part of what needs to be done, and why the Hon.Bro.Preznit is incapable of doing it...,

jayhanson | The “bad news” is that “peak oil” marks the beginning of the end of capitalism and market politics because many decades of declining “net energy” [1] will result in many decades of declining economic activity. And since capitalism can’t run backwards, a new method of distributing goods and services must be found. The “good news” is that our “market system” is not efficient! Americans could be wasting something like two billion tonnes (metric tons) of oil equivalent energy each year!!

 

In order to avoid anarchy, rebellion, civil war and global nuclear conflict, Americans must force a fundamental change in our political environment. We can keep the same social structures and people, but we must totally eliminate corporate-special interests from our political environment. A careful review of the progressive assault on laissez faire constitutionalism and neoclassical economics, from the 1880s through the 1930s, explains how this can be done legally and without violence. These early progressives showed how we can save our country. All that is lacking today is the political will.

The reason that the reforms listed on this page are so important and must be implemented as the first in a series of many political reforms is because they are “constitutional politics” (politics that changes politics). The modification that I am proposing would fundamentally alter the nature of politics in America.

To achieve America 2.0, we must first separate and isolate our political system from our economic system so that government can begin to address and solve societal problems directly rather than indirectly by throwing money at corporate special interests. The second step is to retire most working American citizens with an annuity sufficient for health and happiness, as government begins to eliminate the current enormous waste of vital resources by delivering goods, and services like police and fire services are delivered today. This would allow the vast majority of adults to stay at home with their families but still receive the what they need to enjoy life—while greatly reducing natural resource consumption.

These reforms are based on the biological principle that people respond to environmental cues; change the cues and one also will change the behavior. If the voting public and political decision-makers only receive cues designed to “mitigate” (make less severe) our crisis, then all choices they make will be aimed at mitigating that crisis. The choices made by elected officials will be, by best calculations, “good” for the public. Corporations will become the public utilities that they were before 1860.