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- FRONT PAGE EDITORIAL - The Crash Of CivilizationsLast February in 2008, I wrote and published in this website an essay, entitled "Not With A Whimper, But A Bang - The Endpoints Of Capitalism." In it, I argued that what we saw in 1929-32, and what we may be seeing now, is a cyclical phenomenon. That every third or fourth generation seems to re-"discover" free-market capitalism, struggle to throw off the restraints of "obsolete" and "burdensome" regulation, and then proceed to let free markets "do their magic" with an "invisible hand" to make everyone prosperous. I wrote that the results are always inevitable and predictable, and can be readily discerned from a careful reading of history: that greed, avarice, hubris and arrogance always and inevitably take over in a way that ends up destroying the economy, creating widespread poverty and suffering, and bringing about a wholesale discrediting of the capitalist system itself. The collapse could even threaten civilization itself if the situation were allowed to get bad enough, and has done so repeatedly in the historical past. And I wrote that there were disquieting signs that we were about to enter just such a period of collapse.As I write this now, eight months later, the New York Stock Exchange has just suffered a swift and perilously steep decline following the weekend's disappearance of two of the five largest brokerages on Wall Street, and the ominous signs that a third firm, the largest insurance company in the world, is in deep trouble with just days to live. It is all putting to the lie the assertions of the Republican spin-meisters that their economic nostrums are making us all richer, and laying the basis for a long-term prosperity, if we would just quit our whining and get back to spending on credit like good little consumers. Well, it is becoming increasingly evident that this little ideological emperor has no clothes. That building an economy by spending other peoples' money is no way to a lasting prosperity. That allowing greed to disliquidate the middle class doesn't make the middle class more prosperous. And that an ultra-rich capitalist sycophant like John McCain, carefully isolated from reality in his uncounted mansions, is totally clueless that anything is even seriously wrong, much less that some heavy lifting is needed to fix it. In just one day, the spreading calamity caused by reliance on greed, hubris and arrogance which has replaced responsible, careful regulation over the last thirty years has erased billions of dollars in middle-class wealth, sent the largest insurance company in the world to the ropes, put at risk the entire world's banking system, and threatened the security of remaining middle class wealth all over the planet. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most grave crisis the world has faced since the last time capitalist system collapsed (and for exactly the same reasons) in 1929-1932. Indeed, given the scale of the debt and future spending obligations that has been piled on the U.S. taxpayer, and the total irresponsibility of the last eight years of grave fiscal mismanagement by this neoconservative Republican administration, the tools available to government in 1932 to solve problems back then are not available to government now. Back then, government debt was credible, and borrowing to relieve suffering and repair the economy was possible. Now, with trillions of dollars in unpayable U.S. government obligations sitting in desk drawers all around the planet, the U.S. government will not be able to borrow its way out of the mess that the Republicans and their neoconservative masters have created. The results have every potential to become very dire indeed - they threaten far more than just the economy, they threaten government, even society itself. As amazing and horrifying, and unbelievable as this is, this is not without intent! Neoconservative ideologists, such as Grover Norquist, Bill Kristol and many others, knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted to cripple or destroy government and they have done a good job of it by deliberately creating a vast ocean of unpayable debt obligations as part of a process they call "creative destruction." "Drown government in the bathtub" as Norquist so famously put it, and paradise would somehow miraculously ensue, as they brought to an end to modernity itself - what the neoconservative Project for a New American Century sneeringly calls "the Modern Project." But what these religionists (and make no mistake, their ideology is a religion - not all religions are theological) don't understand and refuse to accept, is that government, like it or not, run well or badly, is part and parcel to an efficient, functioning society. That was made abundantly clear to all, as a result of Newt Gingrich's deliberate crippling of the U.S. government in 1994. There are many things government does which cannot or will not be done by private enterprise, or if they can be done, are not done as well. Destroy government in a manner from which it cannot recover, and you destroy society. Witness the ongoing horror that is Mogadishu. By destroying, through mindless ideological deregulation, the "economic circulatory system" which is required to nourish any society, and by destroying the "immune system" of government's ability to recover from the disease they have created, the "crazies from the basement," as pres. George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, called them, are succeeding in doing what terrorists and other enemies of civilization could only dream of - they are potentially destroying civilization itself. They are destroying the very capitalist, greed-motivated society that nourishes their own arrogance and hubris. What we may be witnessing may well prove to be beyond our most horrific nightmares - we may be witnessing the earliest stages of the collapse of civilization itself. Goodbye capitalist United States, Europe and East Asia, hello Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Hope you like living in grinding, unrelenting poverty and pervasive, inescapable fear. Because it may be the future of all of us, thanks to the religion of neoconservatism. Let us all hope my vision of where this could end up is wrong.
