WORLD NEWS TRUST: Does Mr. O Know? (James Kunstler)

[Tace]

James Kunstler -- World News Trust

Dec. 1, 2008 -- A lot of readers are twanging on me for refraining to castigate President-elect Obama for deeds yet undone. They're discouraged by the advisors and cabinet sectetaries he's picked, ostensibly because the crew coming in are Washington "insiders," meaning they can't possibly see or do things differently.

My own starting point for this is the belief that in the years just ahead any sociopolitical entity organized at the giant scale will flounder -- this includes everything from the federal government to global corporations to factory farms to centralized high schools to national retail chains. So even expecting Mr. Obama's government to act effectively may be asking too much in a situation that will require mostly local action.

The meta-situation will be the overall decline of energy resources and the necessary downscaling of our activities. We are obviously in a transitional period between the old profligate energy economy and the new economy of relative scarcity. We have no idea how disorderly this transition will be, but there is certainly potential for tremendous instability in daily life.

For a while, perhaps, the federal government may retain some ability to affect the way things go, or give the appearance of doing so. This raises the issue of what Mr. Obama and his team really know about our energy predicament. The president-elect has made some noises -- recently on the 60 Minutes show -- that he understands something about the current price dislocations in the oil markets resulting from the larger financial turmoil. He alluded to the public's erroneous notion that current low-ish oil prices mean the oil problem is over. But does the incoming president know some of the following details?

more

http://www.worldnewstrust.com/wnt-reports/commentary/does-mr.-o-know-james-kunstler.html

[lutherj]

1. I've long since quit caring about how much virtual money the Feds throw

at a failing and corrupt system. They're not even trying to maintain the pretense that somehow all this debt is going to be paid back. They're just trying to keep the train on the tracks as long as possible, not knowing what they're going to do once it derails.

[grasswire]

2. can't read that story without a lengthy registration process

Could you provide the next several paragraphs? I tried to register and kept getting locked up.

[Mist]

3. It's probably easier to go to Kunstler's site directly:

http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/

This should bring you directly to the article.

[Tace]

5. Sorry For The Trouble -- You Don't Have To Register

Sorry for the hassle.

[nomorenomore08]

4. Not sure how accurate or inaccurate Kunstler's predictions are, but someone on Amazon reviewing

his novel 'A World Made by Hand' described it as "an old hippie's revenge fantasy." I thought that was pretty funny.

[Tace]

6. Kunstler Was A Y2K Doomer

He has his critics who point to his Y2K doomer writing. He responds that his efforts helped to minimize the impact of Y2K.

He's right on top of the Peak Oil issue. I like his push for railroad infrastructure.