Money is a fiction, not an elixir

This is not a liquidity crisis that can be avoided by printing more money or keeping interest rates on the floor, because real wealth does not come out of a printing press. by Tim Murray

Real wealth must ultimately derive from the use of energy to transform physical objects subject to the laws of entropy. Nate Hagens, the editor of “Oil Drum” put it plainly, “If you go from using a 20-1 energy return fuel down to a 3-1 fuel, economic collapse is guaranteed.”

As the Romans discovered in the last century of their crumbling empire, money is a fiction, not an elixir. People will stop believing in it when they come face to face with a reality that can’t be fooled by confidence tricks and greenwash. When that realization hits, my hope is that they will look for scapegoats, and find them in the financial industry, the universities, the think tanks, the journalism schools, parliament, the media, and last but not least, the offices of environmental NGOs who have accepted donations from banks in return for their accommodation to growth.

Debt must be regarded as a white collar crime of epic proportions which flourishes by custom and want of scrutiny. While Jefferson was right about banks being more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies, their silent partners and witnesses must be held equally accountable. Let them be hung from the lamp-posts as Mussolini was, like a slab of meat on a hook in an abattoir, as befits liars and collaborators.
With apologies to Diderot, I would not rest content until the last politician or banker is strangled by the entrails of the last environmentalist on the take---too busy sucking on corporate tits to alert us to the perils ahead, trying to “manage” growth rather than stop it.

SHOOT: Anger is increasing as wealth dissipates. Someone is going to pay for these shannigans, and there will be a great baying for blood...but in the end, everyone is to blame for their short sighted greed.