A Rose by Any Other Name Is a Thorny Issue

Or

Whats Going On In Our World Today?

Michael K. Martin, Ph.D
and

B.E. Martin, Ed.D.

July 4, 2011

Acknowledgements
The writers would like to take a moment to thank all of the people who contributed to our little quest. What started out to be a short article that did little but outline some of our interests in science with what is going on in our world almost seemed to take on a life of its own. It grew into what you see today. Our sequestering, arguing, cussing, and discussing have taught us much. The piles of articles and books should be evidence enough to convince our wives that we were working on what gave us a sense of purpose. Thanks to them for their patience and understanding. A particular thanks to Dr. Michio Kaku, whose new book, Physics of the Future, set in motion what you see today. His unbelievable capabilities will be remembered in history. You are encouraged to read some of his works. We hope you enjoy what weve done as much as we enjoyed doing it.

A Rose by Any Other NameIs a Thorny Issue

Table of Contents
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. Introduction................................................................................3 Entropy.........6 The Rise of Causality.......13 Civilization A Historical Perspective.....16 The Rise and Fall of Smaller Civilizations......22 Civilization Today.....27 Global Extinction Events......32 The Future for Civilization.....43 Being Politically Correct and Its Aftermath.....52 The Greed-Based Society....58 The Distribution of Wealth in America....66 Americas Crumbling Infrastructure....80 Americas Welfare State..119 The World and Peak Oil...126 Global Warming137 The War on Drugs145 The War on Terror or Americas Warfare State154 The American Economy.........................................................169 Summary, Conclusions, and Recapitulations.176

A Rose by any Other Name Is a Thorny Issue

Introduction
Empires of the future will be empires of the mind. Winston Churchill This whole business for us arose from the reading of Dr. Michio Kakus (herein after called Kaku) new book Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. The sheer fascination of what science and technology holds in store for the planet is nothing short of mind-boggling. From his youth, Kaku was struck by Albert Einsteins quest for a Theory of Everything and has dedicated his life in its pursuit. As a result of his contribution to science, he is now considered one of the worlds leading experts in the field of theoretical physics. But, this book is not about his exploits alone. He has interviewed over 300 of the planets top experts in science and technology to envision what the world might look like in the year 2100. Being driven by a passion to understand, and prompted by the enormous and prophetic works of predecessors such as Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne, Kaku pauses along the way to reflect on how past prognostications have actually altered the course of history and how those predictions have had both positive and negative impacts on our lives today. He is also acutely aware of the tenuousness of such things. While these musings are founded in the science of today, the extreme inter-weavings of society can change the trajectory of the best of shooters and they will sometimes miss the target entirely. So, while Kaku remains optimistic about the future of humanity, he is also aware that there are myriad obstacles facing the world today things that cannot or will not be ameliorated by science alone. It is his optimism, tempered with his own concerns, which have prompted this paper. We must wonder whether the human species will survive to realize its potential. Wars, conflicts, rumors of wars, economic collapses,

governmental problems, joblessness, and an enormous volume of other problems that face humanity all over the world, serves to make us pause and ponder whether any of this good seed will ever bear fruit.
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So, this thesis is meant to be a brief exploration of the if/then, why/wherefore, and so/thereby. It is an attempt to explore, in one place, all of the good/bad attempts of humanity to survive against the overwhelming odds against it. With each new insight always comes a multitude of questions. Most of those answers, unfortunately, must be left to the future and are thus beyond the scope of the observations covered here. Without spending copious space recounting the entire book in the introduction, it is instructive to peruse the Table of Contents and attempt to incorporate specifics throughout the development of this paper. 1. Future of the Computer: Mind over Matter 2. Future of AI: Rise of the Machines 3. Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond 4. Nanotechnology: Everything from Nothing 5. Future of Energy: Energy from the Stars 6. Future of Space Travel: To the Stars 7. Future of Wealth: Winners and Losers 8. Future of Humanity: Planetary Civilization 9. A Day in the Life in 2100 (Kaku. 2010)

Merely scanning the Table of Contents in Kakus book, and remembering what one read in yesterdays newspaper or heard on a newscast it is apparent that the contentions were sure to come from reading his book, published in 2010, are already in question in 2011.

We have made a conscious effort to give proper credit where credit is due. But, much of the opinions we present are the product of many years of living and many sources have been lost to time. The preponderance of the information we present has been gleaned from the Internet, and may not have been properly referenced, but the sources of the articles we researched are contained in them. They are referenced in at the end of our work. Regardless, any omission is purely by accident and a product of old age. So, in advance, our apologies if

anyone feels slighted through our inadvertent omission. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this paper and, if read, please feel free to make corrections, comments, and include observations. There is nothing new contained herein. We acknowledge that the sheer volume of information available makes a comprehensive evaluation of the topics next to impossible. However, the topics we chose may seem arbitrary to some. Libraries could easily be filled by only one of the topics mentioned. It is also imperative to acknowledge that some of the information to be found on the internet is questionable on one side and downright false on the other. We have given a sincere effort to filter out those who are obviously on the fringe of truth and to give only information that is easily verifiable through other means. There is some likelihood that we have failed along the way. If so, then apologies are proffered at the outset. Our entire intention has been, and remains, to help bring attention to what we feel are the most serious problems facing civilization and the planet today. Things continue to change at such a dizzying pace that some of which is truth today will be entirely false tomorrow. This cannot be avoided. So given these realities, and for what its worth here goes!

Entropy
Rob Peter to Pay Paul English Proverb

Whether contemplating the cosmos, trying to understand the planet, or studying the development of civilization and the growth of societies, one must first understand the law of Conversation of Energy, the Laws of Thermodynamics and a phenomenon called Entropy.

The Law of Conservation of Energy is considered an empirical law of physics. Scientifically stated, it means that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time (conserved over time). It also brings into play the notion that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but that it can be transformed from one state of energy to another some forms are usable and some forms are not. One must wonder then if the transformation brings in energy that cannot be used to sustain the system then where does the energy needed come from? More on this conundrum will appear in a later section.

In its simplest form, the First Law of Thermodynamics says that there is a finite amount of energy in the universe. It also says that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only This grows from the principle of

transformed, i.e. changed from one form to another.

conservation of energy. Put another way, the change in the internal energy of a system is equal to the amount of heat supplied to the system minus the amount of work performed by the system upon its surroundings. (Wikipedia) The problem arises when we consider heat. It ultimately becomes unusable energy to the system.

Subsequent to the First Law, the Second Law of Thermodynamics grew out of the realization that heat becomes an unusable form of energy. The Second Law says that through

conservation of energy the system will equilibrate to the point that, without the infusion of new useable energy, no further work can be done. Indeed, this realization says it all when

considering the fate of the universe and everything in it.

The Third Law of Thermodynamics essentially deals with a phenomenon called absolute zero. In science this refers to the lowest possible temperature one at which all molecular and atomic movement ceases. This Law is the least talked about of the three and, for purposes of this paper, contains little relevance except that it further confirms that each of these laws relate entropy of matter to its absolute temperature. fundamental component of all the laws of thermodynamics. Hence, the term Entropy is a

Entropy, by definition, is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy NOT available for useful work in a thermodynamic process. (Wikipedia) It reduces the state of order of the system. It always ends in a state of Chaos and that is not useful for any system.

Fortunately, there is no dearth of research on the Laws of Thermodynamics, the processes involved in Entropy, or the ultimate consequences of Chaos. It quickly becomes evident that the concepts involved in each can be applied to nearly any type of system, whether physical, chemical, sociological, psychological, statistical, and open or closed systems. The list could certainly be expanded. They also are compatible with macro- or micro- systems, and they are found to be interdisciplinary as well. In other words, these laws and the terminologies applied to them are cogent to everything going on in the universe and to the world both in antiquity and to the state of current affairs. For anyone interested in tomorrow, at least a bit more than a cursory understanding of these laws of nature is crucial. Conservation of Energy (Wikipedia) Einsteins Theory of Relativity (soon to be named Law of Relativity) postulates that mass is really a form of energy. He further showed that the distinction of matter particles in the form of atoms and energy particles in the form of protons are nearly inseparable. In fact, one can transform into the other. In this instance there is no loss, nor does it affect the total amount of energy in the system. So What? In fact, this notion has far-reaching consequences for the system we call civilization. In elementary terms, it means that perpetual motion machines can only work if they deliver no energy to the surroundings. A bit of thought means they are impossible. No matter how elegant the machine it will always produce friction - to turn gears,
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move levers, etc. In the process of movement heat is generated that is moved into the system and that heat becomes unusable energy to perform additional work. Therefore, without the input of new mass/energy, the process will run down and ultimately cease. The system dies. Likewise, a civilization without the input of new mass/energy (food, materials, dwellings, factories, jobs, etc.) will die just as the transition of birth, rise, decline, and death of civilizations show.

This phenomenon was known by ancient philosophers by observing the motion of the pendulum. By 1843, with the invention of the Joule Apparatus, James Joule showed that a descending weight on a string caused a paddle to rotate in water. He found that the

gravitational potential energy lost by the weight in descending was EQUAL to the thermal energy (heat) gained by the water through friction. Interestingly, in 1844, William Grove postulated a relationship between mechanics, heat, light, electricity, and magnetism by treating them all as manifestations of a single force that has become known as energy in modern times. (Wikipedia) First Law of Thermodynamics Working with the findings discovered through work on the conservation of energy the First Law of Thermodynamics was developed. Again, in its simplest form, this law means that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It quickly becomes obvious that the power generated by coal-fired, hydro-electric, atomic-, solar, etc. power plants all produce their energy through the law of the conservation of energy. All theyre really doing is simply changing one form of energy into another that is easier for society (the system) to use. They have not created energy from nothing. This also provides the insight that the energy of the universe is a constant it cant be added to, only changed from one form to another. The same holds true for planet Earth. There exists a very finite amount of energy available and as it is changed from a form that is useful to do work into a form that is not it reduces the amount of potential work that can be done, thereby leaving less for use at a later time. This should be disturbing even to the most casual reader.

The example of the pendulum has already been used. To elaborate a bit further, in a real life scenario there is friction that will cause the pendulum to gradually slow down until it comes to rest. That is unless additional energy is provided to assist (spring, battery, etc.). In other words, the pendulum dies. In this scenario the pendulum serves as the system and everything else as the surroundings. The friction causes a small but steady transfer of heat energy to flow from the system to the surroundings (the air, bearings on which the pendulum swings, etc.) The first law states that the pendulum must either slow down its swing or decrease the arc of its swing, or both, to compensate for the energy lost as heat. Eventually the system shuts down as the pendulum stops its swing. To prevent, or at least delay, the shutdown requires the owner to rewind, replace the battery, or otherwise replenish the power lost. Its easy now to understand how this business of energy is important to systems and how the use of the energy is critical to the longevity of the system. Of course, that system can just as easily be civilization and, just as disturbing, we come to realize the fact that it just cant last forever. Second Law of Thermodynamics While the Second Law of Thermodynamics is arguably the most important for the breadth and scope of this article, it turns out to be the easiest to explain. In a nutshell, this law says that the quality of matter/energy deteriorates over time. Why? Simply put, inevitably useable energy is used for productivity, growth, and repair. These processes convert useable energy into

unusable energy, i.e., useable energy becomes irretrievably lost to a form of energy that cannot be used for productivity, growth, and repair (allaboutscience.org). Therefore, just as the First Law of Thermodynamics can be termed the Law of Conservation of Energy, this law is often called the Law of Increased Entropy, and we will explore Entropy in more detail later. For now, Entropy can be defined as a gauge of randomness or chaos within the system. Hopefully, the reader is already contemplating the consequences of entropy to current events. Third Law of Thermodynamics As mentioned earlier, the Third Law is no less important than the others, but is less important to the purposes of this paper than the First and Second. But, it is still important to understand
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what it really means. As indicated earlier, the Third Law deals primarily with the movement of particles and the effects of cold on those movements. Strictly speaking, this law relates entropy (randomness) of matter to its absolute temperature. In science, Absolute Zero Kelvin is reached at -273.15 degrees Celsius, or -459.7 degrees Fahrenheit. However, due to the Second Law, by definition, it also means that no natural particle can have a temperature of absolute zero because heat can never move from a colder body to a warmer one. It also means that it will have to eventually draw energy from another nearby system, meaning, by definition, it can never reach absolute zero. Since the systems we are dealing with in discussions on civilization could not exist at the temperatures dealt with in the Third Law, there is little need to expand further. What is important to understand is that it, along with the others, is absolute in our universe. They are Laws, not Theories. Our universe could not exist without the order expressed in these laws and therefore, civilization, i.e. people, could not exist. Indeed, it is critical for us to have a clear understanding of the laws directing our lives.
Entropy

At last, we come to the personally most interesting part of the introduction to the laws directing the cosmos. Actually, Entropy is nothing more than a word encompassing all that has already been covered to this point. By definition, Entropy means a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy NOT available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines (Wikipedia). Yes that statement sounds pretty boring in and of itself, but that realization has an enormous impact on and within the systems (societies) of today. If that definition sounds familiar its because it arises out of the Second Law of Thermodynamics that states that the entropy of a closed system always increases or remains constant. It never decreases within a particular system! It also means that chaos will always become the norm as time passes. People are reminded every day that they live in a global economy. Therefore, the system is now the entire planet.

As the concept and definition of entropy grew it became clear that it was a statistical concept when applied to the kinds of systems humans are familiar with. In other words, it measures observable macroscopic properties within statistical terminology. Therefore, entropy is usually
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combined within probability parameters such things as temperature, pressure and volume, etc. are approached from probabilities within a timeframe that mixedupness will occur.

It is not a theory. It is a law that there is a finite amount of energy in the universe. Its a sure thing that it cannot be created nor destroyed, merely changed in form. It is now an accepted fact that the amount of entropy in the universe is increasing at an accelerating pace. Unfortunately, it also means that at some time in the future the total of the energy will become less and less useful for running the mechanisms of the universe in general and civilization(s) in particular, until there remains no energy at all to do work. Not an optimistic outlook for sure. Whether the universe ends up in a big crunch or a big freeze, the outcome is exactly the same the end. Well deal more with how all this affects organisms as our study continues.

For better or worse, the concept of entropy has entered nearly every domain of science. However, for purposes of this paper, and considering the macroscopic ramifications of entropy, it has entered sociology. In this context it is metaphorically used as a synonym for chaos, disorder or dissipation of energy rather than as a direct measure of thermodynamic or information entropy. Given this metaphor, terminology such as Corporate Entropy, Economic Entropy, Entropology, Psychological Entropy, and Social Entropy have been added to the lexicon.

In their greatly abbreviated forms Corporate Entropy deals with waste in terms of red tape, business team inefficiencies, etc. Economic Entropy is a somewhat quantitative measure of the irrevocable dissipation and degradation of natural resources resulting from economic activity. Entropology, of course, deals with the study of entropy. Society must have that. Then Psychological Entropy deals with how energy is used in the psyche. Finally, Social Entropy delves into energy in the social system structure and social equilibrium (never mind that this is impossible). (Wikipedia)

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We found an interesting observation within the limitations of Social Entropy. By definition entropy tells us that highly ordered systems are improbable and that increasing order has decreasing probability. It also states that to increase or maintain order in a system requires the input of new energy. This is important today. Society has managed to provide new input of energy through increasingly complex energy inputs. For instance, it would appear that

industrialized societies are more complex than the sum of their parts. This is because of such things as the Internet, Communications Systems, Building Structures, Financial Systems, Weapons Systems, and yes Government. As long as the systems can outpace the ravages of entropy (chaos) by increasing complexity and order, the probability that it will spontaneously begin the slide into disorder becomes increasingly less likely (www.pyropath.com). As this treatise develops please pay particular attention to this term spontaneous. It means that the decline may be precipitous as opposed to gradual as with the growth of the system (society).

This whole business of Entropy is certainly enlightening, if not terrifying. It is enlightening because it tells it like it is while providing a paradigm for delaying the inevitable. Kaku reminds us of what separates humanity from all other species and machines common sense. Common sense, appropriately applied, can organize the system so it can prosper through the proper application of energy infusion. Unfortunately, there is little optimism, through observation, that the masses are chewing the cud on entropy. It would appear that today civilizations are following the same exact paths of their predecessors. While ignorance is bliss, it is devastating for civilization(s), as we will discover.

It is incumbent for human survival to remember that entropy (including all the new monikers humans have devised to explain it) NEVER decreases without the input of new useable energy. While entropy will ultimately win sometime in the future, every man, woman, and child on the planet should be doing everything in their power to find ways to delay or mitigate its effects. Literally, in the entire history of Planet Earth, today our survival depends on it.

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The Rise of Causality

A little too late is much too late. German Proverb What in the world is Causality? Causality is Determinism. Ah! The specificity of the English language. Causality, or Determinism, is what makes the world go around. What? OK - All this is very simple - For every Cause there is an Effect or many Effects. Causality is the relationship between two events: one which is the cause, and the other which is the effect of the previous event. As per Aristotles classification, causality is of two types Accidental Causality and Essential Causality. The concept of accidental causality is easy to understand in that the cause precedes the effect. In Essential Causality, however, the cause and the effect could be

observed in a single event. (Wikipedia) The former constitutes the focus of this paper. Specifically, it is the generation and determination of one thing by another thing. It is an active phenomenon that defines who we are. It brings thought into reality. One caveat after this does not always mean because of that. Causality is universal. No matter what we say or do, no matter how large or how small, there will always a consequence. And, while it may seem obvious, it always takes place in time. This is important because of Einsteins Relativity and the concept of Spacetime. Through

undulations, peaks and valleys, a warping, time becomes a flexible membrane concept in which the cause and the effect can occupy the same place at the same time. One can precede the other. So the concept of Causality is not as clear-cut as we would like. Neither are the results. But, for purposes of this paper it is enough to understand only what it says. For Every Cause There Is An Effect or Effects. A perfect example is what has become known as The Butterfly Effect. It developed out of Chaos Theory, and represents the sensitive dependence on initial conditions. (Wikipedia) That means that no matter how small the change in a nonlinear system a very large result can be caused at a later point in time. The Butterfly Effect results from the work of Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist who popularized the term. It will become very important during the discussion of Thermodynamics and Entropy. The example often given is that the fluttering of a butterfly

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wing in Mexico could change air currents just enough to ultimately cause a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. It sounds impossible and probably is very remote. However, meteorologists agree that very minor fluctuations in air currents can have devastating effects given the tremendous complexity and interactions of the myriad variables associated with weather patterns. The Domino Effect is probably a more mundane analogy of this phenomenon. One final thought on Causality is important in understanding how the universe and our planet function. Everyone has seen elaborate displays of dominos arranged on a large flat surface. For effect, they are rarely arranged in a neat straight line. They turn, branch apart, meet at various points, split and turn directions. The more elaborate the display the more dramatic the show. The touch of one simple domino starts a huge chain reaction that begins slowly and accelerates into a blur of action running completely through the display. The entire universe is inter-connected, quite similar to the domino display. Each cause

undoubtedly has multiple effects beyond what most could even imagine. Each effect has multiple causes. This is a complex place, indeed. It becomes increasingly incumbent on us to remember this simple fact that has such far-reaching consequences. This is Determinism in the form humanity needs to understand. No its not as simple as understanding cause and effect. One may not even know the cause and certainly cannot know all the effects. To repeat the universe is a complex place. Determinism is not the same thing as Pre-Determinism.

Remember, this is the English language. Pre-Determinism postulates that everything that has or will happen in the universe, for all time, has already been determined. All the possible causes are irrelevant because all the possible effects have been set. Without too much trepidation about reprisals from zealots, we contend this concept makes for a pretty boring world. Everyone takes some pride in having an epiphany that can lead to a solution of some problem plaguing Mother Earth and her inhabitants. That is part of the human psyche the need to nurture and the need for nurturing. Whats the use in striving for anything if the effort makes no difference in the ultimate outcome? But, this is not a philosophical treatise and this business is best left to others and to another time and place. With some fear of being redundant, people MUST grab a hold on this concept of cause and effect. It is found every day

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in the media and affects everything we do. Too often there are unintended and unbelievably devastating consequences lurking in the effects arising out of seemingly innocuous causes. Well breeze through a few very well known examples later with the hope they become fodder for exploring others that, in the quest for stimulating better ways of life, that might have had diametrically opposite outcomes.

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Civilization A Historical Perspective

Historical knowledge is indispensible for those who want to build a better world. Ludwig von Mises A Tree Falls the Way it Leans. Bulgarian Proverb Every Failure Teaches a Man Something, to wit, That He Will Probably Fail Again. H.L Mencken The term Civilization has been used in a number of contexts to explain the people, land, culture, and organization of an identifiable group. However, the most widely used definition refers to human cultures, which are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. (Wikipedia) These cultures are usually associated with an urban environment. The term itself is generally used to differentiate that group from barbaric or primitive peoples. The level of or sophistication of a civilization is often determined on the basis of its progress toward a number of quantifiable characteristics such as agriculture, trade, workforce, urbanization and other types of subsistence. In addition, settlement patterns, forms of government, social stratification, economic systems, literacy, and other cultural traits differentiate a civilization from what are considered less sophisticated societies. (Wikipedia) The word civilization comes from the Latin civilis, meaning civil, civis, meaning citizen, and civitas, meaning city or city-state. (Wikipedia) The implication here is that a civilization is somehow more mature (civilized) and less rude and more refined (civil) than its counterparts. Also, due to its level of sophistication, it is regarded as being more dynamic than an uncivilized (barbaric) group of humans. Where did this thing called civilization come from anyway and what causes them to congregate where they do? Any knowledge of archaeology reveals that civilizations generally arise and prosper in and around areas of fertile land that can support a growing population and where any excess goods are relatively easy to transport, i.e., support commerce. This is precisely why most great cities and the preponderance of population center on coastlines and along major river systems. All of this makes civilization seem like a dramatic improvement over the clan-based hunters and
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gatherers that had prospered for thousands of years through hundreds of generations.

We

must ask if these clans really were less civilized or less wise than their counterparts to follow. Most of us would probably say they were. But, the more research we do the less validity such a contention has. This notion brings another consideration to bear. Knowing the fate of past civilizations and the probable fate of those who are alive today, does this supposed state of maturity really seem very wise? Does being socially driven equate with what is known about human nature? Writers such as Rousseau, Herder, and Nietzsche dont seem to think so. If civilization is really such a great thing, then why has the planet been forever plagued by war, pestilence, disease, starvation, and greed since humans arrived on the scene? Why has the division of labor, a hallmark of civilization, resulted in a class system that rewards wealth and detests poverty at the expense of human dignity? Has the term civilization become a synonym of one of the seven deadly sins greed? Author Derrick Jensen argues that modern civilization is

intrinsically directed towards the domination of the environment and humanity itself in a harmful and destructive fashion. (Jensen, 2006) We will explore this concept in more detail later. But, this does not mean that the whole of civilization is a bad thing. There are some truly good things that have arisen for the world to enjoy. The invention of writing, the scientific method, and the growing understanding of the physical laws of nature are arguably responsible for the global civilization today. But, technological prowess comes with its own set of problems. Along with the benefits comes awesome responsibility. The willingness of the human species to embrace the former and ignore the latter has alone brought down the vast majority of civilizations. It is generally agreed that all past civilizations went through exactly the same cycles of birth, life, decline, and death. (Spengler) The only quantifiable variable is how long it took them to pass through each element. More specifically, how long did it take to pass from peak, through terminal decline, and to death?

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Graphs copied from the internet.

A few more words regarding the passage from one element to the next are necessary. For students of statistics it might be instructive to view the life cycle of a civilization in terms of a Bell Curve structured on a time scale. Statistically, to represent a normal bell curve, it should resemble a bell with most of the area centered around the middle, as seen on the far left figure above. In fact, in the normal curve, approximately 68% of a time scale should be within plus or minus one Standard Deviation (SD) from the arithmetic mean (center of the curve). Along the path of civilizations the mean should rest somewhere between life and decline. This is an interesting concept for sure. For purpose of reflection, what would the curve tell us if most of the SD was found on the left side of the normal middle? One would say it was (skewed) to the right (pointed like a skewer). Of course, if most of the SD was located at the right of the normal curve, it would represent a skew to the left. With a right skew the civilization would pass through birth and life relatively quickly, ride a slow descent into chaos, and finally pass away. The opposite would be experienced with a skew to the left so growth and life would take much longer and decline and death would occur relatively quickly. See figures representing this skewness in the center and far right figures above. We arent too sure that either of these scenarios is preferable to the other and would really rather not place any bets on the normal curve either. The best scenario, the one usually ignored by all known civilizations, would be to develop a process to mitigate entropy by finding a method to infuse more energy into the system. It would seem that current civilizations are failing miserably in this respect as well, thereby virtually ensuring an unpleasant end, full of misery and despair. As always, time will tell, but the scientific community is largely unoptimistic. Of course, it is understood by now that entropy is the culprit in the fall of a civilization. But, the more contemporary force is because of the failure of a creative minority, through moral or
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religious decline, to meet some important challenge, rather than from the universal laws of thermodynamics. (Wikipedia) In fact, it would be relatively easy to argue that the prevailing attitude among all technological societies today is something called immediate gratification. I want more and more for less and less effort until I ultimately decide that I want everything for nothing. Whether we believe statements such as this are folly or as a representation of human nature, the world needs to understand that this philosophy represents entropy in its finest form. Truer words were never spoken than Be careful what you wish for you just might get it. As this treatise develops, hopefully we will have made it easier to draw parallels between the examples given and the behaviors seen elsewhere in the underdeveloped and developed world today. Keep in mind the prognostication of political scientist Samuel Huntington on the development of the 21st Century The defining characteristic will be a clash of civilizations. (Huntington) Surely, what is sowed today will be reaped tomorrow, but instead of affecting one small area, it will impact the entire planet. But, even with the apparent advantages of these areas, a civilization will proceed on its predesigned path until it reaches a point where the population grows faster than the availability of resources. (Havron) Historically, a good society soon realized that trade with neighboring societies could offset the reduction in local resources and commerce developed. However, even with enhanced business practices and elaborate transportation systems, essential resources began to diminish and a point was reached where supply could not meet demand and the society began to decay and ultimately collapse. This scenario repeats itself throughout history and is paramount in the rise and fall of all great and not so great civilizations. One central theme continues to dominate when population density exceeds the carrying capacity of occupied land, societal collapse always occurs. Keep this theme in mind during our review of past civilizations. Most people are aware of how major civilizations met their demise. Even in elementary school it is taught to eager minds how Egypt, Rome, Greece, and a few others, grew into great empires, spanning most of the known world, only to collapse under their own weight. A few

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particulars may have differed, and even today there are points of discussion by archaeologists and practitioners of the social sciences, but the end result was always the same. As a quick aside, there is rather new evidence regarding the fall of Rome. It is true that its demise was primarily due to military defeat. However, it seems that the reason for defeat may have been due to lead poisoning. Archaeologists think that gluttony for wine and spicy foods, and a deterioration of moral structure, led to heavy drinking. To enhance the taste of wine Rome added a substance called must (sometimes called sappa) that was essentially nothing more than grape juice cooked down to a syrupy consistency. It was also added to most kinds of food. The problem is that grape juice is acidic and the pots used for making must were made out of lead. The acid was leached lead out of the pots by the acid in the grapes that was then consumed by the Romans in great quantities. Current estimates are that the typical Roman drank between to 1 gallons of wine a day, in all social classes. This quantity, along with the food consumed, added up to a tremendous amount of lead intake. Lead causes mental disease, organ disease, sterility, and a whole host of other problems. Therefore, even though Rome was defeated militarily, the loss might have been attributed to lead poisoning. We need to get back to the task at hand. A short walk around in history reveals many other lesser-known civilizations that followed and suffered ultimate demise by following the same path of birth, life, decline, and death. In each case, societal collapse led to tremendous human suffering. In the end, the only difference was quantitative. Still, these events were largely confined to local areas. Today things are much, much different. News media and

commentaries are replete with examples of the global economy and how it tends to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Local events literally impact the world. We have already found a name for this the Butterfly Effect. We would like to draw on the observations of Parker Havron given at a lecture at the UCSD campus entitled The Rise and Fall of Civilizations, and give him full credit for the historical information to follow and acknowledge the article written about his lecture on the site biology.ucsd.edu/earthessays/02. While his solution of the worlds multiple problems would likely receive little public support, his observations about the civilizations certainly warrant attention. Havron is a noted

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archaeologist and sociologist and has some interesting insights appropriate to the challenges we face today. During his lecture he focused on the Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, the Anasazi, a Native-American tribe, and Petra, an ancient city of the Middle East.

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The Fall of Smaller Civilizations A Few Examples

Easter Island One of the most isolated places on Earth Most people are familiar with Easter Island because of the huge strange-looking figures scattered around a barren, treeless landscape. For most, however, this is about all that is known. Lost in time is a dynamic civilization that arose far from any known trade routes. Easter Island is situated in the South Pacific Ocean nearly 2,300 miles from the coast of Chile. The Island was discovered in more contemporary times by Dutch explorer Admiral Jakob Roggeveen on Easter Day, 1722 hence the name Easter Island. History says that the islands inhabitants first arrived in about 400 A.D. What is known is that the inhabitants had the only written language in Oceania and developed a very sophisticated culture for its time that included music and the arts. Most noticeable about their arts are the gargantuan volcanic stone statues called Moai that reach heights of 36 feet and more, and can weigh up to 85 tons each. There are nearly 900 Moai on the island, many lined up as speechless sentinels; others either completed or nearly completed lay silently in the quarries from which they came. Their story is confounding in that they were moved many miles from the quarry by a civilization that lacked any metal tools or even the wheel. Considering their size and tremendous weight one must wonder how they did it. As indicated, Easter was found to be devoid of any trees whatsoever. Archaeologists believe the Moai served as religious icons for the island inhabitants. By the time explores arrived on the island all quarrying and cutting had long-since stopped. Heres the story. Archaeologists learned that the 500 square mile Easter Island was once covered with dense Palm forests. In the beginning of the Polynesians cleared some forest for agriculture. This allowed the population to reach a peak of around 10,000. But, deforestation caused widespread erosion that decreased soil fertility, thereby reducing crop yield. In a religious fervor to appease the gods and earn more crops the residents began to cut more trees to move the Moai around the island. This continued until every last tree had been cut. The ability to grow crops all but disappeared. Disputes for remaining resources caused massive human pain

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and suffering.

Many of the people were killed or enslaved and others succumbed to

cannibalism, utilized as a drastic means of survival. This resulted in the collapse of their society due to warring factions in a desperate search for living resources. Clans abandoned their villages and reverted to cave-dwelling and hunting and gathering. It devolved itself into oblivion. So, this peace-loving and artistic society all but disappeared. Today it has been reduced to less than 1 percent of its peak and there remains nothing much larger than a bush growing on the island. Clearly, Easter Island represents the model of birth, growth, decline, and death. The reasons may be different, but the end result is always the same.

The Anasazi One of the Most Advanced Native-American Civilizations in America The Anasazi civilization is a well-documented and one that also lost the battle through resource depletion. When the Spanish reached what is now known as the Southwestern United States they witnessed the ruins of gargantuan multi-storied pueblos, some five stories high and containing as many as 650 rooms. This particular one was located in what is now known as Chaco Canyon National Monument in New Mexico. Without question it was the largest building ever constructed in America before the Industrial Revolution. The odd thing is that the people were living out in the middle of the desert by a people the Navajos called the Anasazi. The word translates as the ancient ones. Archaeologists have been able to neatly reconstruct bits and pieces of Anasazi history. They found that the pueblos were constructed in approximately 900 A.D. and that the area was lush woodland with copious numbers of pinion oak, ponderosa pine, and juniper, along with extensive waterways and adequate groundwater. It sounds like the perfect place to locate a civilization. However, as it always happens, the Anasazi began to clear the land for agriculture, building, and fire. Before long, through deforestation, people found the need to travel over 50 miles to secure the wood they needed for fire and building. That resulted in an elaborate road system. Massive irrigation networks were constructed for additional crops to sustain the burgeoning population. Land erosion brought on by the clearing of the land prompted even
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more transportation routes and irrigation technologies. The water resources began to fail. The area could no longer support the population because it had exceeded the carrying capacity of the area and massive human suffering resulted. This scenario sounds eerily familiar.

Therefore, the Anasazi people abandoned their homes and left what the Spanish explorers later discovered . (Note: Deforestation also destroyed the cooling effect produced by the trees. Meteorologists agree that the cooling at ground level helps to create a current that can produce rain. Parallels could be drawn between their tragedy and what is happening today in the Amazon Basin in South America.) Petra the Lost City One additional example of a civilization ravaged by resource devastation is the lost city of Petra, located in what is now known as Southern Jordan. The word Petra in Greek translates as large stone. The word Petraglyphs, found throughout the world as evidence of lost

civilizations, comes from that root word. Today, the ruins lay in an area most would agree is unfit for human habitation. It is a bleak desolate area with absolutely no creature comforts. However, history shows that the city once had one of the oldest and most colorful pasts of any civilization in the world yesterday and today. It was a flourishing Neolithic Village, consisting primarily of farmers and herdsmen, dating as far back as 7000 B.C. It later became the capital of the Nebataean Kingdom, home of the still present Bedouin tribe from North Arabia. Petra grew to be a great center of commerce that controlled most of the trade among the Orient, Arabia, and Europe. It was no small player in the wealth of the age. It continued to prosper under the control of Rome and Byzantine rule. It seemed it would survive forever. Then it was abandoned and forgotten to history for thousands of years. In the beginning Petra was located in a lush, heavily forested region, just like Easter Island and the Anasazi, with vast areas of oak and pistachio trees. Also, just as its predecessors, the trees were eventually cut for agriculture and for grazing goats and sheep. The forests were replaced with shrubs and grasses as late as the time of Roman rule. Through soil erosion and depletion of crops and grasses the desert encroached and we find the desolation seen today. Even with
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the installation of elaborate channels, and water storage systems to capture the everdecreasing water resources, Petra faded away from its former glory just as did the civilizations of Easter Island and the Anasazi, and virtually every other culture one would want to explore from history. Final Thoughts on Civilization Regardless of how many civilizations archaeologists study, one central theme continues to dominate. With the passage of time ALL civilizations, from their birth, continue to grow, decline, and finally die WITHOUT EXCEPTION! The growth in population, and all things associated with that growth, outpaces the ability of the land to recover from what is taken from it. Humans need to realize just how powerful Mother Nature is. She doesnt care if humans occupy the Earth or not. In fact, we are only here by invitation. What she does care about is the health and vitality of the Planet and will do whatever is necessary to protect that one fact. There are earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornados, hurricanes, winds, heat, cold, and a host of other tactics that nature will impose to ensure the future of the planet. Mother Nature is the epitome of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. And, knowing the reality of entropy, she will do whatever she can to mitigate this empirical law for as long as possible yes even if it means the obliteration of the human race. If humanity is as smart as it believes it is, if it really believes that one must know and understand history if it is to survive, then it first needs to understand that civilizations have failed in the past and that they will surely fail again in the future. One other thing needs to receive special attention. It is known that most of the great civilizations of the past have lasted for about 200 years America has recently passed that threshold. Perhaps its a fluke, perhaps its due to intelligence, or perhaps its due to luck. No one knows for sure. What is known, however, is that none of us are doing enough to help ensure our longevity. Greed and the eternal quest for immediate gratification are ensuring that. H.L. Mencken, unfortunately, was correct. There have been many proverbs, poems, and adages attesting to the innate human propensity to fail. Yes, profound words have been spoken, but none more truly than man will fail again.

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A final metaphor is appropriate for the end of this section. It ties together the concepts of Conservation of Energy, the Laws of Thermodynamics, Entropy, and Civilization. It comes from Howard Odums Net Energy from the Sun in Lyons and is cited in Jeremiah Rifkins landmark text entitled Entropy. It identifies, in four short lines, the ultimate effects of Causality. 1. It would take about 300 trout to feed one man for one year. (not feed well, but keep alive) 2. These fish would need to eat about 90,000 frogs to survive for one year. 3. These frogs would need to eat 27,000 grasshoppers to survive for one year. 4. These grasshoppers would need to eat 1,000 tons of grass to survive for one year. We should now multiply this by 6.6 Billion! And then ask the following questions Does this figure represent a prudent management of resources? Does anyone really think the planet can continue to supply enough to maintain the global civilization present today for much longer? If not - then for how long? What should be changed? Does anyone really care?

