The Truths About Oil and U.S. World Domination

I hate to mention all of this, but recent events such as the recent oil disaster in the Gulf and other events in the past have made me come to one conclusion. We are at a crossroads as a country, and it seems that no one wants to hear the truth or admit that we, as a country, have come full circle from extreme prosperity to near collapse. It seems no one even knows or cares about what’s going on. Between all the political extremism and otherwise superficial nonsense we see and hear in the news on a daily basis, most people fail to see the truth. Large corporations, and I’m not talking about small corporations and small businesses, have mastered the skill of dictating every aspect of our lives through driving government policy, and they have made our country vulnerable. And they have knowingly or unknowingly created a situation where they may end up endangering their own existence. And if we don’t wake up and mend our political differences and change our wasteful ways, the rest of world will pass us by. In many ways, it already has. Our status as a World Superpower is already being eroded, yet we continue to divide ourselves in every aspect of our lives. What we don’t realize is that we are much more similar than we’d like to believe.

Let’s start with oil. The mere fact that oil companies are drilling in water that’s a mile deep is a manifestation of the beginning of the end of ”The Age of Oil” that we’ve taken for granted for so long. And it is also a sign of the beginning of the age of energy conservation and alternative forms of transportation, whether we like it or not. There's definitely oil out there, but the truth remains that the cost to extract it is going to continue to increase from here on out. The countries that learn to conserve energy and best adapt to the dwindling supply of oil will become world powers. We are in last place.

Oil is a necessity in today's world, and oil companies do a great job in providing it for us. Like any industry, the purpose is to make profit, and you can't blame oil companies for doing just that. However, our government has become too close to and too dependent upon oil corporations, and a real capitalistic market has been lost. Other countries have been able to minimize the control of oil corporations, but our government decides to turn the other cheek. Our government, and world for that matter, is now subservient to the oil industry. And our way of life is suffering as a result. What was once a legitimate industry that met the needs of its customers and made modest profit in doing so has now become a "Goliath" that not only dictates what it customers can and can't do, but it now controls the very agency that is supposed to keep it in check, the government. The oil industry has, as a result, been able to manipulate the entire energy market in the U.S. and world so that people have little choice but to require an excessive amount of oil on a daily basis in order to survive, especially in the U.S. This is perfect for the industry, but it is dangerous for the country.

Although recent strides have been made with our administration signing legislation on “tougher” fuel economy standards, we don't yet have the political will to push for conservation or aggressively mandate alternative sources of energy, and we have those that run our country drunk on oil's profits. We use the most oil in the world by a long-shot, about 21 MILLION barrels per day. That represents approximately one-fourth of the world’s oil usage, which is around 84 MILLION barrels per day, give or take. Our economy and way of life will come to a halt with any appreciable decrease in supply. This was already shown back in August and September 2005 when a mere 5% of our oil capacity was brought down during the hurricane season. It didn’t affect people up North quite as much, but in Atlanta, I witnessed lines at gas stations much like those back during the oil crisis with some places charging almost six dollars per gallon. And people were absolutely crazy to say the least.

Our biggest enemies know this, yet our government seems not to care. And it definitely has not fulfilled its function of protecting the People by promoting energy conservation through proper regulation. I will get to this later. For all of you that say the “market” will cure it all, think again. I have great faith in capitalism, but a true market only functions when it is not being manipulated, and when the government that is supposed to protect you is not in bed with the oil companies, which happen to be the largest and most powerful corporations on the planet!

If you’re still not convinced, let’s ask some questions.

Case one: The European 1996 Chrysler Voyager CRD(Common Rail Diesel)

Why is it that you can buy a 1996 Chrysler Voyager( http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/chrysler-voyager-crd-turbo-diesel-range-1004090.html ), our version of the Town and Country, in England with a 4-cylinder diesel(CRD) that gets over 40 mpg(miles-per-gallon) highway and has more torque than the 1996 Town and Country here in the U.S. that has a 6-cylinder gasser that gets around 21 mpg highway fuel economy? It’s 0-60 time absolutely equivalent to the U.S. model, and the towing capacity is even better. And here's the real clincher! It was made right here in the U.S. and Canada for exportation.

