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Government as Business

Government is not a business and attempts to run government as a business, I think are misguided. The goal of business is to make money PERIOD. Sure, there may be a few rules that work for both but they are in no way the same thing. Ideally, in a free society, the number one role of government is to protect our freedoms. Government should provide a good national defense (not a damn empire thank you). It should also protect our weakest and most at risk citizens, those who cannot take care of themselves. This is a true measure of a great society. Instead of saying, "Government is the problem, not the solution" (Ronnie Raygun), we should realize that ALL of us ARE the government. Thus we take responsibility for our problems. This entails a few things that are completely lacking today. Informed citizens (not mindless consumers) who know they can bring about real change and reform. A functional education system that creates informed citizens is now all but non-existent. A true free press that is unafraid to point out shortcomings, corruption and conflicts of interest. We now only have a handful of powerful conglomerations that parrot the party line without asking uncomfortable questions.

In fact, we now have the business model applied to government. The recent Debit Ceiling deal is proof. Who gives a shit if some needy people are tossed under the bus? We got a deficit problem! It has to be fixed NOW! Rich corporations buy with pennies the circus in Washington and make millions in tax cuts and deregulation. They use the infotainment (used to be news) industry to remind us this is the only way (and oh by the way you are free). The most important thing in business is making money and not protecting rights, taking care of the weak or making informed citizens. Look at what we got now.

We have essentially a one party state, the conservative party. There are two wings the center right, known as the Democrats and the far right, the Republicans. This makes up our so-called choice. The system does not allow for any other party to get a foothold in Washington. There is a slight exception in the Tea Party. These guys and gals are to the right of Genghis Khan. So the choice is center right, far right and extreme right. The left is all but dead in this country leaving control of the political dialogue firmly in control of conservatives who think the free market / business model is the answer to every problem.

Here we are with massive deficits (have we already forgot the bank bailouts and ongoing wars?). The economy is still in the tank and if there is any change, it is for the worse. All the jobs we shipped over seas (thank you both parties) are not ever coming back. Those over 50 cannot find work now. The safety nets are being dismantled along with our middle class. Meanwhile... those at the top are doing far better than just ten years ago, profits are up and no new taxes!

Musical Chairs on the Titanic II

The tighter one tries to hold on to something, the more it slips away. The wealthiest among us will try to hold on to power and status as our oil dependent economy slows and morphs into a post oil economy. How bat things will get, I think it is a question of how fast we move into an economy without oil as the life-blood. The slower, the more painful it will be. There will be more and more wars fought over scarcity and it is not totally impossible we will again see the use of nuclear weapons by some set of fools who thing they can “win.” Safe clean water will also become an ever-scarcer resource. So will food. Hang on! Looks like the road ahead may be a bit bumpy. Thinking about masses of desperate hungry poor people and an ever shrinking group of elites trying to cling to their lifestyle at any cost is not all of that pleasant. I believe we are seeing the beginnings of this now and it looks like it will only grow worse. Worldwide, there is already the so-called bottom billion. It may need to be changed in time to the bottom two billion. It looks like the fun is also starting here in the USA as well.

With the recession / depression (what ever you want to call it) showing no signs of ending desperation will soon start to set in here in the USA as well. The unemployment money has so far been just enough to hold things together but it is ending for more and more people each week. All the Federal unemployment extensions end at the end of the year (give or take a week or two). Given the current batch of lunatics in Washington DC, I'm not looking for any renewals this time. They have no interest in addressing the real problem of no demand equals no jobs. Mind you the people that fund the circus also known as campaign season are doing quite well. But I think this is temporary. More and more people will stop playing the game either by choice or by becoming destitute.

As more and more people stop playing the game, the current system will grind to a halt. With no jobs, there will be less and less to pay the big finance companies on mortgages, credit cards and other schemes. People may soon start to realize that this is indeed a one party state and the meaninglessness of Democrat or Republican. When this happens, they will opt out of the political game as well. What would happen if only 10% or 11% of us voted? Who could claim a mandate? But the winning tool would try. It looks like we are going to have to pass through a pretty dark time. Blogs, like this one, that ask important and uncomfortable questions may disappear. The freedom rhetoric we are so fond of on race day will still be there but people like me who ask why are there terrorists in the first place, will be silenced. Somehow, asking why there are terrorists will become support for terrorists. But this too will pass with time. Lying leaders don’t last long. Adolph and Pol Pot now know this. What comes next may be pretty cool if you can live without some of the toys (made into necessities). Okay so the entry is still pretty dark.

