Right Questions; Wrong Answers:
Good Morning all of you great minds out there in the world of the semi-sane; your King of Simple News is on the air.
I just returned from 24 hours of driving to Phoenix and back, which gave me a lot time to think.
As I made the 100 mile and nearly 6,000 foot descent off the mountain from Flagstaff to Phoenix…all I could think of was; why? The temperature in Flagstaff was a pleasant 65 degrees and when I reached the bottom of the grade it had risen to a sweltering 96; on November 5th! Smog was hanging over the entire Valley of the Sun, and the traffic was untenable.
Road construction that is being financed by the Great American Bailout was evident everywhere, as the continual arterial expansion necessary to support the ever greater growth of Phoenix goes on 24-7.
The new homes stretched for miles and were so close in proximity to one another, that their matching tile roofs appeared as a continual sea of humanity. Why do 3,000,000 people want to live under these conditions?
As I left Phoenix at 2PM, pulling a trailer loaded with a tractor in bumper to bumper, stop light to stop light, three lanes wide of crazed wannabe NASCAR drivers, I felt like, rather than driving, I was escaping. But perhaps that’s just me.
Phoenix has no natural water to support this growth, growth in an area where glamorous swimming pools, man-made waterfalls, and fountains are as common as golf carts on the streets of Sun City. In other words, Phoenix is dependent on taking water from other regions in order to propel the necessary growth.
This is not “pick on Phoenix” day, as many other cities are in the same boat. I was listening to a San Antonio radio program the same morning and the subject was water shortage. The plan is to create a massive desalinization plant on the coast to desalinate sea water and ship it via a pipeline to support growth in that region of Texas.
Is this propensity toward endless growth a natural thing? M. King Hubbert challenged this premise mathematically and concluded that the exponential growth of the last two centuries is the opposite of the normal situation. Hubbert went on to state, “There can be no possible solutions to the world’s problems that do not involve stabilization of the world’s population.”
Listing to the radio as I drove, the solution for our current unemployment debacle was continually stated as massive growth. We need to put everyone back to work and to do so we need to grow, grow, grow…just like Phoenix needs to grow to stay alive. And therein, my friends, lies the problem.
We need to grow to stay alive under our current system of economics. As the common adage goes, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” We have created a system that is so rank, that it requires the impossible. Impossible over the long term that is. But, by borrowing against our children’s futures, we can postpone the inevitable and we are more than willing to do just that. In fact, the most powerful words that any politician can utter are, “Elect me for growth.”
I want to give a hat tip to “Hotrod” who posted the following in yesterdays comments; “Just got back from a construction industry trade association meeting. The keynote speaker was a well known economist. The question was - when will things get back to normal? The long term answer - increased birth and immigration rates. Population MUST grow to 425-450 million by 2120 in order to assure GROWTH and return to normalcy. This idiot received a standing ovation!”
Well Hotrod, lightening really does strike twice in the same place. I was watching TV in the motel (Gallup NM) and heard the exact same thing from a religious leader being interview about the problems with Social Security, Healthcare, etc. His solution, “We need a higher birth rate and it would solve all of our problems.”
So why do these people suggest an impossible solution? I’d say it is because they are attempting to answer an impossible problem, while at the same time failing to accept that our system is fatally flawed. However, Albert Einstein, beat me to this reasoning many years ago “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
We already have some 40 Million American’s unemployed and underemployed. And the solution is to add more people? Our natural resource reserves are going the way of the American Bison and we promote greater usage, more population and less pollution. The first word that pops into my mind is, insanity.
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I truly believe that a great many people embrace their ignorance intentionally. They have to care for it and nurture it, because their ignorance satisfies their need to maintain distance from truth. We continue this relationship with ignorance because to severe it would create an uncomfortable situation whereby it would become impossible to maintain our denial of the truth, long term. We would be forced to accept that things will not all be alright again, at least as we’ve known them. And that we will have to adapt and seek other ways to survive and enjoy the coming times. Denial is a very difficult thing to overcome. It is not impossible, however. -bb
Billyb,
“Denial is a common tactic that substitutes deliberate ignorance for thoughtful planning.” — CHARLES TREMPER
“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.” — C. NORTHCOTE PARKINSON
And finally….
“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” — MARK TWAIN
I was in PHX years ago and felt exactly the same way, thank God I could escape, and I only drove through on the freeway. Why would anyone live there? All I could figure was they didn’t know any better and/or had created little worlds that allowed them to cope (staying inside and watching TV or going shopping).
And then my aunt and uncle in beautiful Alaska announced they had sold their winter condo in Maui and bought one in PHX. I think they may be regretting that decision now.
Anyway, yes, denial is a very very strong defense mechanism. Ask anyone who’s seen something traumatic, they may not even remember seeing it unless they go into therapy. But they will still have symptoms of trauma as they can’t deny reality at the deeper level.
And so it goes with those in economic denial. They say everything’s fine, but watch their actions - lots of ways to try and avoid the pain of reality, shopping being a big one.
