Reclaiming America
Energy depletion & the US descent into fascism
By Dale Allen Pfeiffer
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Oct 23, 2006, 00:58

First Warnings

In October of 2001, a little over a month after 9/11, I wrote an article titled The Background is Oil. The hypothesis laid out in this article was that the 2000 US presidential election resulted in a coup of neocons and oil interests who had taken control of the US in order to prepare for the coming peak and decline of world oil production. Furthermore, this coup engineered the 9/11 terrorist attacks to further their own interests.

Before 9/11, the coup was hampered by lack of support from both the public and Congress. The tragedies of September 11 washed all resistance away in a flood of rabid patriotism. As a result, the coup was able to hijack the US political process. Over the coming years, starting with the USAPATRIOT Act, the coup has been able to strip us of our constitutional rights, in preparation for the civil unrest which will come from the peak and decline of oil production and the resulting economic collapse.

The day after 9/11, the junta announced that the US would undertake a "War against Terror;" that is, a war without end, directed against whomever the junta should label as an enemy state. The war was actually a cover for the consolidation of military empire and a worldwide grab for control of energy production. Never mind that terrorism can never be ended through warfare, but only exacerbated (see Restating the Obvious).

After writing the article The Background is Oil, I shopped it around very eagerly. This message needed to be heard by as many as possible. There were many people, both within the US and around the world, who did not believe the official story of 9/11 and the "War on Terror," but without this knowledge of the peak oil motive, it was very difficult to understand why the junta was proceeding with such a Machiavellian scheme, nor why the power brokers behind the junta would condone this madness.

For the next month, I sent this essay out to every alternative news service and periodical I could think of. None of them would touch it. I had just about given up on having the article published. As a final option, I would put the article out on the web myself, through email groups and my own website. As a last chance, I tried sending the article to From the Wilderness, a newsletter that I knew little about but which seemed to be putting out information about 9/11 that no one else would touch.

Whatever my subsequent thoughts and feelings about From the Wilderness, I owe Mike Ruppert a debt of thanks for publishing this article, and all of the material that followed it. Within the next few months, The Background is Oil traveled all over the web and was translated into many different languages.

In January of 2002, I followed up on this article with another entitled What Next for the Oil Coup? In this article, I proposed that if the US had suffered an oil coup that was using 9/11 to make a global energy grab, then we should be able to make some predictions based on this hypothesis. Looking at the top oil producing countries, I stated that the most likely targets of an oil coup would be Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela. Saudi Arabia would also be important, but its ties to the US could be shored up by the occupation of Iraq and the military bases established in the surrounding area. I also threw in a few other countries devoid of energy resources, but which the US considered to be enemy states -- countries such as North Korea and Cuba. Within a week of the publication of this article in From the Wilderness, Bush gave his infamous "axis of evil" address. And in the years since, the countries listed in this article have been the almost exclusive focus of the "War on Terror."

The InterveningYears

Over the years since I first wrote about the oil coup, the Bush junta has fulfilled all of my worst expectations. The junta has invaded Iraq, though it is now clear that Iraq represented absolutely no terrorist threat to the US. US military bases now surround the Middle East and the Caspian region. And now the junta is very eager to invade Iran. Only in their attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuelan Presidente Hugo Chavez has the US junta been thwarted. And it is hoped that Presidente Chavez can continue to outmaneuver the junta.

The junta has also managed to mothball the Geneva Convention and the US Constitution. The US now has an official policy of sanctioning torture, concentration camps, and limitless detention without filing formal charges. The junta has instituted a policy of preemptive strike known as the "Bush Doctrine." The US can now attack any country that it perceives to be a threat, without provocation.

At home, the junta can conduct domestic spying without court approval. It can label US citizens as terrorists and then imprison them without charge. If you think this only applies to naturalized citizens, think again. In the last few years, the junta has made it very clear that it views environmental activists as terrorists. Environmental activists are now languishing in prison (and in some cases, even dying there) for destruction of property, while right-wing militants are allowed to continue plotting murder. (See Sourcecode: Eco Dissent/Not Terrorism.) And the junta has announced that antiwar activists and others who vocally dissent will be monitored for possible terrorist activities.

The Bush junta has wracked up more high crimes than any previous administration. Yet Congress has granted them full immunity. Any attempt to impeach Bush and Cheney for lying about the reasons for invading Iraq is dead in the water. And the junta is now pursuing the very same tactics with regard to Iran.