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| ESSAYS |
Commentary on Politics and CultureWhy I Left America answers the question that a lot of the readers of my web journal have been asking about why I have gone into exile...Why Do They Hate Us So Much? explores the roots of the terrorism situation America faces, and what we will have to do to genuinely fix the problem, rather than just bandage it with an ineffectual "war on terrorism"... So You're Leaving The States An entire section of this web site, it offers information that those contemplating exile really need to know, from one who has gone through the process of moving abroad and into permanent voluntary exile. This section offers critically needed information you won't find in the guide books... The Dubya and Dick Scandal Chart is a downloadable chart, showing all the interconnected unsavory relationships, excessive campaign contributions, insider trading, conflicts of interests, fraud, influence peddling, etc., that characterize this administration... The Great Awful Truths And What To Do About Them is an essay that explains in some detail five great awful truths that are so awful, most people live their entire lives in deep denial about them - and how the ruling elites use the denial about three of those truths to manipulate and control the population - but there are two others that can be used to counter the manipulation by the elites themselves... Not With A Whimper, But A Bang - The Endpoints Of Capitalism is an essay that explores the fact that capitalism contains the seeds within itself of its own destruction, and why those seeds seem to regularly sprout and grow - and what to do about it... Free Market Fundamentalism: Neoliberalism, Friedman, and the "Chilean Miracle" discusses the failures of the "neoliberal" economic model, and why it not only has failed, but has increased in popularity since it was first expounded... Conflict In The Middle East: The Untold History Of The Israeli-Palestinian Confict as seen from the Palestinian perspective, but minus the propaganda, explains why the Palestinians have become as radicalized as they are... The Gathering Darkness: America In The 21st. Century is a discussion of the trends in American culture and politics -- and some of the alarming directions in which America is headed. Written in 1997, it is interesting to see how the predictions in this almost-decade-old essay have been borne out... The Darkness Arrives: America in the 21st. Century includes some thoroughly shocking examples of the degree to which the Bill of Rights is ignored when the rich and powerful are in jeopardy of being embarrassed. Powerful evidence of the above essay's contentions... Causes of the Culture Wars explains why the argument between conservatives and liberals is vastly more significant than just a disagreement about politics... Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives looks at gay marriage and the arguments against legalizing it -- and neatly demolishes them, one by one... Homophobia: The Fear Behind The Hatred looks at how homophobia has come to be, why homophobia is the right word to describe the hatred, and the terrible price all of American culture pays for its homophobia... Stranger in Your Own Home Town is an autobiographical essay on the experience of growing up gay in America, and how it is different from the heterosexual experience in some really surprising ways... The Politics of Ignorance and Self-Interest explores how conservatism is borne of personal inexperience and self interest rather than broad education and a sense of egalitarianism, and therefore has fundamental flaws that prevent it from being a philosophy of politics consistent with cherished American values... "The Sovereign Individual" - Prescription Or Propaganda? explores how a brilliant propaganda piece has ended up as an influential cult classic, believed in and followed by hundreds of thousands, who have been influenced by it, to work against their own best interests, and against the best interests of society as a whole... Just What Is A "Secular Humanist Liberal," Anyway? answers the question of just who are those people that "religious right" so loves to hate... A Shameful Legacy The results of what I've seen from living on the public lands, this essay explains why we have vast forests but don't have enough timber for our needs, why our rangelands are degrading and our cultivated acreage is shrinking every year and why we're ruining the legacy we're leaving for our children... The Natural "Crime Against Nature" talks about the commonality of homosexuality among animals, and shows how those who refer to sodomy as "the crime against nature" are actually exposing their ignorance... Saint Aelred The Queer: The Surprising History of Homophobia is a brief survey of homosexuality in pre-contact Africa, native America and Europe - and the surprising reasons that homophobia has arisen in the Christian church... Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme discusses the fact that the fierce new debate about RU-486 and other abortifacients is actually quite irrelevant in the light of the historical options available to women... Living to Work or Working to Live is a discussion of the increasing work week, why the length of the work week is rapidly increasing, and why the "Dotcom Generation" should be gravely concerned about it...
