Downhill From Apex
We tend to think the ruling class doesn't understand how the world works. We always put the same people who cause messes back in place to undo the mess they created. The monetary orchestra and its conductors who run Blackrock, Vanguard and States Street have a combined 20 trillion in assets and, by 2030, will have a stake in 30% of the world's economy. All three, alongside who they invested in, are playing the same notes of Environmental, Social, and Governance "ESG" of an all-across energy policy. The economy is a self-organizing system that behaves strangely when there is not enough inexpensive energy available to the system; in a nutshell, wars start.
Since being taken off the gold standard, what if the U.S. Dollar has been nothing more than a means to buy time and where we are being transitioned from one model to another? What will this transition look like? After all, the mantra "You will own nothing and be happy" has a specific connotation, but what is it? Politicians are paying lip service that they are concerned about food prices and fuel being too high for consumers. The hoi polloi focuses on the velocity of money, which the system seems to pride itself on, rather than how to use it to store wealth. Banks are concerned about interest rates being too low to adequately compensate for the loss of value of their investments due to inflation.
I don't know much about the topic of resource depletion and the minutiae of economics, but I reckon most of the world's problems are physical growth in a finite world. Art Berman, a geologist and writer, pointed out "Energy is the economy. Money is a call on energy. Debt is a lien on future energy." Sure, you can fit every living human at arm's length distance inside the state of Rhode Island or house all 8 billion of us living inside the state of Texas with the density of Paris, but is it sustainable to have every Chinese man live the same lifestyle as a middle-class American? Let's be honest about this and not knee-jerk to assume the Earth can replenish itself at such speeds that every living soul can own the latest model computer, which contains rare earth metals such as Neodymium and Cerium. Not that long ago, a family would eat chicken once a week. Why does Indian food contain so many spices? Because it's to hide the taste of rancid meat. A hundred years ago, Earth's population dedicated itself to agriculture and those who worked on farms didn't make it to see their 60th birthday (still is the case in the third world).
Maybe we are wrong about not just how we view economics, but our world being infinite and we are, in fact, running out of resources? Perhaps the thousands of theses and books sitting in the basement of U.N. Headquarters are correct? Currently, there is no political solution presented to us globally but what is given to us is the ending of the industrial age, peace, globalization, and prosperity. As noted by Henry Kissenger, who stated on the scamdemic: the global pandemic will "forever alter the world order".
Admiral Rickover the father of nuclear power as a form of energy as well as the longest-serving member of the U.S. armed forces, once gave a lecture on the relationship between fossil fuels and economic growth which he stated the following:
Our civilization rests upon a technological base which requires enormous quantities of fossil fuels. What assurance do we then have that our energy needs will continue to be supplied by fossil fuels: The answer is – in the long run – none. The Earth is finite. Fossil fuels are not renewable. In this respect, our energy base differs from that of all earlier civilizations. They could have maintained their energy supply by careful cultivation. We cannot. Fuel that has been burned is gone forever. Fuel is even more evanescent than metals. Metals, too, are non-renewable resources threatened with ultimate extinction, but something can be salvaged from scrap. Fuel leaves no scrap and there is nothing man can do to rebuild exhausted fossil fuel reserves. They were created by solar energy 500 million years ago and took eons to grow to their present volume. In the face of the basic fact that fossil fuel reserves are finite, the exact length of time these reserves will last is important in only one respect: the longer they last, the more time do we have, to invent ways of living off renewable or substitute energy sources and to adjust our economy to the vast changes which we can expect from such a shift.
I would have no idea if Rickover was a member of the deep state, the ruling class, a shill etc. He seemed like a sincere and honest man and I would take his words over the likes of Klaus Schwab or the individual who fired him. His comments also predate all U.N. Doctrines on Sustainability and climate change.
