{"id":66922,"date":"2024-03-10T06:02:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T11:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=66922"},"modified":"2024-03-10T06:07:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T11:07:11","slug":"todays-contemplation-collapse-cometh-lxix-geopolitics-its-about-wealth-extraction-and-generation-for-the-ruling-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=66922","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0LXIX–Geopolitics: It\u2019s About Wealth Extraction and Generation For the Ruling Class"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0LXIX<\/h3>\n

October 2, 2022 (original posting date)<\/p>\n

Chitchen Itza, Mexico (1986). Photo by\u00a0author.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geopolitics: It\u2019s About Wealth Extraction and Generation For the Ruling Class<\/strong><\/p>\n

My very short contemplation today is my comment on an article<\/a> that was posted in a Facebook group (Peak Oil) that I belong to. It is preceded by some additional thoughts as we stumble into our uncertain and unknowable future where I firmly believe \u2018collapse\u2019 of some nature is unavoidable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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At this particular juncture in time it is looking increasingly likely that a world war is just around the corner. In fact, there\u2019s good evidence to suggest this has already begun\u200a\u2014\u200awe\u2019re simply absent the \u2018official\u2019 declaration of it.<\/p>\n

I would additionally argue that such geopolitical events expedite our decline precipitously with their significant drawdown of resources. In fact, with our population growth and penchant for chasing the infinite growth chalice, global imperialism is one of those relatively recent human tendencies speeding up our decline.<\/p>\n

Recognising this, we must keep in mind that our agency in these events is as close to zero as one can get. The sociopolitical system is far too \u2018invested\u2019 in status quo structures (i.e., power, wealth) to affect any shift in our trajectory. All that we can do is \u2018hope\u2019 sane heads prevail but realise that this is increasingly unlikely; in fact, I would contend the possibility of this is as close to zero as one can get as well.<\/p>\n

What to do? Continue to prepare our families\/communities for the inevitable decline caused by our ecological overshoot\u200a\u2014\u200aa predicament that has no \u2018solution\u2019. Relocalise as much of the \u2018necessities\u2019 of life as is possible. Procurement of potable water. Food production. Regional shelter needs. And do this with the realisation that our complex, energy-dependent technologies will increasingly and eventually be little more than paperweights.<\/p>\n

And, finally, be aware of the psychological consequences all of this will have on ourselves and those around us. Uncertainty and chaos will reign and many will struggle greatly with these. Be as understanding and \u2018calm\u2019 as you possibly can. Control what you can control and try to let the rest just go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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With the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines dramatically impacting the geopolitical game being played in Europe this past week, an interesting article by Gold, Goats, \u2018n Guns\u2019 Tom Luongo laid out his view on who might be responsible for this act of sabotage. It is his contention that a faction of our ruling elite (generally termed \u2018globalists\u2019 for their desire to rule over a world void of national borders) are very likely behind this as they have the most to gain from the chaos it helps to exacerbate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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My comment:<\/p>\n

I leave nothing out of the realm of possibility when it comes to the world\u2019s ruling elite. They leverage any and every crisis (actually, everything; it doesn\u2019t need to be an actual crisis) to meet their primary motivation: control\/expansion of the wealth-generation\/-extraction systems that provide their revenue streams and thus their positions of power and prestige. All else is of secondary\/tertiary concern and even they are leveraged to meet their first motivation. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Such manipulation has been an evil presence in human complex societies from the get go, once differential access to resource surpluses arose and one could wield power\/influence over others because of our tendency to defer\/obey authority. There seems to be no \u2018safe\u2019 way out of this particular predicament of our own making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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A few relevant articles of interest:<\/p>\n

Kissinger Warns Washington Warmongers: “Not Wise To Include Ukraine In NATO”<\/strong>
\nLove him or hate him, Henry Kissinger has been awkwardly frank amid the neocon-ization of Washington’s ruling elite in\u2026<\/em>www.zerohedge.com<\/a><\/div>\n
The Narrative That This War Was “Unprovoked” Prevents Peace<\/strong>
\n\u2756 Vladimir Putin has approved the annexation of four territories in eastern Ukraine, whose addition to the Russian\u2026<\/em>caitlinjohnstone.com<\/a><\/div>\n
The War Has Just Begun<\/strong>
\nI have been attempting for several days to collect my thoughts on the Russo-Ukrainian War and condense them into\u2026<\/em>bigserge.substack.com<\/a><\/div>\n
Who profits from Pipeline Terror?<\/strong>
\nSecret talks between Russia and Germany to resolve their Nord Stream 1 and 2 issues had to be averted at any cost<\/em>thecradle.co<\/a><\/div>\n
Report: Russia, Ukraine Tentatively Agreed on Peace Deal in April – News From Antiwar.com<\/strong>
\nRussian and Ukrainian officials tentatively agreed on a potential peace deal during negotiations back in April 2022\u2026<\/em>news.antiwar.com<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0LXIX October 2, 2022 (original posting date) Chitchen Itza, Mexico (1986). Photo by\u00a0author. Geopolitics: It\u2019s About Wealth Extraction and Generation For the Ruling Class My very short contemplation today is my comment on an article that was posted in a Facebook group (Peak Oil) that I belong to. It is preceded by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,6,7],"tags":[3520,34148,33814,20243,1302,11923,34013],"class_list":["post-66922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-energy-2","category-environment","category-geopolitics","category-liberty","category-survival-2","tag-imperialism","tag-infinite-growth-chalice","tag-nordstream-pipeline","tag-relocalisation","tag-status-quo","tag-wealth-extraction","tag-wealth-generation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66922"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66929,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66922\/revisions\/66929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}