Faustian Weblog

America will need to invade Iran; the Empire will need to expand. All petty petro-dictators who stand in its way will need to be crushed. But what to do with a peace yearning populace; under taxed, over entertained, and ready to embrace a new Messiah? I tell you what you need to do, you need to make them mad, I say… Too much high fructose corn syrup in the mix. Let the price of gas reach $8 a gallon. Let the hookers in Vegas sleep alone at night. Let the Motel owners wonder how they can pay their mortgage. Let even the Mexicans wonder if there will be lawns to mow.

Let the OPEC ministers tell us how it’s going to $200 a barrel. And then let them promise how there will be gas for fifty years, just to make it hurt. Let the financiers chime in on how to invest in commodities. Let the kids be forced to walk to school. Let the soccer moms and MILFs trade in their SUVs. Let the malls go empty. Let the porn on demand in the classroom.

Mad I tell you, mad is what you need. Preferably in the heat of summer, all great wars are started when the mercury breaks the glass. At $8 a gallon it will almost seem justified. If I were the leader who wanted the war, I would let it just keep on going up.

Corporations are intrinsically Faustian – the narrative is not so much about profit as it is about blame. The CEO should be replaced by the CBO – chief blame officer in charge. Like Celtic kings, if the man on top is not dispensing it, he is usually on the receiving end – knifed sacrificially in a pit. The root of the problem lies in the notion of action. Corporations are organic entities incapable of concerted thought. When they atrophy, action is what is called for. Instead of directing it in a positive direction, one that might actually result in a new product, an improved service, or a more satisfied customer, the corporation must find a victim to pin the blame on. Usually that person is the most passive, but somewhat costliest entity within the team – the designated patsy. Once the wheels have been put into motion, the corporation will usually take its time to slaughter its designated victim. Sometimes, the actual death sentence can be commuted for years. For whatever happens, it is the patsy who must bear responsibility for the crimes of others, who must appear unreasonable, and whose sacrifice must be seen as inevitable but also the right thing given the unfortunate circumstances. The disorganization of the group can never be brought into question, compared to the evil deeds of a single person or entity within it.

If you are unlucky enough to find yourself in this position, a few words of caution. Never lose your temper, smile, hopefully your superiors will be next. It eventually happens to all of us, even the worst of us – Don Rumsfeld included.

The Dow is down 358.41 points; nearly 3.03%. Oil is up to $140. The Libyan national oil company said it would cut production because the oil market is well supplied. How well put. How perfectly Faustian. I guess at these prices, the world is well supplied.

Although I do believe in peak oil, I also believe that the recent run up is a little over done. I would expect a pull back from $150 a barrel later next week back to $108. America is usual will take this as as sign that everything is back to normal, which will be the true Faustian calamity.

Once again, I have to admit that the Chinese government actually has the balls to do the right thing and tax gasoline 18% – something our government in the United States is seriously lacking in. Rather we are focused on giving our over indulgent consumer/citizens a suspension in taxes in the hope that by dropping prices they will come to their sense and consume less. On this issue alone, it should be clear to anyone with half a brain that Senator McCain is either too senile or too out of touch to run this country. What has this man been smoking? I would like some.

Americans consume 388.6 million gallons of gas per day. The average price of a gallon is four dollars 4$ – or a total of 1.5 Billion dollars per day. If we charged an 18% tax on our consumption, the government would pocket $280 million dollars per day, or a $102 billion dollars per year. Congress could appropriate this money for the development of high speed rail across the country – over a ten year period this could amount to nearly a trillion dollars.