I've been toying with the idea that the climate change hysteria is a way of cloaking what's really at hand, that we are running out of cheap energy and natural resources and polluting the planet at an accelerated pace. It's much easier to promote climate change since it's more of this vague lurking monster that has no end, so it's less urgent to those conducting actual business and commerce. The ambiguity of it all makes most rational minds scoff at man-made climate change. It doesn't take much brain power to realize that the sun truly dictates climate change.
Tell the masses we are going to be out of fuel by XXX. I wouldn't want to imagine the chaos which would ensue. It's hard for us to sort through statistics and references since Global Warming and Climate Change fanatics block the facts and multinationals will skew data in their favor. Personally, I just can't see how it's plausible humans (an animal), a product of Earth, has the ability to change a planet's climate. We certainly pollute, but the Earth does heal. Those that "believe" in climate change overestimate and overemphasize man's ability to innovate. That man is God and can play God. If Earth wants to get rid of us, it will. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami killing upwards of 300,000 in less than seven hours affected Earth's rotation, decreased the length of the day, changed the planet's shape and shifted the North Pole. This was just a morsel of what the planet can do.
The war in Ukraine and now the farmer protests in Holland have pushed a few ideas to the front of my mind considering the fact how much energy flows out of Russia and Ukraine being a quintessential component of the world's grain supply accounting for 10% of it.
Food:
How many people can be fed on this Earth? There is, of course, no simple answer to this question but some factoids that are worth noting. The average person gets about 48% of their calories from grain. In 2013 world commercial grains stocks were roughly 330 million tons which can cover 50 days of global consumption. Wheat, corn and rice account for 90% of all grains. Wheat yields have plateaued since 1996. If oil goes to $200 a barrel, that will push grain prices 50% higher than they are now.
With inflation, personal expenditures rising and no end in sight, the question is which countries will be most affected? Well, it's the MENA region with all countries having a deep belief in the "religion of peace." This region has the industrial output of Finland, which says a lot about the regressive state of affairs of a region with a population of 500 million. The only two things that keep this region afloat are the western nations' subsidies and those nations' dependence on oil.
Iraq imports a little more than 60% of its grain, with a population growing at 800,000 per year, requiring 300,000 metric tons per year to feed them.
Yemen, a basketcase of a nation since the early 1960s, is primarily a desert and had a population of 5.3 million at that time; today, it's 31 million and increasing. A destabilized country such as Yemen, which is already having malnutrition issues and doesn't export anything the rest of the world wants, is a clear example of a powder keg about to explode if grain imports stop. Hi Saudi Arabia!
Afghanistan, when the U.S. first invaded the country, had a population of 24 million; today, it's closing in on 41 million. Not bad for a country that has seen a conflict inside its territory over the past 2 decades with a birth-to-death ratio of 467 to 1. It makes me wonder what their population would be if the U.S. didn't provide so much aid in food subsidies, but even after the Soviet invasion, its population grew at 2% annually. Under ideal conditions, the carrying capacity is 13 million. Now with the Taliban back in charge with a mighty arsenal left behind by the United States, the only way to sedate an overpopulated country is to continue feeding them. Without doing so, 97% of the population can fall into poverty and strife. The U.N. has about $135 million in aid in Afghanistan, but its goverment can't access the money since the Taliban-run central bank lacks the infrastructure to convert USD to Afghani. Unfortunately, Pakistan is paying the price with many flooding over its porous border (if you want to even call it that).
Then there is Egypt. A hostile backward overpopulated cesspool of Muslims with the majority of its population living along the Nile river with a population density of 5,000 persons per square mile along it. In 1800 the country had a population of only 4 million; today, it's over 100 million. In May, Egypt's prime minister said the country has 4 months of wheat reserves with an annual wheat consumption of more than 20 million tons. Egyptians consume 12 million tons of bread loaves annually, while consumption of baked goods and sweets made of wheat makes up 8-10 million tons yearly.