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Civilization Today
Unchecked population growth, dwindling of resources, devastation of land, pollution of water, serve as a grim reminder of the limitations of technology to circumvent tragedy. Dr. Kara Cooney, Out of Egypt, Discovery Channel Cramming more and more stuff into less and less space creates a tense environment that can only lead to disaster. Its happened over and over and will happen again. Wikipedia For every society (civilization) that has something there is another that wants it. Inevitably, this causes political conflict that result in skirmishes and sometimes war. Thats just the way things work in the world. Its the way it has always worked. We already recognize this phenomenon as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Shakespeare says it another way: Tempt not a desperate man.
World Population Growth
in Billions
12 10

Population

8 6 4 2 0 500 1000 1500 1700 1900 1960 1987 1993 1999 2006 2011 2012 2022 2040 2050 Column B

Year

U.S. Population Growth

in Thousands
350 300 250

Population

200 150 100 50 0 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011

Column B

Date

Figures from US Census Bureau and UN Population Fund Chart made in Open Office Spreadsheet

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Nina Fedoroff, science and technology advisor to Condoleezza Rice in the last administration, and now to Hillary Clinton, tells the BBC that humans have exceeded the Earth's Limits of Sustainability. (Life Science, March 31, 2009) By definition, a Population is all the organisms that both belong to the same species and live in the same geographical area. In sociology, population refers to a collection of human beings. (Wikipedia) Given this definition, how would we answer the following question - What is the same geographical area occupied by humans today that identifies them as a civilization? Of course, the answer is the entire planet. No longer do we have the luxury to trade goods merely across the river, or play sports with neighbors on the other side of the county. Today, everything happens on a global scale, and the problems or blessings affecting one area affect everyone else, wherever they may be geographically located (remember the Butterfly Effect). What is the number one phenomenon that has always caused a collapse of civilizations - great and small? What did Nina Fedoroff mean when she said that the human population had already exceeded the Earth's Limits of Sustainability? Simple - she was saying that the bodyhuman had procreated itself beyond the capacity of the planet to recover from the energy the population has taken from it. We know it happened in the past, but somehow seem to think that technology; good government; good planning; and good luck are going to keep it from happening again. Folks - it just ain't so! All these things may postpone collapse for awhile, and they have. But the fact remains - There is only so much usable energy and when thats gone the system will move from a sense of order to one of chaos. Its inescapable, its going to happen, and ultimately theres nothing we can about it. The Laws of Thermodynamics and Entropy prove it. Remember, they these not hypotheses, not theories, not the mental

delusions of some idiot or fringe crackpot. They are fundamental laws of physics. They are laws of the universe. As of May 15, 2011, the world population was estimated to be 6.918 billion. (US Census Bureau) They also noted that it hit 6.5 billion in 2006. On October 12, in 1999 the population was
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thought to be 6 billion. (UN Population Fund) This date was a mere 12 years after the world count hit 5 billion in 1987, and 6 years after it hit 5.5 billion in 1993. Take a look at the graphs at the beginning of this section. Of course, these figures have a hefty margin of error since it is all but impossible to obtain accurate figures from the developing world and from those that have attempted to isolate themselves from the rest of global society. Hefty - yes, Unimportant - no. However we interpret these figures, it remains simple to see that there are more humans on the planet today than there were last year. In fact, it looks almost exponential. There can be no dispute on this one disturbing fact - Earth has just so many and so much resources. The resources that humans enjoy using at such a dizzying rate today took millions of years to create. When they're gone - they're gone as far as humanity is concerned! Thomas L. Freidman, one on our favorite authors and commentators, recently had an article in the New York Times on June 7, 2011, entitled The Earth is Full. He asks in this article: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that wed crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once? His answer seems so simple It can only be denial. He was quoting Paul Gilding, the veteran Australian environmentalist-entrepreneur, who described this moment in a book called The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World. In turn, Gilding quotes the work of the Global Footprint Network, an alliance of scientists who calculate how many planet Earths we need to sustain our current growth rates. In the final analysis we learn we are eating into the future such that we now need about 1 planets to sustain ourselves. And, that revelation, by itself, causes quite a problem for us since we dont have 1 planets, we only have 1. His, and Gildings final observation says in a few lines what we will learn to be the real problems facing us: Were currently caught in two loops: One is that more population growth and more global warming together are pushing up food prices; rising food process cause political instability in the Middle East, which leads to higher oil process, which leads to higher food [prices, which leads to more instability. At the same time, improved productivity means fewer people are needed in every factory to produce more stuff. So if we want
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to have more jobs, we need more factories. More factories making more stuff made more global warming, and that is where the two loops meet. Working from this premise, we hope to explore the consequences of these loops and make it clear that our current lifestyles are completely unsustainable. We also hope to show why a small cadre of myopic conservative writers keeps trying to convince us that we are just crying wolf. What has been learned to this point? History has seen civilizations come and go. They have created cities strategically located. These cities allowed for the diversification of labor into areas best suited to the needs of its occupants. They have allowed for ever-expanding trade routes resulting in a mixing of cultures that expanded human understanding through the arts and sciences. They have been the nexus of scientific inquiry, mathematics, and language that have allowed the creation of a plethora of gadgets that make life ever-more enjoyable and fruitful. Society has been taught that Cities are great things that civilization is a great thing. But, is this really true? Take another look at what Dr. Cooney had to say about it at the very beginning of this section. Is it possible to find the fulcrum point between all the good things about civilization and all the bad things? Helmut Werner had a few things to say about civilization in his book entitled Decline of the West, first published in 1926. Can you see anything in his writing that sounds familiar today? Unless you live in a cave and have no access to information, you probably heard or read something just like this already today (maybe in more vernacular terms). For every Culture has its own Civilization. In this work, for the first time the two words, hitherto used to express in an indefinite, more or less ethical, distinction, are used in a periodic sense, to express a strict and necessary organic succession. The Civilization is the inevitable destiny of the Culture, and in this principle we obtain the viewpoint from which the deepest and gravest problems of historical morphology become capable of solution. Civilizations are the most external and artificial states of which a species of developed humanity is capable. They are a conclusion, the thingbecome succeeding the thing-becoming, death following life, rigidity following expansion, intellectual age and the stone-built, petrifying world-city following motherearth, and the spiritual childhood of Doric and Gothic. They are an end, irrevocable, yet by inward necessity reached for again and again.

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Stressed over and over in this article is the fact that Civilization is a process that follows the same path of birth, growth, decline, and death. So, by definition, the civilization(s) known today shall die as well its the inevitable process humanity works hard to deny. While Civilization is the cause, and death is the effect. Entropy proves that out of order comes chaos. Werner terms it a Progressive Exhaustion of forms that have become inorganic or dead. That says a lot about what the machinations of war, economy, legislation, psychology, sociology, and technology are all really about. His final thought contains a word worthy of note. Remember this word as you read through the status of civilization today, particularly as it applies to the United States. For it will become manifest that, from this moment on, all great conflicts of worldoutlook, of politics, of art, of science, of feeling, will be under the influence of the same contrary factor. What is the hallmark of a politic of Civilization today, in contrast to a politic of Culture yesterday? It is, for the Classical rhetoric, and for the Western journalism, both serving that abstract which represents the power of Civilization money.

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Global Extinction Events Largely Beyond Human Intervention

Its not a matter of if, but when. Take your pick of any scientist End of the World, Doomsday, Ragnarok, Judgment Day, Armageddon, Apocalypse, Yawm alQiyamah, etc. Any Encyclopedia on The End To this point, civilization has been pretty well documented and defined for the scope of this paper. It is clear that no civilization can survive indefinitely. They all have and will continue to follow a clear path to extinction. Before moving on to specifics regarding the social impacts of civilization it is instructive to take a look at some of the things that can bring ruin to the world as we know it, but are largely beyond our control. These are known as species extinction events that usually dont take years or centuries to reach manifest destiny. They will normally occur in an instant, or at least on very human time scales. While the odds of many of these events are very low, they do exist and will, beyond question, happen someday. Many have happened before on planet Earth. Fortunately, humanity has escaped their direct devastation so far. The question of whether humans will survive to witness them next time is still very much in question. The reality remains however, these are the types of risks where the outcome could literally annihilate intelligent (?) life on Earth, or at least compromise its ability to further reach its potential. Super-Volcano Scientists can identify at least seven (7) Super-Volcanoes scattered around the planet. The most familiar to the United States is located within Yellowstone National Park. Like the Hawaiian Island chain, the Yellowstone volcano is located over a hot spot a crack in the crust that allows magma to collect in a huge caldron of very hot and viscous liquid rock full of toxic gasses, all under tremendous pressure. When the pressure gets high enough and the collection large enough, a massive eruption occurs. Current geological evidence suggests that

Yellowstone has erupted three times throughout its history, the last occurring about 640,000 years ago. The data also suggest that it erupts approximately every 600,000 years. That means

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its due for another eruption right now. Its also known that it is just as powerful today as it ever has been. This is bad news for humanity. If Yellowstone were to erupt today it would eject magma and ash, along with copious amounts of gasses from its massive caldera that would cover the entire US West of the Mississippi River. The sheer amount of greenhouse gasses would likely alter the atmosphere to the extent that a runaway greenhouse effect would result. Millions would perish directly from the eruption, and possibly billions would die from its after-effects that would likely be significant. It has been proffered that a Yellowstone eruption would be comparable to exploding the atomic arsenal of the entire Earth at the same time on the same spot. Knowing that there are sufficient atomic warheads to obliterate every man, woman, and child, several times over, gives us a fair idea of just how devastating such an eruption would be for the planet and every living thing on it. Food supplies would be drastically affected through the destruction of the worlds bread basket. The commercial infrastructure would be obliterated for most of the country causing global shortages of critical supplies. The economic effects by themselves would be beyond comprehension. Global temperatures would drop drastically and likely last for years. The eruption of any super-volcano on Earth would be nothing short of catastrophic and it just happens to be a more likely event than most others this article will mention. One final example of a super-eruption is beyond doubt the grand-daddy of all volcanic eruptions. Known as the Siberian Mass Eruption, it is estimated to have directly caused the extinction of over 90% of all species alive at the time. This series of eruptions lasted for over a million years and occurred between the Permian and Triassic Boundaries around 250 million years ago. Sometimes called the Great Dying, it covered an area of between 2 and 7 million square miles, depending on ones source. One thing is agreed on however it took the planet nearly 30 million years to recover from the devastation resulting from this massive event. (Wikipedia) How long it would take to recover from a super-volcanic eruption is anybodys guess, but it wouldnt be within one human lifetime.

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Mega-Tsunami A Mega-Tsunami means a great big tsunami. One could theoretically destroy the entire East or West Coast of the United States. It is known that a significant percentage of humans live within a few miles of the coastline of every continent. With high population densities comes complex and very expensive infrastructure supporting a sizable economy. A Mega-Tsunami would cause devastation on such a gargantuan scale that millions of people would perish or be displaced from their homes. Businesses would be obliterated. The costs would be staggering at a time when civilization could least recover from its effects. These events can be caused by multiple scenarios. While none would likely destroy all of humanity, there is no doubt that it would take decades, if ever, to recover. Remember the recent Tohoku earthquake that caused a relatively small tsunami in Indonesia, but killed over 225,000 people and destroyed hundreds of square miles of land. The loss of life and the cost economically, while tragic, were miniscule when compared to a mega-tsunami. No doubt the world doesnt want one to happen anytime soon. Meteorite Impact The Earth has been impacted by meteorites since its very beginning. In fact, these collisions have served to make the planet what it is today and has given us a large moon to help control Earths complex weather systems. Even after the 4.5 billion years Earth has been in existence it is still bombarded every day with millions of small bodies that add several tons of meteoric debris to the planet. The shooting stars that can be seen streaking across the night sky are nothing more than small bodies that are burned away as they enter the atmosphere. The problem arises when they are too big to burn up in the atmosphere and hit the surface. Depending on size, little damage, to species-ending events can happen. The most recent event known happened at about 7:14 a.m. on June 30, 1908 in a remote Siberian forest. Known as the Tunguska Event, it is thought to have been caused either by a meteorite or a comet a few tens of meters in diameter. Scientists agree that it exploded between 3 and 6 miles above the Earth (still considered an impact), and had an energy output
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equivalent to 10 to 15 mega-tons of TNT. That would make it nearly 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomic bombs. The event completely leveled approximately 830 square miles of forest and destroyed an estimated 80 million trees. This was a big explosion caused by a relatively small object. The kinetic energy stored in these things is just immense because of their tremendous speed. Just imagine the consequences if it had been a few tens of kilometers across. Luckily, it happened in a nearly unpopulated and extremely remote area and caused few human deaths. However, such an event in a metropolitan area could have cost millions their lives and billions of dollars (if not trillions) would have been lost. Certainly NOT something that would be welcomed today in any part of the world. Approximately 50,000 years ago a meteorite about 160 feet in diameter hit in what is now Northern Arizona near the town of Winslow travelling at about 29,000 miles per hour. The event caused a crater about 4,000 feet deep and of a mile across. This well-preserved crater is a popular tourist attraction to this day. The most talked and written about impact happened 65.5 million years ago, just off the Yucatan coast in Mexico, near the town of Chicxulub. The crater that was formed was named after the town. Also known as the K-T Event, this Everest-Sized hunk of rock is believed to have played a significant role in the extinction of the dinosaurs. The crater from this asteroid is measured to be over 180 km (110 mi.) in diameter. Such an impact today would certainly have a dramatic, if not fatal, effect on humanity. At that time it is believed that the event caused the extinction of over 50% of the flora and fauna alive on the planet. Today, there is a world-wide effort to identify and track these bodies and determine if they pose a danger for the Earth. Oddly, with the millions of rocks orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, there are only a hand-full of astronomers involved in this task. In fact, it has been observed that the total number equals about one shift at any McDonalds restaurant. And, identifying them is just part of the deal. There is still no consensus on what to do if they are found to pose a problem, and whose responsibility it is to do it. It seems there are too many substantially more mundane issues that require the attention of the worlds governments.
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Other Cosmic Threats There are a host of other threats that could or will happen. However, for the purposes of this paper, the odds are too great or will occur too far in the future to be of much interest to most. For instance, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way (Our) Galaxy will collide in about 3 billion years. The Sun will burn through its store of hydrogen in about 5 billion years and grow into a Red Giant that will likely intersect Earths orbit and burn it to a cinder. A massive star may go Super-Nova and burn away the Earths atmosphere in a Gamma-Ray Burst. Lots of cosmic events could and someday will, wipe the planet clean of every form of life. But, these are things humanity cannot control anyway. It is unlikely that any civilization, no matter how advanced, could avert such things. So, theres effectively no reason to worry about them. Other Threats to Humanity that CAN be Controlled However, there are some humanity-ending events that could happen if people continue to act in the inappropriate ways history has recorded. These are the threats that come from

humanity itself. Some will be briefly discussed here others in more detail in later sections. Each of these is explained in detail in Wikipedia (keywords: risks to civilization) Warfare and Mass Destruction. For decades, there has been a fear of annihilation by Nuclear War. Today, even after the end of the Cold War and all the Nuclear War Treaties, there remain sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy humanity several times over. Many will remember the Doomsday Clock that ticked away for years during the height of this fear. The possibility for nuclear war certainly exists, but is unlikely to be species-ending today. More likely would be the use of dirty bombs that would cause little structural damage, but would contaminate vast areas with nuclear fallout, essentially making these areas unfit for use. Technology continues to progress at an ever-increasing rate as a consequence of Moores Law. This law says that technology will tend to double every 12-18 months and this has been the case for over two decades now. Advances in software and hardware should keep this law in vogue for a couple more. But sooner or later it will break down because of something called Quantum Mechanics. It seems there is a limit to the size of circuits (about 5 atoms across)
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before electrons begin to leak out and do strange things. This means we are just about to the point we cant make things any smaller without entering the Quantum World the World of Uncertainty. Without spending a lot of time on this phenomenon, suffice it to say that

technology has progressed sufficiently to be bumping against this wall today. This is precisely why so much effort is going into research on quantum computers. The point of this discussion is that, while there currently is NO Doomsday Machine, one may appear one of these days and we must wonder if humans have the common sense and wisdom to handle it with care, and, even more importantly, why one would want to build one in the first place. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Gray Goo. Kaku spends quite a bit of time discussing AI and this Gray Goo stuff. Following on the work of Isaac Asimov, Kaku cites the distinguishing difference between the ability of the machine and the common sense of the organism. It is this difference that ultimately makes the difference. The time is probably not far off when machines really will be smarter than humans. But, smart and wise are two completely different things. Hopefully, humans can emerge to be a bit wiser to ensure that this difference remains. There are a few facts and observations that are appropriate here regarding the development of the machine. While not necessarily important to the discussion, they are just plain interesting and do give a glimpse of just how much machines have changed in the past few years. Here Goes! Just About Computers Both writers of this article graduated from the hallowed halls (they dont seem so hallowed anymore) of academe in the 60s and 70s with doctorates in Education, one with an Ed.D., and the other with a Ph.D. One went the route of the University, the other chose Community College administration. But one thing was the same both conducted their dissertation research on a huge energy-hungry main-frame computer programmed with punch-cards. In fact, at the time there were a multitude of programs all over the country to teach one how to become a Punch-Card Specialist the job for the future. That seemed a bit odd since it took only about a day to learn enough to punch the cards needed for our respective research. These were massive machines, filling rooms with racks of blinking, humming what-cha-ma-call-its. It
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took shifts of technicians to keep things running, and they required massive amounts of airconditioning to keep them from literally melting into the floor. These machines represented humanitys best effort. And, guess what university professors were teaching about technology in those days. Speaking from experience the main topic was primarily what to with all the leisure time that was going to be generated through all that technology! Yep what to do indeed! Anyway, what about the computer? Most agree that the first real electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). It was plugged into electricity in 1943, had 18,000 vacuum tubes (what is a vacuum tube?), covered 1,500 square feet of floor space, generated enough heat for several homes during winter, and consumed 160 kW of power. It didnt do much! Then, in 1951 the UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) blinked to life. It was considered the first commercially available computer. They sold about 46 of them. Made in the U.S., it had 5,200 vacuum tubes, consumed only 125 kW, and cost a bit more than $1 million. It didnt do much either. But, by the late 70s and early 80s, the PC (Personal Computer) became fairly common. At that time they cost about $3 thousand, had no vacuum tubes, and could be positioned on a desktop. Hence, the term Desktop Computer was added to geek parlance. They didnt do that much either unless one was a proficient programmer. Assume you went to sleep in the 80s, played Rip van Winkle for 30 or so years, and awakened to the world of today. Relating to computing power what would you find? There are Gadgets Galore, each capable of astounding things, cluttering every aspect of daily life. There are TVs hanging on the wall that can surf something called the internet even floating around in something else called the cloud. Little boxes can immerse us in fantasy with nothing more than a handheld gadget with a few buttons and toggles. Egad! What is that thing hanging on your belt that beeps and rings every little bit? Who are you talking to on that 3x4 piece of plastic? Are you watching a movie on it at the same time? The list goes on and on - practically forever. There are gadgets in your ear, sitting on your lap, carried under your arm, a few still on desktops, but not as many, there are gadgets everywhere, integrated into the mundane lives of
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nearly everyone in the developed world. Now heres the point. Nearly every one of these gadgets can easily out compute, out process, and out perform any of the $3 thousand machines of the 80s, and way out compute the $1 million machines of the 50s. In fact, in the 80s there were a very few computers around called Supercomputers (they are still around by the way). These were the crme-de-la-crme. Probably the most recognized name was the Cray Series. By way of comparison, the Cray 2 was about the size of a bathtub and you probably couldnt have afforded one. Unless you were an accomplished programmer in some unfathomable machine language, you probably couldnt have used it either. But, they were very fast and did great things. Heres the point the iPad, or nearly any other small tablet of today, and most smartphones too, can easily out-compute the Cray 2 of the 80s in nearly every respect. These are things that are easily held in the hand, dont generate much heat, and can literally run for hours off of a small battery thats included within the gadget. That, in and of itself, is almost unbelievable. But, they can also do a lot of additional interesting things unheard of in the days of the Cray 2. Yes technology has changed a lot since you went to sleep and its no surprise that you are a bit overwhelmed and groggy. Relax youll maybe catch-up only to learn that during the next 30 years, if humanity lasts that long, technology will change even more and a whole lot faster. If Moores Law survives a decade (evidence is that it will survive at least two), then the technology of today will double again. That means more gadgets that will do more things a lot faster, easier, and efficiently than those of today. This is an exciting time. However, the same question exists will humanity have the wisdom to handle all this technology without escalating the slide into civilizations death? As always time will tell. Climate Change and Ecology There have been a number of Climate Change Models that predict the Earth becoming more like Venus unless steps are quickly taken to mitigate the effects of Global Warming. These two last words just may have become the most contentious statement made in the last 100 years. This is such an important issue that it will appear again later in this article. However, the Earth has been warming since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and this rise poses a great threat to humans in several densely populated areas of the world. Whether this rise is caused

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by the activity of humans or whether it is nothing more than the normal processes of the Earth is a point for debate. But it is warming and it is becoming a problem for literally millions and will have a dramatic effect on the complexion of civilization unless something is done to mitigate these effects. Any review of current literature will show that an immense population is concentrated along the biggest rivers in Asia and are dependent upon the glaciers for that water. Right now, it affects nearly one-half of the planets human population. Another example is the West coast of America that depends on glacier melt from the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The California Department of Water Resources states that if more water supplies are not found by 2020, California will face a water shortage equal to the total amount consumed today. From an ecological standpoint, arable land depletion is getting so severe that, if current trends continue, Africa will only be able to feed about one-quarter of its total population by 2025. Just ONE global crop failure could collapse the entire ecosystem, due entirely to the present trends of over-population, and the driven quest for Economic Development. Given the problems of transportation costs, and shortages nearly everywhere we look, the prospect of business as usual becomes a real problem. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of issues that are easy to miss among all the other issues facing civilization today. Although this business of ecology and agriculture will be discussed later in more detail, it is important that we understand the mechanics of population growth and agriculture. The 20th Century will be remembered for the rapid increase in the human population, driven almost entirely by medical discoveries and agricultural productivity. Experts call it The Green Revolution. During the middle thirty years of the 20th century agriculture enjoyed a 250% increase in growing capacity. It was this single development that sustained the tremendous increase of humanity on the planet, but it did not, nor can it sustain this kind of growth forever. Remember the rapid rise in population always eventually outpaces the ability of the land to sustain it. When this happens, civilizations begin their terminal decline. What makes this even more problematic is the fact that there is a direct relationship between this Green Revolution and the dramatic increase use of Fossil Fuels. Yes this enigmatic and finite resource is the lynchpin of the Revolution. It provided the fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation needed for the dramatic rise in growing capacity and the
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transportation infrastructure to deliver it. That adds up to natural gas, oil, and hydrocarbons. Does that equation sound familiar? It seems almost prophetic to understand how a finite resource, that seemingly contributes to the current problems in climate and weather, is what allowed the population to expand so rapidly, that, ultimately, will result in the demise of the civilization enjoyed today. For now, suffice it to say, this will become the single most important challenge in the decades to come, whether or not humans are the cause. Global Pandemic The issue of some sort of global pandemic catastrophe is not as easy to pin down as some of the other Can Deal With issues discussed. There is no question, however, that tinkering around with DNA, and dabbling with the turning on and off of genes, can have severe and probably unintended consequences. There is also no question that despite the agreements and treaties a number of countries around the world have stockpiled copious amounts of biological pathogens and chemical compounds that could be used in some sort of conflict. It is also known that these conflicts are going to occur with much greater frequency than they have in the past. History tells us they will. Remember this is an integral part of what it is to be a civilization. Ice Age Climatologists have identified twelve ice ages for Mother Earth. What this means is that the climate enjoyed today is not typical for the planet. This is called an Interglacial Period and it wont last forever. Should another ice age appear today there would be serious and possibly fatal consequences for civilization. Vast areas of land in North America, Europe, and Asia would suddenly become uninhabitable. Its easy to forget that all of civilization has happened since the end of the last ice age. Its also easy to deny just how easy it is to cause another one. This too will be detailed later in this article. However, it is a geological fact that should the temperature of the planet rise enough to cause enough of the worlds ice sheets to melt, the Thermohaline Conveyor System would cease and much of North America, Europe, and parts of Asia would again be in the grip of an ice age. The sheer impact, both economic, and biological, would be changed, possibly forever. Folks this is something civilization doesnt want to
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happen, and given what is known about the workings of weather/climate/sea currents, it doesnt have to. Scenario Review Where does civilization stand right now? This article has either mentioned or implied a number of things. Some will agree, some wont, and thats OK. If reading has engendered some questions, then the effort has been worth it. 1. Peak Oil more later. Its probably already happened! 2. Antibiotic Resistance - Technological tinkering with the components of life is dangerous. 3. Gulf Stream Shutdown - This is the Thermohaline Conveyor. Another Ice Age?. 4. Mutual Assured Destruction there exists the capacity to destroy all of humanity several times over. 5. Overpopulation - Another Civil War on a Global Scale? 6. Famine When will population exceed the ability of the land to sustain it? 7. Experimental Accident Technology Again Friend or Foe, or Both? 8. Dysgenics Dabbling in Genetics can be Bad! 9. Hypercane - Are storms getting stronger and bigger? More later. 10. Economic Collapse Its almost happened a number of times. Why? 11. Mass Extinction Its only OK if it isnt humanitys fault. 12. Overconsumption Humans want more and more for less and less. Soon theyll want everything for nothing. 13. Colony Collapse Disorder Anarchy is always the consequence. Wikipedia) (List found on

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The Future for Civilization From the Perspective of Many

We have reviewed a mountain of articles, books, charts, and looked at conclusion after conclusion from experts in all kinds of disciplines in an attempt to conceptualize a future for civilization, knowing in advance where its going, regardless. A repeat of sciences favorite quote is appropriate Its Not a Question of If, But When. For us, at least, we found no better conceptualization than that of Derrick Jenson in his epic work Endgame. Here is the

bibliographical information and we highly suggest that everyone who is interested in our future to read it. Its well worth it! Endgame, by Derrick Jensen. Published by Seven Stories Press, 2006, 2 volumes, 931pgs. ISBN 1-58322-730-X and 1-58322-724-5. There are literally hundreds of references to Endgame on the internet. We happen to be particularly fond of the one proffered by Wikipedia. (keyword Endgame) Derrick Jensen argues for what many others have found over the years civilization, by its very design and philosophy is unsustainable. However, Jensen deviates from his predecessors by telling us what to do about it. Given what weve learned so far about the birth, life, decline, and death of civilizations so far, the solution is fairly obvious. Civilizations die when the population outgrows the ability of the land to sustain it. Thats the law of thermodynamics; therefore entropy is the inevitable outcome. In Volume 1, The Problem of Civilization, he contends that we must immediately, through a well thought-out plan, destroy civilization. In Volume 2, Resistance, Jensen talks about the challenges and physical tasks associated with this dismantling. Its probably not too surprising that this landmark work has caused a bit of consternation out-andabout. However, we have found it to be extremely logical in its approach. Obviously we are not alone. Jensen was named Person of the Year by Press Action for publishing Endgame, which they called the most important book of the decade. By its nature, Endgame is primarily written for those of us who already know the troubles facing civilization in general, and the one we live in specifically. It probably isnt for those who are convinced that things are great, that good ol Uncle Sam is going to take care of us regardless of the messes we get
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ourselves into. You probably know people just like this. They find it comfortable to think that if they hear something long enough and often enough then it must be true. Hogwash! In fact, therein is one of the main reasons civilizations are so unsustainable. Well explore this phenomenon in much more detail later. It is definitely NOT written for those who dont want to be bothered with the facts because their minds are already made up. Endgame is a must read for anyone who is acutely aware of the innate problems of civilization, are fed-up with all the feel good nonsense being spoon-fed to all of us, and who genuinely want to become part of the solution by getting as far away from the cause as possible. As mentioned, Endgame is predicated on the belief that civilization, any civilization, is by its very nature unsustainable. The very things that allow it to spring into life are the very things that will cause it to die. Yes this is a circular argument, but it is one that can be found in every single civilization of the past and one that can be seen developing in any civilization existing today. Just look around, listen to the news, surf the internet, talk to your neighbors. What do you see, hear, and talk about? Its about the economy, work, taxes, wars and conflicts, laws, the military, the government, and a host of other things that are inherently associated with civilization and not very many of them are feel-good kinds of things. OK there is some pleasant talk about how many neat technological gadgets are available, but, in the end, its all about problems, problems, and problems. Very few conversations can last over a few minutes without mentioning problems. They are very easy to identify, but seemingly impossible to solve. Jensen doesnt believe that for a second! Endgame is structured around 20 premises. They dont follow a nice linear path; rather appear as needed to stress solutions. For example, (taken directly from Wikipedia review): Because civilization is not sustainable (Premise 1), and because civilization will not undergo a voluntary transformation (Premise 6), activists should change the ways they think about and work toward social change. Because every living thing is inextricably dependent upon the rest of the natural world for survival, sustaining the natural world is good. Because civilization depends on widespread violence (Premise 3), all civilized people (even dogmatic pacifists) are complicit in violence simply by their own participation in the industrial economy. Because civilization is not sustainable (Premise 1), and sustaining the natural world is good, an act is good insofar as it
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decreases the ability of civilization to do violence. Because global economy is killing the planet before our eyes (Premise 1), and because it is not redeemable (Premise 6), it is wrong to think that personal lifestyle changes we make within the current system can save the planet. While we are not responsible for existing in the current system because we did not create it, we are responsible for doing our part to destroy the system, as this is the only way to stop the destruction of the planet. Both volumes progress with this kind of thinking. The more interaction among the 20 premises, the easier it becomes to see and understand the problems and solutions. Volume 2 does spend considerable time recalling conversations among and between professionals in a number of disciplines to add credence to Jensens arguments. A good example can be found in his visit with a cadre of computer hackers about the dependence of our industrial civilization upon unsecured computer systems. We know there are umpteen proprietary programs purporting to eliminate security problems viruses, spy-bots, worms, spyware, etc. Somehow, though, there always seems to be a hole somewhere that a hacker can exploit to wreck havoc with our systems and to literally steal us blind (oops! Not politically correct). So, dont think for a minute that the Red Button is secure from those who dont have our best interest in mind. There are a few more notable and philosophical observations available in the Wikipedia Review that warrants a mention. These quotes happen to appear in Volume 2. directly: There are a number of arguments in favor of pacifism that Jensen finds invalid. Love leads to pacifism. You cant use the masters tools to dismantle the masters house. Its far easier to make war than to make peace. We must visualize world peace. To even talk about winning and losing (much less to talk about violence, much, much less to actually do it) perpetuates the destructive dominator mindset that is killing the planet. If we just visualize peace hard enough, we may find it, because, as Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller tells us, Peace is rarely denied to the peaceful. Ends never justify means, which leads to Erasmus saying, and pacifists quoting, The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war. Gandhi gives us some absolutism, as well as absolution for our inability to stop oppressors, when he says, Humankind has to get out of violence only through nonviolence. Hatred can be overcome only by love. Gandhi again, with more magical thinking, When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always
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Again, we quote

fail Think of it, ALWAYS. Violence begets violence. Gandhi again, We must be the change we wish to see. If you use violence against exploiters, you become like they are. Related to that is the notion that violence destroys your soul. If violence is used, the mass media will distort our message. Every act of violence sets back the movement ten years. If we commit an act of violence, the state will come down hard on us. Because the state has more capacity to inflict violence than we do, we can never win using that tactic, and so must never use it. And finally, violence never accomplishes anything. Wow! How many times have we heard one or more of these statements? Most of us, whether verbally or not, probably believe that truth exists in every one of them, simply because weve heard or read them so often. And, we agree, in utopia, this is fodder for an ideal life. There remains one problem though we dont live in a utopian society. There is too little love and too much hate, too little peace and too much war. The list goes on and on, and the real truth remains the path we walk is unsustainable and we are destined to fail. We have and will continue to delay the inevitable through diplomacy and technological advancement for a while. But, the path leads to nowhere and were running faster and faster toward it. There remains one absolute in the mess we find ourselves in Diplomacy Wont Work! The time for talking is over. The philosophy of the 60s was mainly if it feels good do it! (replaced with yes we can today), but it didnt work then and still wont work now. Its time to put action to work rather than our mouths. An Ass loves to hear itself bray. This old adage seems to be about all we

can do anymore. Is this what weve become, Asses braying to the world? Its time for America to become Proactive rather than Reactive. Its time for America to get out of the business of trying to make the rest of the world just like us. This kind of stupidity has led our country to the brink of bankruptcy and war over and over again. It has cost the lives of thousands and thousands of the countrys youth, has alienated the rest of the world, has ruined our reputation across the entire planet, and has allowed the cancer of decay to overtake our entire infrastructure, and caused the dollar to lose its value. We tout that we have the greatest military in the world, and we spend literally trillions of dollars on esoteric weapons systems to prove it, and we cant even win a skirmish against a bunch of rag-tags out in the middle of the desert somewhere, wielding weapons that were considered old 30 years ago. Just in case you dont know (and contrary to what the government will tell) we havent won anything since WWII! Given where we are today militarily, we must wonder if it all was worth it. Not that
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anyone cares, but both writers are veterans who, together, served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. We think its time to start making the government work for us again, and not for some tin-badge dictator running amok in who knows where, and certainly not for some fat-cat whose interest runs no deeper than where his or her next little green piece of paper is going to come from. Its time to put compromise and rationalization in the trash where it belongs. And, its time to give us back our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We know there is a rumor floating around about a recent and former President calling them nothing more than a g-damned piece of paper. For the record - We dont believe that! But we are also aware that they, over time, have become treated as such. We love our country and have done our duty for it, just like the millions before us. We can think of no place better to live on the planet. But we are also becoming more and more disillusioned and distressed over whats going on today. More on these last few sentences a bit later. Finally, and we know youve had a hard time waiting, we present the list of 20 Premises outlined in Derrick Jensens book Endgame. These too are outlined in Wikipedia. Premise One: Civilization is not and can never be sustainable. This is especially true for industrial civilization. Premise Two: Unless destroyed, a traditional community will not voluntarily divest the resources that have allowed their rise. They also will not allow their land to be damaged through extraction of other resources. So, it remains, when all things are considered, this all happens during times of community decline. It sounds exactly like what is happening today doesnt it. Remember we call it Entropy. Premise Three: Our present industrial civilization would collapse very quickly without the rapid intervention of violence. Violence is a very effective and legitimized form of population control. Surely you knew that. Premise Four: Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely accepted hierarchy. Violence by those higher in rank to those of lower rank is almost always invisible. Even when it is noticed, there are always numerous ways to rationalize why it was needed. When that same violence happens the other way around, society is shocked and horrified. Just think about the last newscast youve seen.