Case number two: The Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Try buying a VW Jetta TDI(Turbo-Direct-Injection) for a bargain, which gets around 45-50 miles per gallon, and it’s not a hybrid. You won’t be able to get a bargain because they’re in very high demand being the only practical diesel car that’s within the average person’s price range. And the American and Japanese car companies say there's not enough demand for diesel cars or small diesel trucks in the U.S.!

Case three: The Honda Civic VX HF

Why is it that in 1992 Honda made the Civic VX HF that is a completely practical vehicle that got from 49 mpg highway and 39 mpg city(you can check on www.fueleconomy.gov) with (gasoline) with just as much get up and go as any other small car, but now companies brag about a Prius that in a real-world driving doesn't even get that while toting around a bunch of toxic batteries that will eventually create a huge cost to replace as well as a significant waste problem? Or the “Smart Car” in the U.S. that gets 40 mpg gas where in Europe it gets around 73 mpg diesel. Our “Smart Car” is much smaller and less practical than a new Honda Civic, which gets similar fuel economy. There are several other cars in other countries that are the exact same models as our own large, comfortable cars that we all enjoy, but they get almost double the fuel economy with similar performance. How on Earth is this wise?

Why can’t we buy these vehicles over 14 years later? Is there a chance it’s because our oil companies 'own' our government, and the EPA keeps this convenient pollution cap on diesels that makes companies not want to make them even though people are lining up to buy them? If oil companies lobby for lax fuel economy legislation on gasoline cars and light trucks, they will sell more oil by preventing high efficiency standards. If they lobby for the EPA to make it almost impossible for a car or light truck to meet diesel emission standards, they will sell more oil by preventing high efficiency vehicle production. If they then lobby for lax emission standards on heavy duty trucks, they will sell more oil by preventing high efficiency vehicles. It’s nearly impossible to buy a diesel vehicle from Europe and import it here although the vehicles, in some cases, are engineered and produced by American companies, Chrysler, Ford, and GM right here in North America. Also, if you take into consideration the new Mahindra Appalachian, a small diesel pickup that was to arrive in the U.S. this spring, you have another case altogether. They haven’t been able to the stringent EPA requirements for diesels, and that combined with the slowing economy means they have not been able to arrive as of yet. The Mahindra Appalachian is a small diesel pickup with that gets from 30-35 miles per gallon with a huge payload and towing capacity. It would literally put the Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, and Chevy Colorado on the defense. Why is it that the EPA almost makes it impossible to market a diesel car or diesel light duty truck in the name of pollution control while at the same time make huge allowances in fuel economy and pollution for heavy duty trucks?

Our government is not only financing its own demise by promoting 95% of our products to come from other countries, mainly China, through International trade agreements, but it is continuing to accelerate our demise by allowing oil companies to stave off any real conservation or any real push for alternatives while at the same time more or less sending our military to war to pave the way for American companies to pump oil in Iraq alongside the Chinese and Russian companies. In the mid to late nineties, Saddam Hussein signed oil contracts with China and Russia while at the same time refused to allow the U.S. companies to pump oil and banned the direct or indirect sale of oil to U.S. companies. This is obviously no longer the case. This is a perfect example of how our government wants to solve a problem by trying to control the world oil supply as opposed to creating market conditions and legislation to curb our appetite for oil as a country. But you need to ask who will benefit the most from pumping oil in Iraq. That’s where the answer lies. It may not be evident as to why it makes our country less stable, but think about the facts that we’re more vulnerable because our military is spread thin and our government continues to spend TRILLIONS of dollars on the Iraq war, money that we don’t have and is mostly supported by government bonds bought by China. It is no longer a war. Our soldiers are there on a permanent basis to maintain order and control the oil. If there were no WMD’s and we have neutralized Saddam’s regime, why are we still there? Recent studies have shown that Iraq has as much proven oil reserves as Saudi Arabia, and some are speculating that it has even more. It is the last frontier of cheap oil. Let’s put our emotions and political agendas aside and just think about these facts. Our oil companies have already made contracts for pumping oil in Iraq, and in some cases alongside even Russian companies. (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5A452B20091105 )

