almost as if the far right evangelical wing of Christianity isn’t really concerned with following the professed teachings of their founder so much as retaining control over the lives of their congregants through fear, and attempt to rein in the rest of the country by proxy. This doesn’t sound like the religion of love and forgiveness so much as the religion of do what I say or pay the price. We see the extreme revelations of these kinds of religious doctrines playing out today in other parts of the world, under different banners, but with the same chilling underpinnings.

I’m not a Christian, but I’ve been around it in all its forms my entire life. I recognize that many, many followers do not ascribe to the darkest elements of their ministers. But they are the silent followers, the ones more likely to realize that their faith is just that- theirs, and not one that needs to be force fed to all. They eschew the proselytizing doctrine in favor of living by example. They seek not to control those they disagree with but rather to live in harmony and, in their words, “let God sort it out.” They accept equality for all regardless of color, creed, sexuality. They may reject elements of secular society for themselves while allowing others to make their own choices. And yet these voices aren’t the ones being heard and expanded by a media too eager to create divisions and stoke the sparks of foment.

Hear me now, you on the far right fringes of Christian faith- your fervent attempts to continue public policies that force a distorted value system on a nation created to extend fairness and equality to all people shall be seen by history as another darkness upon the evolution of humanity. Your ever louder cacophony of demonization and efforts to prop up the tyrannical voices of oppression in the name of your misguided interpretation of religion shall not win over the hearts and minds of mankind. You may bathe yourselves in the righteousness that your way is the only way to an afterlife of glory, but the rest of us equate your actions to those of any other zealots and we reject your efforts.

Your leaders in your churches, your supposed champions in politics, they are all using you as pawns to retain their hold on your minds and your wallets. They seek power through your hard work and sacrifice and what do you gain? In this world they keep you under their thumb, they offer excuses for your continued financial suffering, even while they spend your tithings on fanciful excesses of their own, yet they promise you eternal redemption which is neither theirs to give or decide upon, at least not under the teachings of your faith. Yet look at the overarching pillars that your messiah has laid out for you to follow: love each other, judge not your neighbor, seek peace, turn away from violence and hatred, let God decide who is worthy of eternity. These ideals are supposed to be left out of their hands, out of your hands, and into the hands of your savior.

Were these separatist religious points of view held in abeyance from the greater society it might not be much to worry about. Sadly, this is not the case. Your extreme religious minority has somehow hijacked one of the two major political parties in this country and in the attempt to wrest and retain political power, an entire generation of politicians now seek to pander to get your vote, to find earthly power and to hold it tight, and to punish the majority through legal machinations. Trust me when I tell you that these politicians don’t care about your religious beliefs so much as being in charge. They, and your highest religious leaders, are antithetical to the ideals your religion professes. They are everything your bible says they should not be. And yet you follow them to the pit of social upheaval, gleefully it seems, as if your earthly task is to punish rather than to prosper peacefully.

Now we are again at a crossroads in public life- a place where your deeply held religious ideals are being used to demonize your neighbors, your friends, your relatives. You are being asked, once again, to legitimize hate and bigotry and war. You are being told it is your duty to God to turn away from policies that promote equality and love and peace. You are being played against the ideals which are the foundation of your faith. And for what? For earthly advantage, something which should be furthest from your spiritual plane of interest anyhow?

I implore you to examine what it is you truly believe and then vote accordingly. If you truly believe that your faith demands you to deny healthcare to the poor, to withhold aid from the old, the infirm, the needy, to demonize people of different faith or gender or sexuality, then I suggest that you aren’t really a Christian at all and that you should continue to reward those who bastardize your faith for power and personal gain.

But if you reject hate and divisiveness, if you feel that your place is not to judge and condemn but rather to love and help others, then choose another path in the election booth. No matter how you feel about the human faces attached to the ideas, look at the ideas themselves. While neither major candidate is someone to embrace, the values they represent are what matter most. For once, you on the right side of the aisle, look deep into your faith to determine who best represents your morality and the morality of your savior.

So they got the money (OK, not Ford) and LIFE AS WE KNEW IT was saved for another day (or several months at least.) Chrysler used some of that money to pay for a full page newspaper ad in many markets thanking the taxpayers for the bailout money. Talk about stimulus. All those millions of jobs were kept on, workers building cars and trucks at full speed, and facotry orders kept up at usual paces, all because of that generous tax payer funded infusion, right?

WRONG! Not only did that initial tax gift NOT fix the massive problems in the US auto industry, both companies who took the cash are now in BANKRUPTCY. As in FAIL. We’re into GM for upwards of $50 Billion now and lucky us, “we” own 60% of a worthless behomoth. Too big to fail? Apparently NOT.