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Premise Five: The property of those higher on the hierarchy is more valuable than the lives of those below. We dont think weve thought of it just this way before, but there definitely is truth here. Yes it has become perfectly acceptable for the elite to increase their holdings make more money by destroying the lives of those below. Today we call it production. However, in the same scenario turned around, we call it justice. Forget about that old adage about being careful to those you walk over on the way up because youre going to meet them again on the way down. Those issues have long-since been legislated away. Premise Six: Our civilization is not redeemable. That means it is not about to voluntarily return to a sane and self-sustainable standard of living. Business as usual can only mean that humanity will continue to degrade the planet, in human and nonhuman ways, by taking energy away faster than the planet can replenish, until it ultimately collapses. We must never lose sight of the fact that we shall soon, if we havent already, reach a point of no return a point where no attempt at mitigation will do any good. That is a scary thought, indeed. Premise Seven: The longer we wait and/or the longer we delay the inevitable, the greater the catastrophe will be, and the worse it will be for our progeny. One must wonder if it is truly moral to subject our future family to such agony and such bleak prospects. Premise Eight: The needs of the natural world are more important than the needs of the economic system. Now this is a profound statement and one we seem to have absolutely backwards. In terms of the natural state of things, we are subjected to endless diatribe about how we cant afford it, and that we cant get blood out of a turnip. In reality, what we cant do is continue to plunder our precious resources for the sake of the economy. For, what is wealth without a place to enjoy it? Premise Nine: Although there will clearly, some day, be far fewer humans than there are at the present, there are many ways this reduction in population could occur (or be achieved, depending on the passivity or activity with which we choose to approach this transformation). The argument is made that, through default, violence will likely be the mechanism by which population growth is slowed or stopped altogether. But, one thing is for sure: If we do not approach this issue actively, if we do not talk about our predicament and what we are going to do about it, the violence will almost undoubtedly be far more severe and the privation more extreme. That means that the days have passed where we can tiptoe around the issue in the name of diplomacy. We can scarcely afford to side-step the issue altogether through tactics that shift the real issues to the sideline in hopes of making it go away. Just listen to any newscast, read any newspaper. Inevitably, what we see are new committees, even entire federal departments, being formed to study this and that. New laws and mandates are placed on record to do who knows what. Hardly ever do we hear a politician speak to the real and critical issues that underpin the very foundation of our civilization our society. We daily find
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ourselves mired in the age-old and circular track of never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. Lets just pass a new law, or add another level of supervision and everything will be OK. Sadly, we will wake up one day and find that tomorrow has come and gone and any hopes of the American Dream have long-since vanished. The rich will wonder what happened and the poor will wonder why they let it happen. There are still a few around that remember the Great Depression and the desperations and horrors of those years. Today the evidence is overwhelming; were in trouble from every direction. Yes, the Great Depression was just that. Heres a revelation to sleep on tonight Folks, you aint seen nothin yet! Premise Ten: The culture as a whole and most of its members are insane. The culture is driven by a death urge, an urge to destroy life. Only a fool could miss what our culture is today A Big Pile of Greed! Were sure a dairy farmer would call it something else. Premise Eleven: From the beginning, this culture civilization has been a culture of occupation. Premise Twelve: There are no rich people in the world, and there are no poor people. There are just people. The rich may have lots of pieces of green paper that many think are actually worth something or their presumed riches may be even more abstract such as numbers on a hard drives at some bank and the poor may not. These rich claim they own land, and the poor are often denied the right to make that same claim. A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of pieces of green paper. Those without the green paper generally buy into these delusions almost as quickly and completely as those with. These delusions carry with them extreme consequences in the real world. How true! Has anyone reading this ever realized that we dont ever actually own anything? Try not paying your property taxes and find out if you can stay in the house you worked so hard to pay for. Let the economy collapse and find out if those little green pieces of paper are worth anything. When the banks finally realize that they are NOT too big to fail, wait and see if those hard drives give you anything back that you can spend, assuming there is anything to buy. Personally, we dont find a lot of optimism here. Premise Thirteen: Those in power rule by force, and the sooner we break ourselves of illusions to the contrary, the sooner we can at least begin to make reasonable decisions about whether, when, and how we are going to resist. Well visit this again when we talk about the distribution of wealth. Premise Fourteen: From birth on and probably from conception, but Im not sure how Id make the case we are individually and collectively acculturated to hate life, hate the natural world, hate the wild, hate wild animals, hate women, hate children, hate our bodies, hate and fear our emotions, hate ourselves. If we did not hate the world, we could not allow it to be
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destroyed before our eyes. If we did not hate ourselves, we could not allow our homes and our bodies to be poisoned. Truism: Its hard to learn how to love when youre swimming in an ocean of hate. Premise Fifteen: Love does not imply pacifism. Premise Sixteen: The material world is primary. We really need to start thinking about how far-reaching this statement is. While we, through faith or whatever you choose to call it, know that whatever it is that makes us who we are, we are constrained by the reality that real world actions cause real world consequences. We have already learned that for every cause there are effect(s). We should have also learned that we cant count on something ethereal to get us out of the mess weve gotten ourselves into. Yes the Earth is our primary focus because it is where we are right now. Regardless of whether or not we believe in the afterlife, we occupy this planet right now. Its the only place we have to occupy. Knowing that why do we seem so intent on destroying it? Why do we so persistently try to ignore the fact that this is not all an illusion? Its pathetic! Premise Seventeen: It is a mistake (or more likely, denial) to base our decisions on whether actions arising from these will or wont frighten fence-sitters, or the mass of Americans. even DashAmericans. Premise Eighteen: Our current sense of self is no more sustainable than our current use of energy or technology. Premise Nineteen: The cultures problem lies above all in the belief that controlling and abusing the natural world is justifiable. We should never be astonished with all the rationalizations going on around us every day. After all we are all responsible for it because we havent done anything to prevent it. Premise Twenty: Within this culture, economics not community well-being, not morals, not ethics, not justice, not life itself drives social decisions. Well if none of these things, the very things our founding fathers espoused so fervently, dont define our culture, then what does? We already know the answer, even though we sincerely try to deny and suppress it Greed! Indeed, it is sad to reflect on the fact, that if there is a history to read about at some point in the unidentifiable future, it will say that our lives and civilizations were built on greed. Therefore, Jensen came up with a few modifications of Premise Twenty. Modification of Premise Twenty: Social decisions are determined primarily (and often exclusively) on the basis of whether these decisions will increase the monetary fortunes of the decision-makers and those they serve.

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Re-Modification of Premise Twenty: Social decisions are determined primarily (and often exclusively) on the basis of whether these decisions will increase the power of the decision-makers and those they serve. Re-Re-Modification of Premise Twenty: Social decisions are founded primarily (and often exclusively) on the almost entirely unexamined belief that the decision-makers and those they serve are entitled to magnify their power and/or financial fortunes at the expense of those below. Re-Re-Re-Modification of Premise Twenty: If you dig to the heart of it if there were any heart left you would find that social decisions are determined primarily on the basis of how well these decisions serve the ends of controlling or destroying wild nature. If we follow this train of thought to its logical conclusion we will find that the decision-makers will do so for their exclusive benefit and to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. Remember the old saying about absolute power corrupting absolutely? We find it interesting, but not surprising, that our leadership, in their infinite wisdom, have excluded themselves from any financial burdens that face the rest of us. Surely we all remember the too big to fail business. The banks and mortgage lenders not only ended up getting bailed out for their crooked business practices, but have continued to profit from them by simply transferring all the risk to the tax-paying part of the population who had nothing to do with it, and by giving themselves huge bonuses for being clever enough to do so. Not a single one of these financial elite characters was ever prosecuted for anything. What have we done about it? Nothing! What could we have done? Nothing! Wed say this was a pretty good deal for them. However, make no mistake here - we would have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They, as a part of the financial elite, and because a large percentage of the decisionmakers are part of the financial elite as well, the ol you scratch my back and Ill scratch yours kicked in. Heck of a deal. The financial elite, along with the decision-makers, by being nearly the same, have developed a mass and motion of their own. Remember the old analogy of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object? While this may remain a paradox in physics, it certainly is not a paradox when applied to the government and to the rich. Together they control such a huge amount of momentum and such a huge mass that virtually nothing can intervene. Nearly Nothing!
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Being Politically Correct and Its Aftermath

Some of us remember it well, though we are getting a bit long-in-the-tooth. It was somewhere in the 60s and 70s and, all of a sudden, there was social unrest everywhere. Not that this, in and of itself, is a new thing. But there was something different about it this time. Suddenly, everyone was mad at everything and everyone. Yeah there were nagging problems that had been around for awhile, it seemed the federal government was absolutely intent on getting its fingers into everyones personal lives, the Vietnam War was going full tilt and, to put it mildly, people didnt like it. One of us remembers that the national topic for forensic debate teams was whether or not the federal government should become involved in education. Today, we know all too well what the answer should have been, but wasnt. Then, out of the blue, there was a new mantra for everyone to hide their sensibilities behind make love, not war. Suddenly, masses were seen jumping around on invisible trampolines, with faces painted in day-glow pastels, and clothing that looked like they came from a dye factory running on stupid. There was even something on the radio called music. Timothy Leary became the new guru, so, in addition to having sex on any available patch of grass, we were supposed to turn on, tune in, and drop out. Unfortunately, it was very clear that there was no hint as to what we were to turn on, what we were supposed to listen to when we tuned in, and what we were supposed to drop out of. Hurray! Good ol Uncle Sam came to the rescue. He suddenly realized that it was his responsibility to define all this for us. We were supposed to turn on the government so it could plunder our civil rights, tune in to the gobble-de-gook leaking out of the hallowed halls of Congress, and drop out of anything that resembled what it was to be an American with common sense. Here it came, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the notion that all of our problems were due to our NOT being Politically Correct. Now, dont hang us just yet. We acknowledge that discrimination existed (and still does by the way) as one of humanitys greatest shortcomings (being stupid is the other). The issue is not that we didnt need to change the countrys attitudes. The issue is that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights already gave us the formula for it. Herein lies the problem, and it has grown into a monster. In typical governmental knee-jerk, all of a sudden we had a whole new level of
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government created to enforce what had already been legislated, with the mandate to create a whole new set of laws so that they could enforce the ones we already had. It wasnt the existing laws that needed fixing; it was our individual attitudes toward them that did. And, unless you havent figured it out yet, you cannot legislate morality no matter how hard you try. You can certainly pass new laws that will ultimately chisel away at your own civil rights (and our government is very good at passing laws, and our civil rights have been chipped away at), but that does absolutely nothing to change personal morality. Heres the biggy - From its very beginning, America has endeavored to create a classless society. While we agree in the concept of the Civil Rights Act, we do not agree with its outcome. With a stroke of a pen, all of a sudden we had created a multi-leveled and societal dividing, and ultimately crushing, class system in America that would shame the most feudal systems of the past. It has cost of all dearly. Yes even those it was created to protect. We shall see why. The other issue just happens to be closely related to the first. Now everyone had an issue of some sort or another. It seems we had a tremendous problem with the English Language. Then, all of a sudden, politics, ideas, policies, and behavior came into question. Of course, then we had to address the fact that social, institutional, occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, disability, and age-related contexts had to be addressed. Egad! The country was literally falling apart around us because of all its earth-shattering shortcomings. But the government knew the answer We had to become Politically Correct! Almost immediately we had a whole new shelf full of laws for the law library. Believe it or not, were still reeling from the after-effects of this effort. All of a sudden it became a cardinal sin to even speak. It became virtually impossible to get out of bed in the morning without having already committing a crime of some sort. There was no way to anticipate whose toes you might step on simply because you chose the wrong word. Best to just keep your mouth shut, keep in doors, and become a hermit. There were nonsensical terms like shim for she/him that replaced something else. All of a sudden there werent any more chairmen; they were chairpeople, no more firemen, no more trash collectors, no more disabled people, no more dumb people, no deaf, blind, crippled, or homosexual people. The list grew and grew and grew ad infinitum. There isnt even a BC or AD anymore, and even the gender of God came
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into question. We certainly had to get this fixed right away. Obviously there werent and still arent any more important issues for our government to concern itself with than whether or not same-sex marriages will be permitted. Wait a minute we thought we had read

somewhere that, no matter how hard you try, you cant legislate morality, let alone define what morality is for everybody. Folks these kinds of issues arent any of the governments business. They may rest with the clergy, the psychologists, and the sociologists, but they certainly dont need the attention of our Federal Government! The founding fathers had figured this out way before the original Constitutional Convention. Whose fault is all this silliness? You already know Its Ours! History will show us to be incredibly dumb. Yes, we know that is a politically incorrect use of terms. So be it! Our dumbness has cost our nation beyond calculation. Not only in little green pieces of paper, but in our social, psychological, legal, governmental, and personal make-up as well. We have become hated and laughed at by the rest of the world our brothers and sisters! Truly the ridiculous has decayed into the sublime. Through what may have been originally good intentions grew a monster too big and too dangerous to capture. In this context It Is Too Big To Fail! Just a couple more observation and we promise to move on. We simply must address this issue of long-term cost a bit further. Just how expensive has it been really? It has been observed over and over again that any attempt to pay for past mistakes is simply too costly and too counterproductive. Remember all the Affirmative Action hoopla? In the end, all we accomplished was to create a whole new generation of victims that cross every boundary we hold dear and that were enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. In this domain the means never justify the ends. There is only one real answer and only one action that must to be taken. Its really simple if we would just do it. That one is to live up to the ideals already outlined for us. Historically, political correctness meant acting and speaking in a considerate manner with our brethren. Of course, this has been adulterated beyond recognition and the term itself has become largely pejorative. We are on a dangerous path today. In a country that celebrates diversity and culturism at the expense of democracy is doomed to fail. Of course, fail we will.
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But better we fail because of thermodynamics and entropy. To fail because we forgot what it was to be an American is painfully unacceptable. We had better decide quickly for time is short. We would like to end this section by sharing a speech by former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm, given at a conference to laud a new book by Professor Victor Hansen on overpopulation and over-immigration in California. His book was titled Mexifornia. After Professor Hansens presentation, former Governor Lamm approached the podium and gave a presentation on how to destroy America. Were told you could have heard a pin drop. Lamm outlined eight things we must do if we really want to destroy the United States. He said; If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then lets destroy it. Its not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arthur Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that An Autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide. Heres how they do it Turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bi-cultural, or multi-cultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. In case you havent figured it out yet hes talking about being politically correct. When was the last time you opened a box with some gizmo in it that didnt have an instruction manual with fewer than three languages? To continue: The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon, all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans. Invent multiculturism and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. I would maintain that there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.
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We could make the United States an Hispanic Quebec without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together. I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America reinforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities. Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school. My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of Victimology. I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population. My sixth point in the plan for Americas downfall would include dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engages in hating each other that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell E. Pluribus Unum From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the pluribus instead of the unum we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo. Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of diversity. I would find a word similar to heretic in the 16 th

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century that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like racist or xenophobe halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multiculturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of Victimology, I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them. Lastly, I would censor Victor Hansen Daviss book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, dont read that book. (this speech appears in numerous sites on the internet. This copy happens to come from www.strangecosmos.com) We are told that Lamm received no applause. There was apparently nothing but a solemn quiet. The conclusion was that everyone in that auditorium understood what he had just said. They understood just how methodically and quietly, how darkly yet pervasive, the movement was. They saw just how dangerous the path was and where it led. They knew where the path of Political Correctness led and what the real cost would be. This was hyperbole to the extreme. The question is whether or not we understand what the bathos will be. We are not optimistic. From here we want to take a look behind the scenes in an attempt to understand the motivation behind the direction society has chosen. Somewhere in this fog hides the concept of Greed.

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The Greed-Based Society

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon. Matthew 6: 19-24. Corporation, n., An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility. Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914, American columnist and writer of horror stories, as quoted in The Devils Dictionary, 1906 Cheshire Puss, asked Alice. Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? That depends a good deal on where you want to go, said the Cat. I dont much care where, said Alice. Then it doesnt matter which way you go, said the Cat. Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898. English writer and mathematician, Alices Adventures in Wonderland, 1965. Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes it obstructs your vision. His-Tang Tsang, 735-814. Renowned Zen Master. Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde, 18541900. Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet. I think youll find, when death takes its toll, all the money you made will never buy back your soul. Bob Dylan

Nearly 2,500 years ago, a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu stated: There is no calamity greater than lavish desires, no greater guilt than discontentment, and no greater disaster than greed. (newint.org) There is, in our minds, no truer words ever spoken. And, since we believe it so fervently, we also contend that we have thus created quite a mess for ourselves. In one way or another (cause and effect) every ill deed ever committed, manifests itself through greed or one of the other six deadly sins. It has become so integral to the American society and culture that we literally cant see one without the other. Is this really true? What does greed mean? Is there any way out of this mess? As we explore these questions, we ask you to think back over the past 30 years or so and try to recall some of the times you, at the time, thought things were pretty bad. What was the stock market doing? How were the interest rates? What was the inflation rate? Was the federal government imposing itself into your daily lives? People acted
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pretty narcissistic even then, and corporations and banks were pulling some pretty nasty stunts as well. Many will remember those days and can remember how they, and the government, reacted to them. While maybe not quite as bad, the 90s saw some of the same exact things going on. The only real difference was the masses almost entirely ignored them, and the government certainly did. Why? - Because, out of the blue and very suddenly greed was being viewed as a very good thing for the economy. Just Imagine! Greed is a good thing.

Economists, Corporate CEOs, Colleges and Universities, Business Schools and Business ThinkTanks, Students writing Dissertations, The Fed, and even the President of the United States, were all espousing the virtues of greed! Greed is defined as an excessive desire to possess wealth or goods with the intention to keep it for ones own self. Greed is known as one of the 7 Deadly Sins in the Bible and a host of other theological texts, and was more recently familiarized in Dantes Divine Comedy. (Wikipedia, keyword greed) Greed is included along with Lechery/Lust, Gluttony, Acedia/Discouragement, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Depending on the list some of the words may change due to translation, but the meanings havent changed at all. One other revelation contrary what some theologians might tell you, they mean exactly the same thing today as they did when they were written. For sure, we can identify each of these Deadly Sins everywhere. It permeates our daily lives, those of our friends and neighbors, and the actions of our elected leaders, local, state, and federal. When we said the country finds itself in a mess, we meant exactly that. We have already spent considerable time and space learning about the inevitable path all civilizations take. Even before greed was factored into the equation, we had already learned that civilizations are inherently destined to decline and die. Now, to include greed and the other deadly sins to the list, there is no choice but to determine that they can only serve to increase the speed of our demise to literally enhance entropy. We still endeavor to maintain a tad of optimism about the future, but unless a miracle happens, its certainly getting a lot harder to maintain. Humans, particularly in the United States, have been conditioned to believe in a consumer culture. We subconsciously look at ourselves as restless, dissatisfied, and consumer-driven toys

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to be played with by the rich- and governmental-elite. You may take exception to that picture, but it should come as no surprise since most of us have whole-heartedly bought into the greedis-good mentality. Can anyone out there really give credible debate against the fact that we have become a flock of sheep being driven from meadow to meadow at the whim of corporate and governmental greed? Can anyone really deny that we have forsaken the very cornerstones of what made America great; that we have traded the values that defined America for the sake of greed? While greed may indeed promote motivation, is that worth our moral character? Is it worth the destruction of our planet? Are material things really worth all that? We dont think so. We remember a recent episode of CSI: Miami, where a corporate big-wig billionaire committed murder to further stock his larder of little green pieces of paper. The question was asked: You have enough money to last anyone several lifetimes. Why did you commit murder? His reply: Believe me, its never enough. Now, in all honestly, doesnt that sound a bit too familiar today? Greed has been promoted to the point that its almost sanctified. It has developed a thirst that cannot be quenched, and a hunger that cannot be fed. Remember the days when you could almost watch a TV program without being interrupted every five minutes with a commercial break that lasted five minutes. Remember when you never had to endure this is a paid program offered to you by.? Remember when you didnt have to get out of bed, or leave the throne to answer the phone before you could find out what a good deal a telemarketer had for you? (dont think for a minute that a dont call list will help) Remember when you didnt have to pay $160/month for the privilege? If you can, then you know that something is different. Where did the guarantee of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness go? It went to big business so they could enjoy the profit that you used to call civil rights. Where did the expectation of privacy in your own home go? When was the last time you felt safe from the prying eyes of marketers, the police, from the government, when you walked down the street? How long has it been now since you could get out of bed without having broken yet another restrictive law designed for the expressed purpose of generating revenue? Greed is literally making us prisoners by just being alive. Oops! Thats not entirely true it actually costs us a pretty good chunk of change even to die.
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Why does greed work so well in the world today? Lets narrow that a bit a just talk about the US. It seems that any of the deadly sins perform much better when the people that suffer most from them are at a very low level of wisdom, awareness, and understanding. It works even better if they are highly undereducated. As revealed earlier, both writers come from academia. From personal experience, we are acutely aware of the shockingly high number of high school graduates that came through our doors that could not fill out the application form for admission. We can tell you documented stories of the number of entering students that required massive amounts of remediation before they could even enter into college-level work and even that has had to be dumbed-down in recent years. Politically correct or not, the sad facts remain students emerging from the educational system(s) today in America are illprepared for the challenges facing them. We guess what were saying is that, just maybe; we have totally committed ourselves to greed by allowing ourselves to become a society with low levels of wisdom, awareness, and understanding. Just maybe the dumbing-down is a valuable strategy used to pave the way, unimpeded, for an ever-more efficient greed-based economy. There is quite a precedent behind this kind of economy. In fact, most of us have fallen into the trap at one time or another. One of the most obvious is the phenomenon of the cell phone. How in the world did we function at all without a cell phone stuck to our cheek? How did we ever get any grocery shopping done without consulting with someone at the other end of the ether? For that matter, how did we ever drive to the store in the first place? But, thats not the end of it. Now we have to replace that cell phone every year (sometimes more often than that) to take advantage of all the new features available on the new model. For sure, we need all the computing of last years super computer in our hands, dictating each and everything we do! The same applies to computers themselves. Then even they arent suitable for all we need to do. We absolutely have to have the latest iteration of the tablet computer. Then we can be driven to replace it every few months as well. The same scenario can be applied to any gadget you choose. After all, whats more important than keeping up with the Jones? We just wont be in the loop without the latest and the best. For Petes Sake, some kid in China sold a kidney so he could buy the latest version of the IPad! Yes we have bought into the disposable society. We know, because someone told us that its good for the economy, and, therefore,
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good for us. Never mind those few pesky problems of pollution, habitat destruction, species extinction, and that silly thing we hear about every day called Global Warming. No doubt that will emerge as the single greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. We know it because Rush told us so! Its just how nature works. BS! We know it sounds like a broken record, but its as true today as its ever been we have been so conditioned by hearing this kind of drivel for so long that many of us, to our ultimate peril, have started to believe it. As long as we continue to infuse our youth with the belief that more is better, that the best people are the ones with the most stuff, that those with the most are the real heroes, and that consumption is good, the faster we will see our society fade into oblivion. Kids dont play outside anymore. They sit around playing video games, texting on their cell phones, and eat. Just take a look at the obesity rates for our youth today. It should be declared a national disaster instead of evidence for the health of the greed-based society. Well take another peek at this issue when we explore the Distribution of Wealth in America. But now, we need to see if we can get a grip on whats happened to our workforce. Theres no question that the unemployment problem is way past desperate. People have simply given up on the American Dream. Not only that, but those affected the most have been the first to realize that this has become a global issue. A perfect example has been the creation of the World Trade Organization. Its primary and sole purpose is to eliminate all impediments to the proliferation of transnational corporate activity (newint.org). Weve said it before and will say it again; this greed thing has grown into a monster. In fact, it is so prevalent and is so important to the health of the economy, that it is now being legislated by our own government. To hell with the American people and the pain and suffering being piled on their shoulders over the misdeeds of the rich-elite the economy (hence the greed) is all important. Again, just think of the too big to fail fiasco an action that will haunt our country for generations to come (if it lasts that long). And all the while, somewhere in nearly every speech given by any legislator of your choice, youll hear the term God Bless America (the rest of us cant talk publicly about God, but our government can). Why would God (any one you choose) bless the corporate bottom line over human rights, the sovereignty of the States, and the health of the planet? Why would God bless a government that passes legislation that virtually eliminated
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every Americans constitutional right in the name of National Security? Why would God bless a mantra of greed as a servant of the common good? It has entirely worked its way into the political philosophy of our country and has developed a kinetic energy that is probably too forceful to stop. What about this issue of jobs? The fact is that no matter what we do now there will be no jobs created through which a worker can provide for their family (barely themselves) today. That

used to be called Upward Mobility. It was way before the collapse Socialism, way before the time of the high-speed Internet, before our government became known as a part of the RichElite. This was before there was anything remotely resembling a cap on non-performancebased pay caps. No one had imagined that corporate America would be able to take the rungs out of the ladder of success for the individual. Those were the times when an education, ambition, and hard work could spell success in the job market. But all of that is gone now. All of those jobs have been out-sourced in the name of corporate greed. All thats left are NonTradable Domestic Service Jobs. These are the minimum wage jobs that dont provide

anywhere near something called a livable income. Not to sound demeaning, but these are our waitress support staff, bartenders, government workers, hospital orderlies, barbers, and retail clerks. These are the Hands-On kinds of jobs that cannot be sold as exported. Nearly everything else is gone. Big-Business figured out that this was a way to greatly increase their bottom lines, to boost shareholder returns, and executive bonuses by shipping the high-cost jobs overseas where labor costs were cheaper. As you would expect, we were sold a bill of goods by Corporate America (and our very own government as well) by giving us assurances that this was a good thing. We were assured that if we out-sourced all those dirty manufacturing jobs overseas that the void would be replaced with nice clean technical jobs that required university degrees that paid more, therefore enhancing our economy and making things much better for us all. Have you heard that before? When was the last time promises such as this ever became reality? We were told that America would again be at the forefront of research and development, design, engineering, financing, and marketing, and other places, like China, would perform all that nasty stuff required to make

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what we invented. This was the promise of value-added that would keep us running on high octane. Of course, from the outset, this made absolutely no sense. It certainly didnt take long for the greedy to figure out that if out-sourcing the dirty things because of lower wages, then shipping out the rest of the technical job market would be cheaper too. And thats exactly what happened. (counterpunch.org) After-all, nothing, absolutely nothing is more important than the bottom-line in a greed-based economy (now a global thing) even if it brings the American economy to its knees. Example after example can easily be found to corroborate the fact that Corporate America is hard at work shipping technical and design jobs to wherever the manufacturing part of their operations happen to be located. After all its cheaper! We are essentially left with a job market that no longer makes things. We no longer have anything to export. What that leaves us with is an economy that can only buy things by sending what little wealth is left to other parts of the world. Yes thats the reality of why people cant find jobs anymore. In fact, its rare to find a medium- to large-sized company that is NOT engaged in offshoring in one way or another. Its also easy to confirm that product development, that phenomenon that was to be our savior in the new-age, is the 2nd largest business function that is off-shored. counterpunch.org) Oh the bed we have made to sleep in! We have lost what once defined what America stood for wealth and prosperity for the masses. One last issue that we will return to in a later section is the fact that our Dollar is on the brink of losing its status as the worlds reserve currency. Standard & Poor is considering down-grading our credit rating from AAA to AA. It doesnt take a big-wig economist to figure out what effect either event would have on our standing with the rest of the world they already know that our trade deficit, all arising out of our out-sourcing mania, is completely and unswervingly unsustainable. Just think back to what weve learned about Entropy, Thermodynamics, Cause and Effect, and Civilization. Do you really think we can survive for long? Whats going to happen to the lifestyle weve become accustomed to? Is this the legacy we want to leave to our future? We dont think so but what can we do about it? Will raising taxes on

corporations accomplish anything? Has it ever? We already know that taxing corporations

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accomplish nothing. Those costs are simply passed along to the consumer, who is already taxed to the limit. For sure, what we need is a more complex tax code. After all, its only about 17,000 pages long already. Well talk about the IRS in a later section. What is important to remember for now is that our workforce is now transformed. What remains is a market for service-workers that is characteristic of the markets we sent ours to so ours could be better. Sounds silly, but we bought it again. We think there is something innate in our mentality that prevents us from learning from our mistakes. There must be because no one in their right mind would voluntarily let what has happened happen. (Some of these ideas come from an article written by Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan Administration, was an Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal, and contributed to the National Review. He is also a coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.)

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The Distribution of Wealth in America

A hungry man is an angry man. English Proverb A little too late, is much too late. German Proverb As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Proverbs 26:11 We have learned that a great portion of what it is that defines America as one of the greatest countries on Earth is now being out-sourced to elsewhere in the world wherever the cheapest labor can be found without much regard for quality without much forethought on long-term effects. Indeed, this I want it now mentality has taken precedence over reason. Now we learn that what little is left is concentrated in the hands of the elite-few who control the preponderance of the wealth in our country. These are the ones who actually run the country. To make it even worse than that, these are the ones we also elect to run the country. By proxy, to look at one is to know the other. In fact, an article in Vanity Fair Magazine entitled Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% teaches us that the top 1% of people in the United States take nearly a quarter of the nations income. The article also teaches us that in terms of wealth instead of income, the top 1% control nearly 40%. For comparison, it wasnt very long ago that these figures were 12% and 33% respectively. If the trend continues for the next twenty-five years it will be 37% and 73%. Again, this is simply unsustainable. The main reason while the top 1% may have the best houses, educations, and lifestyles, their fate is inextricably linked to how the other 99% live. (Vanity Fair, by Joseph E. Stiglitz) Right now the bottom 99% is not doing very well. This means, of course, that the top 1% will soon start feel the effects of their folly. As the German Proverb implies, it may already too late for any of us to recover. We have all become aware of whats going on in other parts of the world. There are examples after examples of populations rebelling against oppressive regimes. They have reached the breaking point and have had enough of the rich few leading them around like so much bovine being led to slaughter and are willing to risk their lives to gain back some of their basic dignities. These are riots, anarchies against corruption. This is the epitome of people who have had enough. History is replete with stories just like this and the outcome is always the same - lots

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of deaths as people try to regain their dignity in the face of overwhelming odds. The tragedy, as if any death is really justifiable, is that they are not caused by some far-off enemy. They are at the hands of their own neighbors. Its the people against the government and the

government against the people. We can think of no greater sin and its all being caused by greed! No please know that we are NOT advocating rebellion against our own. To the contrary we think there is an easier and a lot more rational approach than killing each other. However, we do want to accentuate that everyone has a breaking point. There is a line, drawn in the sand, that some are simply unwilling to cross. We fear that there is a growing sentiment among the lower 99% that things arent as they should be. Even with the knowledge that the inevitable is going to eventually bring this all to an end, there remains a contingent that really wants to delay it for as long as possible. We willingly acknowledge that we are a part of this group. Sadly, we see in our societal structure one bearing too many similarities to the ones we once derided. The inequalities we once fought against have become integral to our society today. New and just as ineffective jargon has been invented to try and justify the direction of our society, particularly in the realm of economics. As you would expect, they have long been held onto dearly by the wealthy. Even in the face of immense embarrassment in the days and now years after the near-meltdown of the economy, the bastions of greed have held strong and earned for themselves huge bonuses for their efforts. What a reward for failure. This was taking place at a time when those responsible for keeping the economy alive, by comparison, have received a pittance. How else could our country justify paying sports heroes millions upon millions for playing games, on top of countless other millions for endorsements, at a time when we are unwilling to pay Ph.D. scientists a decent wage for finding a cures for a devastating disease? Personally, this entire picture makes us sick. Where has our morality gone? Where resides our sanity? It certainly doesnt take a Mensa member to realize that this is an unsustainable position to find ourselves in. Too, the old argument that it doesnt matter how the pie is divided, only the size of the pie, simply wont fit in the oven. We have to cut the pie someday. People will not tolerate not

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doing so forever. When they wake up each morning to find themselves hungrier than they were the day before, they start to lose hope and will ultimately react through desperation. No we need to cook it today and cut it today. We need to cut the pieces into more equitable slices, because the yeast is likely to fall tomorrow or we may burn it beyond recognition. With falling yeast comes a smaller pie. The issue of shrinking opportunity is upon us right now. Compounding this issue is the special treatment perceived for corporate America through a plethora of tax incentives. Piled this on top of the fact that nearly half of those who file federal income tax forms end up paying no federal income taxes, and the reality doesnt take long to set in. How in the world can corporations and the government continue to take from the poor and give to the rich? Teachers taught us the exact opposite when we were in school. We are concerned that society is today standing on that line in the sand. We are afraid that we wont be able to pay the utilities to keep the oven hot so we can cook the pie. The metaphors can go on and on, but the truth remains we cant! It is a scientific fact that nature hates a vacuum. She will do whatever is necessary to regain equilibrium. Of course, as it applies to social systems, it means that the American economy cannot continue suck all the wealth out of the top of the economic tornado without something coming in from the bottom to feed the current. Here we must remember the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the fatal consequences of Entropy. Mother Nature will invoke entropy if that is the only way to regain equilibrium the circle must be completed! With all limits on campaign spending gone, and with nearly every member of Congress being among the top 1%, by receiving money from the 1%s not in the government, and with most members of the Executive Branch of government being members of the 1% club, one simply has to wonder how seriously our leaders and law-makers identify with us lowly members of the bottom 99%. We think this is a valid observation. One thing is for certain, this group doesnt listen to their constituencies anymore. Since they own all the toys, they can take them home anytime they get tired of playing with us. Unfortunately, there doesnt seem to be anything we can do about it. But guaranteed, when we go the way of the dinosaurs, they will surely follow. Take just one example from the pile of problems we now face transportation costs - and try to

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imagine what will happen to the 1%ers when the rest of us cant afford to go to work anymore that is if we have a job to go to. While our measly 15% of the wealth isnt much, it is about the only thing holding entropy at bay at least for now. When thats gone its gone! What will happen to all that wealth when there remains no place to spend it? Lets try to make sense of all this. As a preface to all of this, we acknowledge that endless tables and numbers, and exotic charts full of nifty colors and their own set of numbers, can be a mind-numbing exercise. We will try to limit that experience as much as possible and try to show just enough of such things to allow you to draw some of your own conclusions. Also, we have elected to provide only the source(s) we used to either show the numbers and/or make the charts. If you find the need to look up the actual compilers of the data, they can easily be found by looking them up from the references given in the articles we used. We sincerely think is the most logical tack to help ease the tediousness of data presentation. Here goes!
Graph 1

% of Total Wealth, 2004

40 30 20 10 0

% of Total Wealth

Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board, 2004

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Graph 2

Wealth Distribution per Household, 1983-2004

90 80 70 Percent of Total 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10 Top 20% 4th 20% 3rd 20% Bottom 40% 1993 81.3 12.6 5.2 0.9 1989 83.5 12.3 4.8 -0.7 1992 83.8 11.5 4.4 0.4 1995 83.9 11.4 4.5 0.2 1998 83.4 11 4.5 0.2 2001 84.4 11.3 3.9 0.3 2004 84.7 11.3 3.8 0.2

Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board

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Graph 3

% of Total Wealth/Income, 2004

90 80 70 60 Axis Title 50 40 30 20 10 0 Wealth Income Top 5% 58.9 21.8 Top 20% 84.7 50.1 4th 20% 11.3 23.2 3rd 20% 3.8 14.7 Bottom 40% 0.2 12.1

Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board, 2004

Graph 4

Net Worth in US 1983-2007

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Top 1% Next 19% Bottom 80% 1983 33.8 47.5 18.7 1989 37.4 46.2 16.5 1992 37.2 46.6 16.2 1995 38.5 45.4 16.1 1998 38.1 45.3 16.6 2001 33.4 51 15.6 2004 34.3 50.3 15.3 2007 34.6 50.5 15 Percent

Graph from Data Quoted in http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica

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Graph 5

Wealth in US, 1983-2007

60 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 Top 1% Next 19% Bottom 80% 1983 42.9 48.4 8.7 1989 46.9 45.6 6.6 1992 45.6 46.7 7.7 1995 47.2 45.9 7 1998 47.3 43.6 9.1 2001 39.7 51.5 8.7 2004 42.2 50.3 7.5 2007 42.7 50.3 7

Graph from Data Quoted in http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica

Graph 6

Stock Ownership, 2001-2007

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2001 2004 2007 Top 1% 33.5 36.7 38.3 Next 19% 55.8 53.9 52.8 Bottom 80% 10.7 9.4 8.9 Percent

Graph from Data Quoted in http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica

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Graph 7

Stock Ownership, 2001-2007

100 80 Percent 60 40 20 0 Top 20% Bottom 80% 2001 89.3 10.7 2004 90.6 9.4 2007 91.1 8.9

Graph from Data Quoted in http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica

Total assets = the sum of (1) the gross value of owner-occupied housing, (2) other real estate owned, (3) cash and demand deposits, (4) time and savings deposits, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, (5) government bonds, corporate bonds, foreign bonds, and other financial securities, (6) the cash surrender value of life insurance, (7) the cash surrender value of pension plans, (8) corporate stock and mutual funds, (9) net equity in unincorporated businesses, and (10) equity in trust funds. Total liabilities = the sum of (1) mortgage debt, (2) consumer debt, including auto loans, and (3) other debt.