If we deplete all of the oil much faster than current estimates much of the bad stuff mentioned will still happen but people will figure out how to live on their own much quicker. Instead of depending on lunatics in places like Washington DC, distant finance companies and long distance truckers, they will learn how to be truly independent. Local relations will become the only relations that matter. Imagine getting to know your neighbors! We will have to get to know our close neighbors and trade skills like building, security and food production. Today, this seems like living on another planet but civilizations rise and fall. The Incas, Aztecs, Romans and Egyptians all found out. But but our civilization is so much more advanced you may be thinking but plain old human shortcomings are still with us. Our arrogance in thinking our American way of doing things is the best and only way. Our pride in our powerful military that we think of as undefeatable that drains the treasury and indeed loses wars from time to time. We may want to re-think “military solution.” Our greed that drives us to take resources from others and says to hell with you, we have a lifestyle to up-keep. Our ignorance is bliss attitude that ignores the views (and basic rights) of other peoples as well as science. Global warming could give two shits if you think it is real or not. There is no way around this simple fact our civilization cannot last. What else happens to the arrogant, the proud, the greedy and the ignorant? They collapse! The greatest technology in the world is no match for basic human failings.

I do not buy into end times or similar non-sense. The changes from an oil based economy to what ever is next is not world ending. People will do what they do best and that is adapt and adjust. We don’t need 200 cable TV channels, imported food and the latest gizmos from slave labor factories in China to live well. We really do not have to have cars. I think we will be getting back to basics. All we need for a good life are the basics, food, shelter, clothes, love and to be useful.

Or I’m full of shit… Let me know.

Further reading...

Musical Chairs on the Titanic Part II up soon!

Nothing is shocking…

It seems we have crossed into a dangerous zone of complacency where nothing really shocks us anymore, except dumbass things. Casey Anthony, phone tapping and tell all books about celebrities are great cause for concern meanwhile… climate change, unending wars and a whole host of other issues go on and on unresolved with no resolution in sight. Let’s face it people, we’ve forgot how to raise hell about things that really matter. Gone are the sit-ins, marches, and demonstrations (okay there have been a few notable exceptions). Bye-bye Casey Anthony and hello Amy Winehouse! Her life was indeed tragic and she was a great talent but the media will ride this story for all they can squeeze out of it. Here are just a few things I think could use some real coverage.

Generations of our fellow human beings living in a massive garbage dump. Why is this still going on?

If you think the on going war in Iraq is over, guess again!

The ever-increasing wealth divid here in the USA.

The militarization of our southern border.

The human costs of the Mexican Drug War.

The number of wars has increased under President Obama. Iraq, Afghanistan, plus Yemen, Libya and Somalia. Sure a few of those may go back to George W. but remind me again why Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize? Good article.

I think Stan may be right voting for either party is legitimizing a lot of really bad shit. I may indeed pass next November 4^th.

Musical Chairs on the Titanic

You know if the peak oil crowd is right and we have passed or will pass in the near future peak oil production, the debit ceiling hysteria, blathering about Casey Anthony and similar nonsense that passes for news these days will soon be seen for the idiocy it really is. If you are unfamiliar with peak oil it is the notion that as some point we will have used more than half the oil the Earth can supply, the easy half. There’s no getting around it, the world we know runs on oil. As oil gets harder and more expensive to produce, what will happen? There is hope in “Green” energy but a good question to ask is can it possibly replace oil fast enough if at all? Here’s the problem as I see it. Can we maintain our rock and roll lifestyle here in the west (based on the notion of limitless economic growth) and expect it to simply go on forever? Keep in mind some other nations want to emulate us in living as if there is no tomorrow and it is cost free.

A part of the problem is that this is a slowly unfolding disaster taking decades, not days. We have a problem wrapping our head around large long-term problems and coping with them in a sane manner. In my book, the global warming deniers fall into this category. We muddy the waters with politics and do nothing all while watching polar icecaps melt and global temperature rise. We have become adept at bullshitting ourselves. It may NOT end with “they all lived happily ever after.” So… if the story has a different looking ending than the typical fairy tale, what would it be?

Civilizations like people that make the up go through life spans. When they fall, it is often not very pretty but life goes on. The Roman Empire did not last forever but had a nice long run. Once it fell, the so-called dark ages set in. Life became much more difficult but the wheels of time kept on rolling. The same is true of some of the great Indian civilizations in Central and South America. Now, we are nearing the collapse of the Great American Empire. Don’t worry, no doomsday predictions here, I’ll leave that to the religious whackos. So what will follow? We may be in for some major changes as we deplete our natural resources. Let’s consider class, culture and a little economics.