So now, we’ll surely see even more massive layoffs, since 1 in 10 jobs in this country rely on a strong US auto industry, right? Isn’t that what they told us last fall? Not just auto workers, but parts plants, plastic mills, cloth manufacturers, and down the line?  If financial “armageddon” hasn’t hit us yet, it must be right around the corner, right???

Would we have been better served just giving that $50 Billion to the estimated 1.5 million affected workers to the tune of $32,000 and change and let the auto industry and related industrues just close up shop?

Too Big to fail? When failure is inevitable, as it surely was with GM and Chrysler, what possible good came from prolonging the inevitable and dishing out multiple billions of dollars? Is our economy the better for it? Are those workers?

News of GM going into bankruptcy have indeed begun a “sky is falling” mentality at that bastion of sanity called Wall Street- the market is UP 200+ points.

Who was president when this whole financial disaster really began? Who was making the rules so lax in Congress for the last decade or two? I guess it must all be Obama’s fault.

(cross posted at Bring It On)

(original video by Ken Grandlund- cross posted at Bring It On!)

If a perfect storm refers to the simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting of their chance combination. Such occurrences are rare by their very nature, so that even a slight change in any one event contributing to the perfect storm would lessen its overall impact. Taken out of a weather context, our modern world is as close as ever to seeing a perfect storm of social, political, and economic upheaval that all but guarantees that life as we know it will be no more. The combination of resource scarcity, over-population, climate change, and globalized economics has put our modern world in a precarious position.

The rise in standards of living, scientific advancement, and population explosion can almost all be attributed to one primary resource-oil. Since its discovery as a source of fuel, the world has enjoyed an unprecedented era of cheap global travel and exchange of goods, an increase in agricultural productivity and economic growth, and a formidable advance in scientific knowledge and application. Cheap and plentiful oil made crops grow faster and more bountiful, allowing for the ability to increase populations around the world. Cheap and plentiful oil created and sustained global tourism, increasing our interdependence on each other as whole economies became based on catering to visitors from abroad. Oil drove manufacturing capabilities to previously unknown levels, creating entire industries devoted to creating modern amenities to make our lives easier and more entertaining. Very nearly everything we have or relate to modern society is derived upon the notion of cheap and plentiful oil.

Yet our dependence on and enslavement to cheap and plentiful oil has also helped to create a natural world on the brink of radical change. Pollution, whether directly from oil-related emissions or as a by-product of oil created consumer goods has spoiled our air and soils and water around the world. Changes to our atmosphere caused by unremitting releases of carbon based emissions are combining with naturally occuring forces to dramatically shift our weather patterns and yearly climate conditions. Cheap oil has led governments to expand their societies and strive for continual economic growth, which in turn has led to mass deforestation and land degradation as we search for precious metals and raw materials to sustain the unsustainable growth explosion. And as we continue to encroach upon the natural world to sustain our own, whole species have become extinct, thus changing the local ecologies of entire regions, which in turn create more changes to the environment at large.

And our love affair with oil has blinded or eyes (as love affairs so often do) to the reality of a globalized economy that is suited not to make the lives of everyone more equal and fulfilling, but rather to help enrich more modern societies at the expense of less modernized ones. But by obscuring this reality, most all societies have taken steps to become as modernized as the next, and whole populations have increased with the expectation that our modern world will find a way to not only sustain an ever growing influx of new people, but will indeed lift them up from poverty and create a level playing field the world over.

And despite occasional warnings from forward thinking people throughout the decades, by and large, we’ve been witnessing this great expansion of human prosperity with the impression that the end would never come, that human ingenuity would supplant the more rational notion that says a finite source will eventually run out. We’ve been playing Nero’s fiddle en masse.

I try to be optimistic about things when I can, but I’m primarily a realist. For many though, realism is synonymous to pessimism, meaning that to point out the obvious, especially when the obvious predicts bad times ahead, makes one a doomsayer at best. Yet at the risk of being labeled such, I’m putting my own fiddle down. Because regardless of the ultimate level of devolution modern society is facing, the facts remain clear- the way we are living now can not be sustained indefinitely, and in fact is on the brink of radical change.

