A couple of years ago, an alliance of retired generals and admirals issued a report to the nation warning us that unless we take immediate actions to reduce dependence on the importation of foreign oil and manufactured goods, the very existence of our nation was at stake. The report was dutifully printed in the back sections of most newspapers and news magazines, then evidently forgotten.
I know two of these former military leaders personally. They were architecture clients of mine in Virginia. None of these admirals or generals are war mongers or fascists. They abhore the idea of a one party police state. All them are either moderate Republicans or Democrats. All of them supported the prosecution of the war declared against us by Al Quaida and the Taliban, and privately opposed the invasion of Iraq. Those, who were on active duty, however, had to follow orders. They are highly educated, intelligent men who put their lives on the line for their country. Alas, no one seemed to pay attention to them.
I have been disgusted by the political campaigning so far because all the candidates are making vague promises of change without addressing this very real issue. Americans must immediately make major changes in our lifestyles and the way we do business, or we may well end up a Third World country. We MUST SUCK UP OUR FAT GUTS. I fully expect to get blog comments containing standard party propaganda from one or both major party partisans, but it is truth. Americans have been slothful and led by men and women in corporations and government, who have not put the country's welfare at heart.
Back in the Fall of 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, the Arab oil producers decreed an oil embargo on the United States. At the time, less than 1/4 of our oil consumption was imported, yet the economic impact of this embargo was catstrophic. The nation went into a recession, and the economy really did not improve much until the mid-1980s. During the Carter Administration, a bipartisan alliance of moderate Repubicans and Democrats put together a program that would have weaned us of imported oil and created entirely new industries in America that would export our new technology to other countries. The Ted Kennedy faction torpedoed the legislation along with about everything else Carter was involved with, in hopes that it would get Kennedy elected president in 1980.
It is not just oil. Almost none of the tools sold by Home Depot are made in America. Seventy-five percent of the items sold at Home Depot are manufactured overseas - mostly in China. It is hard to find anything made in the USA in stores these days. You know it is true ... toys, clothing, shoes, tools, canned foods, even books now are being printed in China. If China embargoed manufactured goods headed to the USA, our economy would collapse. It would be difficult even to find a hammer to nail boards together!
I don't know what the solutions are to the loss of manufacturing capability, and the addiction to petroleum. However, if politicians and political parties continue to view the citizens as consumers to be manipulated and persuaded to vote one way or another, disaster is just over the horizon. You can not begin to solve such massive problems, unless you first recognize publicly their existence, and then commit our nation to addressing them. Along with that must be a determination by Americans to change their ways, and the self-discipline that will be necessary to forgo immediate gratification in order to repair the economic damage done in the past.
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| Energy and the Collapse of Manufacturing: Our Nation's Sovreignty Is At Stake |
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kywonder
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Oct 21 @ 10:33AM
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Well when we become bankrupt, maybe America will wake up. But me thinks it will be a little bit to late by then.
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hereshannon
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Oct 21 @ 11:34AM
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Great blog Richard, I agree we are in dire straits. I think that manufacturing new sources of alternative energy (wind turbines, solar technology, electric cars, natural gas engines, compressed air engines,etc) is going to be the last chance that we have to save the American economy. We have the technology to get the Arabs out of our lives. Unfortunately, I fear China will be a monkey on our backs for years to come. We are so far in debt to the Chinese we will never be able to "cut them off" any time soon. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the first step is energy independence.
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MNwildflower
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Oct 22 @ 11:26PM
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Richard, your blog is nothing but senseless rambling.
Slothful Americans have caused the imminent collapse of our democracy? I can see that you are passionate but dont blame the state of the nation on our eating habits.
There have been many independant efforts to manufacture hybrid automobiles but the crooked auto industry has shut down every one. There have been attempts to reform education and medical care but it is frought with interference from unions, lobbyists, interest groups and the like. Our government sent manufacturing out of the country, not the consumer.
I dont have an alternative for automobile fuel. I dont have the time nor energy to pursue Goods Made In America. My habits of spending and eating have not put this country in jeopardy. Point your finger at the governments manipulation of laws and regulations that has made us prisoners without our knowledge. We are victims, not perpetrators.
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Etowah
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Oct 23 @ 7:31AM
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Consumers vote with their pocket books and with their feet, or lack of use, thereof. Few consumers have become politically active enough to demand that companies like Walmart and Home Depot support American industry.
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