Looking at it as I often do through a class perspective, life could get very weird very fast. Today’s powerful are no different than the powerful who came before. People have done some crazy shit to maintain “control”. Pol Pot, Hitler and Idi Amin are just a few recent classic examples of the lengths people will to maintain power over others. Check out Gaddafi in Libya and Assad in Syria as of this writing. There are less stark examples like white southerners resisting the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Some resorted to extreme violence to keep the status quo. Large corporations are subtler but behave similarly. Any threat to the bottom line is met with fierce resistance, such as regulation. Slow violence comes to mind. As poisons seep into the environment causing cancer rates to soar in places like Louisiana here in the United States and the tar sands area of Alberta, Canada; they deny any correlation and buy off the politicians to keep the status quo. Keep in mind we are busy mastering the dark arts of violent population control in places like Baghdad. Sooner or later, people will stop believing the propaganda from Washington via the media about the American Dream and our better days still being ahead of us. Less subtle means of control learned elsewhere can be brought home. As the economy contracts the powerful will likely act as they always do and the slow violence may soon morph into direct violence. We’ve seen this already on a relatively small scale in post Katrina New Orleans. Private security personnel protecting assets of the wealthy who are undeterred from shooting first and asking questions later on if at all. As long as there are television and radio look for the propaganda apparatus to go into hyper-drive. State sponsored killings of citizens will become a “…necessary response to terrorists, looters, hooligans, gangs and other deviants who are a threat to our way of life.”

Consider Baghdad as a nee model for your hometown. At the top, there’s the Green Zone. This is the most secure area in the city and also happens to be where the people who run things live. In the Green Zone there is plenty to eat, good medical care and a steady supply of electricity. The rest of the city is known as the Red Zone or no go zone. This is a land full of walls, check points, and general uneasiness. Medical care is sporadic to non-existent as well as electricity. The power here is in the hands of gangs and warlords. Be very careful what you say on that cell phone, landline and Internet. There are ears everywhere and if they hear the wrong thing, you could wind up in detention or the morgue. Satisfying basic needs like safety and security are on an hour-to-hour basis. Remember, Iraq is now a democratic society! To think or say otherwise are dangerous.

Sure I’ve lost my marbles you may be thinking if you have read this far! Also ask yourself how long is it before the predators now flying the US Mexican border area (and some of our larger cities) are armed? The illusion of freedom we all cherish so much now will continue in the form of elections void of real choices and dissenters quietly extinguished via marginalization and other means. But there is good news! If we do find ourselves living in such a society in the not so distant future, keep in mind it cannot last. If we cannot find an alternative way to power our industrial civilization what will a post-industrial society look like? If we can manage to get through the transition period without nuking the planet or completely poisoning the environment, perhaps life will be not so bad.

Part II will be up shortly. It gets better and not quite so damn dark!

For further reading check out the following:

http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/

The Distance... Matters.

I don't know about you but I'm a huge fan of the late great George Carlin. He did a bit one time that was not only funny as hell but key in understanding conflict. It has to do with distance. In a nut shell, "The guy on TV is a REAL A-S--S-H-O-L-E!! but the person next to you in line is a real asshole. The further one is away from the conflict and all the consequences, the easier it is to decide to keep it going. There has to be a name for this in the study of conflict but it escapes me now. I thinks this applies across the spectrum of conflict from very small (Family, office, church) all the way up to warring nation states. I've seen it in small companies where the guy that runs the business does not like getting his hands dirty assigns the unpleasant task of firing someone to a subordinate. I can hear the thought process now, "Why should I take the risk of a going postal reaction when I have an underling who can?" Moving up in size and complexity the idea still works.

One large corporation buys another and thousands are laid off, the CEO's are most likely not directly affected. There is no downward lifestyle change. This makes the sale easy. This is Capitalism after all, so it is up to the workers to fend for themselves. The state can pick up the tab in unemployment, food stamps, and other social services. So it goes with outsourcing. There are many places labor is pennies on the dollar compared to here in the USA. It's true companies who stay here with our more expensive labor face the prospect of being put out of business by the competition. Once again, those at the top are by and large unaffected. The needs of the employees and the needs of the company are in conflict. It is easy for those in leadership positions to choose the needs of the company over the needs of the employees. As things are now structured, it is their job to do so. They are legally bound to maximize profits for share holders. Other needs like job security, are secondary. Why are things structured this way and who benefits? Ahhh, there's the class / rich vs. poor frame again!

I think open war works in much the same way. It is easier for Presidents Bush and Obama to continue the so called war on terror / occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, attacks on Libya (not really hostilities mind you), Yemen, Somalia and god only knows where else knowing they or their families will never be affected. Will either man's daughters ever see combat? Perhaps not totally impossible but highly doubtful. I don't mean to say neither Bush or Obama has a soul or a conscience, I think both do but lacking a really personal stake makes the decision to keep the wars going easier. If leaders had to truly lead from the front how different would it be? If they had to personally clean up some "collateral damage" how would they change their thinking?

While thinking on this idea of distance in conflict I could not help but wonder about some of the most evil leaders in recent history. Did Hitler ever picnic at Auswitch Concentration Camp to see first hand how the "Final Solution" was going? If he did, I never herd of it. Did Pol Pot ever make an official visit to Tou Sleng? I've never her of it if he did. I could go on and on but I think you got the point.

I think recognizing the idea of Distance is important. I wish more decision makers were aware of it. It is easy to read in a dry DOD report, Secret police document or see on our highly edited nightly news but there is no substitute for direct experience of Collateral damage.