For those who are not following the price of a barrel of oil this year, it has crept up above $80. There is direct correlation between the price of oil and the major economic indicators. The better the “feeling” that the economy is performing well, the higher the price of oil. It is nothing but sheer folly, for we know that oil is our downfall.
There was a short period of time that the price of oil tumbled lower, and then even lower still. The skies were gloomy, the economy at a standstill. These were some of the best times, since we were all forced to look in a new direction: alternatives to oil, heightened sensitivity to the subject matter, searching to lessen our dependency. This is somewhat counter-intuitive, looking to find substitutes for oil when its price is in a free fall.
Our addiction is apparently not price sensitive, and the cure will not be found when the price skyrockets again to $150 per barrel (some $5 per gallon). It is something else altogether – feeling threatened. Apparently, the knowledge that every time we fill up the tank in our cars we support terrorism against us is not a sufficient enough threat. Something else must shake the very foundations of our daily comforts and existence. Perhaps a sequence of (hopefully failed) attempts to blow US-inbound planes or homicide bombings in our shopping malls would be productive?
It is just a year after the tsunami or avalanche of financial meltdown. As I look at the financial system, its institutions and the underlying behavior, not much has changed from a year ago – other than a few more trillions in debt (primarily, the US now in the hands of the PRC). Along the way we lost of sense of the value of money, and our government spends at will. Congress throws money around like a sailor on shore leave. Billions are just a fraction of the overall debt, and under the heading of “urgent necessity,” all is permissible. We live the moment and forget that the bills are in the mail and will become due.
We will pay the price, possibly sooner than we would want. The folly of recovery will at that time explode into very many fragments. What would we do then? China will refuse to further finance our adolescent behavior, the public will be up in arms against the corruption at the very top, and there will be no one to come to our rescue.
Have we changed our ways? After the Enron scandal the top business schools in the country looked at what went wrong. New classes were added teaching corporate responsibility and ethics in the workplace. Coins of language that were previously acknowledged but not practiced since the lure of making money was stronger, addicting and blinded everything else, were carefully examined, perhaps for the first time. When the financial meltdown resumes, there will be courses not only in business but in history looking at this era, examining what led to the Second Great Depression, to the escalation of a Third World War. Future generations would want to learn what could have been done differently to avoid the horrible eventuality.
We have elected a President who promised us transparency, a new dawn in politics. What did we get instead? An administration coated in Teflon to which nothing sticks. The financial meltdown was “inherited.” The extreme measures are “necessary.” Anything wrong is not his Administration’s fault. Congress covers its egregious deal making like a freezing spinster huddled beneath six layers of quilts on a cold New England winter night. Transparency? Indeed – the likes of which brings tears to my eyes.
Tears of laughter mostly. Congress has replaced the locks after locking out the Republicans from public hearings. The Democrats act more like hooligans than elected members of Congress. Pass your own bill? Not a problem since we have a majority. But what happens when the party’s own members need to be bought (in broad daylight, of course, everything is transparent)?!! Americans have long mistrusted Congress, now we must ask ourselves if they even exist within the same species as us?
Exclude the Republicans, and with them half or more of the country, twist the arms of members of your own party, threaten and bribe, do everything possible without shame. A windy city typhoon has blown through Congress. For those who know that this majority will not survive the upcoming election, safety mechanisms were added – things cannot be undone without an absolute majority that is guaranteed to create legislative gridlock for years to come.
They have been devious enough to think of all eventualities, while continuing to strangle their prey, devouring the innocent and weak in their wake. Any voice of opposition is silenced using one of several mechanisms. First, invite only those in your favor, to the exclusion of all others. If the signal is not clear enough, proceed to malign and destroy those who think differently and may interfere with your agenda. Fox News is a good example. The ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) is another.
One day we will look for those to blame for the lost hope once inspired in us, for the positive change that never came, for the price we will ALL have to pay. May we then all possess the courage to stand together, like members of one family, and move forward united once again. God knows we will have no other alternative.
In the series “Postcards from Israel,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel’s on the ground, Zager’s counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related - the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts - and so is this “point - counter-point” presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.
Ari and Norma can be reached at: aribussel@gmail.com
