The CON in conservative...

[undergroundpanther]

Peak Confidence
by Alan Wartes


....Money is. All money, from the two bucks you need for a loaf of bread all the way up to the (mostly imaginary) US treasury, is made of oil. Take away oil, or more precisely the energy it delivers into the system, and there is nothing left. Most people will never see a single drop of oil in its natural state. It is only useful insofar as we can convert it into a whole constellation of products or services with the universal purpose of making money. The terminal product in this immensely complicated chain is always the same: profit.

In theory, this profit is sufficient to provide for the needs and wants of everyone willing to invest labor in its creation. This is the foundation of the American Dream. Our indelible belief that we have a real share of this collective wealth is a kind of psychological "equity" most of us borrow against heavily, never seeing it for the over-inflated speculation-driven bubble it really is. We accept hardship and foolish levels of indebtedness today, because next month, or next year, when opportunity finally comes knocking, it will all get paid back and life will be good.
This is where our present vulnerability begins to come into sharp and terrifying focus.

First, even without Peak Oil, the theory that this economic model of converting oil into money can benefit everyone has been completely destroyed by a handful of "elites." They have diverted vast amounts of our wealth into their own pockets. They live to expand their personal share of the three P's: property, power, and privilege, while passing on the costs to the rest of us. The average corporate CEO now makes roughly 250 times the average worker, while wages and other measures of middle class economic health have fallen steadily over the past two decades.


Were it not for the stress and hardship this imposes on those of us at the bottom of this perverse pyramid, we might even laugh at the absurdity of amassing more wealth than they or their descendents can possibly spend in many lifetimes. But it really isn't funny that our so-called leaders have plunged the rest of us into a state of unprecedented vulnerability and uncertainty. Newsflash: despite all the trickle down, "what's good for the rich is good for the people" propaganda, they do not have our best interests at heart.



http://hydrocarbonman.com/

Frankly I think they NEVER had anyone's interests at heart but themselves winning a game.