A couple of rants

[Solon]

I figured that I would liven up the conversation here at DU2 for a little bit.

About SUV's and Trucks etc.: Ok so Carlos bought a new SUV, and people here are complaining about his choice. Well, to be honest, I don't know much about his choice of vehicle, except that it is practically a car, jacked higher up and without the trunk. As far as gas milage, and the wastage in it, I think his choice is comparable to an average car. I don't really call such vehicles SUV's myself, but wanna-be SUV's, kinda like wanna-be trucks (think S-10 4 banger). Its like my friend, she drives a Tracker (the old Geo), it gets excellent gas milage, but even the user manual says not to take sharp corners, it'll flip. BTW what would the Tracker be? A wanna-be SUV or a wanna-be Jeep. I would never understand why people would buy a vehicle with a damn warning sticker on it saying that if handled like a car, it'll flip like a hamburger on a grill at McDonald's. I don't know if Carlos's SUV has such a warning, I hope not, for who would drive such a dangerous vehicle? I will say that I loathe American-Made SUV's, I avoided more collisions with out of control Dakotas and Suburbans than I can remember. One thing I will say, is that I'm glad my car can drive circles around any of those behemoths ('89 Toyota Celica GT Convertible) and get 3 times the gas milage. Hell with the way prices are, I'm glad I only have to fill the tank once every 2 weeks or so considering it costs me damn near 20 dollars to do so. I'm hoping someday to get a hybrid, 50+ mpg would be a dream.

One other gripe (mostly political): I have to say it, and believe me when I say that I am not a cynic, however, I believe that we are entering a new world war, and not so much like the ones we fought before, but just as bloody as the last 2 were. As of this moment, it seems that the American Government is the first government to initiate what I would call the "Resource Wars". Scattered around the World, various nations will try to dominate the world's finite resources in a desparate attempt to maintain their economies and wealth. First its oil, then it will be fresh water, and next, what else, arable land, topsoil, who knows? Simply put, the entire world cannot maintain the rate of growth in the developing nations, nor can it maintain the economies of the industrialised nations as well. The USA, being one of the biggest consumers of these resources will be the worst hit, and the government knows it, why else the war in Iraq? Its simple physics, we are losing our natural resources at an enormous rate, and with a growing population, it is only a disasterous formula. We can delay it, possibly, but not avoid it, if we don't act to remove ourselves from dependancy on such small resources. We are treating the Earth as if it were a closed system, and if we continue to do so, then the Second Law does apply. I'm not even talking long term here, within my lifetime at least, and I'm 25. Technology can only do so much, but only if we have the resources to develop it. Solar power, wind power, and other technologies have to be developed and implimented on a large scale, just to soften the impact when the world economy collapses. It is absolutely impossible to maintain any rate of growth economically without something solid to back it up. (tech-bubble anyone?) The foundation of the world is crumbling, and we have to find ways to shore it up in the short-term and replace it in the long term. We are salting the fields for some short term benefit, and wonder why we can't feed our families the next year. I am sickened by it, it may be our own apathy that does us in, some our aware, and must educate others so that our children will have a future at all.

[bfusco]

1. Another rant

Resouce wars are nothing new. It was what motivated Great Briton and other European powers to dominate the globe in the interest of everything from sugar, spices, fur, timber, petruleum, gold and diamonds to mention a few. Gold played a large factor in the the United States expansion to the west in the 19th century. Oil was the motivation for GB, France and subesquently the United States intrusion into the Middle East beginning after WWI. It is coming to a head today because our unprecednted consumption/increasing demand, combined with continued growth in the worlds population with ever increassing energy demands. This addiction to oil is mainly fuled through dependence to retched Gulf regimes (mainly Saudi Arabia) that our elected officals are in bed with. The Saudi Royal Family is a house of cards waiting to implode. There is no interest in reforming Saudi Arabia. If elections were held there, an Islamic fundamentalist goverment would be voted in. The Bush administration knows this and that's the exact reason they went into Iraq; in the hopes of setting up a pro-US goverment, revitiilizing the oil industry and having an abundent source of petrulem to prepare for the day when Saudi Arabia falls and the spickets stop running. Direct threats from Hussein/WMD was one of the most transparent shams and it astounds me how many Americans are still stupid enough to buy that was the reason we went to war. Of course the Iraqi people have a different idea about their future then the neo-cons and we will continue to pay the price in blood until we let Iraqis choose their own goverment/society and the US forces leave. You are right, the only solution is more efficient technologies, alternative sources and ultimatly weaning off the petruleum habit. Otherwise, the addicition will kill us. I just read former CIA agent Robert Baer's "Sleeping with the Devil". It was a real eye opener about Saudi Arabia and the US's relationship to it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Good rant

I agree totally with the second one in particular. The Iraq venture is just another conflict in the continuing and windening north/south "war" over resources. It is every bit as bloody and even more ruthless than the wrongfully named "cold war".

Also, I like your tag line. As an ex-marine, I can say that Smedley Butler is one of, (if not the only), "hero" that the Corps should be truly proud of.