Graphs 1-3 are fairly self-explanatory in terms of showing income and wealth distribution among various societal groups and over time. Question what is the difference in Wealth and Income? For the vast majority of us the distinction is largely irrelevant (the vernacular is check to paycheck, or hand to mouth. There is little or no ability to think about the differences. However, for those gifted few that hold the preponderance of our nations wealth, the difference is striking and deserves a short explanation. The Income/Wealth Puzzle By taking a look at Graphs 4-7 it is pretty easy to realize that a great deal of our National Wealth is concentrated in a very few hands. In the end that only leaves about 15% of the total wealth to be distributed to 80% of the population in the United States. Taking care not to stereotype,
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that generally means the working-class of people. Now, considering the shape of the job market, the kinds of jobs available, and the huge unemployment rate, coupled with the stupendous rise in the cost of goods, a natural conclusion would be that it will be pretty easy for the upper-crust to take and control that remaining 15%. Viewed from this perspective, it would seem that we are set to lose it all in the aftermath of a huge sonic boom. In fact, Graph 7 serves as a good indicator that the top 20% are, indeed, taking a bigger and bigger chunk of that meager 15% every year. Please observe that the amount of Stock Ownership by the top 20% rose every year through 2007, the last year for which numbers exist. Conversely, the ownership of the bottom 80% went down every year through 2007. So, those few are taking over more and more as the decision-makers for much of our business cycle. By being the stockholders they are able to take that control of the corporate decision-makers and turn it into more profits for themselves meaning even less for the rest of us. For any reasonable person this should cause much alarm. We should also be just a little bit angry that we let it happen. Everywhere we look the same scenario plays out. It simply cannot sustain itself for much longer. With fear of repeating ourselves too often for those who endured the years of the Great Depression, all we can say is You Aint Seen Nothin Yet! We fear too that nothing short of another gargantuan collapse, in proportion to the increase in population, is the only way to force a meaningful change. However, we arent completely certain that would even help postpone the inevitable. Its more than possible that we have already passed the point of no return. As weve already established, Wealth is equated with the value of everything we own, minus everything we owe. Economists tend to complicate it by defining wealth as marketable assets (real estate, stocks and bonds). Marketable Assets dont include such mundane things as cars, household furnishings, etc. because they cant so easily be converted to cash. Income, on the other hand, is what people make when they work. If you are so lucky, dividends, interest, and rents, etc. may fall into the category of income. So, in theory, a person who has a lot of wealth may or may not have a large income. However, as you probably guessed they usually do, indeed. (sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica) You would also probably expect that those who have much wealth and have large incomes would also proportionally pay more taxes. In fact,
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there have been a number of population surveys that confirm that contention. However, the opposite is true. As a percentage of either, the rich-elite pay a much smaller percentage that the bottom 99%. Back to this question of who has the money. It is enlightening to learn that the general population is largely either hugely misinformed or terribly myopic about this issue. To put it succinctly, Americans tend to vastly overestimate the prosperity of the bottom 80%. It is so bad, in fact, that we believe the bottom quartile has more money than the median quartile actually has. (www.good.is/.../americans-are-horribly-misinformed) Do you understand what this means? Theres absolutely no way we can engage in meaningful debate on issues we either dont understand, or have been lied to about. Didnt they used to call this kind of structure a Plutocracy? OK! Now we either understand the nuances involved with Income and Wealth discussions, or the eye-haze has turned our brains off and we are taking a siesta. When we rustle, a discussion of these relationships with the concept of Power is important. Heres why. A study of the graphs provided will show that the top 1% have 38.3% of all privately held stock, 60.6% of all financial securities, and 62.4% of all business equity. Stretch that to the top 10% and you quickly realize that, in combination, they now hold 80%-90% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Considering that financial wealth is what controls assets it can easily be concluded that the top 10% now own the United States lock, stock, and barrel! We dont know about you, but this scares us to death. Just look at the numbers and imagine what they really mean. We have placed our future in the hands of the elite few who have either forgotten what it is like to worry about securing the basic necessities of life (a home, food, clothing, medicine), or who never worried about them in the first place, and who are driven by the principle of greed at the expense of every one and every place. These are the people who make the laws governing all of us, but usually not them. They have put in place a model that promotes self-aggrandizement, security in all matters legal and financial, and have isolated themselves from the real world, by building one of fantasy for themselves. Again, this kind of system is unsustainable. It is a house of cards that is sitting
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directly in the path of a great wind. To just listen to a newscast brings a shiver that cannot be warmed. We see the exact warnings abroad that we grapple with here. There are uprisings, demands for change that returns the basic civil liberties that define what it is to be a democratic society where everyone can at least sleep with the expectation of waking up in the morning. People - those days are fading past. We have already lived past our life expectancy. We have done so with hardly more than a passing regard for our planet or for those we share it with. All the time the blinders have kept the stare straight ahead, completely missing the vast majority of the beauty that surrounds us. What a shame for us individually. What a disaster for us as a species. The IRS How Big/How Long/How Expensive With all the bad stuff going on we think its time to lighten up for a minute by sharing some funny quotes. You ask what in the world can possibly be funny about anything regarding the IRS? Well, if youre anything like us you must have wondered at some time about just how long is the IRS Code really is. The number of employees working in the IRS might have crossed your mind as well. You might have even wondered what their annual budget is. Well, weve got the real scoop for you. It comes from two sources that you can verify for yourself. The first is an article found in Trygves Digital Diary, at trygveee.com, 2006, entitled How Long is It? : A US Representative: The IRS Code and regulations add up to one million words and is nearly seven times the length of the Bible. A US Representative: The income tax code and its associated regulations contain almost 5.6 million words seven times as many words as the Bible. Taxpayers now spend about 5.4 billion hours a year trying to comply with 2,500 pages of tax laws A US Representative: The heart of IRS abuse lies in the existing tax code. Most of the folks who work for the IRS are good people just trying to do their job, but they are caught in a bad, overextended tax system. At 3,458 pages, twice the length of the Bible, its impossible for the average taxpayer to know, understand, and accurately apply its provisions. The length is twice that of the Bible! Even tax experts cannot do so reliably.

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A US Representative: With its 6,000 pages and 500 million words, the complexity of our tax code is the prime source of frustration and anger felt by millions of Americans toward their government. A US Representative: The IRS Code and regulations now come in at one million words and 9,000 pages. A US Representative: The Bible, the guide of our lives, is 1,291 pages and contains 774,746 words. But the Tax Code and its regulations which are referred to by some as a persons worst nightmare come true is 9,471 pages and over 7 million words. A US Representative: The tax code runs 17,000 pages and contains a mind-boggling 5.5 million words. By way of comparison, War and Peace is only 1,444 pages and the Bible checks in at 1,291 pages. A US Representative: The federal tax code with its 44,000 pages, 5.5 million words, and 721 different forms is a patchwork maze of complexity and a testament to confusion over common sense. A US Representative: The IRS tax code is 44,000 pages long and growing. A US Representative: The current tax code is almost 60,000 pages, longer than the Bible. A US Representative: The current tax code, which at 1.3 million pages is twice the length of Tolstoys War and Peace. A US Representative: The federal tax code has about four times as many words as the Bible. Accompanying the law are a staggering two and a half million pages of regulations. A US President: The tax code is a complicated mess. You realize its a million pages long? Of course, each of these statements is undoubtedly correct. You know, font size and line spacing can have disastrous effects on precise observations. But, if we go the US Government Printing Office site (www.gpo.gov) it doesnt seem to be much of a problem. The IRS Tax Code (Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations), all twenty (20) volumes can be yours for the mere price of $974 with free shipping. Now thats a steal. But wait theres more. If you order today theyll send you the part of the code written by Congress for an unbelievably low price of only $179. That part is only 3,387 pages long. By some complicated ciphering, the GPO has found that Part 26 of the US Tax Code, with the accompanying Part 26 written by a Congress that apparently doesnt have any idea how long it is, the President either, to be a
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miserly 16,845 pages of page-turning enjoyment. Dont wait! Be the first on your block to own this treasure bound in genuine faux pigskin. This deal wont last long! Order today! Remember its ONLY $1,153, and for our special customers, well throw in S&H for free. Dont wait, our phone lines are open Call Now!!! The other two issues are a bit less clear. Depending on what website you choose there are anywhere between 90,000 and 116,000 employees at the IRS. Again, depending on the site, they are able to consistently consume a budget of somewhere between $11 and $13 billion and rising. In fact, in recent history, it has been rising at a rate over 5% a year. Of course, it is understood that they will have to hire an addition 10,000 or more workers just to handle the additional work that will result from the new and fabulous national healthcare plan. Perhaps we can all get a job with the IRS, or any governmental agency for that matter they seem to be the only ones hiring Americans. You know, if this wasnt so serious, it would really be funny. Imagine, those who wrote this monstrosity have no idea what or how much they wrote. But they do know one thing how it protects them from all the pain and suffering its causing the rest of us. Will anything of substance ever get changed? Who knows, but if it doesnt - abandon all hope ye who enter here! This trip through the Distribution of Wealth on America has been an interesting but disturbing revelation for us. While neither of us has any real interest in economics, and absolutely no formal training, we have learned enough during this exercise to have a real uneasy feeling about how things have developed. It almost seems sinister and pre-planned. It has wormed its way into every nook and cranny of our daily lives and has been able to stay under the radar if you will. We might have suspected the reality, but it just never seemed to be that bad. Well, we now think it is real bad. So bad, in fact, that the very survival of America is at stake. Again, we cant speak as experts in economics. But we do know the empirical physical laws of nature. We have learned enough about the rise and fall of civilizations to know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the path we tread is unsustainable. We have seen the line drawn in the sand and know, from history, that we stand at a point where humanity will not cross. We hear our
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leaders pound the podium with at least one truth: We must know the past in order to plot our future. If they truly believe that then why dont they practice what they preach? For, in the end, there wont be the dichotomy of the rich and the poor. It will be only one and we shall all suffer the same retribution for the greed that has permeated our very souls. The little, worthless green piece of paper will save no one.

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Americas Crumbling Infrastructure

Every day Americans wake up in a home that is temperature controlled to our every whim and expecting the lights to come on when we flip a switch. We are accustomed to having clean water squirt out of the faucet when we want to make a pot of coffee. We drive to work on a vast complex of highways in our big and comfortable SUVs to find glass-clad offices with airconditioning, enough lighting fixtures to shock the rest of the world, functioning restrooms, break rooms with every amenity imaginable. We utilize an endless array of gadgets to make the drudgeries of the day a bit more interesting and, hopefully, more efficient, all running on an endless supply of electricity. We return to our homes and are met with even more gadgets to watch, play, study, and generally unwind. We expect these things to work and have become so accustomed to these luxuries that we believe they are a right. We expect for them to last forever, with no interruptions, for a shockingly low price compared to the rest of the world if they have them at all. Given all the problems that could be life is good! But Recently, the History Channel ran a TV special dealing specifically with the condition of our crumbling infrastructure. As you probably guess, even if you didnt see the special, the conclusions they drew were much less than glowing. This is what a spot had to say regarding the show: Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nations highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. They went on to alert us to some of the kinds of man-made disasters that could be lurking just under the surface. There have been almost countless other articles and programs trying to warn us of looming catastrophes. The New York Times in a recent article reminded us that a major water conduit bursts somewhere in the US every two minutes. That works out to be about 720 times a day. Our storm sewers in some areas are over 100 years old and simply cannot handle the increased volumes our increased population is causing. They overflow and
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invade our other utilities and contaminate our ground water. Were always hearing about the overload of the nations electric grid. Entire regions of the country too often find themselves in the dark. But thats not the worst part. When the grid overloads our communications systems fail, ATMs dont work, banks cant function, the stock market trembles, the entire financial organ shutters, crime escalates, lives are lost, essential services are stressed. It is an overall bad thing and its going to start happening a lot more often. Why? You know as well as us. Some of this infrastructure was built around the time of the Civil War. It has been ignored by us all simply because its largely invisible. We just expect for it to work and we tend to get quite incensed when it doesnt. There are significant problems that simply must be addressed. Politicians at every level are going to have to get with the program since the allocation of the funds required now rests entirely on their shoulders. We dont need any new departments, they already exist and our taxes pay the salaries of hundreds of thousands of local, state, and federal employees to prove it. What we do need is a cadre of leaders who will step up to the issues and tackle them in a reasoned way. Not the knee-jerk action we have become

accustomed to. This cant be the old Rob Peter to Pay Paul stuff either. Every time that stunt is pulled it seems that the unforeseen or unaccounted for effects are always worse than the cause. We are going to have to realize that the required outcomes may be a bit uncomfortable for us all. There will be a price to pay for all the neglect of the past. Unfortunately, the days of cheap water are over. Yes, we have a severe potable water problem in the world today. On a planet nearly three-quarters covered in the stuff, we are on the verge of dying of thirst. And thats just one of about 15 issues that carry just about the same level of emergency. We strut, we brag, and we swagger because we consider America to be the premier society on the planet. Yet, we are comfortable that we can do no better than a C+ in any of these 15 critical areas and most are a lot worse than that. If we sound like were making a life or death deal out of all this its because we are. If we dont tackle this stuff right now and start treating our infrastructure like we treat our expectations, then we are truly doomed. If we dont, then we deserve what we get and all the bitching in the world wont help one iota. In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) completed a study of our infrastructure that was quite extensive, quite scathing, and quite disturbing (but not surprising). They
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concentrated on the 15 most critical areas that need our immediate attention. They also computed total investment needs and anticipated funding. As you would expect, that left us with a huge (we mean really big) hole to fill with little green pieces of paper if we are to avoid a complete melt-down of our current way of life. Finally, they gave each area a grade, just like we got in school A for Excellent, B for Above Average, C for the middle of the road, D for just barely passing but not good at all, and F for failing. No surprise, none of the areas blew the curve. We will do our best to condense their findings into digestible hunks in hopes of not boring you to death. But folks we really do have a problem on our hands. If you really are one of those who gets mad when the electricity goes out and you miss the last ten minutes of your favorite TV program, just try to imagine how frustrating and dangerous it would be if it was out for weeks or months or years. How mad would you be if you had to ration water for those time spans, even if you could find it? How disrupted would you feel if you had to find a way to rid your home of waste when the wastewater infrastructure shuts down. Rest assured these days are coming. This study outlines the sure signs that our system is running down and doing so fast. Remember back when we talked about the one thing that will ultimately cause the demise of a civilization. It comes when the population, and no new energy coming into the system, outpaces the ability of the land to replenish what has been taken from it. Our infrastructure has been ignored, had poor or nonexistent maintenance for decades, and now its time to pay the piper. You know, you might even wonder if this whole scenario has a perverse rationalization. Weve already learned that the rich elite have grabbed up nearly all the wealth to be had in our country. We know they have few cares except the happiness of the shareholders and the bottom-line. The human factor absolutely never enters the equation. Well, if this tight knit group has seen fit to ship their enterprise off shore, and have sent all the attending jobs along with it, then is there really a need to fret about the conditions here at home? Now, we dont want to come across as conspiracy nuts, but the question still needs to be asked. Enough of that, so - Here we go!

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Crumbling Infrastructure Estimated 5 Yr. Funding Needs

1000 Dollars in Billions 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Avi. Wtr Ene Haz In Lev rgy Wst Wtr Wys 930 12.5 255 75 77 50 50 Brd gs. Da ms Pks & Rec 85 Rail Rds Sch Sol Tran Wst Wst sit Wtr 77 265 255 109

Est Need

87

63

930

160 35

Est Budget 46.3 381 5.05 146 45.5 33.6 29.5 1.13 36.8 51.3 381 Proj Short 40.7 550 7.45 109 29.5 43.4 20.5 48.9 48.2 11.7 550

125 33.6 74.9 146 43.4 190

Chart made in Excel from data provided by ASCE study. Figures reported in Billions.

All of the information provided below is taken from the ASCE study as reported on www.infrastructurereportcard.org Aviation (Report Card = D) At the conclusion of the study, Americas Aviation Industry had recovered from its past downturn and reported new highs in both domestic and international travel. It is projected to continue this increase at a rate of about 3% per year for the near future. This obviously places an even greater strain on an already overcrowded aeronautic infrastructure.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a goal of ensuring at least a 93% of runways at National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) airports are maintained in good or fair condition. The good news is that it just barely met that goal in 2007. However, the bad news is there were 370 runway incursions (defined as an incident involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard for an aircraft taking off, intending to take off, landing, or intending to land) during this same time, compared to a figure of 330 the year before. That isnt the kind of data that instills a lot of confidence in the system. The reasons given are an over-burdened and out-of-date air traffic control system and a lack of funding for adequate maintenance. We ask, with all the money the government is spending on airport security because of terrorist threats, why isnt there a reliable system of controlling air traffic that can potentially save thousands of lives in place already? No it doesnt make sense and we should be outraged. There seems to be plenty of money to hire thousands of obnoxious staff to insult, play touchy feely, and harass fliers, but no money to help make sure the plane can taxi, take-off, fly, and land safely. Theres definitely something fishy about all this. There are a plethora of empty excuses spouted that make absolutely no sense. There are ownership issues, funding issues, and delays in statute implementation. Since when did these kinds of things stop the government? There remains one simple reason the quest for those eternal little green pieces of paper and nothing else. Aviations ability to move goods and services is a critical part of our economic vitality and deserves the kind of attention it needs to maintain that critical part. We agree that it is a volatile industry, falling prey to the same things that affect other transportation industries. But, it is a lot more complex. We must develop a plan that considers this complexity and find ways to finance it. The old garbage that has been fed to us before simply wont work this time. We are tired of hearing that you cant get blood out of a turnip. We seem to be able to find it for everything that feeds the corporate bottom-line; we can do it for an industry that affects the entire infrastructure too.

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As can be seen on the chart, we need to find an additional $40.7 billion over projected budget to fund this critical portion of the nations infrastructure. We, as individuals, may never fly, but the function this industry performs definitely affects us all. Bridges (Report Card = C) Over a quarter, 1 in 4, of our bridges is classified either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Not a very good way to start the discussion on bridges since every one of us probably passes over one nearly every day. From the outset a bridge is designed for a useful life of 50 years. The average age of a bridge in the US is now 43. According to the US Department of Transportation, of the 600,905 bridges across the country as of December, 2008, 72,868, or 12.1%, were categorized as structurally deficient and 89,024, or 14.8%, were categorized as functionally obsolete. The good news is that from 2005 to 2008, the number of deficient or obsolete bridges in rural areas decreased. The bad news is that during this same period in urban areas, where usage and load is much, much higher, they increased. Of course, deficient bridges are often closed or restricted more frequently for repair than we would like. Whether due to structural capacity or deficiencies, the costs to the economy rise exponentially. Just think, if this has already become an economic and safety burden today, what will the situation look like as the population grows, the ages of the bridges increase, and the restrictions increase as well? We know you would prefer not to think about it. Of course, we have to think about it because theres really no choice. If the goods dont flow in a wellplanned and timely manner, the economy suffers. An example is the trucking industry. Right now truck miles double approximately every 20 years and these trucks are getting bigger and are carrying heavier loads. This significantly impacts bridge deterioration. Trucks now account for 223 billion miles of travel over bridges each year. Thats a lot of miles and a lot of bridge stress. And, if the economy suffers, our way of life suffers with it. Heck - Just the costs

associated with loss of time would be enough to pay for the repairs. This bridge issue will require the collaboration of government at all levels to meet the funding requirements. The study concludes that over the next five years there will need to be an astounding $930 billion of funds dedicated to bridge construction and repair. After subtracting
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all projected funding, there remains a jaw-dropping shortfall of $549.5 billion. This will require some innovative strategies for sure! The study also found our current bridge infrastructure to be quite resilient in terms of system redundancy and workarounds, recovery measures, including rapid restoration ability, security, and robustness against hazards, and structural redundancy. They have generally been planned and built well. The problem, like is found in nearly all the categories covered in the study, is maintenance. It has been put off, or

completely ignored until we now find ourselves in a seemingly disastrous and costly situation. Dams (Report Card = D) As dams age and downstream development increases, the number of deficient dams has risen to more than 4,000, including 1,819 high hazard potential dams. Over the past six years, for every deficient, high hazard potential dam repaired, nearly two more were declared deficient. There are more than 85,000 dams in the US, and the average age is just over 51 years. This statement comes directly from the ASCE study and is a grim reminder of the danger we face and the risks we take by not tackling deficient dams in this country. Dams provide a number of essential benefits to the system, including drinking water, power generation, flood protection and control, irrigation, and, of course, recreation. These dams can be public and operated by government at all levels, or private and operated by businesses and corporations. Along with the good there can be a lot of bad too. Depending on construction type, dams can be as high as 770 feet and reservoir billions of gallons of water. You can imagine the massive devastation if one of these massive dams should fail. Even a relatively small dam failure could potentially destroy an entire community. In essence we would see an inland tsunami with all the loss of life and destruction of a costal tsunami, along with all the costs. A dams hazard potential is classified on the basis of the anticipated consequences of failure and not on the condition of the dam. A high hazard potential includes loss of life; a significant hazard potential means damage to buildings; and a low hazard potential would indicate a loss of the dam, or damage of some sort to the floodplain.

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According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID), which is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, shows that the federal government owns or regulates only 11% of the 85,000 dams in the country. All of the others fall under the statutory authority of the states in which they are located. As you might expect, this means that they also suffer from inadequate resources and funding to adequately inspect dam safety, to take appropriate enforcement actions, or to ensure proper construction techniques. We can use Texas as an example. There are only 7 engineers for the whole state, using a budget of $435,000 to regulate over 7,400 dams. You can imagine the kind of job they can do. Some states dont have a dam safety program at all, and there are all kinds of exemptions available for dams (a political term for ignoring them altogether). For example, Missouri has 740 high hazard potential dams that are exempted because they are less than 35 feet high. Imagine, 740 dams that, should they fail, would cause the loss of life, and they are exempted entirely. Today, the number of dams increasing, and the number of high hazard potential dams is increasing at an alarming rate. As of 2007 there were a total of 15,237 high hazard potential dams in the US. From 2007 to 2009 that figure had increased by 3,300. Adding to the problem is the fact that the number of dams determined to be unsafe or deficient has risen from 3,500 in 2005 to 4,095 in 2007. Included in those figures are high hazard potential dams that are also classified as deficient. They have risen from 1,367 in 2005 to 1,819 in 2007. Through inference then is the fact that dam repairs are not even keeping pace with the increase in the number of dams that are being classified as high hazard potential. Therefore, as times marches forward, even assuming current funding levels, the numbers of dams that can potentially cause loss of human life are even growing faster. Obviously these dams are going to grow older each year, they are going to continue to deteriorate, and the lack of maintenance is likely to continue. We can find no variable in this equation that can result in positive change without a concerted and substantial infusion of funds. How likely is that really? For example, out of the rising number of high hazard potential dams, a significant number (30%) have not had an inspection of any kind during the last 5 years. And, the number of dams that have Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) has not risen from its lackluster high of 50% during this same period of time.

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These are appalling data. They tell us, in no uncertain terms, that we need lots of green paper just to get our nations dams into acceptable shape. The ASCE study projects a total figure of $12.5 billion. After adjusting for inflation (just like all the categories studied), and assuming current funding levels, we are left with a deficit of $7.45 billion. Indeed, the dollars are beginning to pile up and weve barely begun. Dams, just like bridges, roads, and everything else well study, are all essential parts of our economic anatomy. The study found that they are not very resilient simply because they have so few redundant structures, because their impacts tend to be regional in nature, and because so few (50%) have no EAPs. The good news is that some national attention is being given to our dams and programs have either been implemented or at least developed. The bad news, as always, comes down to a question of dollars. We still have a long way to go. Drinking-Water (Report Card = D-) The nations drinking-water infrastructure systems are in such a deplorable shape that it faces a truly staggering public investment need over the next 20 years is disaster is to be avoided. This statement from the ASCE study is telling us that we had better quit talking about it and start doing something. With the exception of a very small handful of extremophiles, every living thing on the planet requires water as a prerequisite for that life. And, even though the planet is literally covered with this simple molecule, it is becoming so polluted with toxic waste, through agricultural runoff of pesticides and fertilizers, and so filled with the leftovers of discarded human waste, that is nearly to the point of not being able to support life of any kind. Yes, with three-quarters of the planet covered with trillions and trillions of gallons of that small molecule of hydrogen and oxygen, and literally thousands of species are going extinct every year because it has become so toxic to the organism. Too, thousands of people die every year, year after year, because of thirst or due to disease and poisoning from consuming this vital natural resource. Yet, we continue to treat it as an everlasting trash dump without ever stepping back and considering the consequences of our actions. To us, this is the single most important part of this study. It is nothing short of appalling what is happening to this precious resource. The
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stuff supports the entire let us repeat entire food-chain, whether marine or land-based, and most of that is hardly visible or completely invisible to the human eye. Maybe thats why its so easy to ignore it. But, when weve managed to destroy the substance that composes over 80% of our mass we will have only two choices left. The first is to die of thirst, and the other is to starve to death. Neither of these options seems acceptable. We guess, however, that there may be a good thing about all this its probably reasonable to assume that we will be able to manage our own self-destruction by other means before we either die of thirst or hunger. Somehow, that doesnt seem to be very acceptable either. Back to the study There are approximately 53,000 community water systems operating in the US today. Of those, nearly 83% serve 3,300 or fewer people. That equates to just about 9% of the total US population. In contrast, 8% of community water systems serve 10,000 or more people and provide water to a staggering 81% of the population. Eighty-five percent (85%), or 16,348 non-transient, non-community water systems and 97% (83,351) of transient noncommunity water systems serve 500 or fewer people. These smaller systems face huge financial, technological, and managerial challenges in meeting a growing number of federal drinking-water regulations. That seems to be the way things always work. The feds come up with a nifty list of highly-restrictive (however needed) regulations, usually tied to myriad federal funding streams, and then dont provide any funding for implementation. A neat strategy if the goal is to ensure that the infrastructure reverts entirely to federal control. Of course, every cause has effects, and in nearly every case where the federal system has taken control, implementations rarely seems to happen and when they do, the results are marginal at best, and they invariably cost much more. We know that even the feds have funding issues of their own and that they are greatly influenced by voters particularly rich ones. But, you have to admit that some of the ultimate decisions being made really dont appear to have the best interests of the country at-large in mind. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis in 2002. This analysis was to identify and assess potential funding gaps between projected needs and spending from 2000 through 2019. Are you ready for this?

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They estimated a 20 year funding gap for capital, operations, and maintenance to be somewhere in the range of $45 billion and $263 billion, depending on spending levels. Just the capital estimation was $161 billion. Staggering! The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded in 2003 that current funding from all levels of government and current revenues generated from ratepayers will not be sufficient to meet the nations future demand for water infrastructure. Their figures for the same 20 year period ranged from $10-$20 billion. We could find no reference to explain the wide discrepancy between the two federal departments. Perhaps its true: The Right Hand Doesnt Know What the Left Hand is Doing. Whatever the reason(s), federal assistance has not kept pace with demand. Between FY 1997 and FY 2008, Congress appropriated approximately $9.5 billion for the SRF. This eleven year total is only slightly more than the annual capital investment gap for each of those years as calculated by the EPA in 2002. In our opinion, drinking water is by far the most important of all the areas studied in the ASCE study. It provides a critical public health function and is literally a matter of life and death. It is also extremely important for economic development and growth as well. Any disruptions to these systems can critically hinder disaster response and recovery efforts, expose the public to water-borne contaminants and pathogens, and cause damage to roadways, structures, and other infrastructure, endangering lives and resulting in billions of dollars in losses. It is

interwoven among every other component of our vast and highly complex infrastructure. It simply cannot be ignored further. As always, it can be fixed with money. We may have to put a little effort into it as well. How does it always boil down to money, money, and money? You know thats what makes the world go around. Every decision made, at every level, for nearly every one, is an issue of money that little green piece of paper. Is it true that we can just print more and solve all our problems? Anyway, the projected estimate for what it would take to fund the kinds of changes needed for our drinking-water systems was set at $255 billion by the ACSE study. After deducting

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anticipating funding of $146.4 billion, we are left with a shortfall of $108.6 billion. The tab just keeps getting higher and higher. Energy (Report Card = D+) Assuming the American citizenry hasnt died from lack of water or from the effects of drinking water, we think Energy is next most important part of the ACSE study. We are aware that humans existed on the planet long before there was anything resembling an electric infrastructure. But, while civilization continued to grow with that infrastructure, we quickly realized that it was good, and began to build other infrastructures around it. In fact, it appeared to be such a good thing that we quickly became addicted to energy. Today, while there may be a few hearty souls who could reluctantly adjust to a live without all the amenities energy provides, lifestyles would be forced to change so drastically that few would even recognize it. Certainly this is not the kind of environment most of us would want to live in. But it is one that we should quickly begin to plan for. If we continue on the path we have chosen, there is no doubt that nature will give us a detour. We absolutely worship energy and have sacrificed much to have as much of it as we can get. In fact, we love it so much that we have ignored the warning signs of Peak Oil, Peak Production, Global Warming, Destruction of the Marine Ecosystem, and many, many others, just so we can consume more and more of it. On a recent program aired on the Science Channel, a geologist (we cant remember his name) observed that if everyone on the planet consumed energy like we do in the US, we would need three planets to provide it. Now thats incredible! Put another way, the US has 5% of the worlds population and uses 25% of all the energy (Wikipedia). Yes we are addicted to it. Unfortunately, because of this addiction, just like any other kind of addict, we appear to be willing to sacrifice, or at least ignore, everything else. This was one of the primary motivations behind the ASCE study, and our Energy Infrastructure is no exception. The study tells us that there are more than 3,100 electric utilities in the US. Among them are 213 stockholder-owned utilities that provide power to about 73% of the customers; 2,000 public utilities run by state and local government agencies that provide power to about 15% of the customers; and 930 electric cooperatives providing power to about 12% off the customers.
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Additionally, there are nearly 2,100 non-utility power producers, including both independent power companies and customer-owned distributed energy facilities. These are divided into huge regions and can even reach across country borders. In all, America operates about 157,000 miles of high-voltage (greater than 230kV) electric transmission lines. It is truly vast; especially considering the hundreds of thousands of lower-voltage lines that completes the system. Today, our Energy Infrastructure is at a critical point in its life that requires a substantial investment for new power generation, and to improve efficiencies in existing structure. To boot, we need an almost completely new funding stream to build an entirely new distribution system. It seems there are more and more bottlenecks in our current system that are likely to cause more and more blackouts in significant parts of the country. It is becoming more congested that has already stressed the system beyond the limits of its capabilities. The increase in population coupled with the unbelievable increase in technology that requires energy has made congestion a real source of concern. It doesnt take long to imagine what would happen to our economy if the entire power grid were to fail for even one day. Another confounding thing about our current infrastructure is there is no way to shut selected parts of it down for inspection and critical maintenance because nearly every part of our economy depends on it running 24/7/365 forever and ever. Think about this: We are told that the backbone of our current grid is dependent on a certain type of massive transformer. There are several hundred of these specialized transformers controlling Americas electrical grid. Guess what there are only a couple of places in the world that manufacture this transformer not one of them is in the US! We are told that it normally takes several months to construct even one of these transformers. And no, we dont have a warehouse full of extras! Given that we are not the most popular country around right now, what are the odds that we would be the first to get one, or two, or ? The media has been telling us chilling scenarios for years about what will happen should any major calamity befall any part of our infrastructure and the effects it would have on humanity. You can imagine conflict lots of conflict that may result in war lots of war, and death lots of death. We have already talked about a whole host of disasters beyond our control that will surely cause the extinction of a vast percentage of the human
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species. You remember - those things that are not a question of if, but when. But this one is under our control and it is bad stuff were talking about here. Any understanding of how our society is structured, and you can see what part energy plays in the whole scheme of things. Heres whats happening. The demand on an already old and sickly system has increased about 25% since 1990 while construction of transmission facilities has decreased by about 30%. That by itself is insane. To be fair, it has made a very small turn-around in the past couple of years, but not nearly enough to make any meaningful improvement. Why? Energy is no different than anything else going on in our country. Public and governmental squabbles throw a wrench into everything, the permitting process does its best to slow progress down, and concerns about the environment are restricting modernization (this must be a part of any equation if we are to even have a chance of survival). Imagine, some idiot is worrying about something as silly as the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live on. Idiocy absolute idiocy! Heck theres probably one or two out there who actually believe we are ruining our climate. Of course, we know that all those Nobel Prize winning climatologists, meteorologists, geologists, and cosmologists are just in it for the money. We know that our Congress is more up to date on these issues than some bunch of dusty old scientists. Remember, each and every one of those interviewed knew exactly how large the IRS tax code was - even a former President. To us, this really is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. As weve already stated, our energy infrastructure has become so congested that bottlenecks now affect many parts of the country on a too-regular basis. To give you just a taste of what these relatively minute bottlenecks cause to the economy, the ACSE study estimates a $25$180 billion hit every year. Let us repeat these costs are associated with relatively small disturbances on the grid. They could become very much larger should they become more frequent and last longer. We all understand that. Why arent we busting our you-know-whats trying to do something about it? Well, it seems (believe it or not) that money is not always the reason. Significant to this issue are the laws, rules, and regulations imposed on the industry. Many new transmission lines have been proposed to either alleviate these congested paths or to provide redundancy so that existing portions of the transmission system can be temporarily

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taken out of service for proper maintenance and modernization.

But, overly stringent

permitting requirements, lawsuits, and other regulatory issues often inhibit critical construction and maintenance of our transmission lines. We acknowledge that some of these issues are unavoidable. But, we must continue to stress that to fix these sorts of problems we are going to cause some disruptions to the way of life we have become so accustomed to. We dont like to think about things such as imminent domain either. We know some of these high voltage towers dont look like the Eiffel Tower. We also know that if something isnt done very soon that the entire grid could fail and cause more grief than we can probably imagine. Surprise our national grid lacks a significant degree of resiliency. Utilities are generally prepared for local and regional responses; however, the national electrical grid, as a whole, lacks a significant degree of resilience should a much broader response be required. Future investments in the system must improve system robustness, redundancy, and rapid recovery. This is easy to say but extremely difficult to achieve. Consider how restrictive things are today and compound that every year until something actually gets done. This old way of doing things simply wont work when it comes to addressing the condition of the infrastructure that serves as the skeleton for our entire society. The metaphor is true without bones the entire body collapses never to get up again! That we are still relying on a very limited and extremely finite resource to power our grid is disturbing as well. Of course, were talking about fossil fuels (more on this issue later). True system resilience will require a national effort (local, state, regional, federal, and international) to modernize the electric grid to enhance security and the reliability of the infrastructure to facilitate recovery from disruptions to energy supply, from both natural and man-made hazards. Heres what youve been waiting for how much? According to the ACSE study, the estimated five year requirement for just keeping the system running is $75 billion. Accounting for anticipated funding of $45.5 billion, we are left with a deficit of $29.5 billion. Remember one trifling detail all of this is assuming the grid is not afflicted with some sort of devastating natural or man-made catastrophe in the meantime.

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Hazardous Waste (Report Card = D) The next course were going to take is one called Hazardous Waste. This is the stuff we generate in our quest for immediate gratification. We make a lot of it hoping we can get more little green pieces of paper and tend to dump it in areas called Brownfields. That would (and we shall see) be bad enough, but we also dump it over the side of ships and barges so we can pollute our oceans as well. Remember when we said that the oceans serve the foundation of the food chain for the whole planet? No, its not enough to ruin our land; we have to try to destroy the oceans as well. Apparently we have found a way to eat those little green pieces of paper. We wonder if the theme of the movie Soylent Green is about to happen today? Way back in 1980 Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). In reality, the only thing

comprehensive about the program was the length of the title and the wonderful acronym it created. In fairness, the CERCLA did identify thousands of contaminated sites across the country. But, as you would expect, after more than 30 years of federal attention, little has actually been accomplished except for the creation of another vast cadre of employees and the waste of billions in taxpayer money. In fact, the number of sites has remained fairly constant during this entire time. Also, as you probably expected, the amount of funding has steadily decreased. The reason? We cant afford it! It never ceases to amaze us that we somehow cant afford anything even resembling saving our most precious resource(s), but have plenty of money to rescue crooked financial institutions and to pad the wallets of the insanely rich. Our observation is that we have nothing to gripe about because we have sat back, promoting our own immediate gratifications, and let it happen. OK to put all this in perspective between fiscal years 1981 and 2005 Congress appropriated $29.3 billion to the Superfund. The states have also contributed billions to the process. Remember that the number of Brownfield sites has remained almost constant during this period. Now, for the period 2007-2008 Congressional appropriations totaled $1.08 billion, the lowest level since 1998. It appears that having a significant portion of our land deemed uninhabitable is of little concern.