The end of cheap and plentiful oil is upon us. Whether or not we have reached the point of peak oil production is still being debated by a few, but most oil industry experts agree that if we have not already reached this point, it will be upon us in mere years. We are seeing and feeling the effects now. As oil and oil derivatives become even more expensive, economies may well stop growing altogether and begin to seriously contract if not collapse. Governments will have to decide what is the more valuable use of oil-transportation or the chemical derivatives from oil that supply things like plastics and petrochemicals and petroleum based fertilizers. If transportation gets the nod, say goodbye to whole industries that depend on oil byproducts for their livelihood. Say goodbye to medical advances and higher yield crops. Say goodbye to ubiquitous electricity too.

Even as we make small strides to shift off of an oil-dependent economy (a near impossibility now, but let’s pretend for a moment), the state of our natural world is becoming overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of humans living on the planet. Potable water resources are not infinite either. Nor is the ability to produce enough food to feed each person. And without oil for transportation or electric generation, large scale water purification and food sharing become near impossibilities. Coupled with our overpopulation problem is the real fact of global climate shifts that are changing local weather patterns and decreasing the likelihood of future increases in food production. Starvation that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from afar may soon be at a city near you.

I’ve never put much stock in “end times” philosophies, largely because they are predominantly based on religious mythology and doctrine. To assume that an omnipotent being has preordained the time and path of humanity seems more than a little absurd to me. But “end times” are a human reality and have been over and over throughout the eras of human history. Yet where religious “end times” focus on a final battle between good and evil for the souls of mankind, in reality most “end times” come to societies because of the faults of human beings themselves, and are usually fomented by over-population of a particular region, over-extension of governmental dictates, or a lack of natural resources to sustain a society. Large nations become over-reaching in their desires and expectations and collapse under the weight of their inefficient bureaucracies. Societies degrade and lose cohesion. Unlike religious based “end times” where all mankind ultimately perishes to the lakes of hell or the promises of heaven, most real-life “end times” represent little more than drastic change from what came before them. “End times” signify a passing of the guard, as it were, from one type of human condition to another.

And so as we approach another potential “end time” in human history, I can’t help but wonder how people will react when it becomes only too obvious to the majority that their fiddles can’t play fast enough or loud enough to drown out the reality of the situation.

As our perfect storm of resource scarcity, continued population growth, and interdependent economies based on cheap and plentiful oil converge, how will humanity fare? Will those who remain rise from the ashes of our near past to replicate the errors, taking advantage of a smaller population to extend the fragile resources left today? Will we devolve into another Dark Age period, ruled by superstitious and supercilious religious leaders?

In the possible (and perhaps even probable) face of such looming societal breakdown, it sometimes becomes hard to focus on the minutiae of current political desires or societal problems. In the face of potential societal collapse, how important really are the political problems of the day? Yet we can’t completely give up either, because we are human. And the human condition is one of hopefulness, creativity, and reactionism. Even when we can see intellectually that things are going sideways fast, we resist the temptation to throw in the towel and hide our heads in the sand. We infuse ourselves with the notion that our ingenuity will save us, despite some evidence to the contrary. And even with such troubling times ahead, even with great changes in lifestyle all but guaranteed, we continue to collectively play our fiddles. But not because we don’t actually care about what is happening. Rather, we play in the face of what is happening, because we see no ready solution to the end of cheap and plentiful oil and no interconnection between how we drive and what we eat. As a whole, we not only don’t believe the end is near, we deny that it can ever come. And so we continue to live as if things will all work out fine. Because if we let ourselves believe otherwise, we’d have a lot of scared, crazy people to deal with on top of the rest. But ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away.

To the absolute deniers, I may be just another crock in the crazy world of internet doomsayers. But in all truth, I continue to play my fiddle too, albeit with less vigor than before and with only one eye on the sheet music. You see, I want society to figure things out. I want humanity to continue to exist, to improve, and to realize that as a species, we are not only intimately connected to each other, but to our planet as well. But I’m also taking small steps to prepare for economic collapse, making contingency plans, and looking at the evidence with eyes wide open. If really bad times do come to pass I don’t want to be caught completely uneprepared. And I don’t want you to be either.

I’m not trying to drive unsubstiantiated fear into your heart , dear reader. I’m not a Republican. I’m just calling it like it looks. And I’ve honestly never wanted to be more wrong about anything like I want to be wrong about this. So I continue to live from day to day, acting in one sense as if not much will really change. But I also am trying to make a plan because I just don’t see a way around it. And I don’t want the blinders on any more.

So go ahead and tell me I’m crazy-just give me the evidence to back it up. Like I said, I’d really like to be wrong.

(cross posted at Bring It On!)

(photo from freegan.info, courtesy of falcophoto.com)

 They eat from dumpsters. The shun regular employment. They live in abandoned dwellings. You might think of them as “bums.” They prefer to be known as Freegans. And their ranks may well be growing.

