Guess what. We are in a small group of countries that include North Korea. We are one of the few countries in the world that tax our citizens when they are abroad. We tax them, the country they live in tax them. The only way around it, give up your U.S. Citizenship. Of course, a new law just passed by Congress and approved by the President, says that you have to assume all your worldly goods were sold and then you have to pay capital gains tax on it, before you give up your citizenship.
So, if we have a young person that wants to go abroad and learn. First choice, he can pay double taxes or he can give up his citizenship. That is freedom. Land of free, home of the brave. That is complete crap. It puts our country at our a disadvantage, and it puts our youth that want to learn at a severe disadvantage. It says, go learn, but give up your citizenship and don't come back.
Where the hell do we come up with such ideas. It is because 99% of Americans do not even know about these laws. And for the few that would agree with such laws, they live in a dream world where everything good comes from America. Wake up, those days are over. We are in a serious economic battle for survival and we act macho and stupid as a country. Wake up. We need to go abroad and learn.
In the old days, when I was young, 99% of technology came from America. Then we sent manufacturing plants overseas. Guess what? For one generation we lose jobs when we sent manufacturing overseas. The next generation, we lose expertise.
Extractive Metallurgy, when I was young, U.S. was tops. We had the expertise and the smelters and refining plants. In the 70's, we quit building plants here. Ore grade too low, labor too expense, and the greenies decided it was too dirty. Well, the planet was not served well. Dirtier plants were opened up all over the world. The jobs left and then the expertise. I am the last of the kind, the end of a long line of metallurgist in the U.S. Where there are no jobs, there is no expertise and there are no future jobs. It is an industry we chose to abandon. We have done the same thing with oil. Only drive on foreign soils, only off the coast on foreign soils. For now, it is still our companies doing the exploration, the drilling. Exxon is at the lead. Next generation, starting in about ten years, guess what the expertise will be overseas and they will be sending their engineers, their experts, to drill in a third world country call the United States. We live in a dream world, a world that existed a long time ago when America was great and free.
Do you believe everyone on our planet is our brother? If so, how do we make laws and policies that help our brother? How do we need to change our thinking to lift the boats of all brothers?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Freedom - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
What Does Freedom Mean
It means the right of the individual to chose his own course in life as long as it does not harm his neighbor (significantly). I add "significantly" since every human in some way or another competes for resources in a resource limited world, so some harm might be done even by being a life -- although not necessarily if one believes it is the sum total of what you do that counts. Anyway, we all get the definition.
What Does Freedom Mean in America
Well, it doesn't mean you can buy a Miller on Sunday in South Carolina. It doesn't mean that we tolerate third parties or make it easy for them to register, much less exist, in America. It doesn't mean you can smoke pot, even for medical reasons. It doesn't mean you can pull your kid out of school and expect to get your tax money back that you paid for the education, even if you put your child in a private school. Sweden, a socialist country, by the way lets you do this -- so, by this standard they would be more free. Freedom in this country does not mean that you can choose to redirect your tax money that is being spent for the war in Iraq. Until recently, it didn't mean that you could get a trial if you were declared an enemy combatant, or even a terrorist. Freedom doesn't mean a sixteen year old girl has the freedom to make love with her 19 year old boyfriend, although sometimes its okay.Speaking of sex, freedom does not mean that you can buy a woman to have sex with you. Its okay if you spend enough money on her and she feels obligated -- no, not really -- but there are no laws against the latter. Freedom does not mean that you can have two wives or two husbands. Freedom does not mean in most states that you can marry someone of the same sex.
Freedom does not mean you can gamble in most states or send off fireworks on the 4th of July (your safety is at risk, man). Freedom does not mean that you can opt out of social security and take care of your own retirement.
Freedom does not mean that you can chose to end your life, even if you are suffering and death by natural means is certain. Freedom does not mean you can help a loved one who is suffering to end his life.
Why am I not free to buy a Miller before noon on Sunday in Az
Why not. Because, some Southern Baptist decided it was wrong, or at least in my best interest not to buy alcohol before noon on the Sabbath (actually the Sabbath is Sunday, but you get the idea). Buy the way, it is okay with me that the Southern Baptist is in church on Sunday and not buying up all my Millers. Why am I not allowed to do all the things on my list above ... why don't I have the freedom to smoke pot or end my life if I chose to? Religion. More specifically, self righteous religion. Religion that says I know what is right and wrong for myself and you.