North Africa statistics are just as bleak. Libya, for example, had a solid welfare program under Gaddafi financed primarily through oil production. This is no longer the case as oil production has faltered since his untimely death and has redirected most of its welfare programs to food. Libya's oil exports recently ranged from 365,000 barrels per day to 409,000 bpd, which is a decrease of 865,000 bpd compared to normal production rates while under Gaddafi.
Energy conunDRUM:
Oil production worldwide plateaued in 2005 ranging from 82 to 88 million barrels a day and is projected to remain flat till 2024. America still imports oil, accounting for roughly 40% of its use. Fossil fuels accounted for 79% of U.S. consumption as an energy source in 2021.
With such plateauing, the war in Ukraine should be no surprise if you stop focusing on globohomo (not downplaying, just saying) for just a moment. With the Biden administration tapping into the strategic reserve, which now sits at its lowest point in 35 years, it is nothing more than a bandaid to the glaring problem of America's lack of energy independence, yet we have no way of knowing how to actually achieve independence. If oil prices do not go down, coupled with its backstabbing of allies, the U.S. will be forced to become energy independent. The reality is oil production in the United States peaked in 1971 and essentially every country and its largest fields have now peaked. We are having a more difficult time exploring and extracting it. Newer oil fields peak earlier and faster. The oldest continuously operated oil well, McClintock #1, started operations in 1861 with an output of 50 barrels per day. Today it produces about 1 barrel per day. This historical example indicates a process where an initially abundant resource slowly gets depleted. One barrel of crude oil can perform about 1700 kWh of work. A human laborer can achieve about 0.6 kWh in one workday. Breaking this down further, it takes over 11 years of human labor to do the same work potential in a barrel of oil. Is the normie with a Xanax prescription ready to live a 19th-century lifestyle?
What's the alternative to fossil fuel?
Let me be blunt about fuel prices currently and build upon what has been laid out on ourfiniteworld.com:
1. A war that happened at a time when scamdemic restrictions were being relaxed and vaccine mandates lifted did not need to happen is driving up food and oil prices.
2. Sanctions that did not need to be put in place are boomeranging back on Western nations and driving up food and oil prices.
3. Western nations are intentionally raising their oil prices by over-regulating and continuing to deindustrialize during a time when their citizens are under tremendous economic strain.
Magical thinking has grasped probably close to half the country's alternatives to fossil fuels. Not to get lost in the weeds on this since there are thousands of articles on the topic. But if we burn up every rock on the planet, we are left with only three: Solar, wind and nuclear power. Solar and wind, despite trillions dedicated to helping foster their use, only account for 1.8% of the global energy supply and by 2050, fossil fuels will account for 2/3rds of the global energy supply. There are other alternatives like thorium reactors, biofuels(a net energy negative), wave energy, or converting coal to liquid which would burn up our 250 years' worth of coal reserves from 10 generations down to 4. It doesn't seem like our ruling class are all that interested in improving these alternatives though China is. Alternatives compete against each other for energy creating a feedback loop. This is called a receding horizon.
Solar panels: I have been told that the solar panels that are on top of buildings and detached family homes are, in fact, obsolete and are pretty much giveaways. Solar panels can now harvest the same amount as those that cover thousands of square feet, the size of a coffee table and smaller. This technology hasn't been released to the general public. So will wait and see. Making these solar panels require a significant amount of energy and the lifespan of the average solar panel is poor. 29% of our surface land would need to be dedicated to solar. Also, what should be told is solar panels heat the surrounding environment.
Wind Farms: Let's start off with offshore wind farms. Did we forget these things are in salt water? Take a look at a ground bus on the average power craft boat that's been moored for a few years. To power the United States, we would need 250 times the amount of wind capacity than what we have currently and 29% of land surface to meet this need. Where would they go? Pretty much where we grow food. Factor in lost power during conversation and cost. Wind power being a possibility is something that shouldn't even be contemplated.
