A Long Road Back
October 11th 2008 19:56
This is a blog that concentrates on Business. In reality, business can not be confined. It overlaps with culture, psychology, and politics, to name a few. The turmoil in our domestic financial system makes us look weak, possibly weaker than we are. Some who benefit from us looking weak are hailing the turnaround in our fortunes, hoping we will fall to our knees and not get up. Some think we are distracted and have moved in ways that a stronger America would have kept in check.
For years we have neglected our domestic energy business. Politicians have made it hard to go after reserves by banning offshore drilling for environmental reasons. Even if areas like ANWR were open, you could count on lawsuits to keep energy companies away. Nuclear power is bottled up because of the spent fuel problem. Lawsuits keep refineries from being built. The downside is dependence on foreigners who in many cases don't like us and the flow of money to them funds terrorist activities. Currently we send almost $700 Billion to these countries.
Recently, according to J. R. Nyquist in The Monster at the Bottom of the Abyss, Russia saw our weakness and used this as cover to strike out at Georgia, wrecking chances for NATO expansion. Russia has acquired the means to strangle all of Europe by withholding oil and natural gas. If the Ukraine and Georgia were admitted into NATO, an attack on one by Russia wouldbe considered an attack on all, obligating Germany, for example, to war again with Russia. Now however, Germany is dependent on Russia for natural gas.
If the supply were cut off, Germany’s situation would be desperate...
It appears the economic weakness and dependence on unstable energy suppliers has brought us to a point of German - Russian alliance. George Friedman of Stratfor has written a column titled The German Question.
Many of us have argued for years against the Federal Reserve, deficit spending, for a strong currency backed by gold and silver and warned about our energy dependence. It's going to be a long and painful road back.
For years we have neglected our domestic energy business. Politicians have made it hard to go after reserves by banning offshore drilling for environmental reasons. Even if areas like ANWR were open, you could count on lawsuits to keep energy companies away. Nuclear power is bottled up because of the spent fuel problem. Lawsuits keep refineries from being built. The downside is dependence on foreigners who in many cases don't like us and the flow of money to them funds terrorist activities. Currently we send almost $700 Billion to these countries.
Recently, according to J. R. Nyquist in The Monster at the Bottom of the Abyss, Russia saw our weakness and used this as cover to strike out at Georgia, wrecking chances for NATO expansion. Russia has acquired the means to strangle all of Europe by withholding oil and natural gas. If the Ukraine and Georgia were admitted into NATO, an attack on one by Russia wouldbe considered an attack on all, obligating Germany, for example, to war again with Russia. Now however, Germany is dependent on Russia for natural gas.
If the supply were cut off, Germany’s situation would be desperate...
“NATO,” noted Friedman, “as an institution built to resist the Russians, is in an advanced state of decay. To resurrect it, the Germans would have to pay a steep economic price.” Quite clearly, the Germans have already decided to abandon NATO’s mission in pursuit of their own short-term economic interest. Where this will lead in the long-run is obvious. One day Russia and Germany will come to blows, and America isn’t going to be around to help Germany. Perhaps the financial crash on Wall Street has underscored the future irrelevance of America for Germany. America is collapsing, after all.
Many of us have argued for years against the Federal Reserve, deficit spending, for a strong currency backed by gold and silver and warned about our energy dependence. It's going to be a long and painful road back.
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