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I think most of what you are saying is overshadowed by two points that were made in the article: 1) Every bridge, road, factory, and in fact most of our econom

I think most of what you are saying is overshadowed by two points that were made in the article: 1) Every bridge, road, factory, and in fact most of our economy is build on the (nearly) free energy that we get from pulling hydrocarbons out of the ground. I'm not morally justifying it, but if a couple hundred billion spent on war, allows Iraq to quadruple oil production, then we will recoup those hundred billion by using that (nearly) free energy found in those Iraqi hydrocarbons. 2) Regan's or any other era's budget deficits pale in comparison the the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security. The deficits are manageable, but the retirement and health promises are not.

pedalpete 17y ago
how does a 'couple hundred billion' = nearly free energy. It clearly isn't nearly free if you are paying a couple hundred billion. If US gdp is 14 trillion, a few hundred billion for access to energy is a fairly significant number.
- euroclydon 17y ago
  Let's say the energy cost of building a new bridge is $500,000 worth of hydrocarbons. Now, let's compare that to non-hydrocarbon energy sources. Historically, this might be steam from burning wood, or a team of mules. What I am saying is that $500,000 worth of wood or mules is so much less energy than $500,000 worth of oil, that the oil is nearly free in comparison. Think about it: what other fuel is just sitting around, storing millions of years of solar energy, and waiting to be extracted and burned??? This is a key economic concept that must be understood when discussing oil.
izendejas 17y ago
1) what about the cost of diverting resources to finance the war? what of the health costs we incur for the health benefits of the wounded, support of their families, etc? You're not addressing my point. You're merely reinforcing it by being as short-sighted as the author of the article and not going far enough to compute the actual costs. 2) huh? did you see the debt reagan left us? and again, my issue is we're spending money on wars and cutting it from education and other vital investments, anyway. medicare and social security are a different discussion.
- euroclydon 17y ago
  Oil is THE resource right now. The author is saying that when that ceases to be true, all bets are off, and we won't even recognize civilization. Plus, you don't think healthcare depends on oil?
mark_l_watson 17y ago
"Regan's or any other era's budget deficits pale in comparison the the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security." Actually, the biggest unfunded liability is the interest on the money that our Department of War spends. We borrow that money, and leaving alone the issue of defaulting on these loans or inflating them to nothing, borrowing all that money has a huge cost. I like to toss out the amount of $1.5 trillion a year on "defense," adding the cost of the interest on the loans - probably not a bad estimate.

pedalpete 17y ago

how does a 'couple hundred billion' = nearly free energy. It clearly isn't nearly free if you are paying a couple hundred billion. If US gdp is 14 trillion, a few hundred billion for access to energy is a fairly significant number.

euroclydon 17y ago
Let's say the energy cost of building a new bridge is $500,000 worth of hydrocarbons. Now, let's compare that to non-hydrocarbon energy sources. Historically, this might be steam from burning wood, or a team of mules. What I am saying is that $500,000 worth of wood or mules is so much less energy than $500,000 worth of oil, that the oil is nearly free in comparison. Think about it: what other fuel is just sitting around, storing millions of years of solar energy, and waiting to be extracted and burned??? This is a key economic concept that must be understood when discussing oil.

izendejas 17y ago

1) what about the cost of diverting resources to finance the war? what of the health costs we incur for the health benefits of the wounded, support of their families, etc? You're not addressing my point. You're merely reinforcing it by being as short-sighted as the author of the article and not going far enough to compute the actual costs. 2) huh? did you see the debt reagan left us? and again, my issue is we're spending money on wars and cutting it from education and other vital investments, anyway. medicare and social security are a different discussion.

euroclydon 17y ago
Oil is THE resource right now. The author is saying that when that ceases to be true, all bets are off, and we won't even recognize civilization. Plus, you don't think healthcare depends on oil?

mark_l_watson 17y ago

"Regan's or any other era's budget deficits pale in comparison the the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security." Actually, the biggest unfunded liability is the interest on the money that our Department of War spends. We borrow that money, and leaving alone the issue of defaulting on these loans or inflating them to nothing, borrowing all that money has a huge cost. I like to toss out the amount of $1.5 trillion a year on "defense," adding the cost of the interest on the loans - probably not a bad estimate.