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DIASTER LOOMS -- The good news is we can see it coming. By Jim Miller The wolf pack is not yet at the door, but we can see it coming. The prediction of looming disaster by Richard Heinberg is based on the U.S. Foreign policy which for decades has funneled taxpayer money, labeled as “foreign aid” to wealth U.S. corporations doing business with foreign regimes supported by the U.S. with money and arms. This form of corporate welfare is not without disastrous consequences. “The US portrays itself as the global cop keeping order in an otherwise chaotic and dangerous world, but in reality America uses its military might primarily to maintain dominance over the world's resources. This policy is unjust, futile and dangerous. It is futile because the resources in question are limited in extent and their exploitation cannot continue indefinitely and because, by becoming ever more dependent on them, Americas are ensuring their own eventual economic demise.” Richard Heinberg, The Party's Over – Oil, War and Fate of Industrial Societies, p. 229. The U.S. Crude oil production peaked in 1976 or so and we've been on the hunt for new sources of crude since them. These sources are now on the global “endangered list”. We launched a take-over of the oil fields of Iraq on the lies fabricated by the Bush administration and presided over by Robert M. Gates who was rewarded with the Secretary of Defense job. This last summer Bush put in place the allocation of oil field concessions to the major world oil companies which had been worked out 30 days after his 2001 inauguration, but put on hold until the Bush administration could find pretext t invade Iraq. 9/11 gave Bush the pretext, although a false one. George F. Kennan, the American Ambassador to Moscow noted shortly after WWII: “We have 50 percent of the world's wealth, but only 6.3 percent of its population. In this situation, our real job in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationship which permits us to maintain this position of disparity. To do so, we have to dispense with all sentimentality – we should cease thinking about human rights, the raising of the living standards and democratization.” Id. Kennan's remarks are directly out of the play book of the Traverstock Institute, a global consortium of the extremely rich families, tribes and companies, lead by the primogenitor – first born males – of the households. This doctrine holds sway in both Republican and Democratic parties. The “vital U.S. Interests” being “protected” by our military and economic engagement, are the exploitation of the resources in foreign lands by U.S. companies so that they can generate huge profits by exploiting the U.S. population and taxpayers. Heinberg opines that this policy puts us on a collision course with much of the rest of the world, leading to all-out competition for dwindling resources. Were the U.S. to scale back its military-supported acquisition of foreign resources, our economy would shrink dramatically – and the pack of wolves would be at our door. The issue before us is not whether we want to or should scale back, but when will the scale back begin and how rapidly will it proceed? This scenario argues for two major courses of action: 1.Scale back our extraction of foreign resources along with scaling back our foreign military aid and bribes to the foreign power governmental, financial and commercial power structures. 2.Develop, at an accelerated pace, our own resources in food, fuel, water and nutritive soils. While technology can be of some help, our main sources of self-sufficiency will be: Voluntary reduction of population growth Development of renewable energy sources with small carbon footprints. Reduction of travel and transportation by taking vehicles from the road to the recycling yards. Clustered, affordable, energy efficient housing Construction of intentional communities where folks “Live where we work, and work where we live.” A change in mind set from “It's all about me.” to “It's all about us.” Vastly improved soil management to prevent loss of top soil to the seas and the enrichment of the cropland soils with biochar, organic amendments and addition of soil critters. Become stewards of the land rather than exploiters. We now have the means and technology, but barely enough lead time to effect the needed changes in our behavior. If we wait long enough, our land, air and water resources will be greatly impaired, thus increasing the cost of cure, our capital funds will have been exhausted and our population increased. The combined effect is “assured self-destruction”. Instead of a nuclear winter, we will have a never-ending rolling disaster.