Spend 'em if you got 'em!

I haven't even read it yet. I don't know that I will... today...

Again, the Washington Post fuels the alternative energy pyre with an article about how oil producing countries are getting richer off of you, me, and your creepy neighbor down the street. Of the countries who produce oil, how many of them are our 'friends'? How long will they willingly and happily remain our unconditional 'friends' as their wallets fatten?

This begs one to look into 1) why we are the economic superpower we are and 2) whether or not we'll stay that way in the next century. The answer to the former is something I'm not going to ramble on about right now, and the answer to the second is: um, no... well, not definitely anyways.

We buy a lot of shit. Where we get the money from is a complicated concept, but it comes from (gasp) global trade. Again a complicated topic, our trade deficit is running around a trillion bucks a year. There's good, bad, and a whole hell of a lot of grey to that particular subject, but money out of the bank leaves the bank with less money. And the bank can then buy less shit.

We're in trouble. More trouble than you or I know. There is some possible bright future but it isn't inevitable. It'll take conscientious action on the part of policy makers, and couldn't be hurt by changing some spending habits at home. I'm not talking about refusing to buy foreign made goods and services, or any silly shit like that. It's complicated, and you're not paying me to tell you what I think we should do, so I'm going to save myself the time and just grumble to myself about it while I'm on the jon and leave it at that.

So cuddle up with your dollar bills and share a hot toddy by the fire with your cherished notion that we're in charge of the global economy. Neither may be around for long.

-S.W. America

PS - If you want to know what Iran's doing with it's newfound oil-money-funded power, check out this.