Hey Bicycle Dave,

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. I first learned of Peak Oil in 2006 by reading JHK's "The Long Emergency." I had made of the same reactions that you did. At first, I researched the heck out of it and tried desperately to find some logical argument that the coming energy crisis wasn't going to be a problem. The more I learned, the more I realized that we had a HUGE problem. From energy, my studies branched out to learning about population (overpopulation). The real urgency is that the world can only meet the needs of about 1-2 Billion people on a sustainable basis. With the world population now at just under 7 billion and a projected population in 2050 of 9 billion....It's a simple math problem. 9 billion people competing for 1-2 billion people's worth of food. Not a pretty picture. Like you I was so angry that nothing was being done on a governmental level. I started to learn what drives politics. That was an easy answer...Money drives politics. Every politician who makes it to office has to sell their souls to get there. They are completely bought and paid for. If they don't adhere to the party line, they're out. Ron Paul is a good example.

Then I was thinking...Why are the powers that be (TPTB), the ones with the endless supply of money, concerned enough about this problem. Peak Oil is not hard to understand. In fact, for the longest time, TPTB seemed to intentionally ignore and obfuscate the issue. I couldn't figure it out. What would make them do that? It's just as much a problem for them as it is for us....Right?

Well this lead me to study our money/financial system. I'll preface this by telling you that I have my MBA from Penn State, and I never learned how our financial system truley works until I read "Web of Debt" by Ellen H. Brown. What an eye opener.

You see Dave, our financial/money system is the root cause of the inaction. Money is ONLY created in our country (and most of the world) when someone goes into debt for it. When you take out a mortgage, the bank creates brand new money to give to you. It's not money that they already had. The problem is that you owe all that money back to the bank PLUS interest. Well if the banks only create the principle then where the heck are you supposed to find the money for the interest???!!!

Answer: More and more people must continue to take on debt so that you can get a piece of the funds that they borrowed and siphon that back to the bank. The system is flawed because its ALWAYS short on cash. There will always be bankruptcies with fractional reserve lending. Period. So this dynamic is what causes the "growth imperative." As long as our economy is growing, there will be enough cash out there for most people to get ahold of and make their payments. If the economy stagnates or shrinks, you've got real financial pain felt by many people.

So now we're back full circle because economies run on energy. Less energy means a smaller economy. So we find that it's about keeping the fractional reserve lending Ponzi scheme alive, no matter the costs. TPTB will stop at nothing to maintain "business as usual" because it's about power to them. They control the money supply, they can finance the politicians (who are merely puppets), and these politicians do their bidding. That's why you'll never see meaningful governmental change that acknowleges the scarcity of resources and the need to switch our monetary system towards one that can nuture a sustainable economy that is healthy when it's shrinking, constant, or expanding. Such an economy is possible and actually exists today on the island of Guernsey (spelling?) Lincoln and Hilter both had such economies too.

Realistically, the only way I see our financial system making this radical change is if the current system collapses. We're well on our way to that.

I hope this helps you to realize why you aren't seeing the logical changes that one would surely expect from our elected officials.

If anyone sees where I got any of this wrong, please correct me.

TS