Back to the trees

I assume the poster accompanying RBO's Progressive Whine and Cheese Party is the work of Freedom Fairy. FF should think about bringing out a coffee table edition of her Barack Obama posters.

Meanwhile, Uppity Woman is terribly suspicious of a Car Czar.

And over at Global Labor, Steve Diamond has news for anyone who's fooled by Barack Obama's centrist fig leaf and progressive patter. The Obama administration will not be about centrism or progressivism. As Steve has explained until he is blue in the face, it is about the racialization of American politics.

But I say Steve is wrong to conclude that the American work force is headed for balkanization. That's just a stopover. We're headed for the trees. There, we will hail each other by the particulars of our victimhood:

Ugga Ugh! Good morning, Black-Slave Descendent-Fat-Male!

Ugga! Good morning, White-Old Female-Autistic!

Ugga Ugh to you, Blind-Hispanic-Needing Affordable Housing!

Ugga! Single Female-No High School-With Five Children!

I remember an Indian expat worker asking me into his office, then wordlessly tossing a thick file across his desk. Inside the file were applications for an intern program in the USA. I skimmed through the papers. All applicants 30 or under; each applicant had at least two PhDs. I looked at the educational establishments, at the places of birth, current residences and the brief biography accompanying each application. The applicants were from 'Third World' countries; virtually all had come from hardscrabble-poor circumstances.

Finally I raised my eyes from the file and asked, "How long do you think Americans have left?"

He shrugged. "Maybe a quarter century."

The year of that conversation was 1984.

The United States of America has so far escaped the consequences of the inexorable law of Survival of the Fittest because the floor for the price of oil is fixed by a monopoly and the price is designated in US dollars.

What this means is that our ever-escalating demands for an ever-growing list of rights have been footed by the world's poorest oil-importing nations. They are carrying the American citizen and his idea of a fair shake on their backs.

What will happen when they shrug? After we've finished spreading around what's left of our wealth, free fall.