Some good news anywhere?
In these interesting, and what will turn out to be crucial, times we see quite some contradictory signals competing for attention.
Whilst oil-prices are going down towards a projected bottom of 40 dollar, we see a relief in consumer-countries, where the energy-price-dive is graciously accepted, and partly enjoyed, whilst we see potential hardship in producing countries due to the strong reduction in revenues.
What can also be observed is that whilst energy-consumption is stable this year, or is even going down, we see an increase in reports that warn for the potentially devastating effects of irreversible decline in supply that is expected in just a few years, due to depletion overtaking new capacity building.
At the same time the noises of climatologists warning for the effects of climate-change and for the need for strong emission-reduction are becoming ever louder, whilst most countries that are talking about emission-reduction see a little bit happening at home but especially a lot everywhere else, with very few taking responsibility, especially those who, historically, have the largest responsibility.
Is there some good news to be found? Very hard, as even the bio-fuels, not long ago hyped up to save the world from the responsibility to cut consumption, turn out to be worse in over all effects as conventional fuels, as well as creating hardship for many small farmers in countries that have been “encouraged” by investors to transfer to producing biofuels instead of food for their families.
There is one good sign however, and that is that increasingly it is being seen that the current crisis, which has gone from a sub-prime crisis to a banking crisis and is now becoming a global economic crisis, is caused by a moral rot that has been allowed to spread like cancer, causing metastases in all parts of the world faster than new derivative financial instruments could be created.
It is exactly this that is now being recognised by ever more people, especially simple people on the street. In recent conversations it was this, that came up very strongly after some time; the realisation that the economic crisis is not just economic, it is a moral crisis. And it is also those people that see, whilst realising that hardship will be upon many of us before it gets better, that there will only be a sustainable solution if the underlying rotten mentalities, warped moral senses and the lying and cheating at the top of many pyramids, but not only there, is put to an end, and that simple human qualities as fairness, honesty, decency and responsibility become again part of what makes a human a human.
This is already seen by the people on the street.
Maybe it becomes time again that the people in the “centers” (political, financial, business) start to
listen to the people on the street, before these people take the street?
We will see.
Alexander
I welcome your response at alexander@gas-oil-power.com
