A Perfect Storm

I remember a movie I saw a few years ago. I think it was titled, A Perfect Storm. It was about this fishing boat that went out to sea just as several contributing factors for a monster storm were coming together. The weather forecasters called it a “perfect storm” and it swallowed up this boat and its crew and wreaked havoc on the northeastern coast of the United States.

I feel like America is headed for “a perfect storm.” Every day the price of a barrel of oil reaches a new high. The price of gasoline is well on its way to $4.00 a gallon. The cost of food and other items are rising quickly. Confidence in the U.S. dollar is dropping. The fallout from the mortgage crises is still rippling across the investment banks of the world leaving more and more homeowners to face foreclosure everyday. How did so many things get this bad so fast?

For decades, cheap oil and gas have allowed Americans to live a wonderful life. We guzzled gas and oil like there was no tomorrow, no end to this resource. We were certain that the oil producing countries of this world would always be there for us. We became hooked, like an addict, on this dope that fueled our economy and our wasteful lifestyle. We could waste it. There was plenty more where that came from. It was cheap! We had no need to develop more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. We had no need to think about alternative fuels and different kinds of engines. We had no need to worry about the cost to the environment. Global warming was just a theory. No one saw the clouds of political unrest that would lead to hostility by those oil-producing nations. No one saw an arrogant war that made us one of the most hated countries in the world. Finally, no one saw the competition for this precious resource from China and India as their countries modernized. We were the biggest customer “junkie” on the block.

Americans talked a lot about our dependence on foreign oil, but did little to end it. In fact, we grew even more dependent as the discussion grew louder. Bio-fuels became the rallying cry. We will help solve our addiction for oil by growing our own fuel! Great idea! Our leaders jumped on the bandwagon. Soon there was a call to build more plants to turn even more corn into ethanol. Farmers rejoiced and the price of corn began rising. Forego the other crops and plant more corn! And they did to the exclusion of other crops. No one foresaw that farmers and ranchers would have to pay more to feed their livestock. The price of beef and milk began to rise. No one foresaw that the cost of his or her cornflakes and corn chips would also become more expensive. No one even thought about all the other grain needed to feed the rest of the world or that people might go hungry. Recently, the cost rose and the supply dropped for those other grains leading even American suppliers like Sam’s Club and Costco to resort to rationing. What the hell was that?

By the way, someone forgot to tell us that there is less “bang” per gallon of ethanol compared to a gallon of gasoline. Even though our MPG (miles per gallon) burning ethanol would be lower than gasoline, at least we grew it! We did not import it. Why invest money in updating old oil refineries to make them safer, less polluting and more efficient? Why build new oil refineries at all? Therefore, we did not. In fact, the oil companies began to realize that there was a big profit in limiting and controlling the supply of gasoline on the market (independent of the rise or fall of the cost of a barrel of oil). Did you ever wonder why it takes forever for the price of gasoline to drop at the pump when there is a drop in the price of oil and why the pump price rises immediately when the price of oil rises? I have heard it said that market speculation is now behind the skyrocketing cost of gas at the pump, not unlike the housing boom that recently went...bust.

Speaking of housing and mortgages, no one saw the problem of selling variable rate mortgages to families who could not afford them. When the rates invariably increased, the homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment quickly rose beyond their ability to pay. An explosion of homes across the country were quickly forced into foreclosure. Another problem: no one questioned that many of these families made little or no down payments on these sub-prime mortgages so they could just walk away leaving banks and lenders holding bad debt. No one saw the cost of this unregulated greed. Too many lenders were only interested in pushing paper and making their commissions. Let someone else worry about the consequences of all these bad loans. No one questioned the ratcheting values of these homes during the boom. There was money to be made from pushing value and churning real estate. As long as you could buy, sell, and move property the market was hot. No one saw the pin that burst the bubble.

So now, we watch the skies darken over our “little boat.” We see the waves rise and fall higher and deeper. The wind blows fiercely in our face. We are heading into our “perfect storm.” No food, no affordable fuel and no home may be left to give us a port in this coming storm. If ever there was a time for bold leadership, new ideas and sacrifice...this is that time. The party is over. There comes a time to pay for our greed, our lack of vision and our lack of caring. I pray that we survive our perfect storm.

FOOD for THOUGHT...