If Ben Bernanke and the fools at the Fed actually thought the industrial economy was recovering, they’d jack up interest rates. When the prime rate is up around 5%, you’ll know the industrial economy is back on track. Alternatively, you can monitor the extinction rate of non-human species.
The Keynesian approach favored by the Obummer administration is working about as well as pissing in an inferno. Those 640,329 new jobs created by the stimulus package came at a cost of $323,739.83 per job. We’ll never pay that tab, of course, because most of us aren’t working any more. Hell, half the kids in the country are on food stamps. Furthermore, the latest insult is a drop in the bucket compared to the 2009 deficit, which exceeds $450,000 per U.S. citizen.
We’ve long used our homes as ATMs, but those days are behind us. Housing prices are expected to continue their decline, dropping a staggering 90%. Suddenly that $6,900 house in Detroit isn’t looking so sweet, or so unusual. And commercial real estate is on the leading edge of a huge crash, as you’ve known for a while if you’ve been reading this blog. Or, for that matter, any other source of economic news beyond the mainstream media.
The housing mess isn’t the only offal stinking up the industrial economy, either. The markets look like the big bubble you blew with an entire pack of Hubba Bubba. And here’s a surprise: The recent rise in GDP is a mirage, just like Dow 10,000. As if the stock markets have any relation to reality, now or at any point in the past.
And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more entertaining, the feds would like to make the big bank bailouts a permanent scar on your grandchild’s checkbook. There’s nothing new about this turn of events: It’s a classic example of socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor (record-setting bonuses at the end of 2009 will add to the ever-growing list of examples). And if you think Obama is your friend, and will assuage your wounds, you’re still drinking the “progressive” Kool-Aid of wishful thinking and ignoring his drive for unlimited power, here and abroad. When questioned, he undoubtedly will perform the infamous act of amnesia we’ve come to expect from our “leaders” in Washington. Alas, Edward Abbey was correct: “Government should be weak, amateurish and ridiculous. At present, it fulfills only a third of the role.” At this juncture, the U.S. cannot even maintain hegemony in Afghanistan because the Taliban will not agree to a backroom power-sharing deal.
The current administration is hardly the first to lie, cheat, and steal from the citizens they claim to serve. Over time, the extent of the immorality has become unbearable. Consider this minor, personal example: I asked for a testimonial regarding my skill as a public speaker from a dear friend and former graduate student who currently works the National Parks Service (which is part of the executive branch, for those of you who missed school that day). After speaking with her supervisor in Washington, she declined. I’m reminded of a line from E.M. Forster: “If I were forced to choose between my country and my friend, I hope I would be brave enough to choose my friend.” Here’s another relevant line from Edward Abbey: “I would never betray a friend to serve a cause. Never reject a friend to help an institution. Great nations may fall in ruin before I would sell a friend to save them.” Sadly, damned few among us are as principled as Forster and Abbey.
The “solutions” to our energy predicament are clogging the airwaves. As if algae will save our dreams of happy motoring. As if building nuclear power plants will provide free electricity. As if algae, plutonium, and uranium come problem-free. As if Transition Towns will allow an orderly, peaceful transition to a trouble-free future. As if maintaining industrial culture in smaller form will magically stop destroying the living planet.
Industrial civilization is hardly the first civilization to outstrip resources critical to human life, thereby committing cultural suicide. But it’s the first to make a serious run at murdering the entire living planet, and American Empire is coming to a close far sooner than most people thought possible. Soon, the lights go out, which brings down every aspect of western civilization.
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Even though the mainstream media occasionally mention the emerging reality of hyperinflation — including comparisons to Zimbabwe’s 200 million percent — they, more often than not, keep wondering when the recovery will be complete. Check any station, any newspaper, and you’ll see misguided economists claiming the turnaround will be complete this year or next. Could they really be so stupid?
Apparently so, yes. Never mind the collapse in jobs, which grows worse with every new reading. Never mind the accelerating collapse of the housing market, with no end in sight. Never mind the clear historical and contemporary relationship between low interest rates (the Fed’s ongoing strategy) and hyperinflation, or the completely upside-down nature of the bond market, which indicates more inflation on the way. Never mind the printing presses running flat out even though tax revenues are falling precipitously (if you think increasing spending as your income falls is not a problem, try it sometime and let me know how it works for you). Never mind that, despite all the fiat currency in the system, there’s still no federal money to bail out your bank when it fails. Last year, when the FDIC could backstop about one percent of the accounts they insured, the situation was dire. Now, however, when they can cover a quarter that amount, the media don’t bat a collective eye.
