To understand economics, understand demand

There are two parts to the problems we face. One, fossil fuels have high net energy. Two, how we have used that energy. The second is more important.

We have not allowed for the full cost of fossil fuels. Much profit has been made, but the consequences are now coming due. We have created a monster of demand with seven billion people all wanting to live in a leafy US-style suburb.

The problem is not net energy, the problem is not supply. The problem is demand.

How can we reverse the process? Instead of facing the tsunami head-on, let us divert it. Give people carfree cities. With the money saved by abolishing cars, educate all children and provide health care. Birth rate will drop.

Organization in France launches attack on free public transport

"Free is a dangerous idea": "Currently held national meetings of public transport in Bordeaux. From day one, stakeholders are engaged in an all out attack of free public transport."

First, they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win. Are we at step three already? Wow.

Economic myths keep Americans confused

Myth: Private money is smarter than public money.

Reality: The self-driving car by itself should be enough to put this one to rest. But here is more anyway. People in the U.S. have been fed a steady stream of "government-waste" and "government-is-the-problem" propaganda. But in these messages, government projects are compared only with successful business. There is a vast wasteland of failed business which is not considered. Of course, there is such a thing as government waste -- corporate welfare -- but the propaganda rarely mentions it.

Myth: We have the automobile because people made a "market choice."

Reality: This one is laughable. The video "Taken for a Ride" details the premeditated destruction of the U.S. street car. In addition, the subsidy for autos and sprawl has been going for 100 years. We try to document it here and here.

Here is the case for coming out of the 911truth closet

Most people would rather not talk about the 911 false "terror" attack. They know there is something fishy about it, but they don't want to be marginalized and ridiculed.

But stop and think. There is nothing the oil companies would like more than a big "terror" attack on public transit in the US. They want to force people back to driving cars more. It has already been done in Spain and the UK. Do you want that? No. Then, if you know that buildings do not fall down at free-fall speed into their own footprint except by controlled demolition, then it is time to speak up and speak out.

Here is a good place to start -

ReThink911 Around the World: "We have an opportunity to both reflect and move forward. In communicating with a number of activists around the world, I’ve discovered that there is a great deal to feel enthusiastic about – change is in the air!"

What does peak oil look like? Here's an example.

Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Raw Sewage and Anger Flood Gaza’s Streets as Electricity Runs Low - NYTimes.com: "GAZA CITY — Raw sewage has flooded streets in a southern Gaza City neighborhood in recent days, threatening a health disaster, after a shortage of electricity and cheap diesel fuel from Egypt led the Hamas government to shut down Gaza’s lone power plant, causing a pump station to flood."

Imminent peak oil could burst US, global economic bubble - study

Nafeez Ahmed: "The study notes that "oil shortages pose a high risk for economies" and points to evidence that high oil prices were a "partial cause" for the 2008 global financial crisis. Focusing on the US economy - the biggest consumer of oil and oil-based products in the world - the study found that all major industrial sectors were at risk, including food and food processing, primary agriculture, metals and metals processing, and transport:"

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Majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real, study shows

Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP

theguardian.com: "A vast majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real and at least two-thirds of those want the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new research revealed on Wednesday."

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Crazies, trolls, and tea baggers, all part of a plan

With 24-hour television news and mass communication on social media and the web, how can the 1% keep people confused and docile?

Maybe you are interested in learning about false flags. Immediately, on the web and social media, you are immersed in craziness. Think about it. Why?

Maybe you want to watch TV news and learn something. But all they talk about is silly tea bag antics. Think about it. Why?

Maybe you want to have a discussion on social media, but you are attacked with scatology and non sequiturs. Think about it. Why?

Welcome to the age of disinformation. They will try to tweak your emotions, disgust you, or intimidate you.

Don't let their plan work, keep seeking wisdom and reality will assert itself in time.

see Recognizing Trolls in the tabs at the top of the blog. It's a list of characteristics to identify trolls. Nothing is 100%, but it might help. 

911 lie not so big, historically

Which of these is the biggest lie by your own criteria:

• humans have races and they have different worth
• car culture is and was a free market choice
• 911 was a terrorist attack from abroad
• Columbus discovered America

So, why all the fuss about 911? If you can believe that people bomb countries for power and money, why would you not believe that they can do a false flag?

Dubai free transport day proves effective at reducing CO2

Dubai free transport day cuts CO2 emissions by 10% | GulfNews.com: "Dubai: An estimated 900,000 people travelled by public transport on Friday, taking advantage of unlimited free trips to mark the fourth edition of the Roads and Transport Authority’s annual Public Transport Day.
Many roads in Dubai were free of traffic as people left their cars at home for a day to use other modes of transport, which resulted in an estimated 10 per cent reduction in Dubai’s CO2 emissions generated through vehicular traffic."

