While the United States continues to spend billions on foreign wars above the $4 trillion spent on Iraq and Afghanistan, we continue to receive new studies showing how the country is failing behind in education, science, and other programs needed for future growth. The latest is the study of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, which found that we have now dropped to 13th out of 16 major nations in energy efficiency — a key economic factor for future growth.
We are now ten spots behind the European Union. I recently spoke with an American businessman and got an insight into the impact of our worsening position. He and his partner created a major company in Iceland because energy costs were so low due to the use of volcanic and other alternative energy. He said that it was just too good to pass up. Of course, these countries also have cleaner air and better health of its citizens. While these studies often look at energy costs, they do not factor in the deaths associated with air pollution. Indeed, most citizens have no idea of the high levels of a death associated with many pollutants.
The energy lobby in the United States continues to resist efforts to mandate alternative energy sources unless it is questionable sources like ethanol. Lobbyists insist that such sources are too expensive and unreliable despite the fact that Germany is number one in the world in the use of such sources and continues to outstrip the world in the strength of its economy. We continue like a ship of fools, spending wildly on wars while refusing to create infrastructure and resources for alternative fuels. We are watching as our educational scores drop with key industrial factors like energy efficiency. What do we think is going to happen for the next generation?
Saucy, Do you truly believe that this is a strictly partisan issue? If so, how do you explain the fact that both parties support dirty energy? How are we going to make things better when people cannot see through partisanship to reality? How do you see reality?
slohrss29 wrote “they do not have race cars, islands, and the like. They had cash”
Most Germans pay cash for their houses. They eschew the American credit lifestyle.
Jill wrote “I ask you to please move away from partisanship”
As I read Jill’s post, I had a mental image of a police officer standing not far from a suspect: “Okay, put the partisanship down on the ground and move slowly away.”
P.S. I’m not making fun of Jill.
James, I ask you to please move away from partisanship, back to current reality. Mitt Romney is not th president. Obama is the president and he supports dirty energy. Dirty energy is backed by Republicans and Democrats alike because it is backed by the deep state. I tried to explain why citizens need to hold to a reality based understanding of what is happening. This seems very difficult for partisans but it must be done.
If anyone wants to learn more regarding the way German companies do business, they should watch Deutsche Welle’s “Made in Germany”:
http://www.dw.de/program/made-in-germany/s-3066-9798
“…because they do not have race cars, islands, and the like. ..”
Careful, there, you are treading on American Entitlementism, and that always results in the speaker being removed from the premises. Mitt Romney had such in mind for 47% of the country.
I mentioned at the end of the Water Rights topic the topic which needs to be addressed for independent minded humans: Solar Power.
Many of the folks who live aboard boats have acquired the full panoply of devices to be energy free. Get one or two solar panels from Harbour Freight Tools for Fifty Dollars each. Buy a set of DC equipment. This is a small panel with fuses, DC wiring, LED light bulbs, low amp DC electrical devices. You can not run a washing machine off of this. But, you can get a propane tank or hook up to natural gas and thus run your kitchen stove and heating devices. You can keep AC power from the money mongrels on the grid for the washing machine and dryer. Or go to the laundrymat.
If you want to learn more then go on-line and look up articles on Practical Sailor.
Consult you dog for guidance.
In a small town near me people voted down an anti-fracking proposal which had successfully stopped fracking in another part of Ohio. that proposal included language such as people have a right to clear air, water and earth.
It seemed bizarre to me that people would vote to preserve the right to clean water, air and soil. Part of the problem is that this same region has no jobs. Dirty energy corporations are able to come in and say they will offer desperately needed jobs. The debate is enjoined as jobs verses the environment. Of course this is a false choice but it is one our heavily propagandized and desperate citizens are used to hearing.
The govt., currently controlled not only by the Koch brothers alone, but by duly elected Democrats and Republicans alike, subsidizes dirty energy. It’s a major source of their campaign financing and from the president on down, these people know how to reward their donors. I do not look to these people for a change in energy policy. We have to look to each other.
We need to stop believing in propaganda and take a close look at reality. Dirty energy is not a workable solution. We need regional alternative energy and we do have this technology on the shelf, right now.
We need to create jobs working with the environment, not against it. We need to consider what we leave to young people when we continue choosing to destroy the air, water and soil. There is a way to have a good environment and good jobs. We need to take that way.
