Even as corrupted as our government has become, I could never buy into the whole '9/11 was an inside job' conspiracy, though I've read through a lot of the so called evidence. I do believe that our government was completely incompetent and arrogant when it came to the response, however, and used it as the excuse they needed to start a war for resources in the Middle East.
I have also read about 6 books on Afghanistan and the Taliban and believe that extremists in the Middle East are very capable of fighting the greatest powers on earth, particularly when we've armed them to do so. I also remember the South Central drug war, Iran-Contra, Panama, Nicaragua and now, the heroin business in Afghanistan; all very ugly stuff. As long as we continue to allow powerful officials to escape without so much as an investigation, let alone accountability, or as this administration is so fond of saying, as long as we look forward, instead of looking back, the cycle of violence will continue.
But to bring all this to a point, I was quite impressed with a particular documentary I watched this weekend about a man that is, to say the least, extremely controversial, and some say, true conspiracy theorist, although I found him to be extremely intelligent and well informed. The information presented in this film regarding "peak oil" is what takes the conspiracy out of it for me. To see the graphs of a global economy and way of life that is based on the consumption of huge amounts of oil really brings it home.
Michael Ruppert was a UCLA Republican, recruited to the Los Angeles police department, south central region, in the 1970s; the son of retired CIA analysts, who found a new career in journalism, reporting on government corruption after discovering a CIA run drug operation in South Central Los Angeles.
What I found most impressive about the guy was not just his intelligence, knowledge and passion, regardless of mostly successful attempts to discredit him and destroy his business, but his true belief. As he states in the documentary, we do not need hope, we do not need prayer, what we need is a powerful belief that we can evolve and survive as a civilization.
While the film seems to start out as just another fatalist depiction of the end of life on earth, it ends with what I consider to be completely reasonable and believable suggestions on how to get through the collapse that is sure to happen if we keep doing the same things over and over again as a society.
Political parties and ideology won't matter when things fall apart. What will matter is those who will come together, accept and manage the transition. According to Mr. Ruppert, the debate is over. His predictions on the collapse of the economy and exposure of corruption have been revealed. The only thing left to do is figure out how to survive the collapse. Everyone knows that community and family is what gets one through a crisis, but understanding why it will be so important in this transition phase brought a whole new perspective to the debate.
Perhaps our government and fellow human beings will surprise us. Perhaps things really will turn around and we will save our economy and the environment, but the job is bigger than one man and the fight is against the corruption of denial. We must all come together as a global society and solve our problems or we will not survive. It's that simple. Even if you are still one of those people in denial, what's the harm in trying to be prepared, to participate in our evolution as a civilization?
I highly recommend watching the film, Collapse, then do some research and make your own decisions.
I won't be waiting.