While governments, pundits, and planners wring their hands over CO2 emissions, an obvious solution, #freetransit, is ready, proven, and available now. Only loser? Those who are profiting from the #subsidy of #autosprawl.

Two decades of recession predicted for areas dependent on oil

This CAR Game Will Drive You Crazy

Dr. Lorraine: "Freeways are places where players are free to toss their fast food trash out their windows while they’re on their way. These free-to-litter-ways are expensive to build and maintain. Taxes cover the cost of the government employees who build and maintain them and the prisoners who clean up the garbage. Most players don’t feel bad about this, however, because the prisoners are given meals, housing and health care. They qualify for more benefits than the working poor."

Read the whole post here

Could cities of the future have free public transport?

Getty images

cnbc : ""The other two benefits would first of all be to low-income people, whose mobility would be improved, giving them access to jobs, health facilities and so on by removing financial constraints," he added. "Secondly, there would be some prospect of a modal shift, in particular diverting people from cars to a mode of transport with less energy use and emissions.""

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@JeffSpeckAICP: "The worst idea America has ever had is suburban sprawl"

Jeff Speck: America Has So Many Problems. Walkability Solves Most of Them. | Streetsblog Capitol Hill: "The worst idea America has ever had is suburban sprawl"

Does the Earth need saving?

Resource Insights: "We humans are almost certainly in overshoot, a term from population biology that means we've exceeded the long-term carrying capacity of the Earth for humans given our current technology and consumption habits. So, here's the solution. Bring the per-capita consumption of humans down drastically or drastically reduce the number of humans consuming at our current rate. The first seems nearly impossible given our system of governance and technology and the fact that there are so many poor people who aspire to higher levels of consumption. The second seems impossible even though we have highly effective and cheap contraceptive technology that would over the course of the next century enable us to reduce our numbers down to one billion. (This assumes that average fertility is no more than one child per couple.)

There is a third solution. And, that is simply to let nature take its course and thin human numbers through plagues, food and resource shortages, climate-related catastrophes and the collapse of our complex global economic network that might ensue."

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How economic growth has become anti-life

theguardian.com: "Limitless growth is the fantasy of economists, businesses and politicians. It is seen as a measure of progress. As a result, gross domestic product (GDP), which is supposed to measure the wealth of nations, has emerged as both the most powerful number and dominant concept in our times. However, economic growth hides the poverty it creates through the destruction of nature, which in turn leads to communities lacking the capacity to provide for themselves."

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We've know for a long time that #publictransit is one of the best economic stimulators

• Transit capital investment is a significant source of job creation. This analysis indicates that in the year following the investment 314 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in transit capital funding.
• Transit operations spending provides a direct infusion to the local economy. Over 570 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in the short run.
• Businesses would realize a gain in sales 3 times the public sector investment in transit capital; a $10 million investment results in a $30 million gain in sales.
• Businesses benefit as well from transit operations spending, with a $32 million increase in business sales for each $10 million in transit operations spending.
• The additional economic benefits from the transportation impacts of transit investment in major metropolitan areas are substantial. For every $10 million invested, over $15 million is saved in transportation costs to both highway and transit users. These costs include operating costs, fuel costs, and congestion costs.
• Business output and personal income are positively impacted by transit investment, growing rapidly over time. These transportation user impacts create savings to business operations, and increase the overall efficiency of the economy, positively affecting business sales and household incomes. A sustained program of transit capitalinvestment will generate an increase of $2 million in business output and $0.8 million in personal income for each $10 million in the short run (during year one). In the long term (during year 20), these benefits increase to $31 million and $18 million for business output and personal income respectively.
• Transit capital and operating investment generates personal income and business profits that produce positive fiscal impacts. On average, a typical state/local government could realize a 4 to 16 percent gain in revenues due to the increases in income and employment generated by investments in transit.
• Additional economic benefits which would improve the assessment of transit's economic impact are difficult to quantify and require a different analytical methodology from that employed in this report. They include "quality of life" benefits, changes in land use, social welfare benefits and reductions in the cost of other public sector functions.

Read report here

Oil investors starting to get nervous

CBC News: "“There is a deep concern that the industry, especially the oil and gas industry, is betting vast amounts of capital contingent on a future of ever-increasing demands for ever-more expensive fossil fuels and the companies that I work with are concerned that that future is looking increasingly less likely,” said Andrew Logan, director of oil and gas programs at Ceres."

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