Saving Uncle Sam

One of the main aims of these pages has been to highlight, those thin rays of hope that for the moment still exist in the daily darkening gloom of a Post Peak Oil, Globally Warming world.

As outlined elsewhere on this website and many others, the challenge of the world after Peak Oil posses many dangers, especially for the USA. Historically the peoples of North America with a 'frontier spirit' or US psyche of a 'manifest destiny' have displayed great vision and can-do attitude. While quick to seize technological or commercial opportunities they have conversely been slower to come to grips with the bigger global or moral issues. (E.g. Global Warming, 3rd World Debt or Slavery).

"America is the only country in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilizations."

so long-time ago noted the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1929. Unfortunately for the USA to stand any chance of helping itself, it must now first quickly rebirth the whole countries society. To a truly trusting co-operating society. Starting with citzens faith in their government.

Urgently reform the US electoral system, to re-established the systems credibility, both in the eyes of the citizens (but in some-ways more importantly for the eyes of the rest of the World). Any system should be up to world best-practice, and beyond reproach ( such-as the German or Scandinavian systems are.) ;-

All elections to be open to international scrutiny

Introduced proportional representation & preferential voting system.

Automatic Voter Registration via Social Security or Tax File Number (or such like etc.).

No Grounds to disqualify any citizen from voting. This should be underpinned by strong legal penalties for any acts of commission or omission that prevent any qualified voter from voting. Such as employers denying employees opportunity to cast a vote, or lawyers, officials or thugs physical obstructing or intimidating voters against them casting a secrete vote.

Any electronic voting system must allow public inspection of open source-code of the entire system as implemented. Must provide a full instance hard-copy auditable record, as votes are cast. (with provision of removable confirmation hard-copy if the voter so wishes, when & where the vote is cast)

Ideally. Compulsory Attendance to Vote (makes everybody think about what is best / what they want), if you don't want to vote you are still free to put in a blank vote.

Non-provision or unavailability of sufficiently equipped & staffed Voting Station in easy access (one hours walk) of more than 1% of voters, disqualifies whole election..

Require a 2/3 rds majority of both popular vote, and by states to win Presidency

Scrap Presidential Primaries & College Voting System, before streamlining system to lower the cost a structural obstacles of more average folk running for president.

Prohibit anonymous political donations over $1,000.

All advertising, during political campaign periods, must also have publish on public record, personal details / identification for each & every source of funds. In cases of company donations like details of corporate shareholders above 5%.recursively up the corperate structures until all individuals controling, sponsoring or benifiting by the advertisement have been identified.. ..

It use-to-be said that "What is good for General Motors, is good for the USA." deifying avarice by placing US international commercial considerations above all else. Peak Oil & Global Warming, not forgetting the War on Terror, have all clearly demonstrated that contrary to USA's domestic mythology, the USA is not a freewheeling law-unto-itself, but part of a very finite world of intractably interwoven global relationships and consequences. Thus for the USA's own health it needs to get serious about facing up to world issue from a global perspective rather than short-term commercial self-delussion. It must become a team player, by;-

Signing then imediately ratifing & fully implementing, all international treaties currently acceded to by the majority of the developed world but not yet the USA including;-

The Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change (Greenhouse Gases).
The International Court of Justice.
UN's 1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Recommitting to, then honouring with renewed vigour those treaties that the USA while having historically honoured, has recently maligned or out-rightly reneged on;-

ABM (AntiBallistic Missile) Treaty..
Treaty to Keep Space Free of Nuclear Weapons.

The Rio Earth Summit, Agenda21.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Especially the promise to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles.
Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.

Beyond the Kyoto Protocol if the USA ever wants to gain its' former international credibility, it has to both on ethical and moral obligations live within the world carring capacity by;-

Rapidly (a demonstratable commitment in achieve in a short period of time, ten years at most) reducing the USA's non-renewable energy consumption to a global percentage no great than the USA's land-mass &/or population size relative to that of the rest of the world.

Rapidly reducing the USA's hydrocarbon consumption from 25% of global production (for 5% of the world population) to only 5% of global production within ten years (or less) is a huge challenge. But in a historical perspective this is no-greater a challenge than that the USA overcame during the 'New Deal to the end of World War 2 period'. The real question is if the citizenry of the United States of America now days, are even half of the sort of folks their grandparent's were??

Possible initiatives and strategies include;-

Carbon Taxes. Thence Energy Taxes progressively replacing Income, Payroll etc Taxes.

Nationalizing the domestic transport modes including relevant vehicle manufacturing sectors of the USA economy by a government forced buy-up of all stock at some reasonable historical level (e.g. price at 1st January 2000). {The forced buy-up at a historical time circumvents market uncertainty and speculative profiteering, while simultaneous reflecting per-oil spike values that are closer to the actual investments made by companies versus current perceived no-hope status junk valuations}. Nationalizing in this way also explicitly acknowledges the government's welfare obligations to the workers in these industries during a period of massive retraining, re-equipping, and reconfiguring of the transport mix.

Once nationalized the government would then be in the position to radically realign road, rail, & air transportation so as to maximize energy efficiency across all transport tasks.

Likewise the automobile industry could be refocused on maximizing environmental sustainable solutions & outcomes.

Demilitarize the US economy to facilitate refocusing on enviromental reconstruction, renewable technologies, and Space Exploration..

>Entanglements: Uncle Sam's Days of Energy Woes.

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