Real politics in America

Another excellent Illahee series lecture

Another excellent Illahee series lecture last night in PDX about peak oil and correlative topics. “All of the debts for society’s century-long industrial fiesta are coming due at the same time. We have no choice but to transition to a world no longer dependent on fossil fuels, a world made up of communities and economies that function within ecological bounds. How we manage this transition is the most important question of our time.”

The speaker, Richard Heinberg, heads up a think tank in Sonoma. Excellent resource: http://www.postcarbon.org/

He also spoke about the changes in farming practices. When oil is gone, and it will be very soon, so will be the way we produce and distribute food. Here’s a big part of the solution, the missing link to equipment and processes needed to do it successfully: http://www.mmfec.com/

The speaker even talked about community currencies as an alternative to hyper-inflated national currencies. We’re on the same page, for sure. Kinda felt good, having researchers of this quality validating what I’ve been saying on my blog here.

Money made simple

So what’s with gold prices rising 40% in the past two years? Precious metal prices are an index of paper money’s real value. Paper money spent for expenses is 100% inflationary. Paper money invested into infrastructure capital isn’t. Why does government misdirect paper money? Republicans should know this better than anyone but they’re the worst perpetrators of squandering the nation’s credit on a permanent war economy. It’s great to love our military but it is an EXPENSE, a socialist make-work program that consumes half our industrial output annually. Is this any way to run our company? Yes, a very stupid, self-defeating one.

It isn’t like this is anything new. Two and a half centuries ago Volatire writes to the Controller-General, ”Sir, You think that we can increase the national wealth by printing paper money. This is not wealth but a sham for the real wealth of produce and manufacture. You have made ten times as much in paper notes as we have in real wealth in money and goods; you are ten times mad.” No sooner had he finished than he was conducted to the lock-up…

Paper money is a double-edged sword. In the hands of fools it will slice up our national wealth. Employed properly into real capital it will accurately reflect the new wealth created by labor. That isn’t so difficult to comprehend. Unless of course, you’re an economist.