When I was a child, my Elders taught me European fairy tales - which used to be used to teach social value and life lessons to European children - in addition to our own D/Lakota legends. I grew up multi-cultural. Not merely "bi-"cultural - we lived on the non-Indn side of the Rez line, and there were a number of races and nationalities in the tiny town(s) I grew up in.
Some of those tales focussed on what happens when people toy with 'the system', and the chaos that invariably results. We are in the midst of at least 4 "crisis situations" in the U.S. right now - the ongoing attacks on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the one regarding oil prices, the mortgage mess, and the ethics mess - especially as concerns equal enforcement of laws and behavior of "leaders", also called "people in authority".
The so-called patriot Act is not in the least patriotic. It is a deep-diving, dedicated effort by people who manipulated facts and situations to get - or allow - the September 11th, 2001 attacks to happen so crazy people in high offices could undermine - even eliminate - the Bill of Rights, at least for the main run of the U.S. population. If the people who pulled this off were not in high offices, they would be in mental wards, I firmly believe. Recently, a revised version of FISA was passed by Congress, and it is as un-Constitutional a piece of legislation as I have ever seen or heard of. And the mass of "the American people" haven't said 'boo' against it.
If this had happened 20-30 years ago, there would have been riots in the streets. As there should be.
Recently, someone wondered out loud, why there has been so little outrage at this. My reply was, "Drugs; particularly marijuana. After all, it is the drug of choice for euthanizing elderlies in China, because it destroys a person's will to compete and drive to win. It makes them complacent. And since any kind of second-hand smoke has been proven to be at least as dangerous as first-hand smoke, not merely smoke from tobacco, the children of dope users have grown up without the normal drive to compete and will to win."
Think about that, readers.. Between drugs like marijuana and the great push by pharmaceutical companies to get huge numbers of hcildren on sedatives and tranquilizers, at least one generation has grown up with a decreased competitive spirit and will to win. Of course this carries over into the rest of a person's life.
The oil-price mess and the mortgage mess are both the product of irresponsible people toying with the system - proving that one person can have a big effect.. as well as appealing to these people's egos, while causing chaos. Isn't it odd to you that people who obviously don't have the credit history (not 'score') or income to carry a huge mortgage are just handed them? Bankers don't hand out money; why would they hand out huge mortgages? Unless of course, they were simply behaving in a childish fashion, focussing on 'making' money without ethical considerations, or consideration of the domino effect.. Nothing is truly isolated from anything else in the universe, after all.. Even less so then in a country.
The ethics scandals that have popped up virtually weekly in every segment of the U.S. are part of this ugly scenario. They stem from improper socialization and a deep lack of the elders having taught the children to consider more than just themselves.
The result is chaos, and a major flirtation with major recession and the toppling of the economic stability everyone craves.
Once again, we has met the enemy and s/he is us, takoszja. Now we need to put our heads together and figure out creative ways to pull things back into alignment. The first of which, I believe, is to ditch the 'me first' attitude that has been so prevalent for so long, and do major studies of and committment to the concept of "co-operation".
No one really does anything major alone, after all..
Showing posts with label crude oil prices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crude oil prices. Show all posts
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
On Food, Fuel, and the Going Price of a Barrel of Crude Oil
Today in Dakota Territory, gasoline is $3.60 / gallon, and #2 diesel is $4.20 / gallon, and a barrel of crude oil is $120. People are beginning to cry out about "the peril to the millions" who won't be able to afford food, fuel, and entertainment, or "their current lifestyle". My sympathy basket is about empty, takoszja.. Because I've been speaking about these things - as have hundreds, perhaps thousands of others, for decades.
And the rest of you have been ignoring us, and the facts we speak of. Now it appears the facts are speaking for themselves so loudly you cannot ignore them any longer. Well, we tried.
Let's do a bit of simple arithmetic and see where this is going. Let's pretend the price of a barrel of crude oil has already hit $200. Where will the costs of gasoline and #2 diesel fuel be then? Divide 200 by 120, you will get 5/3. Multiply that by $3.60 and $4.20, and you will get $6.00 and $7.00 respectively.
Now do that with food, heating fuels, and clothing, and you will see that: the current fad in having more than 2 children will go away quickly; the current fad in the U.S. of building huge houses (that require amazing amounts of fuel to heat) will come to a screeching halt; and as a result, you will see a huge sudden increase in the number of homeless, followed by a fast decrease in the number of homeless - as they starve and freeze to deat any place where winter temperatures drop below freezing at night - along with a concomittant rise in the buzzard population, since there isn't likely to be enough land to bury these individuals except in mass graves.
You will also see a huge rise in rustling of food animals, and of garden vegetables.
Doomsday predictions? Not at all. When the prices of food and fuel rise to the point where people must choose between feeding their close ones and altruism, they will feed their close ones and altruism will take a hike into history until costs and prices stabilize and the American public lives a more realistic lifestyle than it has for at least the past 50 years.
No more fast boats and huge motors to push them, jet skis, motorhomes, SUVs getting 9 mpg, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, etc., etc. No more jetaway vacations, and maybe a huge decrease in airlines. Well, it will mean much shorter lines for those who can - or need to - travel....