A number of my friends are now telling me they’re waking up in the middle of the night for no reason. After we talk awhile, they admit they do know the reason, they’re worried sick about the future.
What pump is Geithner and his G-20 financial wizards attempting to prime with their Keynesian stimulus mentality? The only economy we have in existence in America, is our exponential growth of debt. With unemployment dropping off line like a lead balloon, stimulus is the only way to fool folks into believing the economy is coming back strong. Problem is, as unemployment increases through the winter months, and our future generations debt load becomes thoroughly saturated, stimulus will no longer be an option or avenue and the politicos will be seeking quality hideouts in vain attempts to avoid the angry masses.
So, how is growing the debt even larger and draining ever more vital resources from our planet and continuing to increase our population going to make our nation’s economy strong again, this being our only plan?
When I look up “Dumb” in the dictionary, I should see a large, 3-D, color photo of our nation in denial. Or………? - bb
Where is our current 3rd Q growth coming from?
Education. It’s a boom time for colleges. So many people have gone back to school on government loans. If they’re not studying nursing, they’re studying for a job that won’t be there in 2 to 4 years.
Financials. Goldman Sachs and their kind are making a killing on the stock market these past 2 quarters. But, there is no way it can go up from here. They will pump and dump stocks before this year ends.
So, we really don’t have any “real” growth.
Also, I think we have reached a point in America where 1% population growth won’t net more than 1% GDP growth.
I think that Obama, the Fed, the IMF and at least part of Congress, understands they don’t have any viable short-term options, except to keep things afloat for as long as possible.
No doubt, they have studied lots of potential “fixes” and have seen scenarios of what will unfold if they don’t keep things running. All of the other “solutions” will have catastrophic short-term outcomes. Humans being “short-timers” don’t want to go there.
We have waited way too long; all of the palatable solutions are now too little, too late. Every technical solution being offered will take decades to implement; that’s assuming it will even work. All of the high-tech solutions are insanely expensive and we are flat broke. Reverting to low-tech solutions while trying to support almost seven billion people on the planet will entail a massive die-off.
There is no way out of this predicament without massive economic, political, and social upheaval. No one wants to go there, so what do we do? Live as well as we can for as long as possible, then throw a “Hail Mary” pass and hope we get lucky.
The powers that be know the bail outs won’t work, but at least it delays the inevitable a little longer. They are simply delaying our execution date; and their own as well, for as long as they can.
If this mess collapses any time soon, even those who have prepared carefully will be in jeopardy. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson, “man, you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
There are a lot of good guesses as to how, and why we are here, and that people do, or don’t know what they are doing.. And, I certainly don’t know..
But, I always try to remember a different angle.. I realize this system is working for a select small group.. I also realize these people are smart.. My logic says there is no way they can’t know what they are doing.. If that is so, my only conclusion is that there is a method to this madness.. That there is a goal, and an end game in play here.. I don’t know what it is, but the rich are still getting richer, and getting more control over the workers… The workers who have been getting poorer for the last thirty years, and poorer every new day..
I think it’s working for some people.. Maybe working for those considered “important” people..
wma…
Wow! I am continually impressed with the posts on this blog.
Eventually our paper currency will collapse as all previous paper money experiments have failed. That is a foregone conclusion. It is only a matter of when, not if.
My opinion of what is taking place right now is that the smart, well connected 1% are well aware of the slippery slope we are on and they are lining their pockets through massive corruption. The final looting of the commonwealth by transferring trillions of dollars to the criminal banking interests by way of generations of taxpayers.
I imagine that every empire goes through a similar pattern of decline.
Hotrod, My friend Frosty Wooldridge, talk radio host, public speaker, author, blogger, and world class cyclist, often tells me that I have the best commenter’s on the web!
I too remain both amazed and thankful for the thoughtful, thought provoking, indepth posts that appear here each and every day.
Thank You.
I want to address the many important statements that appear above.
Billyb is exactly right, our current economy exists solely on growth of debt. It has to, due to compounding interest and millions of Americans being employed by the world’s largest pyramid scheme. Period.
Colorado Kid said that we are in “economic denial” to avoid the personal pain of reality…and so we are.
Les said something extremely important, “Also, I think we have reached a point in America where 1% population growth won’t net more than 1% GDP growth.” Bingo Les! Wages and consumption are NOT rising at the former levels that were attributed to past population growth. This is a subject that deserves a lengthy discussion.
Greg made many excellent points, coming to this conclusion, “There is no way out of this predicament without massive economic, political, and social upheaval. No one wants to go there, so what do we do?” Greg’s answer was that our leadership is delaying the inevitable for as long as possible, “They are simply delaying our execution date.”
Wma, said, “I realize this system is working for a select small group.. Maybe working for those considered “important” people..” We are schooled from childhood on the attributes of “important” people…important people have a lot of money and influence. In other words, power and greed is good.
Hotrod is correct in that this is the greatest daylight heist in history as the powerful and greedy line their pockets with a final grand scam. Hotrod ended his post with, “I imagine that every empire goes through a similar pattern of decline.” And, I imagine Hotrod is correct.