We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, November 29, 2013

What’s Ahead? Lower Oil Prices, Despite Higher Extraction Costs

Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from her blog Our Finite World

This widely respected analyst of energy and concerns related to peak oil once again provides more analysis that inevitably leads her to a conclusion that is quite dramatic for its understatement:
...governments seem to be getting close to being “out of ammunition,” in trying to fight what is really diminishing returns of one of the major drivers of our economy. I don’t know exactly how things might play out, but experience with prior civilizations suggests that “collapse” might be a reasonable description of the outcome.
( In my opinion an even better exposition of her argument is in an article she wrote last month entitled "Two Views of our Current Economic and Energy Crisis".)

Her focus has been entirely on the economics of energy extraction while mostly avoiding issues related to fossils fuels and global warming. She has always been dismissive regarding nuclear energy because of its high costs and problems with spent fuel. (For arguments regarding the feasibility of nuclear energy I recommend this from a British author.)

Because I've never read any mention of "capitalism" in her numerous articles, I must assume that she is another subscriber to the capitalist myth which states that "there is no alternative". Her circumscribed thinking is another illustration of the power of indoctrination to limit an otherwise intelligent person's imagination.