It's All About Economic Growth, Baby!

The military establishment of the United States is enmeshed in the tarbaby that is Iraq and Afghanistan. Our grab for control of a major oil producing region in the Middle East, in an attempt to stay in the game of international oil pricing, is a failure. As long as we are there, Iraq will produce little. We will spend much, to simply stay in for the next hand.

In the meantime oil prices soar and the US must pay the going price, just like everybody else. Look at the major oil producers around the World. Russia, the Gulf States, Nigeria, Venezuela, none of them are our friends and even if they were they wouldn't cut us a break. Why should they? England and Norway share the rapidly depleting North Sea fields but that production is easily absorbed into the EU. We buy our oil just like we buy everything else, in Dollars. The countries that sell us the oil take our Dollars and put them away. Dollars are a better deterrent against US aggression than nukes. Calling in our debt is the ultimate doomsday weapon.

The third world floods our country with cheap goods. Goods we cannot afford to produce for anywhere near the price for which they sell them. Our clothes, household goods, processed foods, office supplies, electronics, cars all come from lands far away, via ships that burn oil, that we pay for. We buy all this stuff in Dollars. They take all these Dollars and put them away.We laugh and say, "Stupid Foreigners", then print up more Dollars to buy the next batch of cheap goods or petroleum. All the while though, the Dollars leaving the country suck the value out of our homes, the vitality out of our economy, the Dollar becomes worth less and less. Our nation becomes worth less and less.

Eventually, we find that what little we have left in this country, that is worth anything, is owned by individuals and entities from other countries. Inflation has made even the ridiculously cheap goods from third world sweatshops, beyond our reach. What jobs are available can easily be done by immigrants from Latin America. The government attempts to print more Dollars to stimulate the economy but Dollars are now worthless. The government can no longer afford to maintain the infrastructure. They can fund social programs but the recipients can't buy anything with their checks. The military is long since disbanded, the weapons sold to those that can afford war.

We look to our leaders for guidance. They all have Swiss passports and are living quietly abroad.