tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post244082499201293681..comments2023-11-05T01:53:40.235-06:00Comments on the Hipcrime Vocab: Oil and Money - Lessons LearnedUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-80581785419850774212015-10-03T10:54:16.544-05:002015-10-03T10:54:16.544-05:00"Supermoney" is Smith's best-known b..."Supermoney" is Smith's best-known book. I'll have to check it out. It's more about the stock market, so I hope it's not too dated. He also did a TV series in the Eighties - Adam Smith's Money World.<br /><br />Yeah, supply-push really drives capitalism, not "need", but again economists are there to obscure this fact with fancy equations. The funny thing is, Smith points out that Perez-Alfonso was very unhappy with what transpired, his whole goal was to *preserve* oil for future generations, that's one reason he wanted to keep the price high - so we wouldn't overuse it.He did not want to turn Middle Eastern rules into emperors or bleed economies dry.escapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-73861411232826243172015-10-03T10:48:51.646-05:002015-10-03T10:48:51.646-05:00Yeah, we've become accustomed to our fossil-fu...Yeah, we've become accustomed to our fossil-fuel powered lifestyles, making us think we've escaped Malthusian limits. We haven't. Now we're increasingly intensifying rather than innovating.<br /><br />I think Sanders is by far the closest to that prescription. The thing about trump is, a lot of people self-identify as Republicans, because for them it's the same as spectator sports - Republicans are their "team" (especially of they are white, rural & religious). But that forces them to deny what they see with their own lying eyes - America's clear decay. Trump, because he's just running for the hell of it, is not constrained by donors on rhetoric or policy, so he can just say out loud what everyone is seeing - we've shipped our manufacturing base to other countries, we've imported workers to hold down wages, politicians do nothing but pass legislation to screw American workers. Trump's sort of a modern-day Huey Long, which is interesting since Long was the basis of Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here," which might deserve a read right now.<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can't_Happen_Hereescapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-30801844038442895672015-10-03T10:41:06.593-05:002015-10-03T10:41:06.593-05:00Yep, that's the pattern. That's why it'...Yep, that's the pattern. That's why it's foolish to say we've left the Malthusian economy behind. We're still in it, just at a higher level.escapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-66971209172023934522015-10-03T10:40:03.316-05:002015-10-03T10:40:03.316-05:00Thank you.Thank you.escapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-37593299010726335592015-10-03T10:39:52.697-05:002015-10-03T10:39:52.697-05:00Hey, thanks so much!Hey, thanks so much!escapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-14685243886349539172015-10-02T17:48:45.227-05:002015-10-02T17:48:45.227-05:00I found reading this blog has been time well spent...I found reading this blog has been time well spent due to series like this. Your talent to weave together various insights from other writers into an illuminating narrative is definitely your strength. I will now search the used book stores f or the Adam Smith book and it will probably sit alongside of Robert Bryce's Gusher of Lies on my bookd helg. As your columns shown we once had more than enough petroleum for our energy needs but that the profit motive warped our politics into channeling us into consuming more petroleum frequently back in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Kevin Carson wrote an interesting article about the whole supply push model of American manufacturing several years ago and your columns here certainly showed with regard to petroleum products. john fremonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06505620790054721035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-49960833205340628642015-10-02T15:04:52.323-05:002015-10-02T15:04:52.323-05:00Fantastic recap. I really appreciate your efforts...Fantastic recap. I really appreciate your efforts to organize a narrative that actually makes sense. <br /><br />Over the past few years I have come to view the world through the ecology and energy lens, so this was all right up my alley. It just makes so much sense when you step back and think about first principles: add energy to a system, and you get increased complexity. At present, it seems we are so awash in energy that we don't even see it anymore, much less its misallocation. So it takes commendable efforts by free thinkers such as yourself to point out that the pool we are swimming in is wet, etc.<br /><br />IMO you knocked it out of the park with "The answer to our problems should be clear...". I do wonder if I will live to see such conversations take place in America during my lifetime? As you observe, it it just utterly beyond the pale at the moment. The closest we have is... what, Donald Trump? Saying he'll send the Syrians back to the hell we created for them, etc.. And that sentiment seems to gain traction? <br /><br />(It seems we'll need some shocks before anything changes... and even in that event, as Greer repeatedly reminds us, we are not guaranteed to get anything better, just something different.)<br /><br />So, I focus my energies on the local efforts that I think amount to something worthwhile, and hopefully contribute to something resilient. And continue reading the thoughts and musings of people such as yourself. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-33073529578045541442015-10-02T10:42:20.129-05:002015-10-02T10:42:20.129-05:00Excellent work as usual. Have it bookmarked and w...Excellent work as usual. Have it bookmarked and will be revisiting regularly as events play out in coming months/years. Thanks for all the effort.mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-73426014163521918102015-10-02T10:21:52.200-05:002015-10-02T10:21:52.200-05:00Oil prices go up then food and gas becomes more ex...Oil prices go up then food and gas becomes more expensive while the stock market rises. When the market crashes, oil goes down with it then food gets less expensive as renewables become popular until oil prices go up again and people loose interest in renewable energy because of their addiction to making quick money from crude. So we're screwed if we get off of petroleum in the short term but better off in the long term then screwed if we don't get off of it over the long term but slightly better off in the short term since the history of oil shows how some countries behave like drug addicts whenever they consume too much petrol.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-26712253287647690892015-10-02T06:16:07.386-05:002015-10-02T06:16:07.386-05:00You are doing a marvellous job ...thank you so muc...You are doing a marvellous job ...thank you so much.cjrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062767985742907941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-82976308510985477512015-10-01T15:11:29.829-05:002015-10-01T15:11:29.829-05:00But I give you laudatory praise for your excellent...But I give you laudatory praise for your excellent writing. Keep it up---it's good to know that there are a few sane people out there such as yourself.NickVictoryofthePeeps83https://www.blogger.com/profile/11664048318053952948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-46906255813755751102015-10-01T15:10:38.108-05:002015-10-01T15:10:38.108-05:00I've been a faithful reader of your blog for 2...I've been a faithful reader of your blog for 2-3 yrs now, and I have to say this series---along with the one on the Post-Work Society---are the best ones in your series. Seriously, this is perhaps the best commentary I've read on the nexus of the economy, ecology, energy, climate, and society on the web. And it's better than probably 90-95% of the professional academic work on these subjects---especially since you are a master at synthesizing and pattern-recognition. Thank you so much for this. I know I don't usually comment all that much, and I know that such comments as this one make your blogging an only slightly less thankless task. But I've gained SOOOO much from your work. I'm very parsimonious with praise and I have very low tolerance for fools and for the foolish consistencies represented in the variants of American neoliberal framing of these issues. NickVictoryofthePeeps83https://www.blogger.com/profile/11664048318053952948noreply@blogger.com