Democracy or Religion
I would guess that the majority of Americans would say that it is OKAY to buy beer on Sundays (SC) or at least Sunday mornings (AZ). But the majority does not count. Yes, in this modern age, we could take a vote on almost everything and let the majority decide. I suspect that it would be a great world. But, we do not really believe in Democracy any more than we believe in freedom. You see the definition of freedom is not really what I defined above. There are at least two other definitions.
Freedom by the "Religous"
Freedom by the Military Industrial Complex(MIC)
Freedom by the MIC... Freedom is the right for an individual to chose his course in life as long as it does not detract from our right to profit from waging war.
I Believe in Freedom
I am one of those rare birds that actually believes in Freedom. See the list above, I am okay with all but one of the items on the list above. And, if the majority in our country thought that something was okay, I would 99% of the time go along, because I also believe in democracy. I believe in the majority, I believe in people, I believe in individuals. I try my best not to judge what someone else does, especially when it has no direct impact on me or on others .... which is almost all of the time. America, and most of the world, fears freedom. Yes, we fear freedom. We imagine a world gone mad if we give it too much freedom. Its like the fear of capitalism that China used to have.... they imagined chaos if everything was not controlled.
For example, we are afraid that if we let everyone that wanted to smoke pot, actually smoked pot, that the world would disintegrate into a drug orgy. We don't trust our fellow travelers through life. We are okay, but those around us are not to be trusted. It is religion, on a one to one basis. Religion assumes that a specific group has a monopoly on truth, that the group knows what is best, best for itself, best for you. On a one to one basis, we believe that we could handle something, but the average mere mortal could no handle it. And if we fear that we could not handle it, then for sure mere mortals could not handle it.
We want an ordered, protected environment, free of freedom. We fear freedom, not only for others, but for ourselves. We are not ready for freedom.
For example, we are afraid that if we let everyone that wanted to smoke pot, actually smoked pot, that the world would disintegrate into a drug orgy. We don't trust our fellow travelers through life. We are okay, but those around us are not to be trusted. It is religion, on a one to one basis. Religion assumes that a specific group has a monopoly on truth, that the group knows what is best, best for itself, best for you. On a one to one basis, we believe that we could handle something, but the average mere mortal could no handle it. And if we fear that we could not handle it, then for sure mere mortals could not handle it.
We want an ordered, protected environment, free of freedom. We fear freedom, not only for others, but for ourselves. We are not ready for freedom.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Energy Reality
America, wake up. This is not the seventies. You are not going to wake up tomorrow with a full gas tank.
Peak oil. We have talked about that before, because of the political and technical problems facing the oil industry, many believe the world is near it's peak of oil production. I am a big believer in this concept, but I just learned a new concept that I believe in even more.
Even if the production of oil continues to increase (a very big if), the increase in the oil exported will probably decline. Why, because the countries that are exporting are using their riches to build up infrastructure, subsidize gasoline and energy prices in their own country, and build a middle classes. Guess what, these new middle classes are buying cars and homes and consuming energy, which leaves less oil to export, which drives up the price of oil, which brings them more wealth, which increases the middle class, etc. You get the pattern. Well, the amount of oil being exported is in serious decline. So if you don't believe in the peak oil theory, perhaps you should believe in the decline of exported oil theory. The facts on this are pretty clear.
When you accept the day of the oil gorilla is over, we will start talking about life after the big oil gorilla.
Next time. Thorium. It has the potential to be the next energy gorilla.
Peak oil. We have talked about that before, because of the political and technical problems facing the oil industry, many believe the world is near it's peak of oil production. I am a big believer in this concept, but I just learned a new concept that I believe in even more.
Even if the production of oil continues to increase (a very big if), the increase in the oil exported will probably decline. Why, because the countries that are exporting are using their riches to build up infrastructure, subsidize gasoline and energy prices in their own country, and build a middle classes. Guess what, these new middle classes are buying cars and homes and consuming energy, which leaves less oil to export, which drives up the price of oil, which brings them more wealth, which increases the middle class, etc. You get the pattern. Well, the amount of oil being exported is in serious decline. So if you don't believe in the peak oil theory, perhaps you should believe in the decline of exported oil theory. The facts on this are pretty clear.
When you accept the day of the oil gorilla is over, we will start talking about life after the big oil gorilla.
Next time. Thorium. It has the potential to be the next energy gorilla.
Friday, June 06, 2008
America - A Stupid Period
A friend of mine from China asked me if America's strategy was to save their off-shore oil while they consumed the oil from the rest world -- presumably until oil got really expensive, like $1000 a barrel. Well, if we are that smart, it is a well kept secret. On the outside, we are going through a stupid spell in America.