 Dubbed “strategies for a sustainable life beyond capitalism,” the Freegans may well be on to something. In a society as wasteful as modern humanity has become, these “urban foragers” often come back from a night of “product reclamation” with some quality used items. From furniture to electronics to household cleaning products, Freegans are making the point that rampant consumerism fuels not only greed but waste too. But the fun doesn’t stop there.

Free food, even if it has spent a long hot day at the bottom of a dumpster, is the key to Freegan survival. Essentially vegetarians, Freegans relish in the waste of restaurants and retail grocers, creating feasts and sharing the goods with anyone who dares come along.

Free housing, even if it means living with the roaches and rats in an abandoned husk of a home, is a component of the Freegan lifestyle. Their solution to homelessness is to ignore the “No Trespassing” signs because shelter is a right, not a privilege.

Planned joblessness, because working to pay the man becomes less important if you don’t actually have to buy your stuff or pay your rent. And because having a steady job also means you are contributing to the over-production and over-consumption problems of the modern world.

Being Freegan means taking a stand against the environmental destruction caused by mass human consumption. It means working outside the system to bring attention to the problems of the system. It means….well to most of America, it means being a “bum.”

However…..

Our whole modern world is based on cheap oil. Once the cheap oil is gone there is a serious concern that whole economies may collapse. Certainly when the supply of easily obtainable oil reaches the point of diminishing returns, much of what we take for granted will no longer be available-from plastics to abundant crops to mass transportation. If humanity can’t create a viable substitute for a world run on oil, and soon, well then we all may become Freegans-whether we like it or not.

Dumpster diving anyone?

(cross posted on Bring It On!)

After the Great Depression and the stock market collapse of 1929, government eventually (under a Democratic president) managed to rein in the worst abuses of the private sector, and particularly the financial sectors, through regulation. Regulation that worked to protect the little guy, Joe and Jane American, while ensuring that businesses could still operate and make a profit. And low and behold, those regulations created a nation that had the highest levels of education, the highest levels of prosperity among citizens and companies, and the highest levels of innovation in the history of the modern world. But for the money-hungry power brokers and executives, that wasn’t good enough; they wanted more money and fewer rules. And so they began to lobby our supposed public servants to change the rules.

Between the late 1930’s and the early 1970’s, government regulations afforded working class Americans a way to buy a home, have safe foods and medicines, and even to save for a rainy day. It was unlikely that a serious illness could drive you from your home due to bankruptcy. It was next to unheard of for a family to be foreclosed on due to shady mortgage finances. Regulations and government agencies designed to benefit the working poor saw to it that people could find a piece of the American dream without having to sacrifice their childrens future or become indentured to the banks and corporations.

After World War II, until the late 1970s, the system work. The savings-and-loan industry was highly regulated by the federal government, with a mission to take people’s deposits and then provide loans for the sole purpose of helping people buy homes to live in. Washington insured those loans through the FDIC, provided mortgage discounts through FHA and the Veterans Administration, created a secondary mortgage market to guarantee a steady flow of capital, and required S&Ls to make predictable 30-year fixed loans. The result was a steady increase in homeownership and few foreclosures. –The American Prospect

But then came the era of Civil Rights, and it was discovered that even these regulations weren’t offering the American Dream to all citizens. The FHA, along with private lenders, were found to be discriminating against people of color in their lending practices so Congress had to act. And they did so by outlawing discrimination in lending. More regulation, passed in the spirit of fairness for all, only pissed off the money brokers.

And so began the push from the financial industry, and then every other industry under the sun, to eliminate or reduce those very regulations that made the American economy the envy of the world and the American people among the most prosperous. 

The American government, both Democrats and Republicans, have helped usher in this era of messy economics hand in hand, but the greater damage has been done under Republican administrations beholden to corporate financial largess through campaign contributions and other assorted financial goodies. The S & L crisis of the 1980’s was a direct result of government abolishing interest rate caps, opening the door to sub-prime lending practices. (An interesting note about that particular messy political era- Both John McCain (the GOP presidential nominee) and Neil Bush (the current presidents brother) were up to their eyeballs in fudiciary fiascoes during the S & L bail-outs, but we have such a short memory in this country don’t we?) The result was an intensive run-up of paper wealth, which became actual wealth in the hands of a few top CEO’s and financiers. Oh, and politicians too.

