Sense in a senseless world: November 2009

I was talking with my cousin from New York City recently. She said that she was incredulous that there seems to be a persistent desire and demand to return to a storied past where the USA was the world's political, economic and cultural super power. The promises currently being made by the Obama administration and the clamoring for even more from its detractors are all shades of a time past that may never return. The nation currently exists as a shadow of its former self with the outline of its glory days clearly laying behind it.

She asked me what did I see as the future of the nation. After reflecting on what appears to be a tendency on the part of the Obama administration to hold onto the 'old way of doing things' that is reflected in the selection of Guitner and Summers I began a stream of consciousness riff. When we think about what has been the experience of other empires one of the primary reasons for their demise can be traced to dietary causes.

The roman empire may have fell due partly to the use of lead for wine goblets. Several major ancient empires have their decline traced to their food supply including the Mayans. This speaks to the current situation created by use of nitrogen fertilizer for food production.

The decline in yield from nitrogen fertilizers combined with their environmental impact (degrading soil, poisoning streams, etc.) argues for their being part of the problem rather than the solution. Combine that with the factory food production system and we teeter n the edge of empire collapse. While this is seriously over wrought and alarmist, it is a corollary to the economic decline that the U.S. is experiencing.

Just as the British once bragged that the sun never set on its empire, the U.S. must now face its declining position as the premier economic international power. This is not a particularly cogent or coherent treatment of this topic. But this serves as a beginning not the end of my thoughts on this topic.