What I'm suggesting is that it would be in your best interest to either get someone on the ballot that you know you would be proud to vote for, or take the time to learn enough about me to see if perhaps I could be that person. I hope you will make an intelligent choice between me and the other candidates when the time comes, particularly if that special someone you really want to vote for hasn't shown up yet.
I don't think you're going to get a second chance at this. This country cannot afford five more years headed in the direction we're going. And as far as I can tell all of the candidates currently running right now, except for me, are headed in the same direction... over a cliff.
Q6 . Our society has always had its ups and downs. You sound like some sort of dooms dayer who tries to scare people into paying attention to them by telling them the sky is falling. We had slavery and we got past that. We had McCarthyism and we got over that. Vietnam was a b*tch but now that's behind us. Blacks can now sit at lunch counters or anywhere else they want, even in a big chair at the White House. We have problems, true. But we can weather whatever storms come our way and we can do it without any help from you.
You know, I've been advising people on financial matters for a long time. I've been helping a few people manage money and I also create computer models in my work for analytical purposes. Recently, one of my clients sent me a fifty page report produced by a large organization filled with all kinds of economic data, including graphs and charts, thinking that I might find it of interest. I looked it over and came to the conclusion that this kind of analysis is of limited value to me now no matter how good it is. The same is true of my own computer models. Why? Because the political forces at work in today's environment now overpower the underlying assumptions of almost all econometric models. We are at war... with other people and with ourselves. Those who set policy have their own agendas and those agendas are not goal oriented towards peace, prosperity, democracy, or other values that any society or culture on Earth would normally favor.
For example, I believe our country's energy policy is literally insane... and its execution is criminally insane. Extraction of the planet's oil resources are damaging the ecosystem even as they are being depleted. We're depleting our carbon based resources, a process which in geological time is almost complete. It cheats our posterity out of the same opportunities to use oil that we had. For example, oil is a fundamental ingredient in all kinds of miracle products such as plastics, chemicals, medicines, etc. And yet we are burning up those resources primarily to move vehicles and heat homes when we know that renewable technologies such as wind, solar, and geothermal would make much better sense than carbon based technologies in performing those tasks, if we would only make the commitment to use them.
Scientists tell us that over the last 150 years or so we have used up about fifty percent of all the oil that ever existed or will exist on planet Earth in our lifetimes. At current rates of use, we will deplete what's left sometime this century. Now it took maybe 200,000,000 to 300,000,000 years for nature to make this stuff and now we are on target to deplete it all in our grandchildren's lifetimes. And we're doing this knowing full well that our use of carbon is a threat to life itself on our planet. And this is happening for no other reason than that those who run things value their own personal wealth and political power above the survival of our own species and maybe all species. How does one even begin to quantify that level of irresponsibility and selfishness?
And that is just one example of the insanity. Nuclear energy is another. The risks are so high for nuclear energy that nuclear facilities are privately uninsurable. Our use of atomic energy has put every man, woman, and child on earth at risk without first getting permission to do so after fully disclosing the potential dangers. The same can be said for some aspects of genetic engineering.
Like I said, the political forces at work bearing down on us are inspired by people who are, when you consider what we have now learned by experience, quite literally, insane. The inmates are running the asylum. Maybe they seem normal to their families and associates. But to pursue agendas that could conceivably lead to the end of life as we know it on Earth... that's not normal sane behavior.
So what difference do economic charts make if those holding our lives in their hands are hell bent on pursuing a mind warped trajectory? We know they're on this trajectory because we read and hear people argue for it every day. Economic data can sometimes help investors make investment decisions, but that's not what's influencing the political forces at work shaping our grandchildren's future. I sometimes wonder if our grandchildren are going to have a future.
I'm sorry for sounding a bit dark. I'm just reporting how I see political forces in the world evolving. That's why I'm running for office. We need people who are better prepared to make responsible decisions than those now making those decision. Could I be wrong? Maybe. I hope so. But how much risk should we allow our leaders to take when we're not really sure that their policies are even consistent with sustainable life on this planet? Who are the people making these decisions and how did they get to such a state of mind?
I will tell you this. If I am elected President of the United States, I will do what I can to leave as much oil in the ground as possible as I try to create programs that insure the sufficiency of our energy needs without cheating ourselves, our posterity, or threatening life as we know it.
I'm laying my cards on the table for all to see. I'm a candidate for president and I'm asking for your vote.
Q7. Well damn, I think it's pretty unfair to characterize people in the oil industry, in the finance sectors of our economy, or in politics as being insane because they want to insure that the American people have sufficient energy resources to keep our engine of democracy going. You're not going to run airplanes on solar energy and while maybe in the future technology will improve enough to have solar and wind energy compete with oil and gas on an even basis, the fact that we're not there yet does not make people who have devoted their lives to bringing us an abundance of energy, insane. You are dark, and I don't like your attitude. Sounds much too hateful to me.
A7 . Well, I think we have to expand our discussion to deal with your comment.
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