(http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/company-news-story.aspx?storyid=200910130939dowjonesdjonline000275&title=lukoil-conocophillips-agree-terms-for-iraq-west-qurna-1-field)

You don’t see this in the mainstream news. Sometimes financial news and foreign news helps people find something closer to the truth. I have been skeptical and truly considered both sides of this issue, but I have concluded that we are in Iraq for one reason and one reason only. The real war is a strategic war for the control oil resources, and it involves China, Russia, and the U.S. The winner or winners in the long term will emerge as world superpowers.

We must support the troups, and that may mean preventing them from being pawns in a chess game that may not be what they think it is. If they were put in harms way for oil when many other preventative measures could have been exercised, shame on our leaders!

For any of you that think alternatives cannot replace oil, you fail to recognize the fact that we're eventually going to have to use alternative fuels one way or another. One wise man once said that we began to run out of oil once the first barrel was extracted. And if we first mandated serious conservation and combined all the alternatives, we could put a pretty serious dent in oil usage while at the same time decrease our vulnerability created by it. We could relatively easily see minimal economic disruption using less than half the oil we use as a country every day. It's just that there are TRILLIONS of dollars of funding going into convincing you of the opposite. Oil will eventually run out, and there's no argument about that. Practically every other country in the world is light years ahead of us in energy conservation and alternative fuels. These include all the countries in the European Union, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, and many others. Everyone in the U.S. should think very seriously about that and wonder what our future holds as a Superpower, or even as a developed nation. It's a slippery slope, and denial has been going on far too long. The major point is that other countries are decades ahead of us, and when the oil supply dries up due to extraction cost, war, or natural disaster, we are at a serious disadvantage as a country. It’s a very scary scenario to say the least. Our government policies continue to keep us at a disadvantage by being absolutely dependent upon a massive flow of oil coming in from all over the world. To say we’re “Addicted to Oil” is a major understatement.

At the least, all of you have to ask yourself two questions. If the price of gasoline rose to $10 or $20 dollars per gallon because of a geopolitical disaster, terrorist attack, or natural disaster, how long would you be able to get to work and do the things you normally do? And how well do think our country, economy, and way of life would persevere? For the sake of our existence as a prosperous country, we all need to realize that energy conservation and innovation is a must. Conservation and innovation could prove to be more effective at maintaining our place in the world.

What can we do about all of this? Well, that’s another article altogether, but the first step is arming yourself with information and doing what you can. Every one of us can decrease our use of oil, and it’s not that difficult.

My Assessment Of Public Education

With regard to public education, it all boils down to this. Teachers and/or administrators that maintain true discipline and maintain high expectations get fired, burnt out, and/or pushed away. And those who look the other way and blow sunshine up everyone's behind keep their jobs and get promoted whether or not they are truly effective. This is all a result of our placating this backward generation of complainers and whiners who refuse to discipline their children and allow them to mature and develop into well-adjusted adults. Most kids, as a result, have an unearned, excessive amount of self esteem combined with a huge sense of entitlement because of all the psychobabbling idiots changing all educational processes for the past 30 years based on completely unscientific research while ignoring the most obvious problems. All the focus has been put on dragging the horses to water while refusing to admit no one can make them drink. The kids that work hard and behave like they should are ignored and unchallenged while they should be the ones that are nurtured and challenged. And administrators should be focusing on those kids and their parents instead of the others. But a lot of the problem is that all the 'bleeding heart laws' mandate that schools focus on the lowest common denominator and enable them to continue as they are and assure them that the world will work around them as opposed to requiring them to learn or conform to meet higher expectations. Focus on the good kids, and they will be the model. Focus and put all your energy into the bad kids, and that will also be the model. Unfortunately, the latter is the model of today. And the stories we see in the news everyday are manifestations of that model.