Nuclear Power: Really, this is the only plausible alternative though also a finite resource. The A1B reactor produces 125 Megawatts of electricity, which’s enough to power 25,000 homes. To NASA’s surprise, Voyager 1 launched in 1977 is still running off three pencil eraser size pelts of plutonium-238. Yet the stigma of nuclear power will probably never go away. Applying just for the permit to build a reactor takes10 years. Does anyone find it funny that the movie The China Syndrome came out exactly two weeks before the Three Mile Island Accident? I know, just another conspiracy. Shortly after the movie was released, America changed course and started importing Uranium. In 2019, the U.S imported a total of 48.3 million pounds. About 9% of the total amount was U.S.-origin, and 91% was foreign-origin. The U.S continues to retire its nuclear power plants and not replace them.
Pollution:
I find it strange how the word pollution has dropped out of our vernacular. The topic of pollution is compartmentalized and pushed to the back burner and for a good reason. The average American tosses out 1,600 lbs of garbage. According to the country's statistical yearbook, China collected 215 million tonnes of urban household waste. That's up from 152 million ten years earlier. In comparison, the United States generates 292 million tons. In 2015, there was a landslide at a rubbish dump in Shenzhen, killing 73 people. The landslide blanketed an area the equivalent of 50 football fields. The bulk of global trash is debris from construction and paper. The assumption is you bury waste and it eventually goes away from exposure to the elements. Yet this assumption is false since you can go into a landfill and find a newspaper perfectly legible from the 1930s or find ancient scrolls from 3,000 years ago.
Polymers for general usage have only been around for the past 70 years. 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic are estimated to have been made between 1950 and 2017. Half of this has been produced since 2004. Plastics still only account for 20% of waste. India has 5,000 processing plants making plastic bags. Kenya turns out 4,000 tons of bags a month with no plans of recycling them. Countries of SouthEast Asia, not even 20 years ago, used to wrap their street cart food in banana leaves, but now it's in Styrofoam and plastic bags. The U.S. National Academy of Science had estimated that all oceangoing vessels dump 8 million pounds of plastic annually. I once tied a plastic bag to a dock pier in the ocean and went back a year later and was dismayed that the bag was still strong enough to hold groceries. Polymers are also associated with "gender benders." If all the humans were to disappear just from what polymers are in existence today, the environment would be coping with its lasting effects for thousands of years. Plastics don't degrade; they just get compounded into smaller and smaller particles and eventually turn into dust.
We treat the ocean both as a pantry and a garbage dump. Decomposition rates for debris found in the ocean are horrifying, yet we look away. Out of sight, out of mind and the ocean was once a popular place to dump garbage until the 1920s in the United States. Fishing line 600 years, Diapers 450 years, beer can 200 years, pair of socks 5 years and of course glass bottles unknown. The biggest ocean polluters come from China and Southeast Asian nations, not surprisingly to anyone who's been on a beach in Vietnam.
End Note:
I'm playing devil's advocate here since dozens of moving parts aren't factored into this brief article. I'm also not factoring in the blatant contradictions from the cloud peoples’ Teleprompters. But it's something worth considering and I don't take the latest reports out of the U.N. lightly on food insecurity due to fertilizer shortages, amongst other things. At the end of the day, the powers at be know there are one too many useless eaters on the planet, and Amerimutts aren't educated enough to make repairs to E.V.'s, complex software for wind turbine drivers or turbines for nuclear power plants (one of many possible reasons why we aren't looking at this as an alternative fuel source). Our world needs some kind of reset, but don't assume you will rise from the ashes anew. Suppose food and energy become a severe security issue and Africa and the Arab crescent see a fuel and food shortage. Does Spain, Italy and Greece have the ability to defend themselves? It's been a long time since Italy built the Littorio-class battleship and the other two nations don't have any means to protect themselves from a desperate, starving horde. If the United States sees a currency collapse, if you think the border is in bad shape now, wait till you see what happens after such a catastrophe.
Only time will tell how they will transition us because one thing is for sure we ain't going back.