The deregulation of banking led to merger mania, with banks and S&Ls gobbling each other up and making loans to finance shopping malls, golf courses, office buildings, and condo projects that had no financial logic other than a quick-buck profit. When the dust settled in the late 1980s, hundreds of S&Ls and banks had gone under, billions of dollars of commercial loans were useless, and the federal government was left to bail out the depositors whose money the speculators had put at risk. –The American Prospect

So much for a benevolent government looking out for the little guy. And it only got worse. With the evaporation of serious financial regulation, creative money managers invented all sorts of risky schemes and unleashed them on the less-than-saavy American public.

Under Ronald Reagan, the Patron Saint of Greedy Douchebags, government interest in regulating financial markets withered away to next to nothing. Government agencies like the FHA were all but discarded, leaving unscrupulous lenders to fill the gap. The first George Bush was not only complicit in letting this massive shift of governmental responsibility, he continued it while his sons profitted from one bad business deal after another.

The S & L bail-out cost American taxpayers billions of dollars while those at the top got little more than a slap on the wrist to think about while they counted their ill-got gains.

An eight year stint with a Democrat in the White House did little to change the tide. Although the Clinton era is widely viewed as one of economic boom, the reality is that the rise of bad lending practices really took root in the 1990’s under his watch, and continued gutting of many New Deal era regulations during the 1990’s set the stage for the unbridled greed and ultimate collapse we now live with.

The sub-prime mess, the huge risks taken by hedge funds, and the conflicts of interest that led to Enron and kindred scandals, are all the consequences of serial bouts of financial deregulation. Since the 1970s, in the name of free-market efficiency, Congress and presidents of both parties repealed key protections put in place by the New Deal. But the main effect has been to engineer windfall profits for financial insiders, replace real productive innovation with financial engineering, shift wealth from families to corporations, and put the entire American economy at ever greater risk. -The American Prospect

It would be nice to put most of the blame on the current Idiot in Charge, George W. Bush, but it just can’t be done. This era of compounding deregulation is as bi-partisan as it gets. But Georgie Boy managed to accelerate the concept to a new degree and under his watch, deregulation has enjoyed a Blitzkreig that would have made Goering proud. Where previous administrations and Congresses seemed content to limit the deregulation to the financial sector, Bush has presided over widespread deregulation of most government agencies, and especially those who’s task was to help the little guy get a leg up. The FDA, USDA, FEMA, FHA are just the tip of the iceburg. Compound this reality to the massive privatization of services once handled by government employees, services now handed out under no-bid contracts and hardly scrutinized by government accountability teams, and you can see that the conservative War on Good Government has achieved a remarkable success, at least in terms of shafting the citizens of this country and creating financial havoc the world over.

Yet it could be that the tide is finally turning…again. Enraged by the scandals of energy manipulation and loose accounting standards discovered when Enron blew apart (led by yet another Bush buddy), Americans began to pull the wool off their eyes a little at a time. Not nearly enough or fast enough to spot the shady dealings underwriting the entire mortgage industry, but enough to get politicians to start rethinking regulation policy. And that is a good thing.

And so is this. As federal prosecutors begin to haul those who practised the worst kinds of predatory financing and deceptive investment schemes, it is time for lawmakers to rekindle the idea that consumers need protection from the worst excesses of capitalism-the very kinds of excesses that too often find life wihtout a watchdog agency at their backs.

Alan Greenspan, the former Fed Chief who presided over what may well become the most serious financial crisis in modern times, once noted that it was a “collectivist” myth the idea that businessmen, left to their own devices, “would attempt to sell unsafe food and drugs, fraudulent securities and shoddy buildings.”On the contrary, he declared, “it is in the self-interest of every businessman to have a reputation for honest dealings and a quality product.” – TheNewsTribune.com

Right Alan. Unless of course there are no consequences to their actions and no government willing to end them. Especially when the government aids and abets their shady, unscrupulous, and definitely immoral ways.

This crisis isn’t over, in fact, it’s only really beginning. And it’s worldwide again, just like in the 1930’s. Only this time, in addition to a financial quagmire, we have an urgent energy crisis that is spiking costs of everything under the sun, a formidable environmental challenge that is creating food shortages and natural disasters of ever increasing destructive power, and several unending wars of ideology that do little more than make things worse for average people all over the world.

But the politicians and CEO’s are still raking in the dough, so I guess everything is fine after all. I mean, who really gives a shit about the rest of us? We’re just supposed to shut up and take it, right?

(Articles used for background include: Deregulation fueled mortgage fiasco, The Conservative Origins of the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis, The Bubble Economy, The Dangers of Deregulation, and Hundreds Indicted In Mortgage Fraud Probe. )

(Cross posted at Bring It On!)