In preparation for the economic havoc that will follow the decline of energy production, the junta has made sure that bankruptcy proceedings will not excuse the general public from their consumer debt. The stage is set for the working class within the US to become indentured servants (see Peak Oil & the Working Class). Yet, very few are aware of what is in store for them, and most would not believe if it were mentioned to them.

Internment camps have been prepared within the US, capable of housing many thousands of dissenters. And plans are now being formed to beef up border security, including building and maintaining fences along the southern border. The entire US is being transformed into a prison. Repressive immigration legislation is being pursued by Congress, supposedly on behalf of the US working class. Yet a "War on Immigrants" will be no more successful at halting illegal immigration than the "War on Terror" will stop terrorism. The premises of both wars are false, and the junta knows this. The "War on Immigrants" is ultimately about repressing the working class, both internationally and within the US (see Energy Depletion and Immigration).

Documentariesof Note

The perspective presented several years ago in The Background is Oil has become the thesis for a new documentary, Oil, Smoke and Mirrors, which can be viewed freely online courtesy of Google videos, or which can be purchased on DVD directly from the producers. I heartily recommend this documentary; it should be watched by every citizen of the US. There is little time left to prevent our descent into fascism, and far too many people are not even aware of it.

For those who require more convincing that 9/11 was an inside job, I recommend 9/11; Press for Truth. In this documentary, the 9/11 Family Steering Committee tell their own story, using Paul Thompson's 9/11 timeline to make it very clear that we have been lied to about the tragedy of September 11. This documentary is only available for purchase as a DVD, but it is well worth $15.

Finally, the story of the attempted Venezuelan coup is told in The Revolution will not be Televised. This documentary can also be found on Google videos. Most US citizens do not even know that the US supported the attempted overthrow of duly elected Venezuelan Presidente Chavez. In the US, Chavez is portrayed as a madman, a terrorist, and a dictator. This documentary makes very clear that he is none of these things. Presidente Chavez, in fact, has a much better record than George W. Bush for supporting democracy and free speech.

Upon viewing this documentary, it becomes very clear that the reason the coup failed was because of the people. The people rose up against the coup, and it was their uprising which encouraged loyalists within the military to stage a counter-coup. Without a doubt, Chavez is an excellent tactician. But he is also sincerely a man of the people. And without popular support, his government would have succumbed long ago to US intervention.

The Withdrawalof Consent

The Venezuela documentary also explains that what is lacking in the US is an informed and active public. The oil junta has succeeded because the US public remains uninformed and indifferent, locked into a state of denial that is almost psychotic in its disconnection from reality. If the US public would rise up, the game would be over.

Certainly, the majority of US citizens are dissatisfied with Bush, but they are not truly aware of how close we have come to fascism. Those who are now waking up still place their faith in the electoral system. By the time they realize that democracy is dead in the US, it may very well be too late for them to rise up. The system does not serve us. It is high time that we took our founding fathers' advice and rebelled against this corrupt system and the plutocracy that controls this country.

It is quite likely that the Republicans will retain control of Congress in an election rife with irregularities. However, even if the Democrats manage to take control of Congress, we can expect no changes from them. Both parties are owned by the power brokers behind the oil junta. Whoever is in power, the US will continue its slide toward fascism and totalitarianism.

We do have a chance yet. It will take a few more years before the junta has completely transformed our society. We have to act now.

The age of consumer capitalism is at an end. It will most likely dissolve into some form of debt servitude or corporate feudalism. Yet, even this will be a dying system in the face of energy depletion, global warming and many other problems resulting from over a century of conspicuous consumption. If we continue to support this system, then the blood is on our hands.

We can, instead, turn to a system based on relocalization, democratic decentralization, community and quality of life. But we will have to break free of the plutocracy to do so. They would never tolerate any change that might strip them of even a portion of their power. They would rather live in a dying police state where they remain at the top.

We cannot continue to go along with the plutocracy. Whether we are indifferent, uninformed or in denial, the blood will be on our hands. Our only option is to withdraw our support from this system and actively seek to replace it.

In a past article (Peak Oil and the Working Class), I suggested that what was needed was a new working class movement. The working class, within the US and elsewhere, had to stop serving their masters. A true general strike would take back all power from the plutocracy and stop the junta dead in their tracks.