I still believe that many of our govt. and deep state backers are apocalyptic christians (see Jeff Sharlot’s The Family). These are people who do not care for the earth. They want it destroyed for the sake of the kingdom of god. In the meantime, they are hording as many resources as possible as another part of their belief system is that the rich and powerful are ordained by god. (This includes the rich and powerful who commit murder and torture.)
We the people ought to reject such “leaders” and anything they have to say. They do not have anyone’s welfare in mind except their own. We need to think for ourselves, rejecting the false ideology of it’s all the Koch brother’s fault or it’s all the fault of Republicans. This is way too important to make into a partisan issue. We need people who can see right past partisanship into reality.
We need to make good choices. We can do this.
slohrss29 wrote “the guild system is a part of German society … The weight of the worker to become qualified is largely their responsibility”
The latter is not completely true. Yes, the apprentices must work and study hard to be successful, but the flip side is that companies actively recruit them. Because Germany does not have a mind-set of outsourcing all factory jobs, there are plenty of opportunities in the country. And because Germany lacks our class structure, it does not denigrate people who go the trade school route. Not to mention the fact that German CEOs earn far less than U.S. ones.
There is a political correctness angle. In the U.S. we have seen a large push to increase students’ esteem, like that’s going to make a big difference. Germany separates school children into two groups, trade school and college, without regard to race and religion. Liberals would never allow this scheme to be adopted.
Nick, that is very similar to the German system. That was one reason why it was so difficult to subdue to country in WWII because of the diffuse manufacturing model. The video in my post shows that very work you mention in detail, and how it is a very respected and desired course for life. There is a man in the video whose company makes those ginormous tunnel boring machines, and it is interesting to see him talk about his family’s past. Plus there is the model of the German business discipline. The lady talks about her company surviving the ’08 downturn because they do not have race cars, islands, and the like. They had cash, did everything they could to keep their workers–along with the state wage assistance, and when things started to break, they hit the ground running. Here, we have neither the discipline, moral clarity, or the desire to help Americans as a whole. We have become a “college only” system here, and banks and government have exploited that opportunity.
slohrss, I grew up in Ct. which was the tool and die capital of the US. I had very smart uncles, cousins and buddies who did not have the means or just the desire to go to college. They made a good living w/ that craft. It is not the mind numbing assembly line jobs. It’s interesting and challenging work. You work for small outfits, maybe 10-20 employees. If you are an entrepreneur, you find your niche in tool and die work and start your own small biz. That was life when I grew up in the 50’s/60’s. It’s gone now.
Yes, the guild system is a part of German society. It is not as separate like union-management structure here. The weight of the worker to become qualified is largely their responsibility, with increasing support from industry, education, and government. Unlike here, they realize that every person–not just the people hoodwinked into college to come out with a mortgage-level of burden upon them–has the ability to make a contribute to society. They realize it has to be this way for their country to win. This video is kind of simple, but you get to see the corporate and government mindset there as opposed to here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uad1Ma5DSMA
Look for their continual success and increasing importance on the world stage to be seen as a threat to the US again in the near future.
SWM, You are our Joe Frazier vis a vis Koch Brothers. Joe was relentless, he just kept comin’ no matter what you threw @ him.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-solar-kochs-20140420-story.html#page=1 “WASHINGTON — The political attack ad that ran recently in Arizona had some familiar hallmarks of the genre, including a greedy villain who hogged sweets for himself and made children cry.
But the bad guy, in this case, wasn’t a fat-cat lobbyist or someone’s political opponent.
He was a solar-energy consumer.
Solar, once almost universally regarded as a virtuous, if perhaps over-hyped, energy alternative, has now grown big enough to have enemies.
The Koch brothers, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and some of the nation’s largest power companies have backed efforts in recent months to roll back state policies that favor green energy. The conservative luminaries have pushed campaigns in Kansas, North Carolina and Arizona, with the battle rapidly spreading to other states.
Alarmed environmentalists and their allies in the solar industry have fought back, battling the other side to a draw so far. Both sides say the fight is growing more intense as new states, including Ohio, South Carolina and Washington, enter the fray.
Brad, that was an astute post.
“Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor”
We are seeing classic economics in action. We used to have a 1:1 ratio between employees and consumers in this country; company owners made money but also employed millions of Americans. Then we allowed selfish capitalists to outsource jobs overseas so they could make more money. Now we are seeing the ratio change. Soon many more communities will look like Detroit, Gary, Cleveland, and other Rust Belt cities. The country will not survive with the majority of its citizens earning minimum wage.
