I had forgotten all about Larouche until he surfaced as the political mentor of Robert Beltran, a former Star Trek: Voyager, which I am a big fan of. Beltran has declared himself a supporter of Larouche and has been investing his time with the organization since 2001. Consequently, at another blog of mine I have been indulging in the snark & wank often associated with fandom (and politics for that matter). One wag has suggested Beltran is the new Dick Gregory for Larouche, although DG bailed out on the organization fairly quickly. So why all this exposition here?
I was over at Factnet and read an excerpt from a college student's blog (Boston based), who provided tips for dealing with the college dropouts who lobby for Larouche from what are colloquially known as card table shrines. I was inspired to find a Larouche blog....and did! Opportunity to engage in dialogue. Earlier I wrote about The Last Emergency and its implications. Given Larouche's ongoing Chicken Little scenario (at least 30-40 years old) of a collapsing world economy, I decided to force the issue as to why and when the economy might collapse. The blog belongs to Carl Osgood and I posted the following, subject to his determination (moderation) that it is suitable.
Larouche has clearly missed the mark regarding the economic future of the world, and I am curious as to why.
The Last Emergency by James Howard Kunstler (no relation to William K the famous attorney) details the upcoming collapse of the petroleum based economy in about 50-60 years, and supports this with the use of the oil industry's own data and their own experts. He is not alone in raising this issue; Thomas Berry did so in the 1990s when he wrote The Great Work. David Korten has written The Great Turning, which offers up an alternative view of the future, albeit rather utopian in its outlook, in coping with this event.
We are facing the convergence of three events:
1 - the available oil on this planet (from all sources) is running out (we may have passed or are about to pass global peak production so less than 50% of the original oil reserves remain) with ongoing increases in demand. China now rivals the US as a leading petroleum customer. This has enormous implications for every product that relies on petroleum (not just gasoline - think plastics for one);
2 - the climate is undergoing change. One scenario, for which there are early indications (the release of freshwater from melting ice in the Arctic and Greenland), is the shutdown of the Gulf Stream. Europe would be immediately affected should this occur (it is documented that the Stream shut down for a few years during the Middle Ages);
3 - the Republicans are leaving an enormous debt for the future, along with absolutely no effort made to reform entitlement programs like Social Security. At some point, taxes will rise and benefits will go down in order to balance the books, which may result in social disruptions and unrest as society deals with the fallout.
Given all of the foregoing, what is Larouche proposing to mitigate the implications of the convergence of these events and create a stable society that can weather the anticipated disruptions? I have yet to see anything in his writings or proclamations that suggests he is aware of anything other than Republican misbehavior. His proposed solutions are not solutions at all, given that he needs a petroleum based economy to revive the manufacturing sector. Indeed, his call to revive the automobile industry would, if implemented, merely hasten the day of reckoning.
Or has Larouche, like the politicians he despises, stuck his head in the sand, leaving his vital parts exposed for the moment when the torpedo of change lands on us?
I don't know if Carl will approve my post as Larouchies tend to look on any criticism as being bad form at the very least. This should be interesting in any case.
ETA 5:01 PM CDT - Carl has responded that he will answer my post, which is not posted yet. I assume that is because he will post it with his answer.
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