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The EPA submitted a report called Cleaning up the Nations Wastes Sites in 2004. Even then they concluded that approximately 350,000 contaminated sites will require cleanup during the next 25 years. At todays dollar values this adds up to somewhere around $250 billion. Who knows what that figure would be over this period when inflation is factored in. Whatever the cost, it should be apparent that we have a massive problem on our hands. Knowing, at this point, that the effects on humans are rarely considered, the cost alone should cause enough concern to move in a positive direction, but that doesnt seem to be happening. Making the situation even worse is that the majority of these Brownfield Sites are located in urban areas where there is a real premium on space. In fact, some urban areas are selling land by the square foot. Still, there is little apparent motivation to do much. Again, health and safety concerns seem far and few between. That too is baffling since there are myriad studies clearly outlining the economic benefits of cleaning-up these sites. According to a survey by the US Conference of Mayors, meant to gather this exact data, found that redeveloped sites in 2008, returned more than 10,000 acres to economic productivity, resulting in $408 million in new municipal revenues, and creating 191,338 new jobs, up from $90 million and 83,000 jobs in 2004. To us, this is exactly what current news reports say we need. There are currently 188 cities identified with Brownfields. A survey, with 148 of these cities reporting, projected a total of 576,373 new jobs and as much as $1.9 billion annually could be generated if these sites were redeveloped. This is about what the federal government is appropriating. So, we are

essentially paying for something we could get for free while creating desperately needed jobs in the process. Makes a lot of sense doesnt it? So, why arent we doing more? Heres the response insufficient funding (that always shows up), environmental assessment, lack of money for demolition, and liability concerns (thats always there too). Right now 3,282 sites in 150 cities have simply been eliminated from further action deemed as having no chance of redevelopment. This should be considered an outrage, but it isnt. When there is a choice between doing whats right and making more little green pieces of paper, the paper always wins. We call this (as countless others have as well) our

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Greed-Based Society. Just as it has caused the demise of countless other societies, it will surely do the same to ours. In order to be resilient, Brownfields must be sustainable and meet the needs of both current and future generations. As technology improves and increases, maybe they will. But, right now they dont appear to have any at all. They do hold the potential for enormous economic benefit though. We have to stop blaming everyone else for our problem in this regard and develop a marketable plan to get out of the mess we have created. Yes, it will cost a lot of money, but a lot of money will be returned to the system as well. Remember, entropy requires that new energy be injected into any system if it is to survive. This is a perfect way to do that if we just do so. Our survival as a nation literally depends on it. The ACSE study projects a $77 billion price tag on getting the movement started over the next five years. After deducting assumed appropriations, we are left with a deficit of $43.4 billion a figure easily returned by the economic benefits created. This is new energy for our economy for practically nothing except effort. We can see no reason why this should continue to be an issue. Inland Waterways (Report Card = D-) It is likely that the vast majority of people never even consider our Inland Waterways as a valuable natural resource. After-all, they are just rivers and lakes. We see them, fish and swim in them, see a few barges now and then, but dont ever really consider the part they play in the economic strength of our society. It should be apparent, with a grade barely above nothing at all, that the decision-makers dont think much about them either. They are integral to our society and we hope through what the ACSE study has determined we can instill some interest in you so you can let the decision-makers know as well. The study makes it clear that these waterways are essential in moving huge amounts of cargo. This makes them indispensable as a strategic economic and military resource. In fact, a recent analysis by the US Army War College concluded that the strategic contributions of these inland waterways are not well understood. The lack of adequate understanding impacts decisions contributing to efficient management, adequate funding, and effective integration with other modes of transportation at the national level.
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Recommendations demonstrate that

leveraging the strategic value of US Inland Waterways will contribute to building an effective and reliable national transportation network for the 21st Century. The very existence of these waterways directly affects the vitality of forty-one (41) states and sixteen (16) state capitols. In fact, it includes every state east of the Mississippi River. They consist of 12,000 miles of navigable waterways in four systems the Mississippi River, the Ohio River Basin, the Gulf Inter-costal Waterway, and the Pacific Coast systems that connect with most states in the nation. These consist of 257 locks for raising and lowering river traffic between the different levels within these systems. The biggest is the Mississippi River system that encompasses nearly three-quarters of the inland waterway complex (about 9,000 miles). The next is the Ohio River Basin (2,800 miles), the Gulf Coast Inter-costal with about 1,109 miles, and the Pacific Coast system (often called the Columbia River System) and is the smallest with about 596 miles. These 11,000 miles of waterways are partially funded through an excise tax on fuel. Forty-seven percent (47%) of all the locks are maintained by the US Corps of Engineers and were classified as obsolete in 2006. If we assume that no new locks are built in the next 20 years, another 93 locks will be awarded the same classification. A little math reveals that by then 8 out of 10 locks in operation will be outdated. Currently, the Corps has about $180 million per year to repair all the locks, split evenly by the excise taxes and congressional appropriations. Yes, thats a pretty big hunk of change, but when we consider that the average cost per lock repair has been averaging about $50 million, it means they can repair about 3 per year. At that rate, the newest will be way past obsolete before theyre attended to. America We Have A Problem! Wait, we have more from the ACSE study. It seems the Corps pretty much took care of all the locks, and even installed most of them. They have the engineering expertise to make the needed repairs, thereby saving money. However, the knee-jerk has kicked in and now most of those repairs are contracted out or privatized altogether. All of this was an attempt to save money. Have you started to get the picture every time the government saves money it costs us money.
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The system lacks resilience. Usage is increasing as transportation costs increase. The average barge can carry the equivalent of 870 trailers rigs. It just makes economic sense to keep this infrastructure operating. Then why arent they getting the support they need to make the system resilient? We dont know, but the study knows that of the 257 locks still in use 30 were built in the 1800s and another 92 are now more than 60 years old. Being at least that old, we know how well theyre probably functioning. The youngest in the group were to retire a decade ago. Recovery from any significant event would be negatively impacted by the age of the lock system and the availability of materials for the repairs. This could pose a direct threat to the American economy. This list keeps growing and the same observations keep growing. Its almost as if the decisionmakers dont really want to save Americas economy. We can only wonder why. Anyway, after projections and deductions, the ACSE study finds the budget needed to get things back to snuff to be about $20.5 billion. Levees (Report Card = D-) This one is really scary as well. The ACSE study finds that of the estimated 100,000 miles of levees, more than 85% are locally owned and maintained. This makes it nearly impossible to get detailed information about their status, except for the fact that most of them are over 50 years old. These levees are generally earthen and can easily fail given unusual and severe stresses on them just like the ones we are currently experiencing. We all remember the devastation of Katrina, largely caused by levee failure, and the recent failures along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers due to massive rains, causing massive flooding, causing vast areas to farmland loss, and the story just goes on and on. The sheer costs of the disasters are mind-boggling, especially since the costs of keeping them in workable condition are so low by comparison. Levees are made to provide hurricane, storm, and flood protection. But the system is more complex than just walls. In addition to 100,000 miles of earthen levees, there are pumps, interior drainage systems, closures, penetrations, and transitions. Many of these systems are integral to economic development in the protected community.
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And, the number of

communities, and the size of these communities continues to grow, making the potential disasters even larger as well. In fact, the study concluded that there was a 6:1 return on flood damages prevented compared to initial building cost. That should provide some wiggle room when considering the cost to maintain a safe levee system. But, as we indicated earlier, there are no reliable data available to determine the critical levee safety issues. So, no accurate projections can be made on the costs. Fortunately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is able to give us some data to help. For instance, there are levees in about 22% of the nations counties. Forty-three (43%) percent of the US population lives in counties with levees. They know that many of those levees were designed decades ago, mainly to protect agricultural and rural areas NOT for the homes and businesses that are now located behind them. Congress has passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007. This act required the establishment and maintenance of an inventory of all federal levees, as well as those nonfederal levees for which information is voluntarily provided by state and local government agencies. The inventory is intended to be a comprehensive geospatial database that is shared between the US Corps of Engineers, FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the states. We personally think we will end up with another expensive pile of useless paper. Doing studies that cost millions instead of spending those millions fixing problems we already know about has never made much sense, but seems to be the modus operandi of any governmental activity. We used to call that job security, now we call it putting Americas citizens at risk even when we share a geospatial database with every governmental agency on the planet. Why would we say such a thing? Well, the fact that few states or local agencies have provided any information at all should be a pretty good indicator. After four years there is virtually no new information. Well just wait around and hope to get a little data, and never mind we are risking lives while we wait. That kind of makes us upset! But wait, the WRDA created a committee to begin development of recommendations. Well, that makes it OK. We have a committee! Our friends in Washington have also given us the chance to buy additional insurance to protect us against losses from flooding. Of course, the
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insurance we already have on our homes doesnt cover it. What have we said before? Every time the government gets involved in anything it costs us money. Remember too that we ended up having to bail out insurance agencies for their excesses during the Great Recession. This is a sweet deal we have worked out to protect us. So, heres where we are. The ASCE study learned little except that we dont know much. Since we dont know, we might as well not do anything except follow the no child left behind and give them a passing grade of D-. The recommendation is to spend about $50 billion to fix who knows what, deduct funding of $1.13 billion, and find another $48.67 billion to do it right. The sarcasm here is not from the study. The sarcasm comes from the fact that we know there are 100,000 miles of levees out there and that failures on those levees have already cost us billions and billions recently, along with many, many lives. And the best answer we can get is that we have a committee to work on it! This is absolutely the most idiotic excuse weve heard in a long time. The next most idiotic excuse is the one where we learn that the cost of oil is going up because something might happen somewhere on the planet. Now thats a beaut if we ever heard one. National Parks & Recreation (Report Card = C-) Parks, beaches, and other recreational facilities contribute $730 billion per year to the US economy, support nearly 6.5 million jobs, and contribute to cleaner air and water and higher property values. Despite record spending on parks at the state and local level, the acreage of parkland per resident in urban areas is declining. While significant investments are being made in the National Park Service for its 2016 centennial, the agencys facilities still face a $7 billion maintenance backlog. This statement from the ASCE study succinctly states where we are regarding our precious National Parks and Recreation Areas. Just like every other area under scrutiny, the lack of money is blamed for our predicament. However, a look at the very first line is evidence of the value of these areas to our economy. Without doubt it returns much more than it takes. We simply cannot understand how money can be the primary basis for neglect. We are also

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convinced that there exist ulterior motives for this neglect, and cant understand how our leaders can expect us to believe this excuse when talking about Parks and Recreation. State parks entertained more than 750 million visitors in the year 2006-2007. In fact, visitors to our state parks outpace those visiting federally controlled areas. This means that a significant part of the $730 billion flows through state and local budgets, greatly contributing to the bottom line. Still, even with an influx of federal funds during this time period, they still reported more than $15 billion in unmet needs, a significant increase over 2006. This can mean only one thing funding is being somehow funneled into other areas in the general fund. This must be true since the income far exceeds reported needs. However, we do acknowledge the value of these areas to the overall economy and submit that we simply must not allow any cuts in federal, state, and local budgets in an attempt to balance our budgets. Any accountant will tell you the same thing (we certainly are not accountants, but know that much). This is true because of findings in the study. When we consider the exploding population in our urban areas, the actual number of square feet per person in our parklands has actually decreased from what they were in 2006. So, we must find ways to increase acreage instead of decreasing appropriations. This conclusion is simple addition and subtraction of the figures already presented. When we hear we cant afford to do it we must rebut by informing whomever that we cant afford not to. Its as simple as that. Just as weve found in every other area under this study, there is a positive and direct correlation between the health of our infrastructure and the health of our economy. This simply cannot be used as a tool to balance budgets, for without a healthy infrastructure, there will be no budgets to balance. Voters continually verify this contention by approving new funding measures for parks and open spaces for individuals. We hear politicians say they must hear what the voters are saying this is a perfect example of what they should have heard already, but apparently have not. Regarding our Parks and Recreational areas, very little value would be obtained in budgets if we closed each and every one of them. In reality, spending on parks is a strikingly miniscule part of overall expenditures 0.231%. Thats two-tenths of one percent. Just by considering the financial side of the equation and ignoring the enjoyment obtained in the population, and by considering only the

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dollars gained through their existence clearly shows that it would cost these budgets dearly instead of bolster them. It simply doesnt make any sense. Added to this whole scenario are our nations coastlines, a part of this infrastructure. With more than 84,000 miles of coastline, these areas contribute an estimated $322 billion annually to the economy. We have known for years that these areas are being seriously compromised by erosion, pollution, and neglect. In fact, in areas with watersheds, the losses are determined to be critical since they have the unique ability to mitigate the severe damage caused by storm surges and hurricanes. That makes these areas particularly important today since it has been determined that these storms are getting stronger at an unbelievably rapid pace. We must remember the damage to New Orleans by Katrina. In addition to levee breaches, the

watershed around New Orleans has been compromised to the point that it simply cannot do much to absorb the power of these storms. Not only was the financial repercussions from this single event huge, but we simply cannot ignore the human factor. We know that the quest for money seems to outweigh human safety. We also know that we cannot ignore it further. The actual expenditures have actually declined, exposing lives, infrastructure, and environmental resources to the hazards associated with these increasingly strong storms. We cannot afford it! Parks and Recreational areas are an important asset to humanity and the nations economy. There are a huge number of jobs directly related to our Parks and Recreation areas, and the dollar intake from their use is approaching one trillion dollars, and yet we are told that we cant do what needs to be done because of lack of funds. Again, this is insane. Today, little or no attention is being given to the resilience of our national park system. These areas are a part of our heritage and they continue to give so much more than they take. We already know that they consume such a minute part of the national budget that using them as a widget to balance those budgets would be fruitless. We must reconsider what it is we want to leave for future generations. If we decide we want to leave an environment as depicted in the animated movie Wall-E, then so be it. But we dont think most people today want to be remembered as the generation that destroyed our country and our world. Before we lose our voice entirely we

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must yell at the top of our lungs that we want this kind of business practice to end and end now. Regarding our Parks and Recreational areas, the ASCE study projects a need of only $55 billion over the next five years. It projects an infusion of $36.835 billion in appropriations. That leaves a deficit of $48.17 billion. We think the $1 trillion being infused into the economy makes the $55 billion the best bang for the buck to be found anywhere. How can this possibly cause pause for the decision-makers? Rail (Report Card = C-) A freight train is three times as fuel efficient as a truck, and traveling by passenger rail uses 20% less energy per mile than travelling by car. No doubt about it, letting our rail system deteriorate was a bad idea thats really biting us now. The ASCE study took a look at where our rail infrastructure is today and where it needs to be tomorrow. Its clear to us that if we dont get our ducks in a row we just might not be going anywhere before long. Rail can be our salvation for both moving our freight and for moving us. The US freight system is comprised of three classes of railroad companies based on annual operating revenues (isnt everything?) Currently there are 8 Class I freight railroad systems; 30 Class II regional or short-line railroads; and 320 Class III or local line-haul carriers. About 42% of all intercity freight in the US travels by rail. As of 2006, Class I railroads owned and operated 140,249 miles of track, even though most of the traffic travels on much less of that figure. Realizing that they had an excess of capacity and attempting to increase efficiencies, railroads have been busily increasing investment in their infrastructure in recent years. Specifically, they have been investing in the areas of new signaling technologies and heavier rails to increase safety and to accommodate heavier trains. There is good reason. It is projected that the demand for freight transportation will double by 2035. If this happens, and it surely will, these railroads will be expected to handle an 88% increase in tonnage by the same date. It could certainly go even higher.

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Amtrak, the nations only intercity passenger rail provider, carried 28.7 million riders in fiscal 2008, an 11.1 % increase from fiscal 2007. This year alone showed a 20% increase from the previous 5 years. Of course, this increase in passengers carries with it a corresponding increase in revenue. This all sounds great, and it is. We must be careful to consider what all these increases are doing to the load on our failing energy infrastructure. This represents a perfect example of how all of our systems fit together to provide the skeleton of our economy. It is critical that we remember these inter-relationships and not fix a cause without considering myriad effects. Our rail system is an important component of the nations transportation network, supporting the economy through both commerce and tourism. But, the study concludes that due to a lack of adequate investment, limited redundancy, intermodal constraints, and energy system interdependencies, the rail system is not resilient. Current rail security strategies are risk-based as determined by corridor assessments, corporate security reviews, intelligence analyses, and objectively measured risk metrics. Therefore, future investments must address life-cycle

maintenance, rapid recovery, multi-hazard threats and vulnerabilities, and technological innovations. We guess that if you read all this stuff slowly it does make some sense. In other words, make sure what you do doesnt make things worse. So, while our rail infrastructure is rated just below average, it still will require a substantial Investment to allow it to meet future needs. And, we think they will be substantial. The study projects a total cost for the next 5 years to be $63 billion, less estimated spending of $51.3 billion, leaving a balance of $11.7 billion. Considering the benefits, this seems to be a doable project. Roads (Report Card = D-) Americans spend 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic at a cost of $78.2 billion a year $710/motorist. Roadway conditions are a significant factor in about one-third of traffic fatalities. Poor road conditions cost US motorists $67 billion a year in repairs and operating

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costs - $333/motorist; 33% of Americas major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 36% of the nations major urban highways are congested. The figures above should be enough to demand that something be done to improve travel conditions on our roads. It is very evident to us that people are very willing to work if they can tolerate the conditions found in the ASCE study. And, just putting the monies lost back into our economy would have dramatic effects, considering where interest rates are today. We have read some articles that contend it would double the economic dollars. We think its fairly obvious that everyone understands the importance of our nations roads. They allow us to move from one place to another, take us to and bring us home from work, and transport the preponderance of our commerce. They are integral to our economy. We also know that thousands of people are injured or killed every year doing these things. In 2007, 41,059 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes and 2,491,000 were injured. No doubt, these are startling numbers. They also cost the US $230 billion per year ($819 for each resident) in medical costs, lost productivity, travel delays, workplace costs, insurance costs, and legal costs. The ASCE study calls these findings clearly unacceptable everyone should. Next to safety, congestion has emerged as the biggest challenge facing our highway system. The average daily percentage of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) under congested conditions rose from 25.9% in 1995 to 31.6% in 2004, and congestion in large urban areas grew even more. This alone wasted 2.9 billion gallons of fuel. Not only is this a terrible waste of non-renewable energy, but costs the already strapped worker even more. Poor road conditions tend to lead to excessive wear and tear on our vehicles as well. There is no question that this increases the number of crashes that are already way past reasonable in number. This compounds the steadily increasing demands on the entire system. From 1980 to 2005, while automobile VMT increased 94% and truck VMT increased 105%, highway lane-miles grew by only 3.5%. We are clearly not keeping up with demand. Of course, the reason is not enough money.

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Most of us probably didnt realize that the Interstate Highway System was constructed as part of the nations homeland defense, illustrating the important role of transportation in mitigation, defense, and recovery. The ability of our transportation system to withstand threats from hazards of all types, both natural and human-caused, and to restore service promptly following such events, is known as resilience. Therefore, building disaster-resistant roads and highways reduces hazard mitigation costs, limits exposure, and maintains operational continuity. A multi-hazard approach utilizing next-generation codes, standards, and practices is necessary to minimize the extent of a disaster. It is clear that the current funding model for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is failing. In fact, the latest projections by the US Department of Treasury and Congressional Budget Office indicate that by the end of FY 2009, the HTF will have a negative balance of $4-5 billion if no corrective action is taken. We simply must find a sustainable funding system for the long term. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has recommended an increase of 5-8 cents per gallon per year over the next 5 years to address the current projected shortfall. This is on top of the already excessive tax on fuel. Now, we are aware of the facts roads are getting worse, we simply must reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and we must reduce our carbon footprint. However, it is clear that the poor worker is reaching a breaking point where the costs of working are getting closer and closer to the wages earned. This isnt their fault. The old you cant get blood out of a turnip doesnt cut it anymore. People arent stupid. It is just too obvious that our government always has plenty of money for the things they want to do. There is absolutely no shortage of funds when it comes to buying friendships all over the world. We also know that the rich-elite could care less about the plight of the 90% below their extravagant lifestyles. But, we also know this If there isnt an economy to spend all that money on, what good is it? One thing is for sure, while the rich may believe enough is never enough, you still cant take it with you. The study projects a need for $930 billion to get our roads ready for the needs of the next five years. They project funds of $380.5 billion. That leaves a shortfall of $549.5 billion. Perhaps

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our Congress should ask us how to get that money. Were pretty sure we could come up with some real answers. Schools (Report Card = D) As you already know, both writers chose Education as their career path. We can remember when one could take pride in trying to mold young minds for the challenges of a new world. We remember well when a teacher could stand in front of a class and actually teach. Yes, in the classroom in loco parentis was the rule of the day. There were virtually no discipline problems that couldnt be handled in a couple of minutes and then get back to the business of teaching. Those days are gone forever. Ask virtually any teacher today how much gratification they get from the stress of paperwork, irate parents, administrations more worried about statistics than learning, and students who would just as soon stab them to death as learn the alphabet. We remember when we felt good after a day sharing what we had learned. Not anymore. Our schools are so bad that high school graduates, waving their little graduation diplomas, can barely read, dont know any geography, cant add and subtract, let alone multiply and divide, and could care less about getting a job when they do graduate. And graduate they will, because of some misguided notion that no one can fail. Thats BS and everyone knows it. We dont care what psychologists and lawyers say - some people simply dont have the intellectual capacity to do theoretical physics. Weve talked to teachers in preparation for this paper, and they acknowledge that even advanced classes dont come up to the level of the average class ten years ago. Clearly something has happened and none of it is good. We are spending more and more to get less and less and its not surprising to us that the communities at large are getting fed up with it. Somehow, those in charge equate good education with brand new shiny buildings with lots of gadgets and widgets that are supposed to make learning better. This is another bunch of BS. There is virtually nothing to brag about when talking about our nations schools. Lets take a step back. Some of our school buildings have fallen into disrepair. We agree with that. But, there was no reason for that to happen. If the budget gurus had forgone all the gadgets and widgets they could have had all those new buildings theyre talking about now.
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We bet many of you didnt have anything resembling a widget or gadget when you went to school and somehow came out of the experience with the ability to read, write, cipher, know where the US was on a map, and could probably name most of the states. Finding students who can do that today is much harder than you think. The ASCE study learned that there were so few data available that they had trouble drawing any conclusions. In fact, a report out of the Department of Education entitled Condition of Americas Public School Facilities was completed in 1999. That report concluded that a substantial number of schools are in poor condition, meaning they were not in good operating condition. This survey also found that while 15% of schools are overcrowded, 30% of students attend schools that are overcrowded. They found that 37% of schools had portable buildings. We can understand why no new data are available. The Department of Education only has 5,000 employees and a trifling $69.9 billion budget. Really! It didnt make us feel any better when we found that they couldnt get any good data at the state level either. And we know every state has a substantial Education Department. Could this be part of the problem? Here are some interesting statistics: 1. 49.8 million Students are enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools. 2. Public schools employ about 3.3 million teachers. 3. There are 14,200 public school districts containing about 97,000 public schools. 4. Expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools are about $519 billion. 5. The national average spending per student in the 2005-2006 school year was about $10,418, up from$9,154 per student. Despite federal mandates on school performance (which have hurt education by the way), school facilities are largely a local responsibility, as they should be. There really are ample data to support the contention that they are having a hard time meeting this responsibility. Its sad, but everyone everywhere is struggling to make ends meet. Its easy to find evidence that kids can learn and prosper in less elaborate facilities. We did it and are sure they can too. Another costly wrench in the gears is lawsuits over facility conditions. Folks, we have too many lawyers! Its also easy to find evidence that its not the money, its the law stupid!
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Our guess is that there is no use looking to the federal government for further funding for our public schools. They simply arent in the loop. Since their children generally go to swanky private prep schools, they have absolutely no interest in the lowly public school student. So, its up to local districts to pay the bills. We think they can. For instance, within 20 miles of one writer there are five (5) school districts. In fact, there are over 350 districts in a state of about 2 million residents. This in itself is a gross misuse of public funds. Students in large urban areas ride the bus further just to get to their local schools. We know there will be an increasing number of students entering our public schools. To be fair, new funding streams will be required. But, we also believe that with proper planning and by making the tough decisions needed to do the right things, our schools can both improve facilities and accommodate increased student enrollments while improving quality. We also know that parents need to take back control of their schools. Parents also need to let the teachers do their jobs, keep out of their business, and take care of parenting duties at home. Frankly, if we dont do what that last sentence says, we will lose an entire generation and leave a gaping blank spot in our already stressed economy. Given all this, the study also determined that our schools actually perform a dual purpose. In addition to learning, they serve as community meeting places, and serve as disaster relief areas. In both respects, they are found not to be particularly resilient because of increased enrollment and decreased funding. They generally lack any sort of redundancy. Therefore, they find a need to infuse $160 billion in the next five years. Less the $125 billion in funding leaves a shortfall of $35 billion. We contend much of this can be found through proper planning and facility utilization standards. Just proper scheduling can relieve a big portion of crowding problems. For instance, staggered school curricula can nearly double capacity. We know this because it was done in a school one of us worked in. We have a long way to go to get our public school systems back in shape. Unfortunately, most of it is dollar related. Somehow we have been led astray by policies, laws, psychology, and sociology. For some reason, when it comes to school, we are more concerned with tender

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psyches than learning. The time is here when we must decide what it is we want our schools to do. Please make the right decision. Solid Waste (Report Card = C+) Hurray! We do a better job taking care of our trash than anything else in our failing infrastructure. In 2007, the US produced 254 million tons of municipal solid waste. More than a third was recycled or recovered, representing a 7% increase since 2000. Per capita generation of waste has remained relatively constant over the last 20 years. Despite those successes, the

increasing volume of electronic waste and lack of uniform regulations for disposal creates the potential for high levels of hazardous materials and heavy metals in the nations landfills, posing a significant threat to public safety. We hear the same sentiment in nearly every section regarding our infrastructure if we dont do this it could pose a significant threat to public safety. It seems the public get the picture, why cant the decision-makers get it too? According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage, consists of everyday items from households and businesses that are deposited in landfills. But, some landfills do accept such non-MSW as construction by-products, wastewater sludge, and other hazardous materials. Yes, some of these things can be nasty. Per capita, solid waste generation in 2007 was 4.62 pounds per person per day. Indeed, we are trashy people, and the strain on our landfills will rise right along with the rise in population. Lets put this in perspective. In 1986 there were 7,683 municipal solid waste landfills in the US. In October 1991, the EPA adopted stringent new federal regulations for landfill design and operation to reduce groundwater contamination from hazardous materials disposed of in landfills. This was a very good thing. We have already learned how serious the potable water situation is today. By 1992 the number of US landfills had dropped to 5,345. By 1995 the EPA landfill census recorded only 3,581 facilities. In 2007, the agency counted 1,754 landfills, a
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decline of 79% within two decades. Of course, this means that the remaining landfills are much larger, but present a more manageable number for inspection and mitigation. Whether good or bad, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) estimated that states have disposal capacity for another 20 years. What happens after that will largely depend on the steps we take today. The trend to recycle more is encouraging news with two major exceptions. We are doing a lousy job dealing with our electronic equipment, and not doing nearly enough to slow methane emissions from our landfills. Both of these should be an easy fix, with both providing excellent returns on investment (ROI). The EPA estimates that in 2005 waste electrical and electronic equipment amounted to approximately 2 million tons, most of which were deposited in landfills. Only between 345,000 and 379,000 tons were recycled. We have known for years that this equipment often contains heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, that are highly poisonous to life directly and that can easily leach out and contaminate ground and surface water when deposited in landfills. That we are still burying them there is an outrage. As you would expect, there are no national standards on the recycling of these materials, and uncoordinated state regulations can discourage consumers from recycling. In fact, many smaller municipalities dont even provide citizens ways to recycle. Yet, we are told daily that we should recycle. For instance, about the only thing one writer can do is recycle aluminum cans. Give people the means and they will do their part. In 2006, 23% of human-related methane gas emissions came from MSW landfills, making these areas the second largest producer of methane. We know that methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide dont we? The good news is that methane emitted from landfills can be easily captured and transformed into usable energy. Despite this opportunity, at the end of 2007 only 456 landfill gas (LFG) energy projects were in operation. However, these LFG projects produce approximately 11 billion kW hours of electricity per year and deliver 236 million cubic feet per day of gas to direct-use applications. The EPA also estimates that an additional 500 sites are good candidates for energy conversion facilities. After start-up costs,
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the sites are nearly cost free. It seems we should be beating down the doors trying to get these things into operation. One might even consider making these operations localized to ease the strain on the already taxed electric grid. Its just an idea. Although landfills are dependent on energy and road infrastructure, as a system, solid waste disposal facilities remain resilient, and the potential for future utilization seems bright. But there remains the problem of air and groundwater contamination that we all know about but cant really quantify. There are also long periods involved before landfill areas can be returned to the economy. However, the possibility of gaining some residual energy from them appears to justify development. To make all this happen, the ASCE study estimates a total investment need of $77 billion. Deducting projected funding of $33.6 billion and we are left with a need for an additional $43.4 billion. The writers think this expense could be quickly and easily returned to the economy if methane recovery was funded and developed. Transit (Report Card = D) Transit use increased 25% between 1995 and 2005, faster than any other mode of transportation. This finding by the ASCE study should be motivation for developing this infrastructure further, particularly in this time where our roads are overly and dangerously congested, and considering the cost of fuel is becoming such an issue. Increasing the use of transit systems would save literally billions of gallons of gasoline annually. This represents a huge amount of money that could stay in the US to help us solve some of the other infrastructure issues we have studied so far. The percent increase cited in the first sentence translates into 10.3 billion trips a year, the highest number of trips in 50 years. Again, people will help solve our issues if given the chance. We cant use a transit system if theres no system to use. The evidence is here. On any given workday 34 million trips are taken on public transportation. Of those, 59% are people going to and coming home from work, 11% by individuals traveling to and from school, and 9% by

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individuals traveling to and from leisure activities. This is a lot of people and it represents a significant economic factor. In 2004, there were 640 public transit operators serving 408 large and small urbanized areas and 1,215 operators serving rural areas. There were also 4,836 specialized services for the elderly and disabled in both urban and rural areas, representing a total increase in these types of services since 2002. These systems operate more than 120,659 vehicles. Just think how many cars they replace on the roadways. The evidence is clear that each sector of the transit infrastructure has grown significantly in recent years and indicates that further expansion is needed to accommodate a growing population. But, like any other section of our

infrastructure, funding hasnt kept pace with usage, and many of the vehicles used are way past their estimated life cycle. We have already learned that revenues in the Highway Trust Fund are dwindling, so dollar increases from that fund are unlikely without a new funding stream. This is the proverbial between a rock and a hard place. Too much more on the consumer and you reach a point of no return. Weve all seen it recently. When the price of gasoline went to a certain point, people quit driving as much. As we said before, get the costs too high and theres no motivation to work. In other words, the ROI decreases. Historically, when that happens, anarchy raises its ugly head. None of us want that! A 2005 survey conducted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Census Bureau found that only 54% of American households have access to bus and rail transit and only 25% have what they consider a good alternative to such transit. We clearly need to make these services more widely available. Of course, that means a sizable

investment. We feel, however, that this investment will return cost plus, and pay for itself very quickly. The more quickly this happens, the more money that can be returned to the economy, and the better for everyone. Really, it seems that in all these findings we quit at the point of investment and miserably fail in pointing out that there are returns on our investments. That money doesnt just evaporate. Everyone should agree that investments in America are much preferable to sending it off-shore. Lets get real folks!

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Transit systems are key contributors to a regions economic vitality and emergency preparedness. And when properly implemented, transit systems offer significant

environmental benefits as well. Currently our transit systems are not very resilient. There is a lack of integrated systematic planning, security mitigations, and adequate funding. But, it is not beyond fixing and expanding. If fact, just like every example in our infrastructure, and just like scientists are telling us regarding cosmic disasters, its not a matter of if, but when. Either we fix things or we go down the tubes. We would think the first is the preferable scenario and the sooner the better. That means, according to the ASCE study, we need to put $265 billion into our transit system. After we deduct anticipated funding of $74.9 billion, we are left looking for an additional $190.1 billion. This is a lot of money, but it is money that can be recovered quickly. We would also offer that its probably a lot less than we would be spending in terms of lost wages from delays on an overcrowded road complex, and much less than would be spent on gasoline wasted idling on the same road. A newer and expanded transit system would be used if available, and save all of us a great deal. Heck, it would even give our rich-elite and our decision-makers more to take from us. Wastewater (Report Card = D-) Aging systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into US surface waters each year. Now, if that doesnt make you reluctant to drink a glass of water out of the tap, nothing will. Since 1972, Congress has directly invested more than $77 billion in the construction of publicly owned treatment works and their related facilities. State and local governments have spent billions more over the years. Total non-federal spending on sewer and water between 1991 and 2005 was $841 billion. Nevertheless, the physical condition of many of the nations 16,000 wastewater treatment systems is poor due to a lack of investment in plants, equipment, and other capital improvements over the years. Many systems have reached the end of their useful design lives. Older systems are plagued by chronic overflows during major rainstorms and heavy snowfall and are bringing about the discharge of raw sewage into US surface waters. The EPA estimated in august 2004 that the
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volume of combined sewer overflows discharged nationwide is 850 billion gallons per year. Sanitary sewer overflows, caused by blocked or broken pipes, cause the release of as much as 10 billion gallons of raw sewage yearly, according to the EPA. These figures should make us all gag. Additionally, we are often advised not to eat fish caught in many of our rivers and lakes due to this kind of pollution. Personally, we dont relish the idea of drinking or eating someone elses waste, and guess you dont relish it either. So, we should all get together and do something about it. On top of all this, federal funding under the Clean Water Ace State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) program has remained flat for more than a decade. Apparently our decision-makers drink bottled water all the time Construction, operation and maintenance, and reconstitution of service of our wastewater infrastructure are expensive, and the monetary and societal costs incurred when this infrastructure fails are even higher as you would expect. Again, aging, under-designed, or inadequately maintained systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into US surface waters each year. The nations wastewater systems are not resilient in terms of current ability to properly fund and maintain, prevent failure, or reconstitute services. Additionally, the inter-dependence with the energy infrastructure contributes to the lack of system resilience that is increasingly being addressed through the construction of dedicated emergency power generation at key wastewater utility facilities. Future investments must focus on updating or replacing existing systems as well as building new ones to meet increasing demand; on improved operations processes, including ongoing oversight, evaluation, and asset management on a system wide basis; and water shed approaches to look more broadly at water resources in a coordinated way. Clean and safe water is no less a national priority than are national defense, an adequate system of interstate highways, and a safe and efficient aviation system. Its hard to believe that, with the exception of military preparedness, when one looks around and studies the nations infrastructure. Anyway, we think everyone out there would agree that we need to make whatever expenditures are necessary to control water pollution, from all sources, and
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simply must place priority of clean and safe potable water. We know there are those who cant believe that it is in such short supply. After all, they call Earth a water planet. But, in fact, water fit for life, is extremely rare and must be protected at all costs. It is a fact that our lives depend on it. The ASCE study found a need for $255 billion over the next 5 years. After an estimated $146.4 billion in appropriations, we are left with a need for an additional $108.6 billion. On this one there can be no the economy cant afford it. The economy simply MUST find the money or there wont be anyone left to worry about an economy. Plain and Simple! Summary on our Nations Crumbling Infrastructure It doesnt take a big brain to determine that our infrastructure is literally crumbling around us. Its also evident that we have neglected to demand that something be done about it. The problem here is not money its because nearly every one of us is consumed with immediate gratification and live by the notion that we should never do anything today that we can put off until tomorrow. This is the prime directive in America today and it has invaded our government as well. We should all be ashamed that we have allowed our excesses to

command everything we do. The government just cant seem to understand that you cant write a check unless you have money in bank. But, they do so without ever considering the consequences. Hopefully, we have learned in this exercise that every action has at least one and usually multiple effects. Put together, our entire infrastructure system rates a D. Thats just one jump up from absolute failure. What does it say about us when the best we can do is a C+? If the whole rest of the planet can see the shameful condition of our infrastructure skeleton, why cant we? We keep hearing about lack of money, yet we have dumped nearly a trillion dollars bailing out the same criminals that have caused many of our problems in the first place. Why because they were too big to fail it would have destroyed our economy. Unless you havent realized it yet, our economy is already in its death throes. There are no decent jobs to be had; theyve all been shipped overseas. The world is running out of oil and we keep buying more. We have, for all practical purposes, done little to find alternative sources to fuel the country. There is no way
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we can dig ourselves out of this without tackling the reasons why were in this shape in the first place. Putting off the hard decisions is the problem, answering and doing something about them is the answer. This old stuff of saying we cant afford it doesnt hold water. The government has already shown that there is plenty of money to do the things they want to do. Either they take the lead and do it, or we will know for sure that their only interest is taking care of the other rich-elite. We think that pretty well depicts most of their actions to date. After going through all these sections on the infrastructure, and learning about their value to the nation and to each of us individually, and after learning how bad things really are, it just makes us ill. We need an answer to what it means to say We Cant Afford It. Again, we would counter with the statement We Cant Afford Not To. When our infrastructure fails, we all fail. Our entire economy, at least the one that sustains the vast majority of our citizens, depends on our infrastructure to keep the wheels of the economy moving. We depend on it for our health and safety. We reach out to our schools to teach our youth how to take over the reins when we pass and they cant. What have we done? Have we given up and taken a D as the best we could do? We dont think so, but if something doesnt change very soon, we will have no choice but to accept that we failed. We feel real sad right now. The bad part is that we have a few more sections to review before this exercise is done. Unfortunately, we fear that they will make us feel even worse.

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Americas Welfare State

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a governmental bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life well ever see on this Earth Ronald Reagan To permit a large number of men to live free of charge is to encourage laziness and all the disorders that follow; it is to render the condition of the idler preferable to that of the man who works The race of industrious citizens is replaced by a vile population composed of vagabond beggars free to commit all sorts of crimes. Anne Turgot, 1727-1781 A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President For every complex problem there is a simple solution that is wrong. G.B. Shaw, Irish Poet Today we live in a peculiar era. There is said to be no ideology. We have drifted since the Vietnam era without an ideological rudder. We exist in a kind of void, in which individualism flourishes and narcissism, ego, materialism, the pursuit of self, wealth, status, and greed but nothing that moves the masses together. This is a statement from an essay entitled Greed by Julian Edney, and it provides a succinct definition of what is driving our nation today. Were not talking just about the government here. We mean our entire society seems to be driven by self, with little or no regard for the health of the entire organism. It is a sad commentary, but one that explains why the world considers America a Welfare State the theme of this section. However, we need to take a small step back and consider what it was or is that got us to this point. Being old educators, we are reminded of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs that was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality. We realize that Abraham Maslows paradigm has created some negative discourse over the years. Nevertheless, it is clear to us that many of his contentions have merit and may be partially responsible for our current mess. Basically, Maslow says that there exists a series of events that must be fulfilled before one can progress to a higher level. They begin with what he calls Physiological Needs. These are the biological needs like air, food, water, and a fairly stable body temperature. If people experience

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a lack of any of these conditions then they cant concentrate on the next level. Physiological Needs will continue to control their thoughts and behaviors.

