[lit-ideas] Re: UN question
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:46:27 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 10/20/2005 3:10:20 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: UN question
>
> Marlena: ...and then, for those paying attention--what is going
> on with this whole
> diversity thing at the UN and how do you see it affecting the US?
>
> Eric: I haven't been paying attention so I'm not sure what
> "diversity thing" means. However, considering that we are
> famously reaching the point of peak oil, I want to launch a brief
> sidebar to your question.
>
> Maybe this point in history is the peak of multiculturalism and
> diversity, and it won't get any better (or worse) than this.
>
> Consider: one of the first things hit by oil shortage will be jet
> fuel. Jet fuel will become increasingly expensive. Long before
> agriculture itself is threatened by the loss of nitrogen
> fertilizers, frequent flyer miles will go bye-bye. Travel will
> slow. Immigration will return to foot traffic alone, since I
> doubt we will have vast fleets of coal-fired ocean liners up
> really quick.
>
> And all those rogue nations and hostile closed societies will
> continue being what they are...only nobody will care because
> nobody will be able to go there easily, nor will "they" be able
> to get here easily. People will become happier because their
> societies will be more homogeneous. Distant wars will be much
> more difficult to pursue. Spheres of influence will return. The
> nightmare prospect of world government will vanish forever.
>
> And the UN will return to a League of Nations status. There will
> be the lesson of past frequent contact with other cultures, but
> not the ongoing reality.
>
On the other hand, it could lead to economic problems. One of the reasons
for the Great Depression here in the States was because Germany couldn't
pay its reparations following WWI. Its laid off workers couldn't buy our
exports so our workers were laid off, etc. combined with a perfect storm of
other factors such as the drought in the Midwest that caused the dustbowl,
stocks bought on wild margins (debt) and other factors. With diminished
oil, goods will be more expensive and scarcer, since nearly everything has
petroleum in it. As you say, fertilizer, plus just look around your house
for something *not* made of or with oil, or transported by it. We'll have
to rethink America on Wheels. On balance, I think less oil will be good
for the environment but it will require changing our lifestyle downward in
ways that will have us talking about the Golden Era of Oil. I'm not sure
how many people will be happier when oil runs out.
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