We will see a big run to telecommuting, I expect.. and a much more environmentally-friendly perspective than we have seen for dona hey decades in the U.S. My company, Indian Maid Products, Inc., which makes passive solar heaters and coolers, will probably do well, if we can get enough fuel to send a crew to install our units. We'll certainly try - we've been trying for decades..
But you know what really 'gets' to me about this fuel thing? It has been planned-for for over 20 years by those silent, shadowy figures who run the U.S. economy. This is no conspiracy theory; it is fact. I know this because in the early 1980's, I spent considerable time working for and around high-ranking state and federal people in the D.C. area, and they were working on it then. Given my security clearance of the time and the fact that The Rule was, "if you tell the story, you cannot name names or places specifically", they openly discussed these things in front of me - and others, I am sure. Why did it do no good to tell you?
Because you were so taken with your own perspectives that you narcissistic people refused to believe the facts when they were set clearly in front of you. Just about a year ago, a speaker told people in Minot, ND that the price of a barrel of crude oil was going to hit $120, and the audience (of business 'leaders') laughed him off the stage. A few months ago, this same speaker told these same people that oil is likely to hit $200 a barrel, and this time, almost no one laughed.
Just the same, I don't expect to see any major change in the lifestyles of most U.S. folk until oil actually does hit $200 a barrel, because Disneyism and t.v. have taught the majority of people to believe in 20-minute solutions to huge problems and that "someone" will "save" us. It may be that someone will save you, but the facts of physics and the real world say it won't be in a short time, nor will you be able to live in the same old ways with the same old disregard and disrespect for the rest of the world, including the environment.
I think I'm going to enjoy watching that.. Given all the szit I've taken from so many of you for living "greenly" for all of my life.... Whod'a thunk an old woman could have so much fun watching the Wheel turn? Not me.
And isn't that a hoot..
And the rest of you have been ignoring us, and the facts we speak of. Now it appears the facts are speaking for themselves so loudly you cannot ignore them any longer. Well, we tried.
Let's do a bit of simple arithmetic and see where this is going. Let's pretend the price of a barrel of crude oil has already hit $200. Where will the costs of gasoline and #2 diesel fuel be then? Divide 200 by 120, you will get 5/3. Multiply that by $3.60 and $4.20, and you will get $6.00 and $7.00 respectively.
Now do that with food, heating fuels, and clothing, and you will see that: the current fad in having more than 2 children will go away quickly; the current fad in the U.S. of building huge houses (that require amazing amounts of fuel to heat) will come to a screeching halt; and as a result, you will see a huge sudden increase in the number of homeless, followed by a fast decrease in the number of homeless - as they starve and freeze to deat any place where winter temperatures drop below freezing at night - along with a concomittant rise in the buzzard population, since there isn't likely to be enough land to bury these individuals except in mass graves.
You will also see a huge rise in rustling of food animals, and of garden vegetables.
Doomsday predictions? Not at all. When the prices of food and fuel rise to the point where people must choose between feeding their close ones and altruism, they will feed their close ones and altruism will take a hike into history until costs and prices stabilize and the American public lives a more realistic lifestyle than it has for at least the past 50 years.
No more fast boats and huge motors to push them, jet skis, motorhomes, SUVs getting 9 mpg, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, etc., etc. No more jetaway vacations, and maybe a huge decrease in airlines. Well, it will mean much shorter lines for those who can - or need to - travel....
We will see a big run to telecommuting, I expect.. and a much more environmentally-friendly perspective than we have seen for dona hey decades in the U.S. My company, Indian Maid Products, Inc., which makes passive solar heaters and coolers, will probably do well, if we can get enough fuel to send a crew to install our units. We'll certainly try - we've been trying for decades..
But you know what really 'gets' to me about this fuel thing? It has been planned-for for over 20 years by those silent, shadowy figures who run the U.S. economy. This is no conspiracy theory; it is fact. I know this because in the early 1980's, I spent considerable time working for and around high-ranking state and federal people in the D.C. area, and they were working on it then. Given my security clearance of the time and the fact that The Rule was, "if you tell the story, you cannot name names or places specifically", they openly discussed these things in front of me - and others, I am sure. Why did it do no good to tell you?
Because you were so taken with your own perspectives that you narcissistic people refused to believe the facts when they were set clearly in front of you. Just about a year ago, a speaker told people in Minot, ND that the price of a barrel of crude oil was going to hit $120, and the audience (of business 'leaders') laughed him off the stage. A few months ago, this same speaker told these same people that oil is likely to hit $200 a barrel, and this time, almost no one laughed.
Just the same, I don't expect to see any major change in the lifestyles of most U.S. folk until oil actually does hit $200 a barrel, because Disneyism and t.v. have taught the majority of people to believe in 20-minute solutions to huge problems and that "someone" will "save" us. It may be that someone will save you, but the facts of physics and the real world say it won't be in a short time, nor will you be able to live in the same old ways with the same old disregard and disrespect for the rest of the world, including the environment.
I think I'm going to enjoy watching that.. Given all the szit I've taken from so many of you for living "greenly" for all of my life.... Whod'a thunk an old woman could have so much fun watching the Wheel turn? Not me.
And isn't that a hoot..
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