To See The Future, Put On Your Energy GogglesI love framing things. This helps me see the world more clearly, and have a shot at accurately “predicting” the future.I put predicting in quotes, because it’s not really predicting, but rather seeing the direction of things and extrapolating from there. I think this is what George Orwell, et al., did. They simply understood the initial conditions (i.e. human nature) and then carried on traveling in the direction that was already set in motion.In this episode you’ll learn about how to put on a pair of “energy goggles” and see the world as it really is, just like Neo in The Matrix when he could finally see the green dripping source code.Energy is everything. Literally everything that makes all of our lives what they are.So grab a cup of coffee, and dive on in!
The Crash Course remains a solid work of framing. One of the best of my life (so far).Because so few people have taken it lately, beginning with today’s ‘Chapter” I am redoing the entire Crash Course, piece by piece, as my weekly public videos from now until it’s done.I think everybody should see it, and that’s my only request.Agree with me, disagree with me, take it to heart, or decide to ignore it, I truly believe everybody deserves a chance to accept or reject the premise.Why?Because I know that there’s an extraordinary wealth transfer coming. Many more people are going to lose (a lot & possibly everything) between now and ~2030 than win.When the operative question left to be resolved is “Who’s going to eat the losses?” then it’s vital that you are not doing whatever the herd is doing. By definition, when an entity is insolvent, everybody cannot be paid back. Historically speaking, those ‘haircuts’ are not shared equitably.We’re way past our budgetary and income limits with respect to energy, pollution, species loss, and debt. There’s no possible way to “grow our way out of this.” Doubling down is no longer an option.Again, agree with me or disagree with me, the conversation needs to be had either way.
Understanding the characteristics of money, its role as our social glue and trust-at-a-distance, and especially where it comes from are absolutely vital things to know.Which is probably why they are almost never taught anywhere within the educational system nor in our mainstream press.Most importantly, everybody should be tracking how much money is being created ‘in their name’ by the Fed and for what purposes.When you do, and you compare those amounts of ever-accumulating debt against what the future economy could reasonably provide, it’s completely obvious that there’s a huge maw of a gap between the claims (debt) and the stuff (GDP).How will that gap be resolved? Does anybody know? Is there a plan besides a loosely defined “Great Reset” and maybe a CBDC roll-out?Well, since we’re not even having the conversation publicly, we have to assume the answer is “no,” there isn’t a plan.
If you don’t understand what the US Federal Reserve is, How it operates, or who owns it, you’re flying blind.The Fed is the most powerful entity in the world. Far more powerful than the Department of Defense, far more powerful than the CIA, and far more powerful than all of the politicians put together.Money controls our lives and The Fed controls the printing press. It can create as much or as little money, without any oversight, any time it wants to. It can flood the world with currency, or create a massive drought by draining it away.Any and every move it makes affects the entire economy, global markets, and the lives and futures of every single American and quite a few foreigners.Naturally, these facts are almost never discussed publicly.But isn’t it in all of our interests to understand and question why The Fed decided to throw an entire generation under the housing bus by rescuing house prices (i.e. making them go higher by lower interest rates)? That act bailed out existing homeowners but trashed the economic and household formation dreams of the next generation in line.Who gave them that power?And who granted The Fed the right to enrich the ultra-wealthy by shoveling endless piles of money at the financial markets for so many years?These and many other revelations are discussed in this foundational, essential chapter 3 of The Crash Course.
If you can understand inflation, you have a shot at understanding how the world works, and where it’s heading economically.Unfortunately, inflation is almost never taught properly in schools, if at all, and it’s mischaracterized in the press, over and over again.They all keep talking about inflation as “rising prices” when it’s actually “falling money.” That is money that’s losing its purchasing power.Once you can make this mental flip – from rising prices to falling money – you are in a better position to resolve what’s actually happening in the world.And that thing that’s happening is the same thing it’s always been; people in power preferring to steal from everyone quietly and mischievously rather than having to be direct and explain themselves and why they want your money handed over to their latest goobermint boondoggle.Because that’s what inflation is – a hidden tax.It steals from the many to pay for the errors of the few. It secretly and silently removes purchasing power from everybody’s savings every single day.It’s the most regressive tax there is and, based on that, you’d think that various champions of the poor and the downtrodden would be up in arms about the true source of all that regressive hardship. But they are not. They are nearly stone silent on the matter which means their true aims and concerns are not as stated.
We need also to acknowledge what a great asset we have in the cars that currently exist (there are nearly 1.5bn of them worldwide). In terms of manufacture, these cars have paid their environmental dues and, although it is sensible to reduce our reliance on them, it would seem right to look carefully at ways of retaining them while lowering their polluting effect. Fairly obviously, we could use them less. As an environmentalist once said to me, if you really need a car, buy an old one and use it as little as possible.
This week I delivered a lecture to UC Berkeley students who are studying sustainability. I’ve done this for the past ten years or so, and I’m delighted to be asked back year after year.The topic is “What is Wealth?” but, if you know me, you know I cannot answer that by simply giving a few definitions. To answer that properly we have to understand the nature of money and debt, and the placement of those social agreements within the boundaries of the natural world and energy particularly.So this presentation is really The Crash Course, delivered concisely, with a few markers that are relevant to our situation today, such as Jay Powell’s recent Senate testimony on debt.This will be a great refresher for many of you, brand new for some of you, and designed to be shared widely with people who you may know who maybe should hear it.After all, you can always say, “this is a really important university lecture I just stumbled across, what do you think? Is this guy nuts, or completely insane?”I had fun assembling this, I hope you find it useful and stimulating.
Infinite economic growth on a finite planet is not possible.
The quantity of metal required to make just one generation of renewable tech units to replace fossil fuels, is much larger than first thought. Current mining production of these metals is not even close to meeting demand. Current reported mineral reserves are also not enough in size. Most concerning is copper as one of the flagged shortfalls. Exploration for more at required volumes will be difficult, with this seminar addressing these issues.
British pubs are turning back the clock with candles to handle a very modern problem.
A live conversation with Reason's Nick Gillespie, Zach Weissmueller, and environmentalist and writer Michael Shellenberger about Europe's looming energy crisis.
welcome to the “subsidize demand and arrest anyone who tries to take advantage of the price caps” stage of the greendemic of darkness sweeping the globe as deeply unserious people propose deeply unserious “solutions” to entirely avoidable problems of their own making.
This website provides free access to the latest electricity prices in Europe for the day-ahead segment. During the ongoing energy crisis in Europe, we all need free and easy access to the latest electricity prices.