The

Safety Needs are rarely thought of except during times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe. Needs of Love, Affection, and Belonging follows Safety Needs. None of us like the feeling of loneliness and/or alienation from others. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection, and the sense of belonging. Need for Self-Esteem is next, but cant emerge until all the previous needs are met. The need for self-esteem can become excessively dominant if were not careful. But, properly controlled, the person can feel self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. Finally we come to Self-Actualization. This one is a doozy. Maslow describes self-actualization as a feeling completeness and contends that, given all other needs are met, people naturally move in the direction of self-actualization unless they are hindered by something. He believes that Education is a perfect example. We think this idea is one of the main reasons for some discounting his hierarchy. We tend to agree with the critics on this one since it advocates moving into the realm of self instead of the old model of the 3 Rs. We also believe that, since education has apparently adopted his hierarchy, the problems we find in education today developed. While it is good to try to teach people to be authentic, to transcend their cultural conditioning, etc., they cant replace the good ol readin, writin, and rithmatic of days gone by. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is typically represented as a pyramid with the physiological needs found at the bottom (the foundation). As we progressively meet each of the need levels we move higher up the pyramid until we reach the peak of self-actualization. Later, in his work on the pyramid, he acknowledged that all is not static and that people can move up and down the levels depending on the circumstances at the time. That makes sense to us. The concept is sound except we do feel education has suffered because of it. We have come to expect our schools to be all things to all people. The problem with that notion is that each person is
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different making the concept impossible. Schools were created to teach subjects to allow a student to compete in an increasingly complex technological society. When we find a huge population of high school graduates that cant even fill out the application to enter college, we get the idea that our schools have done a terrible disservice to our youth. These are the ones who will be charged with running the machine when we leave. engender a lot of optimism. OK, now we understand some things about what makes society what it is today, and provides a rationale for the Welfare State we have on our hands. Growing out of good intentions, it has grown into a monster that is eating up the economy and returning next to nothing to the system. Remember the broken record if new energy is not put back into the system, the system begins its decline and ultimately dies. That is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We call it Entropy and it certainly has a good foot-hold in America today. Lets start taking a close look at this Welfare State and see if we can draw any worthwhile conclusions. There are many out there in the media that are telling us that our Welfare State is beginning to corrupt some of our core moral principles. Like many things lately, this wasnt its original intention. This entire welfare monster was created to actually help people who were in need and to provide them with the financial resources and training to get themselves back on track for re-entering society as productive citizens. We should have learned one thing about Somehow that doesnt

government programs they seldom do what they were intended to do. We have adequate proof today that our current system encourages people to ignore, to violate, the moral principle that it is wrong to live at other peoples expense forever. Yet, here we are with 3 generations of people in families that have never had a job and dont intend to ever get one. This has truly become a cradle to grave enterprise that is sucking the life out of an already fragile economy. Its now been around for so long that people view it as a right. We acknowledge that some people need some help sometimes. But for that help to become permanent for generations is simply not right for those who chose to delay immediate gratification and prepare for what they knew would be a difficult future. The core principle holds. Able-bodied adults who live at the unwilling expense of others degrade themselves even as they demean those forced to

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support them. Still we hear that they wont take that job because its below their dignity. What dignity? We ran across a commentary by Peter Ferrara titled Americas Ever Expanding Welfare Empire that was presented in Forbes Magazine on 4/22/2011 that we would like to share with you. We think it will change any ideas you might have about whether or not we have been miserly in our treatment of the less fortunate. Heres what Mr. Ferrara had to say: A fundamental misconception about Americas welfare state misleads millions of voters to reflexively support ever bigger and more generous government. William Voegeli fingers the attitude in his book, Never Enough: Americas Limitless Welfare State: No matter how large the welfare state, liberal politicians and writers have accused it of being shamefully small and contemptibly austere. Barbara Ehrenreich expresses the attitude in her book, Nickled and Dimed: Guilt doesnt go anywhere near far enough; the appropriate emotion is shame regarding the stingy miserliness of Americas welfare state. In light of the current budget debate, with House Budget

Committee Chairman Paul Ryan putting fundamental entitlement reform on the table, this misconception especially need to be corrected. Americas Welfare State is not a principality. It is a vast empire bigger than the entire budgets of almost every other country in the world. Just one program, Medicaid, cost the federal government $275 billion in 2010, which is slated to rise to $451 billion by 2018. Counting state Medicaid expenditures, this one program cost taxpayers $425 billion in 2010, soaring to $800 billion by 2018. Under Obamacare, 85 million Americans will soon be on Medicaid, growing to nearly 100 million by 2021, according to the CBO. But there are 184 additional federal, means-tested welfare programs, most jointly financed and administered with the states. In addition to Medicaid is the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Also included is Food Stamps, now officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (dont you just love these acronyms?). Nearly 42 million Americans were receiving food stamps in 20210, up by a third since November, 2008. That is why
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President Obamas budget projects spending $75 billion on Food Stamps in 2011, double the $36 billion spent in 2008. (These figures and number of programs are astonishing) But that is not the only federal nutrition program for the needy. There is the Special

Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which targets assistance to pregnant women and mothers with small children. There is the means tested School Breakfast Program and School Lunch Program. There is the Summer Food Service Program for Children. There are the lower income components of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Then there is the Nutrition Program for the Elderly. All in all, literally cradle to grave service. By 2010, Federal spending for Food and Nutrition Assistance overall had climbed to roughly $100 billion a year. Then there is federal housing assistance, totaling $77 billion in 2010. This includes expenditures for over 1 million public housing units owned by the government. It includes Section 8 rental assistance for nearly another 4 million private housing units. Then there is Rural Rental Assistance, Rural Housing Loans, and Rural Rental Housing Loans. Also included is Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Housing for Special Populations (Elderly and Disabled), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Shelter Grants, the Supportive Housing program, the Single Room Occupancy program, the Shelter Plus Care program, and the Home Ownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere (HOPE) program, among others. Besides medical care, food, and housing, the federal government also provides cash. The old New Deal era Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) is now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which pays cash mostly to single mothers with children. There is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which sends low income workers checks even though they usually owe no taxes to be credited against. The Child Tax Credit similarly provides cash to families with children. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides cash for the low income aged, blind, and disabled. In 2010 such income security programs accounted for nearly another $200 billion in federal spending.
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The federal government also provides means tested assistance through multiple programs for child care, education, job training, and the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Social Services Block Grant, the Community Services Block Grant, and the Legal Services Corporation, among other programs. The best estimate of the cost of the 185 federal means tested welfare programs for 2010 for the federal government alone is nearly $700 billion, up a third since 2008, according to the Heritage foundation. Counting state spending, total welfare spending for 2010 reached nearly $900 billion, up nearly 25% since 2008. Yet, by 2008, Robert Rector of Heritage reports that total welfare spending already amounted to $16,800 per person in poverty, 4 times as much as the Census Bureau estimated was necessary to bring all of the poor up to the poverty level, eliminating all poverty in America. That would be $50,400 per poor family of 3. Indeed, Charles Murray wrote an entire book, In Our Hands, A Plan to Replace Americas Welfare State explaining that we already spend far more than enough to completely eliminate all poverty in America. The soaring welfare spending since 2008 is not a temporary increase reflecting the recession, as it is not projected to decline after the economy recovers. By 2013, total annual welfare spending will have grown still more, to nearly $1 trillion. Over the 10 year period from 2009 to 2018, federal and state welfare spending will total $10.3 trillion. This does not include

Obamacares massive expansion of Medicaid, or the massive new entitlement providing subsidies for families making close to $100,000 per year, and beyond. Together, this abusive entitlement spending will add trillions more. Even in 2005, government spending on these means tested welfare programs was 25% more than was spent on national defense, and that was at the height of the wars in the Middle East. Indeed, over the past two decades, total welfare spending has been growing faster than Social Security and Medicare, about twice as fast as education, and nearly 3 times as fast as national defense.

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Of course, the big picture comprises the entire scope of entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare. Social Security spending for 2010 was $721.5 billion, with Medicare spending totaling $457 billion for the year, for a combined total of $1,179 trillion. Adding in federal welfare spending for the year leaves a combined total for entitlement spending of $1,879 trillion. The total federal budget for that year was $3.720 trillion. So,

entitlement/welfare spending overall for that year was just over 50% of the entire budget. These figures are not exactly stingy. The War on Poverty famously began in 1965. From 1965 to 2008, the total spent only on means tested welfare for the poor in 2008 dollars has been nearly $16 trillion, according to the Heritage Foundation. Rector reports that there has been more than all spending on all military conflicts from the American Revolution to today, in 2008 dollars. What have we gotten for all of that spending? Poverty fell sharply after the Depression, before the War on Poverty, declining from 32% in 1950 to 22.4% in 1959 to 12.1% in 1969, soon after the War on Poverty programs became effective. Progress against poverty as measured by the poverty rate then abruptly stopped. In other words, we are getting very little for our increased spending on entitlements. There simply is no reason to strive for self-sufficiency if the government is willing to take care of you from cradle to grave. Herein lays the real problem. We dont have to tell you what much of those Food Assistance Programs buy sodas, potato chips, and a wide assortment of high calorie, low nutrition tidbits. The system is broken and someone up there in the clouds of decision-makers is going to have to get a handle on all this. We have trillions and trillions of dollars flowing into a plethora of programs that are, by any standard, failing us all. Coupled with the fact that nearly 47% of federal income tax filers pay no income taxes at all, and it becomes crystal clear that the system cannot support such extravagance.

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The World and Peak Oil

An imminent peak and a sharp decline in oil production could cause a worldwide recession. US GAO, 2007 Peak Oil is Now. German Energy Watch Group, 2008 By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear. US Dept. of Defense, 2008 & 10 Between 2005 and 2008 conventional oil production ceased to grow. Global Witness Foundation, 2009 A global peak is inevitable. The timing is uncertain, but the window is rapidly narrowing. UK Energy Research Center, 2009 The next five years will see us fact the oil crunch. UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security, 2009 Its clear from the quotes above that this business of Peak Oil is much more complicated and much less understood than we would like. It seems the date is directly associated with who you are talking with. But, one thing is generally agreed upon Either we have already reached peak oil or were getting very close. The other certainty is that fossil fuels are a finite resource and will not last forever. Another thing we feel is not widely understood is the fact that it took the planet between 50 and 300 million years to turn plant and animal matter into oil. Yet, we have been able to burn through roughly half of all global oil is a mere 125 years or so. The economies of the world are largely dependent upon oil. From the transportation that moves us and our commerce to the fertilizers that allow agriculture to feed the masses, to the modern technologies that depend on it, we are addicted to oil. When its gone, its gone and we will be in for some dramatic lifestyle changes. We hope to explore some of these issues in this section and try to learn exactly where we are and where we must go if we are to survive as a global society. It has been observed that the Stone Age did not end because of the lack of stones. Likewise, the Oil Age wont end because of the lack of oil. The issue today is the lack of further growth, followed by gradual, and then steep decline. We have seen this happen in all kinds of systems
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and in every civilization that has ever populated the planet. There is no reason to believe that our civilization will be any different. It just so happens that we chose oil to be our holy grail and now we happen to be running low on it. To put this in perspective, it is now widely acknowledged that we have already found more than 95% of all recoverable oil. Therefore, there is little likelihood that we will run across any major new finds to pull us out of the predicament we find ourselves in today. We also know that

worldwide discovery of oil peaked in 1964, and has followed a steady decline since. According to industry consultants HIS Energy, 90% of all known reserves are now in production. If it has peaked then the issue becomes how long can we make the decline last. So far, new

technologies and enhanced drilling techniques have allowed us to nearly keep pace with demand, but this cant last for long. We know that with a rapidly growing population and a huge number of developing societies across the planet, demand will continue to rise at the same time supplies dwindle. Sooner or later it will boil down to a simple equation. He who has the biggest stick or he who has the most money gets the oil. Were in for a rough ride, indeed. Exxon Mobile Corporation, one of the worlds largest publicly owned petroleum companies, is the most forthright of the major oil companies having had the courage and honesty to tell it like it is. They published the declining discovery trend, based on sound industry data with reserve revisions properly backdated. They are running page-size ads in European papers stressing the immense challenges to be faced in meeting future energy demand, hinting that the challenges might not be met despite its considerable expertise. Chevron recently joined their campaign publishing an advertisement in national newspapers stating that the Era of Easy Oil is Over. We are certain that this statement is not made in an attempt to justify rising oil prices. There is little chance of the worlds demand for oil to slow or reduce on its own. It is also unlikely that populations will easily agree to reduce the population to ease the stress on oil resources. Right now, our only chance is to quickly develop alternative energy sources to mitigate demand. Given what weve seen lately, this seems highly unlikely.

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So, lets take a closer look at where we are right now. Most of this information comes from Wikipedia and anyone interested in researching further can find additional information contained within their examination of Peak Oil. (Wikipedia, Keyword PeakOil) By definition, Peak Oil is that point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. If that word terminal sounds scary it should! M. King Hubbert created and first used the models behind peak oil in 1956 to accurately predict that US oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970. Applying his model to specific oil fields has proven highly accurate, so its certainly possible that weve already reached our limit. While it should come as no surprise, many observers have offered that the high dependence of most modern industrial transport, agricultural, and industrial systems on the relative low cost and high availability of oil will cause the post-peak production decline and possible severe increases in the price of oil to have negative implications for the global economy. In fact, we have already seen evidence on the validity of this statement. In the last weeks, when the price per barrel of oil passes a certain point, consumption went down. This shows that line in the sand we used as an analogy earlier. Just like in everything else, at some point there will be a diminishing return on investment. Again, oil is no exception. There are optimistic estimations on when peak oil will occur. Some contend that it wont hit until about 2020 or even later and also contend that by then alternatives will be available. We dont want to bust anyones bubble, but this isnt going to happen by 2020, and probably not before 2050. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says production of conventional crude oil peaked in 2006. So, regardless of whether it has peaked or not, its clear that if it hasnt is will very soon. According to our research and observations, we dont really have anything on the plate to mitigate. Whats the old saying about getting caught with our pants down? The demand side of peak oil is concerned with consumption over time, and how fast that growth occurs. Between 1994 and 2006 demand growth averaged 1.76% per year. Over time that adds up to a huge figure. For instance, world demand is projected to increase 37% over 2006 levels by 2030. That translates to 118 million barrels per day from 86 million barrels per
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day. Likewise, a study published by the journal Energy Policy predicted demand would surpass supply by 2015. People, thats only 4 years away. Who among us can argue that we are prepared? Worldwide use of oil is distributed among four main sectors: transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial. As you would expect, transportation is the largest by far,

accounting for approximately 68.9% of all oil used in the US, with a worldwide consumption rate of 55%. We keep talking about population growth. This phenomenon is a significant factor on

petroleum demand. Data show that using population as an indicator, peak oil occurred in 1979. Thats when oil production per capita peaked. In addition, oil and gas production are essential to modern agriculture techniques. Any fall in global oil supplies could cause food prices to rise dramatically and famine could become even more unprecedented than it is now. In addition to food prices, interruptions in supply would have dramatic effects on ammonia production that is used for fertilizers to enhance food crop production. Not only would the price of food go up, but the supplies would go down as well. Surprise - Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer contends that current population levels are unsustainable, and that to achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster the US population would have to be reduced by at least one-third, and world population by two-thirds. How likely is that to happen? Lets stop for a moment and see where we are. All the easy oil and gas in the world has pretty much been found. William J Cummings, Exxon-Mobile, 2005 It is pretty clear that there is not much chance of finding any significant quantity of new cheap oil. Any new or unconventional oil is going to be expensive Lord Ron Oxburgh, former Chairman of Shell, 2008 To pump oil, it first needs to be discovered. The peak of world oilfield discoveries occurred in 1965 at around 55 billion barrels/year. The rate of discovery has been falling steadily since. Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO), 2007
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That pretty well covers it to this point. What about oil reserves? Well, they effectively peaked in 1980. Thats when production first surpassed new discoveries, though creative methods of recalculating reserves have made this difficult to establish with any degree of certainty. We have learned that many oil producing nations have been greatly over estimating their supplies in attempts of bolster share values. Given that, however, it is generally agreed that current technology allows us to extract approximately 40% of the oil from most wells. Past that point and costs become excessive and impractical. Any anticipation of pumping more through new technologies has already been factored into the equation. From a historical perspective, Sadad I. Al-Husseini, former VP of Aramco stated in 2007 that 300 billion barrels of the worlds 1,200 billion barrels of proven reserves should be re-categorized as speculative. If that proves to be accurate, and it probably will, then any exuberance over the size of world reserves will be cut short. Al-Husseinis observations are now corroborated by the Energy Watch Group that shows total world Proved plus Probable reserves to be between 854 billion and 1,255 billion barrels. Pretty close. Most of us have heard about some of the unconventional sources of oil such as heave crude, oil sands, and oil shale. Some oil geologists believe, in fact, that there may be more oil in these designations than the more conventional wells we are so familiar with. The problem is that getting at that oil is very labor intensive, requires much more energy to process, and releases higher volumes of greenhouse gasses. Without a breakthrough in renewable energy

technologies, however, it is likely that the time will come when we will have to take advantage of these sources. Regardless of the unsavory side effects and costs, new regulations from the SEC allow oil companies to book them as proven reserves. Given the increased costs that would immediately be passed through to the consumer, we should probably not get too excited just yet with any new reserve estimates. Moreover, oil extracted from these sources contains a number of nasty components in addition to the oil such as sulfur and heavy metals that are highly toxic to the environment. Some of these sites are even deemed unusable by the oil companies.

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Lets get back to the issue of production levels. Anyone interested in these sorts of things will have noticed that oil companies are now investing heavily in harder-to-reach reserves. According to the Wikipedia article this should be taken as a sign that oil companies themselves believe the days of cheap and easy to find oil are over. It is also a sign that higher oil prices cannot prompt more production. The bottom line then is regardless of the price per barrel, we are now at the peak of oil production and we are stuck at this point with no alternative(s) on our plate. So, the way of life we have developed based on oil is about to change in huge and dramatic ways. No amount of political posturing will change that. Newshounds will have already noticed that a number of large oil producers have begun to nationalize their fields in anticipation of the fight to come. This puts politics right in the middle of the oil production equation an issue we havent had to deal with before. This is another visible sign that things are about to change. As tensions escalate around the world, these countries will be less amenable to sharing their assets with the rest of the world and tensions will escalate even further. According to PFC Energy, only 7% of the worlds estimated oil and gas reserves are in countries that allow companies like ExxonMobil free rein. 65% are now in countries that have already nationalized their oil fields. Unless youve been living in a cave for the past century, you are aware that the very areas where these fields are located are the ones that dont have fuzzy feelings for the West. There is no question that our use of fossil fuels has been one of the most significant factors leading to our economic growth since the industrial revolution. It was so relatively easy that we have forgotten just exactly how we got here. We have based our success almost entirely on a resource that cannot be replaced, even in thousands of lifetimes. There are a growing number of us that believe when oil productions really begins its decline, human culture, and its accompanying technological society will have no choice but to change drastically. As indicated, the decrease is a sure thing. What is not sure are the types of alternatives that must be found if we are to survive in any recognizable way. If these alternatives are not on the horizon, the products we have come to rely on, such as fertilizers, detergents, solvents, adhesives, and most plastics, along with lubricants, diesel, and gasoline will surely become much more expensive. In

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2005, the US Department of Energy published a report titled Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, & Risk Management. Known as the Hirsch report, it stated, The peaking of world oil production presents the US and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the supply and demand sides, but to have substantial impact, they must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking. There are many things worth reading in this short statement. But the most important is the last sentence. For anything to be helpful (these alternatives we dont have now) they have to be initiated more than a decade in advance of the peaking. Regardless of where you are on the issue of Peak Oil, that means we are already too late for any mitigation to be of much use. We dont even have one viable alternative on the table. Given the historically slow implementation of anything in this country, even if we came up with a gimmick to delay the inevitable today, it would probably be decades before it could become implemented (planning, funding, infrastructure, politics, etc.). In fact, the Hirsch report emphasized the need to find alternatives at least ten to 20 years before peak if we are to avoid the serious social and economic implications of a global decline in oil production. These kinds of prognostications can be found all over the internet and not a single one give much reason for optimism. We have already learned that our country tends to be active rather than proactive. This is surely a time when this tack is a bad idea. There are a few out there, including some oil company CEOs, that believe we have enough oil to last for another 100 years at least. We dont know what theyre taking, but folks, the evidence just isnt there. If theyre counting on unconventional reserves to save the day, theyre trying to convince themselves. All we have to do is look at the shape of the worlds economies to see that they simply could not support the kinds of costs involved without collapsing. That simply means were damned if we do and damned if we dont. Neither scenario is acceptable. We would like to assume that for every problem there are solutions. Fortunately, for the issue of peaking oil supplies, and the prospect of declining production, and all the associated
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problems, there are a number of solutions. Theres only one small problem implementation. Regardless of where you stand on the issue we have all been hearing about how we can solve many of the problems plaguing the planet. Weve heard about Solar Power, Wind Power, Geothermal Power, Nuclear Power, Hydrogen Power, and Fusion Power. In fact, there are

prototypes of each of these solutions around today. Weve been hearing about Bio-Fuels, Ethanol, Electric Cars, and a whole host of other things that can possibly provide alternatives to what we use today to move ourselves and our commerce around, and use to power the economy that drives our excessive lifestyle. There are several of these experiments around as well. The good news is that each and every one of these ideas is great. The bad news is that building the technology and its supporting infrastructure will take a long time. Many of these ideas should have been put into action decades ago so they could be used today. The sad news is that none of these can realistically be put into action before we really start to feel the pain of diminishing oil. If we had to bet on which of these technologies should be on the top of the list for transportation, we would have to say Hydrogen Power. Why? Because over 98% of the known universe is composed of Hydrogen. Its literally everywhere and is the closest thing we have to being an inexhaustible resource. To boot, if used in the internal combustion engine the only byproducts are a bit of heat and water. It would certainly be much more efficient than an engine running on gasoline. Scientists agree that they are only about 20% efficient. The other 80% is lost to heat and pollution in the form of hydrocarbons spewed into the atmosphere, many greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and a few other noxious fumes. These are the things we dont want to put into the atmosphere. The sideeffects can be disastrous for life on Planet Earth. Again, all you get from hydrogen is heat and water. Hydrogen should definitely be the fuel for our transportation system of the future. For everything else, we bet on Fusion. Why? Fusion is what makes a star burn and thats what makes life possible on Earth. A star like ours can last for billions of years and there are hundreds of billions of them in our Milky Way Galaxy. There are billions of galaxies in the known universe. There is a lot of fusion going on and we need it here! The physics of fusion is the crushing of hydrogen, in the presence of tremendous heat, into heavier elements. Doing so
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results in fantastic amounts of power. For the kinds of fusion reactors we could build in the short-term, we would mainly be crushing hydrogen into helium. Hydrogen and Helium are inert gasses and, therefore, would produce no poisonous by-products. There would be zero waste products. Thats certainly better than the fission reactors we have now. Waste from these plants will be around for hundreds of thousands of years, are difficult and expensive to store, and will probably result in many unintended negative consequences before they decay into lead. How efficient is fusion? Most scientists will tell us that there is enough potential power in an 8 ounce glass of water than there is in 500,000 barrels of oil. Kaku brings out this fact in his new book. He also tells us that we can possibly have an efficient fusion reactor functioning within a decade or so. But that doesnt mean we will have a functioning infrastructure by then. That would likely take decades and we had better get to work on it now. Folks - there is a huge difference between fission and fusion. There could be no better power source for our electric grid than fusion. Youve probably heard that we have prototypes of fusion reactors right now and thats true. But, unfortunately they consume much more energy than they produce. That is a problem that we can probably solve within Kakus timeframe. There is some evidence that some in government are starting to get the idea that our current economy cannot be sustained on oil dependence. There is a small movement toward more green sources of energy that are a bit encouraging. However, there are events happening today that should cause a great deal of alarm for Americans. It seems there is more than one definition for what is green and what is not. Kaku outlines many of our attempts at creating a sustainable energy policy things that do not exist in any policy to be found today. By experience, we know that fission-based nuclear energy is not a green source. Not only are the processing costs exorbitant, but the left-over spent fuel rods are, for all intents and purposes, eternal and pose huge threats to the environment. Storage problems and the possibility of their use in terroristic activity are very real and very expensive. The possibility of a tragic disaster in a fission plant is not only possible, but probable. They have already happened all over the world and have even happened in our country as well.

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By the time this thesis is read we will probably all know about the recent event at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located near Omaha, Nebraska. For now we only know that our own President has ordered a total and complete blackout relating to any information relating to a near catastrophic meltdown at the plant. Right now the only information we have comes from an article coming out of Russia quoting a statement made by the International Atomic energy Agency (IAEA). According to their report, on June 7, 2011, the plant has suffered a catastrophic loss of cooling to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools after it was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River. The flooding even caused a fire that resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a no-fly ban over the entire area. It seems quite interesting that we have to find out about such an event from Russia and not from our own government. What kind of political justification will be used to deny Americans of the kind of information they need to make appropriate decision that are literally a matter of life or death? We can only suppose that time will tell. To quote our President in a statement right after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden This is the way Democracy is Supposed to Work. All we can do is express disbelief. Nowhere in the history of democracy has anything even resembling this kind of disregard for our country ever been documented. Regardless of the ultimate rationale, nothing can excuse this kind of abuse of power. Couple this with a government that eternally proclaims for God to Bless America and we are left with bewilderment and a feeling that we have been betrayed by the very people we elected to enforce our welfare. Already, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has designated this event as the largest ever to occur in America. Where has sanity gone? Where is all the information about the Japanese disaster as it relates to the huge increases in infant mortality happening all over the breadth and width of the land? Why arent the media all over the statistics proving that infant mortality has increased by 38% to 53% everywhere you want to look since the earthquake in Japan? Its all being caused by the winds that are carrying the nuclear radiation to our borders and beyond. We have heard about how the Japanese government was withholding information from their citizenry and all about how outraged we should be. Now we learn that our very own government has done the exact same thing to us. To top it all off, from all indications in the article from Russia, its all due to
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President Obamas definition of what constitutes a green energy source. For the record, its easy to confirm that he considers fission nuclear power green. Figure out that one. We already know that he has ordered the Military, Transportation Security Administration ( TSA) agents, Homeland Security personnel, and others to conduct training exercises in a number of coalproducing states, apparently because he has his personal war going on with coal-fired plants, and therefore, coal producers (kind of reminds us of the travesty he created over a Boeing plant). If this doesnt represent governmental intimidation then we dont know what does. We are living a dream that is entirely unsustainable and we fear a day of reckoning may be just around the corner. Some very difficult and far-reaching decisions are on the near horizon. We know civilizations come and civilizations go. The universe is going to fall victim to entropy at some point. Bringing all this home means our society, as we know it, is going to fall victim as well. The questions are how fast and how long. The how fast is when well start to feel the painful reality of our lack of action. The how long is when whether we do anything or not. In the long-term it wont make any difference. Those questions are the only ones within our capacity to answer and define. We are on the cusp today. Are we going to direct a slide that is skewed to the right or skewed to the left? There is no time for debate. These questions should have been debated decades ago so we could have ironed out all the wrinkles then. If we play the game based on the rules of yesterday there just may be no tomorrow.

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Global Warming
Here lies the body of Samuel Jan, Who died defending his right-of-way. He was right, dead right, as he drove along. But hes just as dead as if hed been wrong. Unknown After much contemplation, we decided that we wouldnt take a lot of time talking about Global Warming. We know that it is a highly contentious issue and most people have heard enough about it to draw their own conclusions. Therefore, given that we are not experts on Global Warming, or much else for that matter, anything we could say probably wouldnt change anyones mind anyway. However, there are a few things that warrant repeating and at least one thing you probably havent heard much about to date that we would like to share before we move on. This short article has already grown into something of a monster and, if we havent already, we will probably soon lose your train of thought as well. We should say at the outset that we believe that Global Warming is happening and that humans are playing a significant part in making it happen. Scientists call this an Anthropogenic Global Warming meaning one partially caused by human activity. If you listen to the news or read the paper you probably know that the Vatican recently issued a major scientific report on climate change commissioned to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In their declaration, the working group calls, on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and by changes in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other land uses. They continue with, Failure to mitigate climate change will violate our duty to the vulnerability of the Earth, including those dependent on the water supply of mountain glaciers, and those
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facing rising sea level and stronger storm surges. Our duty includes the duty to help vulnerable communities adapt to changes that cannot be mitigated. All nations must ensure that their actions are strong enough and prompt enough to address the increasing impacts and growing risk of climate change and to avoid catastrophic irreversible consequences. There would appear to be copious and convincing scientific data to support Global Warming. Quickly, lets ask ourselves if its happening. The answer is Yes! The Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change. For instance, average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) around the world since 1880 and the start of the Industrial Revolution, and much of this has occurred in the last few decades. In other words, the rise is speeding up. You observe that this is a tiny amount. We hope to show that it isnt. The 20th centurys last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several, millennia according to a number of climate studies. And the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850. The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004. Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting. Montanas Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later. Coral reefs that we have spoken about before are very sensitive to even small changes in water temperature. In 1998 they suffered the worst bleaching (die-off) ever recorded. Experts agree that these sorts of events will increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures continue to rise. Please keep in mind two things here these are the areas that support the vast preponderance of sea life, including the plankton that serves as the foundation

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of the food chain for the planet, and that the data assumes we dont trigger a run-away thermal event before the dates indicated. News about the sorry condition of our oceans is often buried deep under the news about landbased problems caused by global warming. This is a shame because the oceans cover over 70% of the earths surface, serve as the foundation of the global food chain, and provide over 50% of the oxygen we need for survival. Put together, this means that our oceans are responsible for our existence. Most psychologists agree that this is a normal response. It seems that humans are primarily visual beings. We can easily see, and therefore understand, when we see pictures of rain-forest devastation. Pictures of the oceans only show a deep blue expanse of beauty. We cant see whats going on underneath so we tend to ignore them. Pictures wouldnt show how badly the oceans were hurting or realize that humans are the cause. Cause and Effect! Two recent articles in Time Magazine outline what we have created. We would encourage everyone to at least scan these two short articles. One is entitled A Scary Report Card on the Worlds Oceans, dated June 21, 2011. The other article is Earth Day: Are We Destroying the Oceans? dated April 14, 2011. These articles teach us that we have already fished out an estimated 90% of the major commercial fish species that swim the high seas, including the giant and endangered blue fin tuna. Recent TV programs show that what we are netting today are juvenile tuna that are too young to reproduce. How sustainable is this practice? We learn that climate change is warming the oceans at such an accelerating and alarming rate that it is affecting the entire and fundamental structure of the marine food pyramid by destroying coral reefs. Increased CO2 levels are making sea water more acidic. We are rapidly approaching levels that existed 55 million years ago when over 50% of all species disappeared from our oceans. Jeremy Jackson, the director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography says that our oceans are becoming a desert, unable to sustain life. Even the most uninterested people can understand what that means for our civilization today. Jean-Michael Cousteau, son of the famous oceanographer of the same name and in the same article, continues by citing evidence that we are using the oceans as a sewer.
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We are becoming immune to all the negative talk about the looming apocalypse over Global Warming. Thats a bad thing! People tend to find relief from all the doom and gloom in any way they can. In a somewhat humorous statement in these articles, the authors observe that it almost makes even the most ardent conservationist want to take a long air-conditioned ride in a big SUV. The conclusion of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (ISPO), a global panel of marine experts that met this year at Oxford University to examine the latest science on ocean health, was a simple - It is Not Good! They elaborate with we are at high risk for entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history. This is meant to tell us that its not just one thing like CO2, or another like melting ice caps and glaciers, etc. Its all of these things working collectively and occurring much more rapidly than science originally expected. Alex Rogers, the scientific director of IPSO, in these articles, explains: We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our lifetime, and worse, our childrens and generations beyond that. Readers, this is information that must be heeded. To blithely sit back and contend that it is all a ruse is to condemn our children and our childrens children to a life of misery. Science has no reason to manufacture such

overwhelming evidence as a hoax on humanity. There is no financial gain to do so. There isnt even an immoral reason to do so. Global Warming is real science knows it. The vast preponderance of those who dont believe its real are people who either have vested interests in keeping others in a state of disbelief, or people who have no idea or scientific background that would indicate they know what theyre talking about. We also want to share a few observations by Craig Scott Goldsmith, author of Uninhabitable: A Case for Caution, that was made in preparation for Earth Day 2011. These statements are contained in an open letter to humanity and its leaders cautioning the detrimental effects of releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Goldsmith says humans are acceleration CO2 emissions through overpopulation, the use of automobiles and by building an abundance of new coal fired burning plants, which will bury the Kyoto treaty. He says the effects of global warming are evidenced by the extreme weather
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conditions humans are currently experiencing, including decade-long droughts, massive flooding in Australia, and record-breaking snowfall in the eastern part of the United States. Global warming doesnt mean its going to necessarily be warmer. It simply means a disruption in the normal weather patterns. In fact, the complete opposite could happen as we learned before. If the Thermohaline Current shuts down, much of Europe and Eastern Canada could find themselves in a mini-ice-age. Other parts of the world could experience much more or much less rainfall, the rain forests may become deserts, catastrophe would become the norm of the day. Goldsmith also speaks to the dramatic downshift of the pH in our oceans, or oceanic acidification. He says the oceans are absorbing so much CO2 from our modern lifestyle that they are becoming toxic and void of oxygen, creating dead zones around the world and putting oceans in jeopardy of collapsing within a few decades. Considering how much of our food comes from the oceans, this would not be a good thing. Add it to the other things that accompany it and the entire world population and economy could collapse. Many readers have probably seen a number of TV programs attesting to the same thing. We also need to consider the issue of Methane Hydrate, says Goldsmith. This is another greenhouse gas and just happens to be 26 times more potent than CO2. There are vast quantities of methane hydrate trapped as ice at the bottom of the ocean. Should ocean temperature raise enough to release large quantities of this gas, it would raise global temperatures by as much as 4-16 degrees on average. Sadly, there are already TV shows that have filmed rather large eruptions of methane hydrate from the oceans floor. It is also found in the frozen tundra around the world, particularly in Siberia. Scientists agree that even moderate rises in the global temperature could push the limits of human existence. Yes methane hydrate could cause a human species extinction event. This last sentence brings us to the point we raised earlier. What does this really mean for humans? What are the physiological limits of the human organism? This is an issue we hardly ever hear about, but to us, seems to be among the most important. It seems that we are playing with fire here. We stand the chance of making large areas of our planet completely
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uninhabitable if we dont get with the program and reverse the changes we see going on around us. This is the place where we must get past the issue of whether or not humans are causing global warming. This is where it doesnt really matter. This is not just about whether or not global warming is the greatest hoax ever pulled on the American people, as some politicians would have us think. This is the real thing. Global Warming is happening, whatever is causing it, and if we dont fix the problem, we just might not have anywhere to live. Scientists have terminology for explaining how temperature can cause mass extinctions. Its called the Wet Bulb Temperature. That temperature happens to be right about 35 degrees Celsius. Thats where, over an extended period of time (6 hours to be precise), the human organism could not exist. By the way thats about 95 degrees F. But, you say your temperature is already 98.6 F., and thats true. But, if you were outside on a hot day, working, with no breeze, and no way to cool down, you would soon suffer from heat exhaustion and perish. It seems we must keep our skin a few degrees cooler than our core temperature so that heat can be conducted from the blood to the skin in order to shed excess metabolic heat. Thats why we sweat. We learned this in high school biology class - or should have. This is a scientific fact, reiterated in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that ran a model on temperature rise as it relates to global warming and the limits of human physiology. If youre interested in all the details you can look it up on the internet. Their model showed the parts of the planet that would suffer most from rising temperatures and, to say the least, we in the US wouldnt like it. Earth is running a fever Its sick and getting sicker. Thats not good! Glaciers all over the planet are in retreat at a rate much faster than can be explained away as normal climatic cycling. Tens of millions of people depend on the runoff from these glaciers for their drinking water and meager agriculture. Their very lives depend on it. Even though Earth has gone through glacier changes in the past, now there can be no more vacillating these changes are being caused by human activity. Humans, not nature, are the culprit. Remember for every cause there is an effect perhaps multiple effects.

