Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Horrors of “Big Oil”
It's become a recent strategy of the Democratic Party (America's de facto mainstream socialist party) to publicly use the label “big oil” often to rouse the class envy crowd with Orwellian mind-prints.
Of course, when directing rage against the producers of energy, one should not note the 40-50 % tax applied to gasoline or the stupid subsidies given to produces of corn ethanol. And, definitely don't even suggest that oil is used for anything other than gasoline (when in fact it's used for practically everything in addition to gasoline – not to mention transporting virtually everything).
But...
Don't ya just hate “big oil?” I so much prefer little oil. You know, the little mom and pop oil companies with the little refineries, little exploration and drilling equipment, and little tankers to transport all that little oil. We need to supply our little desire for gasoline, clothing, cars and transportation uses operating ambulances, buses, trains, planes, and delivering food to local supermarkets with a virtuous little oil. Fueling our needs, demands, and lifestyles only requires – cute – little oil. Why let big oil cater to our needs when windmills and solar panels ...and, little oil will do the job just as well. Sure, being a cave-dweller has its drawbacks but “sustainable” retrograde lifestyles is the wave of the future. Under the virtuous guidance of socialism inc. we will no longer need to sweat over the horrid principle of actually paying for a product that must be extracted from the ground, refined, and delivered to a million and one locations to power our leisure lives. And, think of all the “green jobs” available when big oil is chased out of town. Or, perhaps it could be nationalized. Big oil under big government will bring cost down and increase efficiency...I think?...maybe?
With 87% or so of the world's oil companies being owned by governments isn't it time we reined in those greedy 13% that are actually making a profit off of the product they produce?
Remember, “big oil” is evil...and, big government is caring, loving, and downright okay.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
The Problem With Japan...
I don't wish to be a "typical foreigner living in Japan," by hurling non-stop verbal abuse upon a country that's been rather good to me and my circumstance. I love Japan, It's my home -- or at least my second home. Of course it must also be noted, considering the time proximity, that they've endured some horrid circumstance, this year in particular.
Like all countries, Japan has flaws and weaknesses. I've often speculated on the basic reasons for the many defects that appear to me in daily life in Japan and I believe I've narrowed them to a specific issue.
The people of Japan are willing to tolerate inconvenience and inefficiency. That's it, in a nutshell. The economy, the bureau cluster-f...s found everywhere from garbage disposal to getting a driver's license; they all stem from a very compliant population that is more than willing to accept inconvenience and inefficiency. It's no wonder that the translation for a common response to negative circumstance here is, "it can't be helped." America, with all it's flaws, has a noteworthy and contrasting manner that sees the attainment of convenience, efficiency, and personal pleasure as a guiding principal of existence. "It can't be helped" American style is, "what's the problem and why isn't anyone working on a solution...and if they do, that's where my money is going."
Japan is just too damn nice for them to continue to allow a downward spiral because they've been lead to believe that individuals barely exist before a contrived allegiance to bureau-decrees and inept drones. May they overcome this fatal weakness.
