We behave as if adversity of any kind is only a temporary phenomenon, so not to worry. Things will return to normal soon and we can revert back to our old ways of raping the earth of its bounty of finite resources in our gluttoness pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence. We can tolerate corruption on the part of government and big business so long as we get our slice of the pie, even at the expense of our less fortunate brethren. After all, as was so aptly stated in “Gone with the Wind,” by Scarlet O’Hara, “I’ll think about that tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day.”
By the most conservative estimates, we are ten percent (10%) of the world’s population consuming thirty percent (30%) of its resources. Few seem to be particularly interested or concerned about this sad testimony to what we have become. It is as if we have some divine right to all the world has to offer, with absolutely no obligation to assume some responsibility for conservation on behalf of the rest of the world.
We seem to have abandoned any notion of personal responsibility or moral obligation for whom and what we are. Sadly, that kind of attitude comes at a horrific cost, the manifestations of which have only begun to come down on our heads. It isn’t pretty and it is only going to get worse.
In the 1970’s we experienced a gas shortage perpetrated by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Gas lines became a common sight and people were dumping their gas-guzzling cars as fast as they could get rid of them. Fuel economy and alternative forms of energy were the new buzz words in our lexicon of the latest fads. Conservation and innovation were to be a major part of the backbone of our economy. As soon as the crisis was over we went right back to our big cars, pickup trucks, motor homes, etc. The crisis was past and any interest in reducing our dependence on foreign oil, developing new forms of energy and improving mileage on motor vehicles was no longer of any interest or concern to us. The moment had passed and we were back to indulging our every appetite until the next crisis came along. After all, “tomorrow was another day.” The behemoths of corporate and government corruption gave a sigh of relief. We turned a blind eye and a deaf ear. It was back to business as usual.
Had we been a forward looking people with a common bond among ourselves, we would have put our shoulders to the wheel in order to solve the problem of our dependence on fossil fuels. Motor vehicles on America’s highways today would be powered by the most advanced and sophisticated hybrids, hydrogen cells, bio-diesels and other unimagined forms of technology. Now the foreboding prophecy of the 1970’s has come home to haunt us. Here we stand with our pants down around our ankles and totally bewildered as to what will be wrought by this latest misfortune or, better yet, catastrophe. Guess what folks? There just isn’t any quick fix and we are totally unprepared to deal with what we face. We did it to ourselves by our false optimism and a chronic myopic view of the world. We have dropped the family jewels in the proverbial vice, I fear. And the vice is just beginning to tighten.
I don’t for a minute believe that what we are facing is simply the result of the market forces at work. It came upon us too quickly and too severely. There just has to be more to it than that. I am more inclined to believe it is payback time.
Firstly, we have our Coward in Chief in the White House whose family has a long history of close ties to the rich and powerful of Saudi Arabia, most notably the Bin Laden Family. Secondly, we have a Vice Coward and crook whose ties go back to the oil and gas industry in Wyoming and Texas. Given the shroud of secrecy with which he has surrounded himself, God only knows where all of his tentacles of influence and corruption reach. Thirdly, we have huge petrochemical corporations making absolutely obscene profits at the expense of the people of this country, with not the slightest qualm of conscience. They aren’t even embarrassed by what they have done and continue to do. But, they have their buddies in the administration running interference for them. What more do they need?
George H.W. Bush, as the first Iraq war was coming to a close, stopped short of invading Baghdad at the urging of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia because the Saudis did not want to share a common border with a country ruled by a Shiite majority. Then, in 2003, along came our newly crowned Coward in Chief who invaded Iraq for the second time, based on a pack of lies. Our Congress readily acquiesced about which they have been moaning and gnashing their teeth ever since. The most egregious folly of his grand deception was to disenfranchise a Sunni Muslim minority in power and hand it over to the long dreaded Shiite Muslim majority. Now, the new ruling majority in Iraq (Shiites) has become cozy with their brethren in Iran, and the Sunnis, who once enjoyed a close relationship with their Sunni allies, sit on the periphery of this new alliance wondering what happened and what is yet to come. Georgie Porgie’s betrayal of Daddy’s promise to King Fahd has thrown the whole region into chaos with an uncertain future.
All of the foregoing is topped off with a long standing and one-sided foreign policy by the United States which clearly favors the State of Israel at the expense of the Arab and Islamic world. Nothing demonstrates our convoluted definition of “free and open elections,” more than our mandate to Gaza for such elections. There was no qualifier to the effect that the U.S. wanted “an open and free election that will guarantee the results the United States and the State of Israel desire." When things did not come out the way we expected and Hamas was elected by the Palestinians, we refused to recognize their government which was brought about through “a free and open election.” Now, folks, if that isn’t a lose-lose situation, I don’t know what is!
All of this has resulted in (1) a major betrayal of our Sunni allies by a precipitous invasion of Iraq, and (2) almost total alienation of the entire Middle East through a foreign policy that is clearly one-sided in favor of the State of Israel. None of this makes for solid and lasting friendships in the region.
We have lost a long-standing friendship with Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states in and around the Arabian Peninsula. Iran is taking great delight in flexing its muscles and irritating the United States. Hezbollah is a formidable force with which we have to reckon, and Al Quaida continues to flourish in the remoteness of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lebanon is once again in turmoil, and we are uncertain as to where Russia and China stack up in all this.
When a friend of long standing figuratively seduces you, is it not a rather natural reaction to want to get even? I suspect that is much of what is really happening to us at the gas pump. Our friends on whom we have relied for so long are no longer with us. With China funding our war in Iraq and foreign interests buying up our financial institutions, compounded by the transfer of industry and technology, and the outsourcing of jobs from the U.S. overseas, all of our bluster about being the “richest and most powerful nation in the world" has a hollow ring to it.
We can take some solace in knowing that no one on earth does self-deception better than we do.
No point in whistling past the graveyard anymore. The demons are long gone and reside comfortably atop most of the oil reserves in the world. We will get what we pay for and nothing more. That certainly is not a pretty picture to contemplate. We need to grow up.
Cowboy Bob
May 22, 2008
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