What Ya Gonna do When the Well Runs Dry?
What Ya Gonna Do When the Well Runs Dry?
By Mike Folkerth
I’m going to break out that old saw of growth again today for those who may have forgotten what the real problem is.
The
To paint a vivid picture of this misguided venture, shall we take a look at a microcosm of the
Once upon a time, a small town was founded on the banks of a large lake. There was a stream feeding the lake that averaged 100 gallons per minute of water flowing in. On the other end of the lake, a stream flowed out and the trees and critters downstream benefited from that outflow.
The new town bought a pump that produced 50 gallons per minute in order to feed the needs of the growing community. At that point, the outflow stream slowed, but continued to flow at 50 gallons per minute and minimal negative effect was noticed.
New Town proved a popular place and followed the coveted
The two pumps now equaled the total inflow, and the outflow stream stopped flowing. The trees, plants and aquaculture downstream died off, but…the lake remained full. The town was thriving and the builders and store keepers were making handsome profits; the American Dream was materializing on every new street. The dead trees downstream were cut for lumber and everything in nature was balanced. Sure it was.
New Town continued to grow and the public works director requisitioned a third 50 gallon per minute pump. One bright member of the town council, who had demonstrated exceptional skills at 8th grade math, pointed out that the three pumps were now pumping 50 gallons more per hour than the inflow rate of the stream.
Naturally, a committee was formed comprising of the town’s most successful merchants, builders and manufacturers to study the problem. It was determined that under the present rate of growth, the lake would not go dry for 50 years. The average age of those on the committee was 50.
The final findings and recommendations of the committee were; We don’t have a problem, it’s a big lake!
Silly little story huh? Replace the inflow water in that lake with oil, timber, natural gas, clean air, copper ore, iron ore, fisheries, productive farm land, and every other finite natural resource on earth. Reality? The lake is drying up fast and the outflow of the now dry stream represents good
That is where we find ourselves isn’t it?
Math is the exact science and 100 gallons in and 150 gallons out, equals a sum total of negative 50 gallons available for future job creation. But, as Gregg Easterbrook said, “Torture numbers and they’ll confess to anything.” The numbers are being “water -boarded” in
I heard that; “They will come up with a substitute. They will come up with new technology. They always have.”
I personally know “They” and I wouldn’t count on them coming to the rescue. Ask your favorite presidential candidate to disprove the above example. And then ask them how they are going to solve the problem. Of course we have been doing just that for some 100 years and so far apparently not one politician has the answer. I know that because we still have the problem. Could it be that the politicians are depending on “They?”
Looked at from another perspective, let’s pretend that we go to the grocery and buy enough food to fill the entire panty to the ceiling. The pantry at this point equals finite resources. We then make a plan to eat out of the pantry for rest of lives. We even plan for our family to grow and to invite the neighbors to eat with us, all sharing the same finite pantry; forever. This plan would then be the same plan economic plan that
If you were to unveil the above plan to your family, they would put you in a quite place where you would hopefully get well. If a politician trots out the same plan…we elect them president.
Wake up
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Hey Mike! It’s always “we” or “they” isn’t it! No one ever takes responsibility by themselves anymore. And, of course, there is always “politically correct”. I find it amazing how many ways “our” politicians can find of lieing to “us”. It has become very difficult looking at the current crop of candidates, let alone listening to “them”. You certainly cannot use words like “finite” or “limit” with these jokers. There is always more where “that” came from. These folks are still trying to turn lead into gold. One hopes “they” are successful since “they” have a lot of lead in “their” heads. The actual areas where we desperately need growth(jobs, education, intelligence, etc.) are dwindling at a staggering rate. Where we cannot afford growth(population, wars, economy, ignorance, etc.) the increase is just as staggering. Now the House wants to give us poor/middle class a kick in the ass with chump change from out of nowhere and the Senate apparently wants to add retired folks and the rich to the beneificiaries. At least with a mule a good 2×4 to the snout will get it’s attention. I have yet to see anyway of attracting our governments attention to the absurdity of their actions. People all laugh at the sorcerers and alchemists of ancient times when they attempted to make something out of nothing but they are no different than our government of today. Except, of course, we are not laughing. In reading some excerpts of Bush’s State of the Union address the word “pathetic” keeps coming up in my mind. I think that just about sums up our plight! You have a good one Mike!
Hi Mike,
I agree with hayesml47’s assessment of “pathetic.” The more I hear from all of the candidates, the less I like any of them. I would not vote for him, but at least John McCain has uttered some of the brutal truth - the jobs are not coming back, and at the rate we’re going, only wars will be in our future.
You cannot solve a problem until you acknowledge it exists, and then analyze and define it. Only a few voices in the wilderness like yours reflect this acknowledgement.
We’ve been forewarned, but are we forearmed?
Michael and Kathy,
John McCain admitted that he knows little about the economy, but can run a heck of a war.
Mit Romney says he know everything about the economy, but had one of the worst job creation records of all time in Mass. He also passed a half baked mandatory healthcare plan in Mass. that now finds itself $250 Million in debt.
Hillary…I hardly know what to say, other than another Clinton era would be so divisive for the U.S. that we wouldn’t survive it.
Obama, I think he’s a nice guy, but lacks any clue of a solution to our economic woes.
And these are the best that America has to offer? The recession that we might be in, ha-ha, will be long and painful for many.
The only sure fire plan is to change as individuals and live more simply. Less debt, less consumption, and more self reliance, to the highest extent possible.
Keep those thoughts coming… Mike
Mike, I think that whomever wins the presidency is not quite as important as who they choose to make our economic agenda. I really would fear who Hillary would pick. I would hope Obama would have the sense to choose good people and listen to them. I do not know who I would trust with our maxed-out economy. It looks like a crap shoot to me at this point! Take it easy!
Michael,
It’s hard to know what any of these people would do, but if their campaign gives any clue, they would continue to load up the budget with more new programs than we could imagine.
The FED cut the interest rate another 1/2 percent today, and stock market went down. Growth for the fourth quarter came in at 1/2 of 1 percent and that was cookin’ the books. It actually lost ground, you know, like in a recession?
The main stream politicians will just ride it out until Middle America is gone and then blame someone else.