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Its interesting to watch TV and notice Petroleum and Gas CEOs, and other high-ranking muckymucks, pontificating on what a wonderful thing theyre doing for the country and the world by providing such an invaluable resource as oil. By the way, we agree that oil has been invaluable in helping to build the industrial Revolution and all the neat comforts and gadgets we have today. But, all the jobs, all the good technology, and all the money, have now become paramount and have now put the health and vitality of the world at risk. Yes theyre doing it all for us, indeed. It really gives us heartburn! The pure gall - trying to convince everyone that poisoning the atmosphere, raping the landscape, literally wiping out countless species, and killing thousands through pollution of air, water, and land, is somehow magically a great thing! Just in case there are some who havent been out of the house for the last 50 years it deserves repeating that the Earth is the only place we have to live right now. And, the way things are unfolding in our space program; it appears that it will remain so for quite some time. Today, humans have obliterated over 80% of the planets rain forests. You know - those places that provide one-quarter of the oxygen we require for life, that provide a living for 50% of all the species left alive today. But, everything is rolling along just fine because the oil magnates continue to provide us with such a tremendous service. Really! In reality, the loss of benefit to humanity is already incalculable. This endless quest for expansion and money has accelerated the demise of civilization to an extent, that many ecologists contend humans have already pressed civilization past the point of no return. What was good in the beginning has become what just might spell our demise. Rather than spend just a bit of time working on alternatives to the use of a very finite resource has been largely ignored by the assumption that oil will last forever. This false assumption is being re-enforced daily by politicians and much of the media. This is what history will proclaim was the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind. Every day more and more people accumulate in cities that are growing faster and faster. There happens to be a direct and positive correlation between the size of a city and the amount of energy required to sustain it. Put another way for each additional person 1.5 watts of new energy will be needed to sustain him or her. (Wikipedia) And yes its exponential. The opposite is true for mammals. The larger they get, the less energy it takes per pound to sustain

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a healthy life. Why is global warming such a hard reality for people to grasp? This whole business is unsustainable in every sense of the word. The experiments have been run and the data have been collected. The evidence has been repeatedly verified as true. Yes humans are destroying the planet at an accelerating rate. The evidence is voluminous enough that any reasonable person must agree. Yet, there remains a contingent of highly vocal nay-sayers contending that its all a hoax. Unfortunately, many of these nay-sayers are the very same people that enact the laws that govern us all. I have a real problem with believing someone with absolutely no formal (probably no informal either) training in things scientific spouting their venom on matters that literally add up to a life and death situation. Folks, this stuff is happening! As partners sharing this small bit of rock way out in the suburbs of the galaxy we had better get a grip on reality and really give it the old try to maybe ensure that our childrens children have a place to live. This is all were going to say about Global Warming Short and to the point. The time is over where we can sit around and argue about whether or not humans are contributing to it or if its just a part of the normal cycle of the planet. Global warming is happening, its speeding up, and to continue on the path were on can spell disaster for most life on our little rock. We have the power to mitigate its effects if we can just get past our egos. Yes, it will require some lifestyle changes and we will have to forego some of our immediate gratifications. But, if it means we can stay here for a little longer, we think its worth it. After all, what choice do we have? Surely, some out there can remember when there werent all the nifty gadgets and sweet accommodations we have today. We made it just fine we can do it again. Unfortunately, this issue has been floating around for quite a while now and we havent noticed a groundswell of support for doing much about it here in the US. In fact, as a nation we only have 5% of the global population, but we consume 25% of the energy (Wikipedia). Apparently we just dont care if the planet dies. That does cause a bit of concern, believe it or not.

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War on Drugs
Its no wonder that the rest of the world is suspicious about any and all activities undertaken by the US theyre all called a war on something or another. This thing about drugs is no different. In fact, its been around for so long that it may have created a fad for our federal government. This section is a journey into this war to see if we can draw any meaningful conclusions. Heres a gross breakdown on the money spent on the War on Drugs this year: Federal = $5,192,339,948 State = $8,850,042,305

Total = $14,042,382,252 The Office of National Drug Control Policy says the federal government spent over $15 billion in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second. Office of National Drug Control Policy State and local governments spent at least another $25 billion. Jeffrey A. Miron & Kathrine Waldock: The Budgetary Impact of Drug Prohibition, 2010 573,219 people were arrested for Drug Law Offenses. Arrests for drug law violations are expected to exceed the 1,663,582 in 2009. Law enforcement made more arrests for drug abuse violations than for any other offense in 2009. Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds. Uniform Crime Reports, FBI People Arrested for Cannabis Law Offenses this Year = 295,781 Police arrested an estimated 858,408 persons for cannabis violations in 2009. Of those charged, approximately 89% were for possession only. An American is arrested for violating cannabis laws every 30 seconds. Uniform Crime Reports, FBI People Incarcerated for Drug Law Offenses this Year = 3,727 Since December 31, 1995, the US prison population has grown an average of 43,266 inmates per year. About 25% are sentenced for drug law violations.

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No doubt about it the War on Drugs is big business and costs American taxpayers a lot of money. How successful has it been? Are the dollars being spent in appropriate ways? Are we getting the best bang for the bucks? We hope to present the kinds of information so you can draw your own conclusions. We contend its been an abysmal failure, that money is being wasted at the point of being criminal, and that we have missed the boat completely as it relates to what we should be doing about the drug problem in America. With that said, here we go. The US has been the business of trying to do something about drugs since the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. So, we would think our government should have learned a few things since then. Unfortunately, they apparently havent. Anyway, on October 27, 1970, the Nixon administration implemented the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, and the term War on Drugs was first used. From the data already cited, it seems clear that about the only thing weve accomplished during this War is to put a lot of people in jails and prisons while failing miserably to thwart the amount and kinds of drugs flowing into the country. Theres something troubling about this revelation. Throughout the decade of the 1980s, while the number of arrests for all crimes was rising about 28%, the number of arrests for drug offenses rose by 126% (Wikipedia, keyword, warondrugs). Hurray! We have a new reason to hire a slew of drug enforcement officers. There appears to be a growing contingent that firmly believes that the phrase War on Drugs is nothing more than a propaganda cloak for earlier military or paramilitary operations, and there seems to be ample evidence that this is true. The Wikipedia article cites several sources that show that huge amounts of drug war foreign aid money, training, and equipment goes to fighting leftist insurgencies and is often provided to groups who themselves are involved in large-scale narcotics trafficking, such as the corrupt members of the Columbian military. Even today, the US still gives hundreds of millions of dollars per year of military aid to Columbia, which is used to combat leftist guerilla groups such as FARC, who have been involved in narcotics trafficking. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg as we shall see. This seems a lot like locking the fox in the henhouse to us.

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Troubles for the War on Drugs began even before the time when the term was first used in 1970. It all started with President Nixons attempt to reduce the amount of cannabis coming into the country from Mexico. In typical knee-jerk action, Operation Intercept nearly halted border crossing to and from our neighbor and was immediately attacked by officials in American Border States. Needless to say, there was a tremendous economic uproar and the operation only lasted 20 days. The same kinds of efficiencies have followed the War on Drugs ever since. In December, 1989 the US invaded Panama with 25,000 troops as part of Operation Just Cause. Many readers may remember the story about the tactics of the CIA, then headed by future President George H.W. Bush, to keep General Manuel Noriega in business as one of the countrys leading drug traffickers, and the amount of US dollars that were being sent to Panama to fund his escapades against Contra groups in Nicaragua. The whole mess eventually became a huge liability for the US and authority was finally given to the DEA to indict Noriega. After the usual deaths of American soldiers, a number of Panamanian civilians, and a huge American bill, the good General finally surrendered and was convicted in a Miami court to 45 years in prison. Yep This is another rounding success in the War on Drugs. As part of its Plan Columbia, the US government has and continues to provide hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the form of military aid, training, and equipment to Columbia to fight left-wing guerrillas who are accused of drug trafficking. We know its been a huge success because hardly any cocaine enters our country from Columbia. Weve also got some wonderful swampland for sale at bargain basement prices. The Plans just keep going on and on all enjoying the same level of success. No one can really tell how many billions of dollars have been dumped into this bottomless pit, because much of it is hidden in multiple budget lines and sent to unknown allies. But, all the neat names for all the plans we dream up dont tell the whole story. In the bargain, weve been able to force some honest and hard-working farmers and their families in all the countries were helping into abject poverty and starvation by aerial herbicide applications over their farmland. Of course, we know that herbicides dont hurt people at all because we have a
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lot of experience with Agent Orange in Vietnam. Anyway, we now know about these escapades and that this tactic had caused terrible hardships on the farmers who live below, who have absolutely nothing to do with the drug trade, by exposing them to dangerous doses of toxic pesticides and herbicides that cause severe health problems, birth defects, and even death, not to mention the devastation of some of the planets most fragile ecosystems. And, in the end, the drug trade has prospered and continues to grow The War on Drugs has been a highly contentious subject since it began. In fact, in October, 2008, a survey found that 1:4 Americans believe that the War on Drugs has been a failure. We couldnt agree more. In fact, we can even give a more contemporary example of how effective it really is by looking at what has happened in Afghanistan. Before the US invasion of Afghanistan, the country was estimated to be supplying approximately 25% of the worlds opium. By comparison, Myanmar was cranking out about 65%, and Lao about 10%. By 2002 those figures were 45%, 45%, and 8% respectively. One year later, in 2007, the last year statistics are available, Afghanistan was supplying 93%, Myanmar 4%, and Lao, less than 1%. It would seem, therefore, that the billions of dollars weve pumped into Afghanistan probably havent provided the best bang for the buck. Even with vast numbers of US troops and consultants, exotic weapons, and extensive aerial defoliation efforts, during this same time period, the number of hectares devoted to poppy production has grown from 82.000 to over 193,000. In fact, with the exception of 19 th century China with a

population 15 times that of todays Afghanistan, no other country in the world has produced narcotics on such a deadly scale (UN Office of Drugs and Crime). Of course, these figures dont even include the tremendous loss of life, the robbing of poor farmers of their meager efforts to survive, and the contamination of vast areas of farmland. In fact, it would probably be impossible to even put a dollar value lost through Americas War on Terror and War on Drugs. We would certainly like to meet the people who still contend we are making progress in this country. The data simply dont corroborate such claims. Readers are probably wondering why we dont have exact numbers to calculate true costs. Well, according to data provided by the US National Security Archives, US Foreign Policy Contracts paid by US Taxpayers are being paid

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to unidentified foreign entities. OK, so were sending tens of billions of dollars to a bunch of unidentified foreign entities. Now, either our government is incredibly stupid, or theyre lying to their constituents. Either way, this is NOT the way a democracy is supposed to operate. Dont get too upset when you learn the government is doing exactly the same thing in a number of other countries. Egad! All this at a time when our infrastructure is collapsing, we have a national debt that equals nearly a third of our GDP, people cant find jobs, are starving, have lost a significant value in their homes, and on and on. No matter how much double-speak they puke out; this simply cannot be justified - Particularly when the same people acknowledge secretly, that the War on Drugs has been an abject failure, both financially and in suppressing the drug trade. We can carry this train of thought a bit further. The Global Commission on Drug Policy report has a number of things to say about our whole policy on drugs. In a nutshell, it reported the whole business to be a failure. In addition, their 24 page report, commissioned by the UN, argues that anti-drug policy has failed by fueling organized crime, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars and causing thousands of deaths. It cites UN estimates that opiate use increased by 35% worldwide from 1998 to 2008, cocaine by 27%, and cannabis by 8.5%. What that says is that despite all the money weve spent, and all the lives that have been lost, all the devastation that has been wrought on citizens in the countries of focused, the use of each of the typical drugs of choice has increased. Not surprisingly, the panel criticizes governments, like ours, who claim the current War on Drugs is effective. They state: Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won. The 19 member panel goes on to contend that instead of punishing users who, the report says do no harm to others, governments should end criminalization of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organized crime syndicates, and offer health and treatment services for drug-users. It calls for drug policies based on methods empirically proven to reduce crime and promote economic and social development. They were especially critical of the US,
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saying it must abandon anti-crime approaches to drug policy and adopt strategies rooted in healthcare and human rights. We think it interesting that Columbian President Gaviria says We hope the US at least starts to think there are alternatives. He went on to say We dont see the US evolving in a way that is compatible with our long-term interests. And, all the while, the US continues to pour millions of dollars into Columbia under the guise of the War on Drugs. Of course, the White House drug tsar Gil Kerlikowske immediately rejected the panels recommendations. He actually said that making drugs more available, as this report suggests, will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe. Now, that WAS a mouthful of BS. A trundle down any metropolitan street today can be a risky walk. There is gang violence on nearly every corner, drug sales happen every second, kids are murdering each other in huge numbers, communities are devastated by vandalism, and urban blight is rampant. People are dying from overdoses due to faulty drug manufacturing at unprecedented rates. The list goes on and on and still the drug tsar for America says we have to protect the health and safety of our communities. Wow! Even the government of Mexico was critical of the report. Never mind that 34,000 people have died in drug-related violence since a crackdown on the cartels began in 2006. Truly, our government and those in a number of other countries have a bad case of macular degeneration. They can only see straight ahead and, therefore, miss most of whats going on around them. This war is not solving anything. In fact, its making things worse. The evidence is overwhelming. Why cant they just admit it and get with a program that will work? We already know what the answer is. But, as long as governments stay in the business of trying to legislate morality we fear nothing much positive will happen. In fact, we find it interesting that a government so intent on legislating morality is the same one that is secretly stuffing billions into the hands of drug cartels in exchange for help in dealing with insurgents. Yes, thats happening as we speak and its been going on for a long time. It happened during WWII with the release of Lucky Luciano. Following WWII it happened when the CIA began working with the Sicilian Mafia, its gone on with the CIA and Chiang Kai-Shek and his group fighting Mao, when the CIA helped the KMT smuggle opium from China and Burma to

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Bangkok. Its going on today in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mexico, and Columbia, and many more. Out of one side of our governmental mouth we spout morality and out of the other we become drug kingpins ourselves all on the taxpayers dime. Heck of a deal if you ask us. We have already learned that any military actions against drug cartels have been unsuccessful. By spending our billions we have inadvertently put even more billions into the hands of the cartels. Every effort has resulted in increased imports. It would seem that the drug way has no real interest in its own results. By employing the exact same measures that were implemented during prohibition, it has been doomed from the start. Maybe thats been the plan all along. We will probably never know. But there are a few things we do know. In his book The Pursuit of Oblivion, Richard DavenportHines shows that only 10-15% of illicit heroin and 30% of illicit cocaine is intercepted. Drug traffickers have gross profit margins of up to 300%. At least 75% of illicit drug shipments would have to be intercepted before the traffickers profits were negatively impacted. It seems that the more we spend the richer the traffickers get. Also, Albverto Fujimore, president of Peru from 1990 to 2000, described US foreign policy as failed on grounds that for 10 years, there has been a considerable sum invested by the Peruvian government and another sum on the part of the American government and this has not led to a reduction in the supply of coca leaf offered for sale. Rather, in the 10 years from 1980 to 1990, it grew 10-fold. Finally, there is a growing list of economists that say reducing the supply of marijuana without reducing the demand causes the price, and hence the profits of marijuana sellers, to go up, according to the laws of supply and demand. Finally, all of this posturing has only caused the prison population to literally be busting at the seams. Since drugs are so easy to find, and since the effort in the War has been directed toward prosecution, we now enjoy the reputation of having nearly the highest level of incarceration per capita in the world. That should really be something to be proud of. We would prefer to spend upward of $25,000 per year to imprison someone than to spend between $900 and $3,500 per year to treat the problem. And in the balance, we have created vast populations that have felony records, that will never be able to secure a good job and
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become productive members of society, and who can never vote. We have a huge cadre of young people who fell into the drug trap and have lost all hope. We would rather do these things than take care of the problem at its source. It never ceases to astonish. So, where are we? US taxpayers have spent an estimated $2.5 trillion on the War on Drugs since it was declared in 1971. Given the crushing national debt today, it is no wonder that Wars like this are coming under increased scrutiny. The tack chosen has done nothing except line foreign drug cartel pockets with lots of those little green pieces of paper. But, instead of acknowledging that we have a problem with these tactics, the White House is steadfast in its determination to promote the status quo. Statements funneled through the White House underscores the lack of government accountability when it comes to the drug war. Drugs are easy to find and easy to buy. Profits from their sale are immense. There exists overwhelming evidence that Americas drug policies are flawed and that they actually promote drug use and sales. Expenditures for the War on Drugs have increased over 600% in inflation-adjusted dollars in the past 40 years. During this entire time, the use of drugs per capita has increased, the volume of imports has increased, the incarceration rate has increased, and thousands of lives have been ruined. How much more value can we get? No, the thing isnt working. Its way past the time where American should take a closer look at its drug policies. While there remains a sizable contingent against any kind of legalization, surveys support the notion that most Americans believe that at least some drugs should be legalized so tax revenues can be funneled into mitigation efforts and treatment programs. With all the changes in moral structure changing today, its time to acknowledge the shortfalls of how weve historically taken care of things. We should have learned from prohibition, but didnt. Now is the time to take what we learned then and put it into practice now. We are promoting the exact same philosophy we use for alcohol as we do for drugs. Just because a certain county in a state is dry doesnt mean that people dont drink. Just because using drugs are illegal doesnt mean people wont use them. Likewise, just because a drug is legal doesnt mean everyone will use them just the same as all people dont drink because alcohol is legal Just because tobacco products are legal doesnt mean everyone uses tobacco. The arguments can go on and on. The

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point is this - governments cannot legislate what people do in privacy. They can try, and they do, but just because theres a law does not mean everyone will obey it. Enough said. The War on Drugs should have died on the vine a long time ago. But we already know that America is not known for carefully considering all the possible outcomes of its actions. We can all sit around and blame Mexico, Columbia, Afghanistan, and countless others for producing and smuggling drugs into the US. But, after all the dust settles, we are left only with the realization that if there wasnt a market for it they wouldnt send it. The drug situation is our fault, not some poor country somewhere else in the world. Its time for us to step up to the plate and admit that and then take whatever steps necessary to treat the problem at its source.

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Americas War on Terror Or Americas Warfare State

As we were researching materials for this section we ran across an article from the Excavator, dated February 28, 2011. It began: Long before quantum mechanics, the German philosopher Hussert said that all perception is a gamble. Every type of bigotry, every type of racism, sexism, prejudice, every dogmatic ideology that allows people to kill other people with a clear conscience, every stupid cult, every superstition-ridden religion, every kind of ignorance in the world, are all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles. We believe what we see, and then we believe our interpretation of it, but we dont even know were making an interpretation most of the time. We think that this is reality. In philosophy that is called Nave Realism. What I perceive is reality. Philosophers have refuted nave realism every century for the last 2,500 years starting with Buddha and Plato, and yet most people act on the basis of nave realism. Robert Anton Wilson adds: The world is not governed by facts or logic. It is governed by BS (we like your first thought, but in the context of the article it means belief systems). Seeing is not a function of the eyes alone, but of the eyes-and-brain working together. A popular proverb says Seeing is Believing, but as the philosopher Santayana once pointed out, humans are much better at believing than at seeing. During our research we consistently asked one question to everyone we interviewed Can you remember, in your lifetime, when the United States was NOT engaged in a war of some kind? You already know the answer to that question, and so did we. In times of prosperity, poverty, good times, and bad times, America is always at war with some-thing or some-one . Perhaps that simple observation answers a lot of questions about what people are talking about, writing about, and contemplating about. Maybe they are the same things weve tried to convey in this rambling article. Do we really believe, as a nation, in what we do, or are our efforts nothing more than an attempt to rationalize our shortcomings? That is a question best left for
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philosophers, but its also one we should be asking for ourselves. We have lost our way. Our entire way of living is based on an unsustainable illusion that is killing us as well as our moral structure, and our way of life. We live in a constant fog of war. How can we maintain optimism, and seek a better tomorrow when we live under the black umbrella of war? But, we digress. Lets take a short tour through the War on Terror, how it began, what its accomplished, what its cost us, both financially and spiritually, and where its leading us. Hopefully, then we will be able to forecast the further implications of where this business of perpetual war is leading us as a nation. We think that journey tells us a lot more about the United States than the facts would imply. We think the reality is much more than the sum of the parts we are being told. The War on Terror, or the Global War on Terror, or the War on Terrorism, or the Overseas Contingency Operation (the Politically Correct term today) is an international military campaign led by the US, and the United Kingdom, with support by NATO and non-NATO countries, originally waged against al-Qaeda and other militant organizations with the intent of eliminating them. From the outset, we havent decided what to call it and still cant identify who its supposed to eliminate. Sound familiar? President George W. Bush and a few other high-ranking US officials first used the term soon after the 9/11 attacks. He said Our War on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. Now, we have to admit, that is a far-reaching statement. Throughout the history of civilizations, leaders have, without exception, had exactly the same ambitions and they have never, ever, succeeded. Why cant America realize that? If al-Qaeda was completely

eliminated today, there would be another group organized and in business tomorrow. By the very definition of terrorism there will always be another one. So, for those who havent realized it yet, President Bush was saying that we have now entered a perpetual, never-ending war one that we will never stop.

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There have been a huge number of operations begun as components of the War on Whatever. We will just name a few of them, and maybe say a few words, just to give you an idea of its scope. Details on any of these operations are easily found on the internet. Operation Active Endeavour a naval operation of NATO, October, 1991 Operation Enduring Freedom the official name for the War in Afghanistan, September, 2001. This War was begun after the 9/11 attacks after the US gave the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan an ultimatum to turn over Osama bin Laden. Afghanistan asked the US to turn over any evidence (that it did not do) so they could find him and try him in an Islamic Court. US and UK forces invaded the country in October, 2001. Operation Anaconda an effort to ferret out al-Qaeda forces within Afghanistan, March, 2002. They re-grouped in Pakistan. Operation Enduring Freedom, Philippines an operation to assist the Philippine military in combating Filipino Islamist groups, January, 2002. Operation Enduring Freedom, Horn of Africa this operation doesnt have a specific organization as a target, merely to disrupt and detect militant activities in the region and to prevent their reemergence, October, 2002. Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative an extension of the Horn of Africa Operation to encompass more of Africa. Operation Enduring Freedom, Trans Sahara is an expansion to include all of central Africa. Iraq after years of conflict with Iraq and the regime of Saddam Hussein, and right after the 9/11 attacks, Congress authorized the President to use force if necessary to disarm Iraq in order to prosecute the War on Terrorism in October, 2002. Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq war officially began in March, 2003. Operation New Dawn the war in Iraq entered a new phase in September, 2010 with the official end of US combat operations. There have been a vast number of smaller operations that fall under the title of War on Terror over the years. They have involved a number of countries from both NATO and non-NATO countries, and have cost countless billions in their economies. Media have been telling us all
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through this period of the successes had for all this effort. However, we all know that continuing support for Americas endless successions of wars is fading fast and that the American public is getting weary of the huge costs incurred for all of these huge successes. For instance, it only took us about 10 years to find one al-Qaeda leader, right under the noses of one of our allies. In all actuality, there is no real evidence that Osama bin-Laden was actually the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Regardless, were pretty sure he could have been routed out much earlier if it would have given us any particular political advantage. We all heard President Obama tell us right after bin-Ladens death that this is the way Democracy is supposed to work. No, we dont think so! Theres very little around us today to indicate this is how Democracy is supposed to work. So, where are we really today? We contend that we are not one inch closer to eradicating insurgency and/or terrorism today than we were the day after 9/11. What we do know is that the country has pursued an unreachable concept at the expense of the public well-being. We have sold our soul for nothing. There will always be groups that dont agree with our philosophies. Believe it or not, the vast preponderance of the worlds population could care less whether they live in a democracy or any other kind of ocracy. The only thing they care about is where their next meal is coming from. They are oblivious to issues of politics, economics, and moral turpitude. They just want to be left alone and allowed to pursue survival. Then, here comes the US, killing their crops, destroying their land, interrupting their lives, and telling them how to live, all in the name of whatever. Yes, were doing a fine job. And, should you think we dont know what were talking about here, just write and ask about Vietnam. One of us spent 18 months there and he can tell you about how much the

Vietnamese cared about our politics. Now, in the aftermath, they can enjoy a country that is not just half communist, but all of it. Now they can enjoy birth defects, napalm burns, land mines, and a host of other maladies we so generously gave them. And, in the bargain, we killed countless civilians and devastated the land so they can enjoy starvation as well. Not to mention that America lost in the neighborhood of 60,000 of its youth so we could saunter away and leave the mess we created to the people who didnt want us there in the first place. From personal experience, to the vast majority of Vietnamese, they could have cared less. Then,
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after youve asked us that, think about whats going on all over the world right now and ask yourself if were doing anything, anything at all, different than we did for Vietnam. Weve given you a snapshot of what the War on Terror is. Now its time to sneak a peek at what its cost us financially. Then well see if we can make sense of Americas Military Budget, how its constructed, and what its spent on. If you like balancing your checkbook, youll love this. When the 2010 budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009, the final size of the Department of Defenses (DOD) slice was $680 billion, a mere $16 billion than President Obama asked for. An additional $37 billion supplemental bill to support the War(s) on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan was added to the total. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2010 financial statements because of what they called widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations. Thats government speak for we have no idea what they spent all that money on. They went on to say there were serious financial management problems at the DOD that made its financial statements un-auditable. In the end, 6 out of 33 DOD reporting entities received unqualified audit opinions. That means that you and I would have been fined big time for not taking care of business. If we had been using public funds, we probably would have spent some quality time in one of our fine prisons as well. Any way you slice it, the DOD should held accountable for its use of our tax monies, particularly since it accounts for about 19% of the entire US federal expenditures. In addition, including non-DOD expenditures, defense spending was approximately 28-38% (notice we cant get any more specific than that) of budgeted expenditures and 42-57% of estimated tax revenues. Defense spending continues to grow at about 9% annually. Just perhaps, thats because they have no idea where theyre spending it. And, to top all this off, the militarys discretionary spending, meaning they can spend it on whatever they want was 50.3% as far back as 2003, and has been growing every year. Not only doesnt the government know what theyre spending it on, we dont, and apparently they have no idea what they need it for either. You cant tell us that 50.3% of all that money is for black-ops just so they can bury incompetence under the guise of national

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security. On the contrary, our borders arent really all that secure not that most of our National Guard troops are trooping around in Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of 2008, the US had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Indirect costs such as interest on the additional debt and incremental costs of caring for the more than 33,000 wounded by the Veterans Administration are additional. To top all this off, some experts estimate that these indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs. Your calculator, if it has enough digits, should show you that these two wars are starting to add up to more than $2 trillion. Thats a dollar sign and a 2 followed by 12 zeros! We keep hearing figures in the billions and trillions talked about like they were just little idiosyncrasies we have to deal with. Lets try to state them in terms the average American, like us, can understand. Lets assume we have a huge pile of dollar bills. If we stood over a bottomless pit and threw a dollar into that pit every second, it would take us almost 32 year to toss in $1 billion. What about a trillion? That little job would take us a mere 31,709 years. If we had a pile of $20 dollar bills, it still would take us nearly 1,586 years to toss in one trillion. Thats nearly 3,200 years of dumping 20s down a hole just to pay for what America has spent on Iraq and Afghanistan. It would take a small city doing the same thing just to pay the annual budget, let alone the National debt. Keep in mind that these two conflicts represent only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to calculating the total cost of this so called War on Terror. Please also remember that, if we continue on the tack, these kinds of expenditures will continue until the country is totally bankrupt. After all, the Fed cant continue to print little green pieces of paper forever. People, our government has gotten us into a terrible mess that we probably cant dig ourselves out of this time. And, even with all the lip-service being given to cutting spending, can anyone really see that progress is being made? We cant. If we handled our budgets like the government is handling the federal budget, we would be in jail today. Why do we let them get away with it? Fiscal restraint has come to mean cutting the other partys pet projects, not ours. Better yet, lets just take it out of the pockets of the middle-class, but dont dare touch the filthy rich. This way of doing business cannot continue. We are on the verge of losing our credit rating, defaulting on our debt obligations, and going

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directly into another depression what will make the recession seem like a monopoly game by comparison. Those scenarios would be minor next to what will happen if the dollar loses its status as the worlds medium of exchange. Yet, we just let it keep on happening. Neither party is free from blame. This is not a partisan issue. This is a governmental issue that wed better take control of before the whole bottom drops out below us. If the government is too dumb to see this then they should be pink-slipped like the American worker has, not that it would cause them any financial harm. Anyway, theres no question that the US spends a huge amount of money for military-related activities, while accomplishing very little these days. How much is that total by comparison with other countries? Well, in 2009, the US military budget accounted for about 40% of global arms spending and is over 6 times larger than the military budget of China, that has a lot more area to protect and a whole lot more people. And, since they own a huge amount of the US debt, apparently they can afford to our-militarize us if they wanted to. The US and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-fourths of the worlds military spending, and the US is responsible for most of that. One would think that with that much military might, no one would dare cross paths with us. Maybe its because we never finish anything we start and the rest of the world knows it. Yes, the US blusters a lot, but just cant seem to get its act together. War is expensive. To put the cost in perspective, a recent New York Times article indicated that it cost about $1 million a year to keep one soldier in the field in Afghanistan. And if you think gas is expensive here, it costs $400 per gallon to deliver gasoline to the fighting fields. Can any honest American publicly proclaim that this is worth it when were quietly dying in our own country just so a few Washington big-wigs can play their stock-market games? There has been a lot of commentary about the amount of money being spent through our military activities as compared to the benefits we are getting out of all that money. Most of it seems to be coming from the Republicans who contend that any cuts now would put our allies in a precarious position overseas. Indeed, there is growing concern in other parts of the world that our country is in terminal decline. There is fear that our economic condition will cause us to pull back from our overseas commitments. We must remember though, that all these

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commitments were made over conditions that we initiated. It is not written anywhere that it is our responsibility to be the watchdogs and protectors for the planet, or to support or not support governments elsewhere in the world. Perhaps global tensions would ease if we werent running around all over the place trying to subject our way of life on the rest of the planet. We need to and have sufficient military might to protect our country from any direct attack and common sense would suggest thats just exactly what we should start concentrating on and quit worrying about what everyone else is doing. It seems to work just fine for them, why not us as well? By one credible estimate, the US alone spends as much (43%) on defense as all other countries in the world combined! America is smack-dab in the middle of a spending orgy. For instance, we already have more tonnage in our naval arsenal than any other nation on earth. Yet, here we are building another $14 billion aircraft carrier to add to the11 we already have. Russia has one, Italy and Spain each have two and theyre our allies. Yes, its a dangerous world. But a thousand $14 billion aircraft carriers would not have prevented 9/11. Our trillion dollar weapons systems, fancy artillery with lasers, all of our sophisticated fighter jets and drones could not prevent 9/11. In fact, there is growing evidence that most of us dont even really know who was responsible for 9/11. Revelation to the world we dont need all that stuff anymore. Game players can now sit in their air-conditioned cubicles and fly their drones anywhere on the planet, and shoot artillery or pictures, drop bombs or propaganda, and generally harass anyone they want and never ever feel the pain of combat. ROVs can travel tens of miles without human presence and melt tanks with their sodium lasers and the operators never have to experience the horrors of war. Computers now control most flight functions on our fancy fighters because pilots cant react fast enough. They can fly so high and the computers can wreck havoc to such an extent that the occupants never have to suffer the traumas of war. In other words, why dont we all just buy a $300 laptop for every despot on the planet and they can hop on the internet and have their machines play war for all of us. Then no one would have to spend all this money trying to kill each other. Thats really where we are today. We have all these fancy gadgets and are fighting isolated cells of a few people running around with AK-47s and home-made bombs strapped to their waists and they are able to stump all our stuff. We keep mentioning these AK-47s. Maybe its because one of us had
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one when he was in Vietnam. Its still true today the AK-47 remains the primary weapon for terrorists and can be had on the internet for anywhere between $5.00 and $550.00 depending on condition. (Wiki.Answers.com) The AK-47 kills just fine! Guess what China and Russia are giving them away for free to these same enemy forces. Our military has decided to equip our troops with a brand new rifle called the XM-25. This little beauty costs a piddling $35,000 each! Kind of makes you want to take a seat on one of those comfortable $600 toilet seats, doesnt it? There is another small issue we think you need to understand. According to figures provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) and contained in the Wikipedia article on the War on Terror, the US has more contracted personnel (159,000) than uniformed personnel (144,000) in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Total costs for contracted personnel in fiscal year 2010 was: $15.4 billion in Iraq and $11.8 billion in Afghanistan. There appears to be under-the-table agreement that the rationale for this disparity is due primarily to accountability issues. Contracted personnel are simply not subjected to the same kinds of scrutiny that military personnel are. This reality might give reason to re-think how we feel about this War on Terror. It would seem that it is nothing more than another political game. We know for sure that it can never be won. We are still thinking in terms of the 1940s while living and fighting in the 21st Century. This is not the kind of war we fought in WWII. For some reason we just cant understand the logic here? Where is this military genius that got us into this mess? Of course generals will tell us we need to be in perpetual war. Of course they testify that theyre doing a great job and strut around claiming lots of successes. Thats what they do. They want us to wage perpetual war so they can keep their jobs and are perfectly willing to manufacture lies to justify their claims. But just remember this you lost yours so they could keep theirs. We already have the infrastructure we need to fight any kind of foe that can possible arrive on the scene. We have the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security to take care of these little groups that will always be on the scene. Lets lavish them with goodies so they can do what they do best and feel a little bit comfortable that we already have all we need to blow
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up the whole planet several times over. How much more secure would we be if we had the capability to destroy it more than several? We need to be worrying about suitcase- or vansized dirty bombs, not megaton hydrogen bombs. We have plenty of those, but we fear those little dirty ones more and you should too. We want to end this section by studying an article in the Washington Post written by Zbigniew Brzezinski (some of us remember him well); national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter entitled Terrorized by War on Terror. While this article was written in 2007, it appears to be even more applicable to today than it was then. The main thesis of this article is that this so-called War on Terror has created an entire culture of fear in America. Think a moment about what that means. Remember what youve been taught about human action in times of fear. Three little words, waronterror, and an entire country, perhaps the greatest to have ever populated the planet, was reduced to a state of fear and doom that has undoubtedly had a negative impact on American democracy. In fact, for all intents and practices, it has destroyed any vestiges of democracy in this country, not to mention Americas psyche, and its standing in the rest of the world. These three words, through what we think were cleverly panned and used, have actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from terrorism. Again, we think this outcome was cleverly orchestrated and, to this day, are being used to destroy America. These words are not those of two crazy conspiracy theorists. They come from two old men who have done copious research into the dynamics of psychology and economics and have reached an understanding of how the rich-elite have taken much of American wealth to pursue their own devious self-interests. We are confident that if you too read all the articles that will appear at the end of this article, you will reach the same conclusion. The fear is that too few will take the trouble and nothing will change. Maybe thats a good thing. It just could be that the sooner we get this foolishness over with, the faster the planet can recover from the raping it has endured by human presence. The War on Terror is really a war on what? It is not against a country, contrary to some media. It is not against a particular race of people, contrary to many in the entertainment industry. It
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is not about a particular religion, but both media and entertainment would disagree. In fact, terrorism is not an enemy in and of itself. Terrorism is nothing more than a technique used to implement warfare. In other words, it is a political scheme used to instill intimidation. America has become intimidated by a technique. Now thats one for the textbooks. By constantly hearing the word war, by being lambasted daily with the word terrorism, we have fallen victim to the culture of fear. Its all we hear about on the news, read about in the newspaper, watch on TV programming, and think about at night. Fear makes it much easier to control people. Its been used for centuries and its being used against us now. It obscures reason and intensifies emotions. It allows those in control to mobilize those they control to do the things they need to achieve their objectives. That simply means they are able to make us pawns in their diabolical game of chess. And we have been playing along. But, the tide seems to be changing. That small voice in the distance is getting closer and louder. Hopefully the din will get loud enough for even those so insulated from reality in Washington will start to hear hopefully. The article directly states: The war of choice in Iraq could never have gained the congressional support it got without the psychological linkage between the shock of 9/11 and the postulated existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Support for President Bush in the 2004 elections was also mobilized in part by the notion that a nation at war does not change its commander in chief in midstream. The sense of a pervasive but otherwise imprecise danger was thus channeled in a politically expedient direction by mobilizing appear of being at war. To justify the war on terror the administration has lately crafted a false historical narrative that could even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By claiming that its war is similar to earlier US struggles against Nazism and then Stalinism (while ignoring the fact that both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were first-rate military powers, a status al-Qaeda neither has nor can achieve), the administration could be preparing the case for war with Iran. Such war would then plunge America into a protracted conflict spanning Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and perhaps also Pakistan. The culture of fear is like a genie that has been let out of its bottle. It acquires a life of its own and can become demoralizing. America today is not the self-confident and determined nation that responded to Pearl Harbor; nor is it the America that heard from its leader, at another moment of crisis, the powerful words, the only thing we
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have to fear is fear itself; nor is it the calm America that waged the Cold War with quiet persistence despite the knowledge that a real war could be initiated abruptly within minutes and prompt the death of 100 million Americans within just a few hours. We are now divided, uncertain, and potentially very susceptible to panic in the event of another terrorist act in the United States itself. These statements should slap us back into reason. Not for years have we been so close to making a series of very badly thought out mistakes ones initiated through panic instead of reason. How many out there have already conjectured entering into war with Iran? Has Pakistan entered your mind lately? Behind them is a whole line of dominoes just waiting to drop. With all the financial and human resource strains we are experiencing now and with US support fading across the planet, are these events really logical? We think not! The fear mongering, along with its multiple reinforcements, tends to generate its own momentum. Just like our government, the bigger it gets the more momentum it has and the harder it is to stop. If we let it, this thing will get so far out of control that it cant be stopped. Were almost there (maybe its already too late). Its hard to deny that America has become insecure about the direction it has plotted. A recent 2003 study reported that Congress had identified 160 sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists. With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849, by the end of 2004 to 28,360, by 2005 to 77,769. The national database of possible targets now has grown to some 300,000, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival. Have you tried to fly lately? There are security guards posted nearly everywhere today. There are cameras hidden everywhere today. How many forms do you have to fill out and how much scrutiny must you endure just to get in to see someone? Have you had to show a picture ID lately? Paranoia is rampant everywhere just because we have become conditioned to possible threats that, largely, do not exist. There have always been people who terrorize other people. We used to call it crime now we use it to justify a War on Terror. What about the general area of civil rights? The culture of fear has become so prevalent that all progress weve made in tolerance of others has been eliminated. We have initiated laws and
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procedures that completely undermine even the most fundamental notions of justice. We keep going back to the Patriot Act. Just the name engenders anger and fear. I cant be a patriotic American unless I succumb to the elimination of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Innocent until proven guilty doesnt exist anymore. In fact, the government can read our mail (both snail and email), track your every move, and listen to our phone calls - all without a warrant. They can burst into our homes, haul us away, throw us in jail, deny us legal representation, take everything we own, and never charge us with anything. All they have to do is declare that its a matter of national security. A recent article in the New York Times, dated June 12, 2011, tells us that the FBI is getting ready to release a new edition of its operation manual called the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide. In this article Michael German, a former FBI agent and now a lawyer for the ACLU tells us what this new manual will change. Essentially it gives the agencys 14,000 agents much more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention. Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of

investigations, called an assessment. This allows agents to look into people and organizations proactively and without any firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity. In other words, they can do whatever they want and you cant do anything about it. Add this level of perversion to the Constitution and Bill of Rights, tie it into the Patriot Act and you have 1984 personified. About all thats left to discover is that the government is secretly putting drugs into our water supply to make us even easier to control. If you havent read this book by George Orwell, give it a read and we think you will see that the same scenario is unfolding right before our eyes in America today (less the drugs in the water as far as we know). People, this is not how democracy is supposed to work! This additional governmental knee-jerk has destroyed absolutely everything a democracy is supposed to stand for. Its constitutionally illegal, its scary, and it accomplishes nothing except to control the masses through fear and intimidation. And, if you think the government wont declare martial law to quell civil Our

disturbance on this matter, just think back to Kent State, Los Angeles, or Waco.

