"The cartography of oil as an omnipresent entity narrates the dynamics of planetary events. Oil is the undercurrent of all narrations, not only the political but also that of the ethics of life on earth."In light of rising oil prices, and the relatively quiet but increasingly intense panic coming from most global financial managers, I thought it would be a good time to reflect upon our deep petro-addiction and the "politics" and barbarism that underlies global demand/supplies. The next few posts will follow this theme and perhaps point a way forward out of this pathological dilemma.
- Reza Negarastani, Cyclonopedia [via SC Hickman]
The phrase "addicted to oil" was made famous by former United States President George W. Bush in a State of the Union Address on January 31, 2006. One year prior to Bush's public admission Kurt Vonnegut used the phrase in his memoir A Man Without a Country.
The fact is that a vast majority of our civilization's economic activity, productivity and social infrastructure is completely dependent on fossil fuel use. Without relatively cheap oil in large quantities our transportation would be severely limited, our lifestyles would be drastically different, and we would not have technology and institutional systems that are the foundation for contemporary civil society.
This addiction will not be easily cured. Politicians, bankers, kings of industry and financial uber-elites will do everything in their power to maintain the petro-system as long as possible if only because all of their wealth, privilege and control are ultimately entangled in ventures and institutions that wholly rely on the steady flow of 'black gold'. To radically change would be for be close to suicide for most global elites. So they come out fighting instead: global-warming disinformation campaigns, billion dollar lobbies against environmental protections, and coordinated efforts to control key governmental personal and mechanisms are the everyday arsenal of the mighty petro-oligarchy.
If we are indeed addicted to oil, our twelve-step program should begin with admitting that we have a problem. Below I offer two videos. The first one is a stylist synopsis of the global energy crisis and how it relates to modern socio-economics and food production (produced by GOOD Magazine), and the second is a much longer in-depth report by award-wining journalist Thomas L. Friedman on the scope and nature of civilization's pathological and entrenched addiction to oil. Please take the time to experience both.
Thomas Friedman reporting for The Discovery Channel: 'Addicted to Oil'
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