“Overexpansion and military overspending”
We have allowed our military-industrial complex to go hog-wild. It is now clamoring for the LRS-B, a bomber which has a unit price of $550 million and that is only the starting price. But this is an offensive weapon, not one we need to defend the homeland.
“Government corruption and political instability”
As soon as we allowed Congress to accept large bribes (campaign contributions), we were doomed.
“Christianity and the loss of traditional values”
Christianity has its flaws, but it is one of the least violent religions on the planet. And the values it teaches are good for a cohesive society.
“Weakening of the Roman legions”
This was true for Rome, but certainly not for the U.S.
Your other categories dealt with immigration. Not too many years ago, the U.S. was a melting pot. Today, however, just to give one example, Muslims move here and refuse to assimilate. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan recently declared, regarding Germany, that assimilation was a crime against humanity. Muslims continue to live as they did in the old country, but that’s not good enough. They want the U.S. to adapt its laws to theirs. One feels compelled to grab them by the collar and scream, “THEN WHY DID YOU COME HERE?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/opinion/sunday/the-koch-attack-on-solar-energy.html?_r=0
http://safinacenter.org/issues/opposition-to-clean-energy/ Germany and the European Union don’t have the Koch Bros spending hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying on behalf of the fossil fuel industry and, also, contributing to candidates that oppose clean energy.
There are several reasons the US lags behind in the areas of health care insurance, education, renewable energy, and manufacturing. Ignorance of the issues is perhaps the main reason. Every American is born with a silver spoon with, “We’re number one.” etched on it. How can we question that which is perfect. Intertwined in this feeling of being perfect is an almost totally dysfunctional system of government. It is either us or them. We have a system of two choices, one more than our old arch enemy, the Soviet Union. The US is still in a state of civil war with itself. Add to that the fact that our representatives are bought and paid for by oligarchs and the picture begins to get clearer.
The status quo is protected by oligarchs and our ignorance. We get in return the assurance that we are number one.
There is much money and a better society to be had by improving education, reducing the cost of health care and its insurance, including workers in the decision making, and developing alternative energy. There are jobs to be made from new technologies. There are new millionaires and billionaires to be made from new industries. The only thing standing in our way is ourselves. We allow the oligarchs to run the country, therefore perhaps we deserve what we get.
Saucy,
JT wrote “What do we think is going to happen for the next generation?”
Addendum: How long will the US last? A study of why the Roman Empire crumbled, yields some clues. Here are 8 factors out of hundreds. Do they ring a bell?
1. Invasions by Barbarian tribes
2. Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor
3. The rise of the Eastern Empire
4. Overexpansion and military overspending
5. Government corruption and political instability
6. The arrival of the Huns and the migration of the Barbarian tribes
7. Christianity and the loss of traditional values
8. Weakening of the Roman legions
If Wall Street Banks were too big to fail, investments in fossil fuel are even bigger. If failed mortgages caused an economic collapse, failed fossil fuel investments would cause economic death. Our homes may be our largest investment in one chunk but our lives are totally dependent on fossil fuel driven transportation, heating and cooling, war profits, plastics, pesticides and herbicides, pharmaceuticals, and pension funds all supported by petroleum development. We must transition to renewables but digging out of the fossil fuel hole we are in, may take as long as it took to become so deeply dependent on it.
JT wrote “He and his partner created a major company in Iceland because energy costs were so low”
That company must be something similar to an aluminum plant which requires very high levels of energy, because costs for everything else are very high in Iceland. Virtually everything is imported. Turley’s example is not representative.
JT wrote “Germany is number one in the world in the use of such sources and continues to outstrip the world in the strength of its economy”
Only around five years ago Germany was the #1 exporter in the world (ignoring the EU). Now it’s #3. It does so largely by manufacturing the highest quality industrial machinery. And German companies do it with … wait for it … unions. Only their unions do not follow the U.S. legal system example of a confrontational arrangement; their unions usually have a seat on the board.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html
JT wrote “We continue like a ship of fools … refusing to create infrastructure”
Would you glibertarians please make up your minds? Government is either the devil or it has a function in society. Every day there are glibertarian posts here decrying any amount of government interference.
The Interstate Highways system was built by the federal government. There are very few people reading this blog old enough to remember what it was like to drive across the country before them. Back to the future we go.
JT wrote “What do we think is going to happen for the next generation?”
They’re all going to live in cities which closely resemble Gary, Indiana. That’s what happens with unfettered capitalism.