government will kill the citizens of America to achieve its goals. Think back to Vietnam as well. Is that democracy? There is no dictator, no chief despot on the planet dead or alive with any
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more direct power than the President of the United States - All given in the name of the War on Terror. That means, whether its all used or not, our President has just as much power as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and many others were sure youve heard of. Perhaps the Antichrist will have more, but despite rampant speculation, he or she doesnt appear to be around yet. However, we think that time is not far off. If you think all that is going on today is what the founding fathers had in mind for America when they wrote the Constitution and added the Bill of Rights then you didnt wake up on the same planet that we did this morning. Remember back when we talked about the fall of civilizations. We showed that one of the most revealing aspects that a civilization is in trouble of collapse is the passage of more and more restrictive laws to ensure that the people are easy to control by the government. And, were certainly turning out enough lawyers to keep the courts busy for centuries. To repeat, we are on the verge of not being able to get out of bed in the morning without having already broken some law. Knowing that, what do you deduce about the condition our civilization today? For over two centuries we have fought to maintain the country we believed in. What in the world happened? Where is the leader today who is willing to say This is enough? Lets put an end to this paranoia. Lets step back and again realize that the people of the United States are the most valuable resource we have. Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, which are likely, let us show some restraint and logic. The killing of thousands to avenge the death of one simply cannot be justified. Revenge is not what made America and all the propaganda and fear mongering in the world wont change that. Lets not forsake our traditions for some flawed philosophy based on fear. Remember, this is supposed to be a country of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Terrorism has always been around. After all, Cain killed Abel and they were brothers. No war against it will ever change that fact that terrorism has been and always be a part of the human condition. None of this makes any sense at all. Congress is acting like a bunch of kindergarten kids having temper tantrums and threatening to take their toys home. They hide behind state borders to keep from addressing meaningful and critical issues, they always tattling to the media that the other kids of being mean to them, and they pout they

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pout a lot! It would actually be quite funny if it didnt involve such serious issues that directly affect the future of our nation and our world. We predict this if we dont become directly involved and become more proactive by demanding that this silliness infecting our government cease immediately then we had better get prepared for the pain, agony, and suffering we will awaken to tomorrow. If we follow the tactics of our government and continue to ignore what is going on around us we wont like whats getting ready to happen on Planet Earth.

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The American Economy

This is the point where we get to go back to a little bit of science. While we have alluded to Isaac Newtons Laws of Motion throughout this article we now want to provide a short explanation of his three laws, how they fit into the concept of mass, and specifically how they help explain why moving our national economy in either direction is so difficult. In short: Newtons First Law of Motion Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. This we recognize as Galileos concept of inertia, and is often termed simply the Law of Inertia. Newtons Second Law of Motion The relationship between an objects mass m, its acceleration of a, and the applied force F is F=ma. Acceleration and force are vectors; in this law the direction of the force is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector. This is the most powerful of his three laws because it allows quantitative calculations of dynamics. It actually grew out of Aristotles thoughts on matter, but differs significantly in that Newton proved that a force only causes a change in velocity (an acceleration). It does not maintain that velocity as Aristotle held. Newtons Third Law of Motion For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We experience this law every day even though we probably dont realize it. These laws can be found in hundreds of sites on the internet. Just like Newtons Laws of Thermodynamics, scientists quickly found that they applied equally as well in other disciplines. Before long they were found in economics. When something is done to affect the economy, there has to be a reaction to create balance. Remember, Mother Nature deplores a vacuum. A simple example is when the Fed manipulates interest rates to adjust increasing or decreasing economic activity. The economy will continue along any given path until an equally or stronger mass/force compels it to change. Hopefully, by now you will have figured out that our Federal Government has sufficient mass to instigate such a change. The dizzying economic gyrations of the past few years have proven this analogy to be true.

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So, when a force acts on a mass, acceleration results. The greater the mass on the object being accelerated, the greater the amount of force needed to force the acceleration. The national economy is like a huge mass and, therefore, it theoretically takes a lot of force to change its direction. Also, it should be obvious that economic mass cannot be measured as readily or as accurately as physical mass. Its not as tangible. This makes it extremely difficult to determine the amount of force that will be needed to induce motion. So, we thought the best way to try and wind up this exploration would be to present a few things about the economy in general. After all, it is something that dominates every newspaper and news program every day. Even more important is the fact that it is something we feel every day. When we go to the gas pump, to the food center, to the mall or strip center we get a real taste of what and where the economy is and none of it is good. In fact, many economists are now saying that things are getting so bad with our economy that it may end up destroying America. And thats the theme we want to explore briefly here. From 1946 to 2000, Americas Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annual growth rate averaged about 3.5% and, according to every economic indicator, the country remained relatively prosperous. This revelation comes from an article in Forbes Magazine on May 12, 2011, entitled Slow Growth Will Destroy America, written by Rich Karlgaard. This section will use his observations and his article as the foundation for what we say. He recalls that during this same time period the country survived nine (9) recessions and still managed to maintain an average 3.5% GDP growth. In non-recession periods the economy averaged 4% growth. We know that people will try to rationalize that this or that did or did not happen and this period was an anomaly. There were essentially no big problems facing the country or the world to impede growth. But those of us who lived through that time know that such contentions are simply not true. During this time, driven by a post-war economy, there was already a crushing national debt and the economy had to live through the re-absorption of millions of veterans

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returning to the states. These were the years of mega-companies that did their best to quash innovation and slow the economy. As years passed we had to survive a Cold War that drove us to the brink of nuclear war several times. Arriving in the 1960s, there were race riots, demonstrations, and assassinations. The government was shooting its own citizens in response. The Vietnam War was driving a mental attitude of anti-everything. In the 1970s there were a number of mild and severe recessions that ultimately caused the stock market to lose 48% of its worth. Unemployment rose to 11% dwarfing the under 10% we call inexcusable today. There were oil embargoes and presidential resignations leading to an economy that saw long lines at gasoline stations and interest rates were out in interstellar space. The 1980s werent any better. It started with another recession that caused a governmental knee-jerk that immediately led to another and worse recession. Unemployment again rose into double digits. By the late 80s the economy was in such bad shape that it caused another stock market panic that left the market searching for its loss of 22.6% The 1990s arrived with yet another recession that almost caused IBM to declare bankruptcy. This resulted in the famous saying by Bill Clinton that its the economy, stupid. No, if you were alive during this period, you know things werent rosy and that the steady growth in the GDP was not some aberration. Even during these stressing times the economy and the country continued to prosper. Now we seem to be conditioned to the fact that what we face in 2011 is somehow unique to the countrys history and that we face a new set of problems that have caused the unenviable condition we find ourselves in. This simply is not true says the article. What we have are the exact same problems but without the same political will to do anything about them. Karlgaard contends: What we have is a huge pile of monetary malpractice and bipartisan The good news is that he says all is not lost. The problems are not

incompetence.

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insurmountable. He spends the rest of the article saying and showing that the answer to all of Americas economic problems today is growth. Americas GDP is a bit over $14 trillion. For each 1% growth the GDP would increase by about $140 billion, on a sliding scale to $420 billion at 3%, to $940 billion at 6% to $1.1 trillion at 8%. What he is showing here is that Growth Matters! Growth ameliorates past mistakes, gives us hope, and creates prosperity. Those three things are paramount to the nations salvation. But, what have we actually witnessed? For the first decade of the 21st century the economy had slowed to 1.7% annual growth. This abysmal showing turns out to be the crux of all our problems. Those pesky little things like deficits, debts, unemployment, and a sagging

confidence in ourselves and our government everything got worse. Unfortunately, all were getting out of the government today is a bit of lip-service on how to cut government spending by cutting the life out of the middle class, instead to action to spur economic growth. Why isnt the government yelling to the rafters about growth? Maybe the reason, according to Karlgaard, is because our President says he prefers fairness over growth. History will teach us that fairness will get us around 2% to 2.5% growth, similar to European Social Welfare States today. Since we dont seem to have fairness or growth anyway, lets get to the bottom of this issue by trying something we already know will work. Lets bring our jobs back to America, allow the citizenry to work again, and solve each and every one of these problems in a real and realistic way. It has consistently worked before and it will work again. Just that 1% of additional growth over a decade (maybe a generation) and the national debt could be reduced to a manageable level; our standing in the world markets would be bolstered; and the people would be more satisfied because they are working and can look toward the America Dream again. Of course, we cant just flip a switch and make all these things magically happen. There are a number of steps that must be taken. Here are the things the article recommends. Not all are immediately possible, but we agree that they are doable over time. We must: 1. Create a strong and stable dollar 2. Get the federal share of GDP back under 20% (from 25% today) 3. Legislate simpler, flatter tax rates
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4. Lower (we contend eliminate) corporate tax rates, in line with global competition 5. Form simpler, transparent regulations 6. We would add Eliminate all federal departments that perform duplication of effort and eliminate all departments that do not perform at predetermined expectations. Finally, eliminate most of the IRS by creating a tax code that says merely If you buy it you pay taxes on it (with only a few exceptions for predetermined causes). 7. Create a Pro-Energy Policy 8. Establish immigration policies that favor skilled immigrants 9. Stop the imagined war with business 10. Ban Public Employee Unions 11. For Petes sake, reform Education (ban teachers unions first) 12. Establish Patent Reform (to encourage entrepreneurship) Rich Karlgaard believes that President Obama is a lost cause when it comes to economic growth. He says that absolutely nothing has come from all his campaign pontifications

regarding all that yes we can bull, and that it was nothing more than a ruse. We tend to agree. For all the smarts he contends he has, he somehow has missed what that small 1% can mean over time, favoring fairness (as defined by him) over the economy. That statement itself makes no sense. This isnt an either/or scenario. We are considered to be fairly well read and nowhere have we ever read that you have to either have a strong and growing economy or you have to be fair. As a matter of fact, we would contend that to be fair to the American people you have to have a strong economy that is enjoying growth and prosperity. Something is definitely wrong here and its an issue we cant afford to ignore any longer. If our economy remains stagnant its entirely possible that there wont be a country left to be fair to. The author ends on a positive note by quoting AOL founder Steve Case. Politicians have injured us. The antidote to political cowardice and stagnation is entrepreneurial boldness and growth. But, for the short term we must deal with the reality of slow growth and rising under- and unemployment. In fact, the drop in our GDP actually understates the extent of what were dealing
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with. The fact is that nearly 75% of the measly growth in the GDP can be attributed entirely to business inventories, not sales, so the real growth is actually near 0%. How does that make you feel? To add to this agony is the fact that any real growth could only be found in the first two months of the first quarter, leaving the rest of the year flat meaning, of course, that the real GDP probably slid backwards for the rest of the year, and even then was tied up in inventories instead to commerce. This can only mean a heap of misguided fiscal policy on the part of our government. No, we do not mean the Obama administration but the whole government. Again, we say this is not a Republican or Democrat thing. Its our governments inability to solve meaningful issues for the benefit of the country. The whole mess is so tied up in partisan bickering that absolutely nothing can get accomplished. To compensate, they spend their days trying to legislate morality, and poke each other in the back. They are so consumed with their own sexual shenanigans that they dont have time to run the country. Well, to be fair, they do have time for figuring out ways to waste more money on nonsensical programs, but not for anticipating all the additional problems they will have created by doing so. For this they are paid a handsome salary and are provided all sorts of valuable perks. Perhaps a constitutional amendment that says no millionaires may be elected to federal office would prevent some of this silliness. Like thats going to happen! Anyway, to this point we are left with one last issue. What to do with future budget deficits and an exploding national debt? Its these issues that are impeding investment and spending by whats left of our business enterprise. For instance, the national debt has jumped to 69% of the GDP in 2009, from 40% in 2008. This figure is expected to rise to 85% by the end of the decade. (Congressional Budget Office) In addition, there is no clear direction for what were going to do about the loss in value of the American dollar abroad. We keep hearing the Treasury pound the phrase a strong dollar is good for America while it continues to drop in value by approximately 7% per year. The fear that each of the above will get worse, along with a fear that the dollar will lose its position as the universal medium of exchange in the world has all but suspended all investment and hiring. We can see no change until the country gets with the program and creates a

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realistic and sustainable economic policy. Right now its all over the place and no one can make any plans for the future. All of these things are doable, but each also comes with a price. We had better all decide quickly whether or not we are willing to sacrifice a bit today in exchange for a brighter future tomorrow. If we arent, the terminal decline of America will be upon us.

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Summary, Recapitulations, and Conclusions

We have learned that we must develop at least a cursory understanding of the laws of Conservation of Energy, Thermodynamics, and Entropy if we are to understand what is going on around us today. For instance, we absolutely must understand that our universe is governed by these laws and that the cosmos will always move toward chaos as it ages. That is a reality that we simply cant change. We also know that energy, as we understand it, cannot be created or destroyed it can only be changed in form. We know that some of these forms are useful for us and some are not. We have learned that for a system to survive it must have input of new energy to replace that changed into a non-useful form. Finally, we have learned that there is only so much energy in the universe, hence the running-down of the systems we have come to depend on so much for our survival. Of course, for us the universe consists mainly of those we encounter in our daily lives civilization, the energy we use to make our lives more safe and enjoyable, and the food we use to fuel our bodies. We have created several sub-systems to help ensure that these macro-systems survive for as long as possible. But today we are bewildered by the fact that our wisdom seems to have failed us and by our observation that our sub-systems arent performing as we expected. That really shouldnt be that surprising given the frailties of the human form and our incessant quest for immediate gratification. From our arrival on the planet we have been driven by material possessions and seem more than willing to do whatever is necessary to get them. Hopefully we have been able to present adequate information to allow us to take an informed look at where we are today and just maybe come up with some ways to mitigate the problems we are now experiencing. We now know that the civilizations we have created have been and always will be driven by the same phenomena. Civilizations will assemble, grow, decline, and die. We know death comes when the population grows to a level beyond what the land to sustain. When that point is reached several things can and usually do happen. New methodologies are able to slow the decline some and further conquest can usually keep things running for a bit longer. But, sooner or later, the civilization dies and reorganizes itself somewhere else. That same scenario has repeated itself over and over and will eventually happen to our global civilization as well.
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What we hope to do now is review some of the problems we have found in our current organization and offer some ways we think we might lengthen our time between decline and death. We definitely think we have reached as surpassed our peak and are now in terminal decline. The question remains How long will that decline last? We also acknowledge that there are some extinction scenarios that are beyond our ability to control. We have presented some of them and further review would seem superfluous. Therefore, we will look only toward those things we can do with proper planning and execution. Perhaps something as simple as a list might suffice Lets see: 1. Our future fate is not a question of if, but when. 2. By its very nature and design, civilizations are not sustainable. 3. It is unlikely that our civilization will voluntarily make the changes necessary do delay its death. 4. Diplomacy wont work. 5. We are a reactive species not a proactive one. 6. The Politically Correct experiment has been and continues to be a total disaster. In fact, within its foundation lies all the elements needed to destroy our nation. 7. We are a nation driven almost entirely on greed. Greed is all bad regardless of what some say. After all, its one of the 7 deadly sins. 8. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness in America have been lost to greed. 9. America cannot grow its economy because greed has out-sources all its jobs and stagnated business investment. 10. The American dollar is in much more trouble than most people think. 11. The Distribution of Wealth in America is a public disgrace. Today, 80% of the people are competing for only 15% of the available wealth. This fact alone makes our country unsustainable. 12. We learned 200 years ago that when banks and the corporations that grow up around them gain control of the dollar we will have lost all hope of longevity. We have to realize that nothing is too big to fail.

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13. The IRS and the Fed are completely out of control. A 17,000 page tax code is ludicrous and totally unfair. Remember our President favors fairness over the economy. 14. Congress is completely out of control. Instead of representing us it is now free to represent itself. Our legislative branch is now of the government, by the government, and for the government. 15. The old adage is true We must understand our past if we are to plot our future. 16. The condition of our Infrastructure is another public disgrace. Perhaps a C+ really is the best America can do today. 17. America really does have a Welfare State. Dwight D. Eisenhower was correct when he said A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Our country now has 3 generations of families that have never worked a day in their lives. To us, that is not fairness and that is not the way democracy is supposed to work. 18. We must lose the notion that it is our responsibility to be all things to all people. 19. There are 184+ means-tested welfare programs, beyond Social Security and Medicare, in effect today. We have cradle to grave programs that cost enough to allow the government to write every family of three a $50,500 check every year. Still, we have no fewer people living below the poverty level today than we did 20 years ago. 20. Peak Oil has already happened and demand is still rising. Even Oil CEOs agree that we have already found 95% of the oil available on the planet. They also agree that all the easy oil has already been found. Where is the infrastructure to replace oil when the demand really outpaces the supply? 21. Global Warming is real and we are causing it. The evidence is overwhelming and too voluminous to disregard. The tragedies it can and will cause if current trends arent reversed will be nothing short of catastrophic. It will end in either a runaway heat wave or another ice age. Take your pick. 22. The War on Drugs and the War on Terror are both unwinnable, much more costly than we can afford, and have done no good whatsoever. Besides, they are nothing more than a political game that is costing American lives. Just as bad, they have cost nearly

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every guaranteed civil right granted to the public by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Weve given them all away for a game that will last forever. 23. Our economy is stagnant. There is no way America can solve its fiscal mess with a flat economy. Certainly fairness wont solve it and Congress doesnt seem to be willing to tackle the difficult issues that are causing it. There are too many other issues that need their attention like gay marriage, an aversion to successful businesses, and the sexual escapades of their colleagues. Dealing with the economy is below their dignity unless it will add to their already vast fortunes. So, in 23 short statements we have collapsed 170+ pages into a simple list that can be digested by anyone. Well, we do have a few additional things to say on some of these issues. For instance, Kaku talks a great deal about civilization in his book. You remember - the one that got us started on this exercise in the first place. Besides, it is just too interesting to not include. He begins with a system proposed by the Russian Astrophysicist Nilolai Kardashev in 1964. His scale is based on the amount of Energy consumed by a civilization. By working from the contention that an extraterrestrial civilization would probably be much different in terms of culture, society, government, etc. he developed this quantitative scale for astronomers to use in their search for ET. Type I is planetary in its use of energy. It utilizes solar power that hits the planet to the tune of about 10 to the 17th Watts. Type II is stellar, consuming all a stars power for a consumption of 10 to the 27 th Watts. Type III is galactic, consuming the star power of the galaxy, or 10 to the 37th Watts You may have noticed that each Type is separated by a factor of 10 billion. A Type II civilization consumes energy 10 billion times more than a Type I. I know your chomping at the bit to learn where we fit on this scale. After all, we think were pretty bright, have a lot of neat gadgets, and we can certainly handle a lot of energy and information. In addition, we have reached this level of sophistication is a relatively short time. Sorry we are a Type 0 civilization based on the Kardashev scale. We still get the vast
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preponderance of our energy from dead plants and animals, not from the energy output of a star. So, lets look at this classification system in a bit more detail. A Type I then is a Buck Rogers type civilization that controls energy on a planetary scale. They might be able to harness the power of a hurricane and control weather. They might even be able to construct cities out in the middle of the ocean. A Type II is a Star Trek civilization along with its United Federation of Planets. While they might colonize the nearest 100 star systems, they are still barely able to control the energy output of a star. A Type III civilization is like the Empire in Star Wars, or the Borg in Star Trek, the Next Generation. Both have colonized a huge portion of their home galaxy. Even though Kardashev stopped at Type III, there just might be a Type IV that controls the energy of Dark Energy and Dark Matter. This could be the Q in Star Trek. Dark Matter and Dark Energy constitute an incredible 73% of all Energy and Matter in the known universe. By contrast, the universe of stars and galaxies make up only about 4%. Earlier civilizations tend to consistently progress at about 1% per year in terms of its collective GDP. Therefore, it would take about 2,500 years to progress from one Type to the Next. Working from that assumption, regardless of busts and booms, recessions and expansions, we can mathematically estimate that well reach Type I in about 100 years, assuming we dont destroy ourselves first. Actually, there are a number of examples of how we are already utilizing planetary systems. The Internet is a prime example of a civilization utilizing power on a planetary scale. Fiber Optics and Satellites for communications are two more good examples. Another way is through the way we use language. English has emerged as the de facto language for international information exchange. Out of the roughly 6,000 languages being spoken today, 90% are expected to become extinct in the next few decades. We are witnessing a global economy. Things like NAFTA and the European Union are perfect examples. The Economy, not weapons is the new criterion for a Superpower (this fact is not good news for America).

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News is becoming planetary as well. Sports, the Environment, Tourism, Travel, and the nature of War and Disease are all pointing toward a planetary civilization. National identities are beginning to fade as social and political issues blend them together into identifiable Blocks of Nations. All of these things do not necessarily mean we are moving toward a planetary government. We will continue to find a need for local government to solve those issues unique to geography and culture. But many of the governmental functions have already been globalized. The UN is just one example. The pen used to be mightier than the sword. Today, the chip is. Its Technology my friends. So, the upward mobility to more complex civilization types continues. But who among us can really predict whether or now well ever even reach Type I status? Again, the Kardashev classification was developed in the 60s when physicists were concerned about energy production. However, with the spectacular rise in computing power, bolstered by Moores Law, who knows this is interesting stuff to ponder. But, what would happen if a civilization lived on a planet plagued with electrical discharges, lightening, etc., that would preclude the development of a computing infrastructure to support their own Information Revolution? They would find it extremely hard to progress. Because of this dilemma, Carl Sagan introduced another scale, based on information processing that used an alphabetic scale to rate civilizations. For instance, a Type A civilization is one that processes only a million pieces of information. That translates to one with only a spoken language, but not a written one. On Sagans scale, Ancient Greece would be considered a Type C. Going up the scale, we can place our civilization at Type H. By combining the two scales we become a Type 0.7H civilization. In many ways this isnt that bad considering how quickly we moved from steam power to rockets and from horse-drawn carriages to supersonic aircraft. Our communication infrastructure is already largely planetary. Just remember, the first ever electronic computer arrived on the scene a mere 70 years ago. We have made tremendous technological strides.

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But we fear that we have neglected to develop the wisdom to handle all this technology. Considering what were doing to our planet and our atmosphere we would have to conclude that we have not. Both Type I and Type II civilizations are rapidly rising on a scale that depends on energy and information to achieve their goals. Both of these efforts produce a huge amount of waste and pollution. So much waste and pollution in fact that they just might destroy the civilization before it can graduate to the next level. We can see evidence of this happening to us already. Remember, based on standards we have today we only have about 20 years of landfill space left. For a Type II civilization, utilizing the total power of a star has a similar problem. Lets assume that their engines are 50% efficient (much more efficient than ours at about 20%). That means they are able to use 50% of the energy. Where does the other 50% go? We have learned that it is not destroyed, merely changed into another form. Youve already learned that it escapes as heat. This much power and this much heat (which is unusable for work) could eventually melt their planet and make it much like Venus is today (entropy in action). The lesson here is appropriate for us today. When we let energy grow out of control we may be committing suicide. We need a new rating scale based on Entropy. Ideally, we want to have a carefully thought out system of energy and information that will not destroy our planet. This is what happened to the civilization depicted in the Disney movie Wall-E weve mentioned before. This is where the Laws of Thermodynamics become important, and weve already learned about these three laws. Weve also learned about Entropy, so its pretty easy to guess the two new types of classifications that were developed. The first, of course, is the Entropy Conserving Civilization that does everything it can to mitigate Entropys effects. The Second is Entropy Wasteful and simply moves on to another planet when their home planet becomes uninhabitable. Entropy will ultimately win anyway, but which one do you think will survive the longest? We should all give this question a great deal of thought. President Obama campaigned for office under the mantra that yes we can! He also promised to create the most Transparent White House ever and to end the petty bickering so prominent between the Republicans and the Democrats. He promised to end decision-making on the basis
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of lobbying dollars, and is on record as saying that he prefers fairness over the economy. Hopefully, we have been able to show that this is nothing more than the same political doublespeak that weve heard for the last 100 years. Outside of the Washington Beltway, we think it would be hard to find anyone who thinks the yes we can has resulted in anything except an aching and lingering feeling of no we cant. In fact, it almost seems that politicians have built another Berlin-like Wall in the isle separating the two political parties. One party is always wrong and the other is always right and the two shall never meet. That might be okay if it didnt create a gridlock that keeps anything at all from happening except the throwing around of a lot of sniping without ever offering any sort of solutions. In fact, in a vain attempt to try and justify their existence, they have centered on idiotic issues that they largely have no business fooling around with in the first place. What about a Transparent White House? In reality the exact opposite has happened. We can think of no other administration that has withheld more from the American public. We think back to the Patriot Act that was first passed in the last administration. It was bad enough in its original iteration. But now it seems that there is even a secret version utilized by the government to strip us from even more of our civil liberties, if we had any left in the first place. How much have we heard about the new FBI Operations Manual that allows the FBI to pilfer through our entire private life without provocation? We have heard very little except for an article or two posted on the internet. Not very transparent! Now were learning about what will probably become the largest nuclear disaster in our nations history and the Obama administration has ordered a complete news black-out on the whole thing. This is not only opaque, but, in our opinion, criminal. There is absolutely no way this can be buried under the guise of national security when the very lives of Americans may be at stake. Actually, how much have we really learned about the Japanese nuclear disaster? Have we heard much about the extreme rise in infant mortality all the way from the West coast to Philadelphia? What else could possibly be to blame for the 38% to 53% rise in infant deaths than radioactive fallout spreading out from the disaster site in Japan? We know we were upset when we learned how the Japanese government was withholding information from their citizens about the extent of the damage and how much radioactive materials had been released into the atmosphere. Now
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were really upset to learn that our Transparent White House is doing the exact same thing to us. It is extremely easy to track the amount of dollars changing hands through Lobbyists in Washington today. Data from literally hundreds of sites will show that there are more little green pieces of paper passing from one rich-elite hand to a congressional rich-elite hand than ever before. This money is used to influence what decisions need to be made and which ones should not. Therefore, we should not be surprised to learn that the decisions that need to be made are the ones that favor the rich-elite. Duh! Now, tie this into the statement that the President favors fairness over the economy. We already know that fairness wont do very much to create jobs and bolster the GDP. We said before, based on the findings by people on the inside of the political machine, the Presidents definition of fairness doesnt necessarily align with ours and that it isnt an either/or sort of thing. For instance, is it fair for a news blackout to be placed on an incident that can potentially cause death to countless Americans? Is it fair for countless billions to be spent on a War on Drugs that is greasing the palms of drug cartel bigwigs in order to get help with fighting insurgents in a War on Terror? This has to be the most insane logic weve ever heard. Here we are, fighting two different kinds of war, neither of which can ever be won, are using our dollars to fund one to fight the other and viceversa, and all the while Americans are being killed in both efforts. Does this make any sense to anyone reading this? Well say it It doesnt make any sense to us. Finally, back to this issue of preferring fairness over the economy? The entire world can see that America is in extreme financial trouble. There is a real concern by our foreign neighbors that just happen to own a huge slice of our national debt, is that we will end up defaulting on our obligations. That same feeling exists within our borders as well even by Republicans who are almost willing to let that happen to reign in their version federal spending regardless of the consequences. Any reasonable person knows that would cause a disaster that we could probably never recover from. And, what do you think of an elected official that would walk out of budget talks just because it wasnt going his way? How does this solve anything? That fine

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Representative should be told to not let the door hit him in the butt on his way home to wherever. Now we are faced with the need to raise the national debt ceiling even further, are being warned of inflation by the fed, and probably will end up printing even more worthless little green pieces of paper out of thin air. We can see absolutely nothing good about this whole scenario. Yes We Can, Transparent Government, Fairness, Economy These are empty statements made by not just one person but an entire government that is unwilling to tackle the real issues we face today. We wonder now if there are any politicians anywhere, local, state, or federal, that can open their mouths without spewing out a string of lies and innuendo. Just a bit of truth now and then would greatly raise the attitudes and optimism of Americans. It seems nothing ever changes. When one party is in office its always the other party that has caused all the grief. Then, in the next election, the other party is in office and they blame the previous one, and on, and on, and on For all infinity - nothing changes. However, we seem to never hear anyone offering a fix for the problems. Its always blame and no alternatives. Nothing worthwhile can ever be implemented because its always the other partys fault end result - Gridlock. Now we have a President that thinks compromise means giving the other party or the other nation whatever they want. He thinks that diplomacy is bending to the squeakiest wheel. None of whats going on today makes any sense at all. All of this

compromising and diplomatic flim-flam is costing us the support of our allies and we cant blame them. We are now hearing one party complaining that the other party is trying to turn back the clock toward isolationism. In reality, both parties are creating it by default. Just maybe a little more isolationism would be a good thing for America. As we have contended all along we must get out of the business of trying to make everyone else like us. Right now we have very little that anyone else would want weve already given most of it away. We continue to let our nation fall apart for some misguided notion that it is our responsibility to be the overseers of the rest of the world. Besides that, our government is attempting to convince us that our problems are being caused by the rest of the world. For instance, its some elses fault that we have a drug problem in America. How many of us out there really buy that? We

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continually hear from Congress that we need to let capitalism work our fiscal problems out. The drug issue in America has become a part of capitalism. It is as simple as a case of supply and demand. If there was no demand there would be no supply. Since we can never stop the importation of drugs, it would seem logical to treat the problem at its source those that use them. Besides, it wouldnt cost the billions and billions we are wasting today through wars that have proven to be unwinnable and unsustainable and that have been shown over and over again to be largely ineffective. Few would argue that we need a whole lot less government and a whole lot more minding our own business. What is it that separates us from other primates? That is a question that science has pondered for hundreds of years. It seems that only recently we have been able to come to some sort of consensus. The answer is a consciousness that consists of about three basic components. 1. Being able to sense and recognize the environment. We must also learn to appreciate it. 2. Self-Awareness. 3. The ability to plan for the future by setting goals and plans, that is, simulating the future and plotting strategy. This one presents sort of a problem however. Have we really been able to plot a strategy that makes sense given what we know about past civilizations? We think not. What this third statement really means is that we have a unique ability to delay gratification. While we may have the ability we really havent displayed willingness. In fact, not doing so can probably be traced back to each and every one of the problems we have today. There is an old saying that goes Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Kaku says that all philosophies and social systems are ultimately based on scarcity and poverty. Throughout human history this has been the dominant theme running through society, shaping our culture, philosophy, and religion. He says that in some religions, prosperity is viewed as a divine reward and poverty as just punishment. Buddhism, by contrast, is based on the universal nature of suffering and how to cope with it. In Christianity, the New Testament reads: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the
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kingdom of God. We exhibit a distribution of aristocrats versus peasants in our country today. In fact and rightly so, our capitalistic notions are based on the idea that energetic, productive people are rewarded for their labors by starting companies and getting rich just as long as they dont crawl over the back of the less fortunate to get there. Unfortunately, that is happening much too often today. But, if lazy nonproductive people can get as much as they want by living off the labors of productive individuals, then capitalism breaks down. Thats where we are with our current Welfare State. We are rewarding a plethora of lazy

nonproductive people by giving them much more than the average worker for doing nothing when they are perfectly capable and able. unsustainable. To reiterate, we are reaching a threshold in America where our technology can easily become a liability instead of an asset. When we reach the point where robotics and other technology can replace the worker we have gone too far in the wrong direction. So, since it seems that is already beginning to happen, we much exploit that one human characteristic that machines should not be given common sense. We must find a way to add value to common sense to offset what weve lost to the machine. MIT economist Lester Thurow has said With everything else dropping out of the competitive equation, knowledge has become the only source of long-run sustainable competitive advantage. He also says Success or failure depends upon whether a country is making a successful transition to the man-made brainpower industries of the future not on the size of any particular sector. What hes saying is that we absolutely must transform our schools to accommodate this new kind of learning. So far we have failed in this effort miserably. The generations living today are probably the most important ever to walk the surface of the planet. This observation comes out of Kakus book and we think it is quite prophetic. It is those alive today that will determine whether we attain the goal of a planetary civilization or descent into chaos right away. Already perhaps 5,000 generations of humans has populated planet Earth. It seems ironic that we alive during this century will ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
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By itself, our Welfare State makes America

It seems wisdom is hard to come by in our society today. Dr. Isaac Asimov, the famous biochemist and science fiction writer, once said: The saddest aspect of society right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Unfortunately thats true. We serve as the perfect example. Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles. Is this to be our legacy? We hope not. We have truly enjoyed researching for this, our magnum opus. We have learned a lot and hope you have enjoyed reading it. We hope you might have gained some insights as well along the way. We, as a nation, are experiencing many problems, but maintain many assets. Our prayer is that we can delay the inevitable for many years to come and hope that we can maintain the optimism to try and do our part to make it happen. Change requires the efforts of us all. This is still the best place to live on the planet. Lets regain that pride and foresight that made it so. We can and we must! Our best wishes to you all. If we have insulted you in this work, please accept our apologies, it was not intentional. But, we wrote from our hearts about the problems as we perceive them. Your interpretation may be totally different. We hope you can appreciate that tiptoeing around the issues would have been worse.

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A Rose by Any Other NameIs a Thorny Issue

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