We want to blame everyone for high oil prices. Blame is something that people do when they don't want to deal with reality. Guess what percentage of the oil in the world is controlled by private oil companies like Exxon. Hint, 10%. Of course, our friends in the Middle East, Russia, Kazakastan, Venezula, Mexico, Norway, and Canada, etc. control the rest. Guess what, we are short on friends on this list, especially the ones that really have any real oil reserves left.
Does that mean Exxon et al are dealing with reality better than America in general. Yea, they are trying to make a buck, two ways: one by being the most efficient oil company on the planet, and two by cannibalizing themselves (stock repurchases). Of course, somehow this comes out as greed when their profits for this success is viewed by Americans, especially politicians like Old man McCain, promise everything-Obama, and witch Hillary.
But, Exxon has a blind spot, too. They have been the best at "oil technology." But, the "oil age" is ending. Exxon dreams of the U.S. opening off-shore and national park drilling and her glory days returning. Ain't going to happen soon enough or fast enough for the glory days to return. Meanwhile, Exxon waits eating itself more of itself every year. There is an alternative -- one that Exxon and America have not chosen.
If Exxon could figure out where the future Energy was coming from instead of moaning about the good old days, they could start spending their money to go there now. Is that the best use of their money from an MBA, maximize the dollars viewpoint. Nope. What they are doing, is the best route for now. But if Exxon, and to a lesser extent, America is to have a tomorrow, we must answer where our next breakfast of Energy is going to come from ...
We want to blame everyone for high oil prices. Blame is something that people do when they don't want to deal with reality. Guess what percentage of the oil in the world is controlled by private oil companies like Exxon. Hint, 10%. Of course, our friends in the Middle East, Russia, Kazakastan, Venezula, Mexico, Norway, and Canada, etc. control the rest. Guess what, we are short on friends on this list, especially the ones that really have any real oil reserves left.
Does that mean Exxon et al are dealing with reality better than America in general. Yea, they are trying to make a buck, two ways: one by being the most efficient oil company on the planet, and two by cannibalizing themselves (stock repurchases). Of course, somehow this comes out as greed when their profits for this success is viewed by Americans, especially politicians like Old man McCain, promise everything-Obama, and witch Hillary.
But, Exxon has a blind spot, too. They have been the best at "oil technology." But, the "oil age" is ending. Exxon dreams of the U.S. opening off-shore and national park drilling and her glory days returning. Ain't going to happen soon enough or fast enough for the glory days to return. Meanwhile, Exxon waits eating itself more of itself every year. There is an alternative -- one that Exxon and America have not chosen.
If Exxon could figure out where the future Energy was coming from instead of moaning about the good old days, they could start spending their money to go there now. Is that the best use of their money from an MBA, maximize the dollars viewpoint. Nope. What they are doing, is the best route for now. But if Exxon, and to a lesser extent, America is to have a tomorrow, we must answer where our next breakfast of Energy is going to come from ...
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Earth Quake in China and Protests
Today the police took away about 100 parents of children lost in schools that collapsed from the earth quakes. It is reported, they wanted the search to continue until all the bodies were found and that they were unhappy with the sub-standard materials of construction used in the schools. The Chinese government has been more transparent and open than normal during this crisis and they have made a big effort to deal with a difficult situation.
It turns out that they are still uncomfortable with protests. Also, since the Chinese government assumes the role of trying to take care of their people, and even tell them what that means, having them complain -- to have them have a mind of their own what is right and wrong -- pretty much flies in the face of the concept that the government knows best.
In the U.S., a private company would have built the schools. Hopefully to a better standard, but if they didn't (or even if they did) they could be sued. But in other ways, it is not that much different than in the U.S. Guess what, when our government screws up, they can not be sued. Not much different than the position the parents of the dead children in China find themselves. And, of course, the grief is the same.
It turns out that they are still uncomfortable with protests. Also, since the Chinese government assumes the role of trying to take care of their people, and even tell them what that means, having them complain -- to have them have a mind of their own what is right and wrong -- pretty much flies in the face of the concept that the government knows best.
In the U.S., a private company would have built the schools. Hopefully to a better standard, but if they didn't (or even if they did) they could be sued. But in other ways, it is not that much different than in the U.S. Guess what, when our government screws up, they can not be sued. Not much different than the position the parents of the dead children in China find themselves. And, of course, the grief is the same.
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