Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

BACON IS RIGHT

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

Jim Bacon is very right:

The nation-state scale Agencies – driven by the “leadership” of both political clans – are driving the US of A’s economy towards Collapse as defined by Jared Diamond.

The Great Recession was triggered by greed. The underlying problems are Wrong Size House in Wrong Location – thanks to Fanny and Freddie – dysfunctional settlement patterns – thanks to Autonomobiles – and burning through Natural Capital to pay the debt generated by Mass OverConsumption in this dysfunctional context.

NO ONE is willing to be honest and tell voters (citizens) that ‘policies’ to encourage hyper – growth and hyper – consumption including the subsidies to the US of A’s global competitors to produce cheap goods – is the collective responsibility of all citizens and that the solution is for all citizens to change their behavior. Ride the Tiger one more turn around the election cycle.

Now we have the nation-state scale Agencies dumping more stimulus money on the underlying causes of The Great Recession – more money for Wrong Size House in Wrong Location, more bail-outs for Fanny and Freddie, more help for those who have seen their jobs shipped overseas and who have not been told they need to find something else to do and more help for auto makers who have insisted on making the wrong size vehicle to support (no, require) dysfunctional settlement patterns.

Steven Pearlstein in today’s WaPo says it best:

“… what they’re proposing to do is to spend a lot of money that they don’t have in ways that won’t work to help too many people who are neither desperate nor deserving.”

He is talking about jobs but it applies to shelter, transport, banks, and the economy in general. The WaPo editorial nails the shelter problem.

A “bonus question” al la Larry G:

After the last two weeks, is there ANYONE who now believes the NY Stock Exchange is not just a gambling venue?

There is a light at the end of the tunnel but will enough citizens see it before it is too late?

EMR

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4 responses to “BACON IS RIGHT”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    After the last two weeks, is there ANYONE who now believes the NY Stock Exchange is not just a gambling venue?

    Well, it's a pretty good venue if you can win at it 25 years out of 28.

    It isn't riskless, but neither is anything else where you put money you have not spent.

    EMR posits a no win situation and then concludes that the only possible result is another disaster.

    If you invest, you are a speculator, no matter how yo uinvest, and if you don't invest and spend your money, then you are an overconsumer.

    Unlike EMR I don't live in a world where I expect everyone to be educated or rich, or even one where they have a consensual collective mindset.

    My ideal world is focused on how to do the best we can BECAUSE of all of our differences, instead of trying to eliminate them.

    RH

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    "The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday approved a Democratic climate change bill that would require industry to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels."

    Are you prepared to turn you rthermostat down by 20% in winter and up by 20% in summer?

  3. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    the 20% "solution".

    Oh you must mean that Americans live like Europeans and Japanese – you know the folks that live in smaller homes use 1/2 the electricity and 2/3 the gasoline that we do and who …all have a higher life expectancy?

    do you mean that the 2/3 of us that are obese and are heating and cooling houses that are twice as big as what most healthier people in the industrialized world live with – apparently as comfortably as us…

    right… the global warming situation is this : if Americans have to live in smaller houses and only use as much energy as folks in other countries do – then people will die.

    this is the word on high from our resident "environmentalist".

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    "Oh you must mean that Americans live like Europeans and Japanese – you know the folks that live in smaller homes use 1/2 the electricity and 2/3 the gasoline that we do and who …all have a higher life expectancy?"

    If you turn you rthermostat down by 20% it does not matter what size home you are in.

    Or do you mean that only those with Al gore size homes will have to economize? but since we are looking for a 20% overall reduction, that would mean the big guys would need to cut back more than 20% in order to make up for the already virtuous who happen to live in smaller homes.

    After you turn the thermostat back 20% you may wish you were obese – at least in wintertime.

    ——————————

    "if Americans have to live in smaller houses and only use as much energy as folks in other countries do – then people will die."

    "Let them eat cake"

    You obviously don't know people who are already living on the ragged edge. You can;t cut their thermostat back 20% because they don't have one.

    But that isn't the issue and you know it. The issue is the WAY we will cut back by 20% is by increasing the cost of energy by 30%, which meand the cost of everything goes up and a lot fewer people have jobs.

    Yes, I beleive some people will die as a result, just as they died in the London and Chicago heat waves. If you can't see that coming (again), then you suffer from a serious lack of imagination.

    RH

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