Think of this as Volume 11, Number 18 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I’ve written since 1997. Enjoy.
I have long been intrigued by what stands for value. (Picture from The Zoo.)
Throughout the 19th century, gold was the standard of value.
The 1896 Crisis, the Cross of Gold speech, these were outgrowths of the 1895 gold loan by J.P. Morgan to the U.S. government in exchange for bonds, which Morgan then sold at the "usurious" interest rate of 4%. With gold as the standard of value, the value of other commodities (like wheat) withered. Farmers suffered, bankers gained. The farmers’ uprising was called Populism, and it made Democrats dominant in the farm belt for decades.
Today we have a new standard of value. Oil. And the impact is much the same. For wheat read dollars, for farmers read Americans, and for J.P. Morgan read the Saudi sheikhs, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin.
What makes a "strong" store of value is the fact that its supply is limited, that it doesn’t inflate. It’s stable. It’s sound.
The U.S. dollar is no longer sound. It’s being tossed out by Helicopter Ben the way farmers a century ago tossed wheat on the market, and the result is very predictable. The age of the "dollar standard" is over, and while the world seeks a new safe haven, oil will do nicely.
There can be only one response.
Do not crucify us on a barrel of oil.
This is the political issue of our time. This is the nature of the crisis. America has surrendered its sovereignty to foreigners by allowing oil to become the new store of value, and we need to act in our national interest.
The United States of America must declare war against oil. We must see our addiction to oil as what it is, and fight against it with every fiber of our being.
Only by using dramatically less oil can oil become divorced from economic value again. We can do this.
There is tremendous growth to be gained from efficiency. Insulating homes, offices and factories means millions of jobs for Americans. The tools for doing this are all around us. Cellulose waste comes in many forms — in newspapers, in old clothes — our Mount Trashmores are our new gold mines.
America has sunshine, and wind, and heat deep underground. We can produce energy from that. We can distribute that energy in the form of hydrogen, and produce water where the people are. We can do this, and we must in the national interest.
Americans need to look at every aspect of their lives with an eye toward cutting their use of oil. Smaller cars, motorcycles, bicycles, walking, car-pooling — these are short-term aids. Telecommuting, moving closer to work, live-work communities, re-designed urban places which require less use of oil — these are longer-term aids. The first will save money which can be used on other things. The second will create new growth.
Every agency of the government must be deployed in the War Against Oil. Our Education agencies can expand use of online education. Our transportation agencies can move toward more efficient rail links. Our defense agencies can do their part by making their systems more efficient. Our agriculture agencies can encourage more fuel-efficient farming. Our utilities need to be re-regulated and re-engineered to buy power as well as sell it, to stop wasting half the power they generate in transit, and to take advantage of hydrogen.
The fact that all these policies are good for the environment is a happy coincidence. The fact that all these policies will make our industries more competitive is also a happy coincidence.
But this is the goal we must seek. Remember, rockets don’t run on oil. They run on tanks of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. We must get our country out of the age of 20th century oil addiction and into an age of 21st century rocket fuel.
As long as our government is afraid of spending serious money and effort – at a minimum on the level of the 1960s moon race – on alternative energies, then nothing will change except prices will continue to rise. We (as a nation) would rather spend money on defending other nations sovereignty and democracies than ensuring that our own continues. Thanks to our shortsighted investments and policies, our economy is almost to the point where we can’t spend the kind of money we need to even if we want to now.
As long as our government is afraid of spending serious money and effort – at a minimum on the level of the 1960s moon race – on alternative energies, then nothing will change except prices will continue to rise. We (as a nation) would rather spend money on defending other nations sovereignty and democracies than ensuring that our own continues. Thanks to our shortsighted investments and policies, our economy is almost to the point where we can’t spend the kind of money we need to even if we want to now.
Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing this.
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