Surviving Capitalism (Not) : A Tough-Oil World: Why Twenty-First Century Oil Will Break the Bank -- and the Planet

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

A Tough-Oil World: Why Twenty-First Century Oil Will Break the Bank -- and the Planet

Click here to access article by Michael T. Klare from The American Empire Project.

Tough-oil reserves...will provide most of the world’s new oil in the years ahead. One thing is clear: even if they can replace easy oil in our lives, the cost of everything oil-related -- whether at the gas pump, in oil-based products, in fertilizers, in just about every nook and cranny of our lives -- is going to rise. Get used to it. If things proceed as presently planned, we will be in hock to big oil for decades to come.

The author explains that most developed countries will soon have to get their oil from very expensive sources while causing more damage to the environment. When he writes that this "will break the bank" the meaning of this is clear to all wide-awake people: this situation cannot sustain a capitalist system that requires growth. Because the ruling One Percent depend on the capitalist system for their wealth and power, they will--if we don't stop them--trash the planet to feed the system's addiction.