Commentary on ReligionWhy Fundamentalism is Wrong talks about the logical errors of fundamentalist religion, Christian and otherwise...Creationism: An Argument Against Reason is a discussion of the current debate over the nature of Creationism and why it is dangerous to teach it in the public schools... Mormonism: Legitimate Religion Or Cult? discusses that church's unsettling resemblance to the Cult Awareness Network's definition of a cult... The Bible and Christianity: The True Origins demystifies the real origins of Christianity and the Bible, and brings a dramatic new perspective to the origins of traditional Christian values... The Mind Virus is an exploration of how ideas in society can behave like viruses in the body, and a look at the most successful mind virus in world history... Experiencing God: The Neurology of the Spiritual Experience discusses the recent discoveries of neurophysiology about how the brain produces such experiences as the out-of-body experience, the near-death experience, the visions of religious figures and more... What the Christian Fundamentalist Doesn't Want You To Know: a Brief Survey of Biblical Errancy is a discussion of some of the more glaring problems with the Bible, and why they are insoluble from a rational perspective... Towards A New World Religious Philosophy explores the failures of existing religions, the need for a new world religion, and the characteristics that religion should have... Why Am I Me? discusses the deep significance of that simple question from childhood, and why its answer is deeply important to an understanding of religion and even modern physics... The Case Against "The Case For Christ" is a look at one of the more popular Christian apologetic propaganda pieces, which attempts to open the minds of skeptics to the Christian meme complex...
Crazy IdeasSaving The Planet While Saving The Farm shows how an interesting archaeological discovery in the Amazon made a few years ago, could end up revolutionizing tropical agriculture while it saves the planet from the scourge of global warming...Making The Desert Blossom As The Rose offers a novel way of solving the climate problems of the arid lands of the American west - showing how the desert really can be made to "blossom as the rose"... Why The SETI Project Is Doomed To Fail A Radio Engineer's Perspective On The Project And Its Prospects - shows how the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is extremely unlikely to succeed - based on simple, well-proven principles of radio communications engineering...
Thoughts On My Experiences In AfricaScott's Excellent Adventure In Nigeria is a travelogue/essay about some of my truly incredible experiences living in that country and the conclusions I reached about Africa's message for the West...Africa's Agony: A Plan For Action is my ideas of how Africa can overcome the terrible plight in which it finds itself... So You're Planning A Trip To Africa is a page of advice for those planning a trip to Nigeria or anywhere else in sub-Saharan Africa. It's sobering reading...
Personal Adventures and What They Mean To MeWA7UZO in Costa Rica is a section of this web site devoted to my ham radio activities. If you have recently worked me and are looking for QSL information, or you are searching for the "Scott's Tools" freebie calculator software, or just curious about what it is like being a ham in a DX country, you can find it all here...Playing In The Backyard is the story of my living in the motorhome I built myself, on the road full-time with no permanent address for six years... RV Fulltiming: Is It Right For You? is my advice and a few tips for people considering full-time life in an RV... My Biography surprises me with the amount of mail it generates, compared to the number of hits it gets. Seems everyone who reads it comments on it... Let's Rodeo! is the story of gay rodeo, and why I am so passionately in love with it...
Humor"Remove Me From Your Rooster" is a fun little collection of the best of the hate mail received by myself and a few others in response to gay rights activism on the Internet and elsewhere... |
| OTHER CONTENT |
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"The Cool Page for Queer Teens" is my effort at helping gay teens avoid some of the misery I faced growing up gay... "My Child is GAY! Now What Do I Do?" is a page that is designed to help parents cope with the unsettling discovery that their child is gay. It's also available in Spanish... Wallpaper Images From The U.S. Southwest I've been having a lot of fun with my digital camera over the last couple of years. Here are some nice pictures of the Southwest (and a couple from Africa), suitable for your desktop wallpaper image... Wallpaper Images From Costa Rica I did what every landscape photographer dreams of - I took a trip to Costa Rica, and in just two weeks got more and better wallpaper images than I had before... The News: Finding Out What's Going On is a brief compilation of resources, both print and electronic, that can help you become and stay informed about what's going on - news and information that the powerful in Washington or the corporate media have neglected, or worse, actually suppressed... Putting A Stop To Telemarketing offers a simple, easy way to deal with the problem, and some practical advice for serious telemarketing abuse problems... "Cool Stuff" is a collection of fun things I've found on the web over the years... My Professional Resume (in Word format) in case you're here to offer me the big bucks...
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