Bush’s “last man standing” approach to oil depletion

September 4, 2004

Richard Heinberg has a new book out that explores possibilities of societal reactions to the Peak Oil phenomenon, which has the potential to throw industrial society into chaos and even bring western technology based civilization to its natural conclusion (not to mention possible die off of the human species). All of this is discussed thoroughly in the two Heinberg books, “The Party’s Over” and “Power Down“, which are required reading for intelligent, conscious humans in our age.

One of the options discussed by Heinberg in his latest book is the “Last Man Standing” scenario, in which the powerful (most often the ultra-wealthy and politically connected within American society and societies of other nations) will use their assets to promote their own survival at the expense of everyone else.

How might a Bush/Cheney election in 2004 relate to this scenario, and possibly result in planned and integrated policies designed to divide and destroy the American society from within?

This may seem like a far-fetched and even ludicrous scenario to some, but recent events are bearing out reasons for grave concern. Just yesterday on the radio I heard an interview with a father in New York City who remarked how he NEVER would have imagined the possibility of himself leaving notes pinned on a fence in New York City to his missing son on where to locate the father after the son went missing at the hands of the State. This father had learned that his son had been illegally detained during peaceful, legal protests in New York City and had been hauled off to jail with a large group of protesters. The father had somehow obtained an “arrest number” with the case by NYC against his son, and went to the jail to obtain information about his son’s anticipated release. The jailers asked the father how he got information on the arrest number, and subsequently erased that number and issued a second, secret number so the father could not effectively locate his son. This obviously well-educated, patriotic man felt he was now living in a situation comparable to South American “disappearances” of loved ones in which he was reduced to pinning notes on a fence for his son to read in case the son got out of jail. The father understood that the government had “disappeared” his son and was astonished that such a thing could happen in America.

We are seeing more and more cases of injustice within the American system of governance, including military governance. One soldier who critized the Bush Administration was summarily reduced in rank and then expelled from the military after a trial in which he was refused to call witnesses or cross-examine his accusers. Fourteen years of exemplary military service were thrown out the window and this soldier was discharged. He came from a family with a long line of military service to the nation, and this soldier’s family subsequently decided to never again recommend military service for any of their progeny.

But the very worst will surely lie ahead for America. The Patriot Acts and spirit of “fear of terrorism” in connection with the resource wars labeled as the “War on Terrorism” are directly related to the Peak Oil crisis. The increasing development of a police state in America and systemic disintegration of civil rights and due process frightens Americans who love the values this country was founded on.

If the past paradigm of freedom and liberty and protection of constitutional rights within American society gives way to a fascist, totalitarian state dominated by the John Ashcrofts of the world worsens, how long will it take for violent insurrection to appear right here within America? Will patriotic American citizens go quietly do their doom? And has not the Bush Administration I already demonstrated very clearly that it can and will trample on civil rights, illegally detain people without criminal charges for indefinite periods of time, illegally detain dissidents and defy court orders and otherwise make a mockery of the freedom and democracy they claim to support and protect?

A second Bush Administration promises to destroy the very fabric of American democracy and with it, the cohesion of American society. The resultant chaos could very easily mean the emergence of permanent martial law and even civil war. This could be an integrated plan, as surely the Bush/Cheney/Rove crew know that the past and recent American way of life is no longer sustainable ecologically or financially.

The Bush Administration in a second term may have a strategy for itself and its powered elite to be the “last man standing” while society disintegrates destroys itself.

This is certainly a worst case scenario, and hopefully would not happen. But the very fact that signs point in that direction and unthinkable things are happening as we speak mean that the American people would be well-advised to remove all possibility of this worst case by repudiating Bush/Cheney and all they stand for in the next election.

We will have to deal with Peak Oil inevitably. But there ARE other options than “last man standing”. We can all stand together and fight for mutual survival, but not with a Bush Administration in the picture.


Tags: Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Military, Oil