At this point, if you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention. Or, according to one prominent consultant for the retail industry says, if you’re not petrified, you’re not paying attention.
What the hell’s the matter with people in this country? What’ll take to start a legitimate revolution?
Do we need to have our elected officials scream “terrorist” about North Korea while ignoring terrorism in the Middle East at the hand of U.S.-funded Israel? Nope, that’s not doing the trick. Do we truly have no moral compass? Have we lost our way so badly we care more about cheap entertainment than life itself? Please, don’t answer that. Instead, let’s all go to the movies. Lacking money for that, let’s turn up the television, tune into video games, or download free porn from the Internet.
Yeah, life’s tough, isn’t it? Good thing we’re the chosen ones, blessed by gawd herself to live our bountiful lives without paying the slightest attention to suffering, dying, extinction, capitalism for the poor, or socialism for the rich.
And yet, it could be worse. We could be living in China, where the government is so conflicted they can’t decide if they should be more concerned about the U.S. destroying the industrial economy by printing money or by joining with the U.S. to exacerbate runaway climate change. Tough call: Your money or your life. Far too tough for most Americans and their politicians.
Here’s a hint, though: If you think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath while counting your money.
And while we’re on the subject of counting money, the Arctic is suddenly full of oil, according to this headline. Hallelujah, the economy is saved. Wake-up call: The source of the report is the liars eternally optimistic “scientists” at the U.S. Geological Survey. And the “journalist” admits, down there in the middle of the article in a couple cryptic paragraphs that should be the lead, that the total oil supply will meet current world demand for five years, tops. That is, if it actually comes on line. He also failed to point out that Mexico’s oil exports are plummeting as the vaunted Cantarell field — until recently the second-largest in the world — is losing serious steam, and also the prediction from the International Energy Agency’s chief economist that oil prices will spike because oil companies have canceled so many projects.
Stunningly, a few Americans are waking up to the notion of an ambiguous future. Not so stunningly, the media continue to treat them as if they’re lunatics living on the fringe, although the reporting isn’t nearly as disparaging in tone as it was a year or two ago.
Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest. Now, back to the television.

It’s the only house we’ve ever owned, and we’ve lived in it for the last 18 years. During those years, I’ve seen two promotions, falling from untenured assistant professor to radical tenured full professor. And two sabbatical leaves, one to Berkeley, the other to a spectacular property owned by The Nature Conservancy adjacent to the mud hut. And a leave of absence to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, where I worked for The Nature Conservancy. And a few junkets to foreign lands. And 18 of our 24 years of marriage, more than half our adult lives. And the death of our beloved first dog, and the deaths of a few family members. And the many simple joys of living in the Sonoran Desert, from curve-billed thrashers in the backyard palo verde tree to a handful of hummingbirds feeding on the nearby flowers, from frost on the creosote to sunsets and starry nights.
We cried half the night. And swore the other half.
Most people wouldn’t even like the house, much less appreciate it. They certainly wouldn’t live in it on purpose, if they had our combined incomes. It’s strictly stick-and-stucco, emblematic of the poor architectural design for which the region is infamous. And it’s a 1,000-square-foot house on a 4,000-square-foot lot on the edge of the city, too small for the gargantuan tastes of the average, over-indulged American. It’s all one level, and incredibly low-maintenance, purposely planned for two people to grow old in. That was the plan: To grow old together, in the house we love, in the neighborhood we love, enjoying our lot in life and the opportunity for occasional travel to remote lands.
Time for Plan B.
If civilization doesn’t fall apart within the next couple years, I’m in real trouble with my partner. As if she hasn’t had enough grief in her life lately, given the deaths of her mother, father, and uncle.
If civilization does fall apart within the next couple years, we’re all in real trouble. And not just with my partner, either.
Seems I’ve backed myself into a lose-lose situation. You’d think I’d be accustomed to that by now, but I still hate it when it happens.
I suppose Bill Clinton was right: People like change in general, but not in particular. This is particular change, and I don’t like it.
Living in two worlds is great in theory. But having to choose one world over the other is very, very difficult, especially when the choice runs counter to the status quo.
It’s time to push away from the shore, to let the winds of change catch the sails of our leaky boat. It’s time to trust in ourselves, our new neighbors, and the Earth that sustains us all. Painful though it might be, it’s time to abandon the ship of empire in exchange for a lifeboat.
After all, the time to dig a well is not when you’re thirsty.
According to the Buddha, “life is suffering.” And suffering is better than the alternative, at least for now. May we all find solace in our suffering in the months and years ahead.