Politics of the Tribe - The Energy Grab

Are things really so different this time around as compared to times of crisis in the past? Well yes I believe they are much different. SO different in fact that there is very little that has come before that can be used to help guide us down the gradual decline we are seeing today, at least on a macro level. This is one of the reasons why predicting what will happen next and how long until it does is so hard.

For one the complexity issue has never been so deep, interconnected or well complex in all of history. For another the surplus energy available has never been so high and dropped so far so fast.

Take any fallen empire or civilization. They all relied on surplus energy in one form or another from production to resources usually taken by force from someone else. All fine and good but even though they had a surplus that surplus was never very high. When you take any portion of physical labor as the energy input assign it a value of say 1, then figure the energy surplus of any given empire or civilization. Until the discovery of fossil fuels you would barely find a surplus of 3 to 1 energy returns from any of them.

By the 1930's it is estimated Western civilizations were seeing energy surpluses of 100 to 1 or higher.

If you have the time read this pdf file. I would plan on spending a bit of time and grab a drink before settling in.

Perfect Storm: Energy, Finance and the End of Growth


While it is a pretty good primer for an overall picture of what we are dealing with the article misses the most important part for all of us immediately. We may see where this is going, we may even know how to deal with the inevitable end result but we still must travel the road and avoid all the perils along the way. As the available surplus energy drops each group or tribe is not going to suffer if they do not have to and that means they must take from another group or tribe to make up their own losses.

This is the basis for the entire political situation we see ourselves in today. Massive tribal groups competing for the resources against the others. In the US it has turned into mob democracy which cannot be restrained by the laws of a Constitutional Republic if it wishes to continue transferring energy from one group to another.

We are still at the Macro level but heading ever so slowly to the micro level. At the Macro level sweeping political tools such as race, gender, religion, etc. can be used to great effect as long as you have a target to unify against. So far that target is lumped together into numerous catch phrases such as the rich, corporations, Christians you get the idea where it actually ends up. However the other tribes must be given a sense of justification as well which is where pure mob democracy comes in to justify violating previous property rights and other individual rights. The Will of the people or....

Three Wolves and Two Sheep Voting on whats for Dinner.

It's simple you cannot get away with that while following a Constitution. The two are just not compatible.

What we are seeing right now is a frantic effort by those currently at a level of information availability to have a more accurate view of just how fast we are slipping into total energy depletion. They are strengthening their hold across the board on everything in the hopes of  keeping control as long as possible. That means every available resource from agriculture to each human must be consolidated, pacified and penned in. What has been created with the massive energy surplus of the recent past cannot continue to stand on lower energy returns.

Our problem is not the actual energy depletion. Each of us can adjust or learn the skills to live happy productive lives as individuals, small groups or communities. We can prepare and obtain what we need to live in a world with less energy but we must get there to do so and getting there as individuals is not beneficial to the powers that be.

In short we must survive the energy grab if we ever hope to make it to a sustainable future.

Some of us see this time as revolution. Some see it as defending the Constitution. Those are certainly part of it but the overall Macro level is really just surviving the Energy grab. In a very real sense each and every one of us is nothing more than a "Battery Person" spoken of in the "Matrix" movies. Some of us have more juice than others to siphon off along the way.

At first glance it looks like we are at an extreme disadvantage but we must also remember time is actually on our side. We can prep and yes those preps maybe taken away from us. We fight political delaying actions and it may very well come to pass that we must fight violently but every BTU of energy we use gets us that much closer to starving the beast and the beast needs much more energy for it's lifestyle than we need for ours.

Read the article. In the next few days I will expand on these thoughts and I hope we can discuss various ways to survive the time of the energy grab and make it to true sustainable living.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!