When I wrote that article, I was attacked on several fronts. Mike Ruppert and Jamey Hecht contended that because of outsourcing, the working class in the US could no longer carry off an effective general strike. They said that nobody would be bothered by a strike of hairdressers and salespeople. I still insist that a real general strike, encompassing the entire working class -- blue and white collar, truckers and salespeople, farm workers and engineers -- would shut down the system. It was because of this disagreement that I left From the Wilderness to put out the article on my own.

In that article, I suggested that the IWW might be the ideal union to organize such a movement. I was then very surprised to be attacked from within the IWW. Perhaps some members of the IWW are too misinformed to see what is happening, or perhaps they are blinded by denial. If the IWW does not want to foster a true worker's movement then it can no longer call itself a revolutionary union. In that case, it is little more than a worker controlled business union. Due to my great admiration of the IWW, such a failure saddens me.

GrassrootsRebellion

It is up to you and me to defeat the junta and the plutocracy. We must act, and we must act quickly. Failing, we will be lucky if we only fall into debt servitude. If the coup succeeds, then it is quite possible that many of us, myself included, will simply disappear.

The government and the media are both against us. And they are intent on reigning in the Internet just as soon as possible. We have a very brief window of opportunity remaining -- a few years at most. It is time to do what we can.

I urge you to read all the materials listed at the end of this article, and view the documentaries I have mentioned. Then I urge you to pass this article along to everyone you know.

This system is suicidal, nor can it be reformed from within the system. It is time to withdraw our consent. The bookstore at our website offers a number of books that will help you to do this. I apologize that the bookstore is an Amazon affiliate, but many of these books are hard to come by otherwise.

Personal withdrawal from the system is a start, but it is not enough. We must organize and work toward a complete general strike. Only if the entire working class refuses to serve, can we take back our own power and return this world to sanity.

So far as sabotage is concerned, right now it is probably too early for major acts of sabotage. At present, the government and the media would likely spin such acts against us. Only when we have gained the understanding and support of the public can we successfully engage in sabotage. Yet, it is the duty of the sane and conscientious person to do whatever he or she can -- short of harming other people -- to stop a system bent on the destruction of the planet and the increase of injustice and human suffering.

And, after all, sabotage will never be as effective as a successful general strike. We must take back our power and stop the madness. Anything less is suicide.

Further Reading& Viewing

What Next
This article helps explain what the "War on Terror" holds in store for us.

Eating Fossil Fuels
This article helps to explain just how important energy depletion will be to all of us. It has been expanded into a book from New Society Publishers. The book also contains many resources for those seeking solutions to this problem (CSA's, farmers markets, food banks, community agriculture organizations, etc.) The book is available in bookstores or directly from the publisher, New Society Publishers.

Imminent Peril, Part 1
Imminent Peril, Part 2
This 2-part article explains just how drastic our situation is on this planet.

The Collapse of Complex Systems

Presentation to the New York Local Solutions Conference, April 2006
These articles explain why there are no technofixes for energy depletion. And they explain that, at best, technofixes would only buy us a little time and likely make the situation worse in the long run.

Peak Oil and the Working Class
What is ahead for the working class, and what can we do about it?

Energy Depletion and Immigration
Why closing the borders would not work and would ultimately hurt US workers.

Restating the Obvious
Why the War on Terror will only lead to more terrorism.

Oil, Smoke and Mirrors
An excellent documentary expanding the thesis of The Background is Oil. This documentary should be viewed by everyone.

9/11; Press for Truth
You owe it to the victims of 9/11 to watch this video. And, as we are all victims of 9/11, you owe it to yourself

The Revolution will not be Televised
Riveting. Watch this if for no other reason than to see an example of the sort of informed and active public which is the best insurance of continuing democracy.

Dale Allen Pfeiffer is a science journalist, a geologist, a novelist, and a noted authority on energy and related geopolitical issues. His 2003 article, Eating Fossil Fuels, has been read by hundreds of thousands throughout the world, and has been proclaimed as one of the most important journalistic pieces of the decade. His follow-up articles, Learning from Experience; North Korea and Cuba, have also been widely read. Recently, information provided by Mr. Pfeiffer has been used in presentation before the US Congress, and the French and Australian Parliaments. His epic novel, "Giants in Their Steps," has been praised as a compelling portrayal of human compassion and bravery, and a poignant plea for the protection of our remaining wilderness. The third issue of