End time petroleum age geopolitics

The age of oil economies and politics based on petroleum is approaching its end.

You can see it in the collapsing demand for bunker fuel by ships calling at the Panama Canal and switches from that to liquid natural gas, wind and solar power and other energy alternatives for maritime navigation.

You can see it in the desperate and sometimes downright nutty moves by political leaders of places with oil economies.

You can see it in global balance of power shifts, and in the denials or efforts of those trying to resist the trends.

Barack Obama, coming to office amidst a financial crisis that wiped trillions of dollars off of American ledgers – largely the equities held by middle class homeowners and the pension funds of working people – saw the USA shipping dollars out the door to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and so on for oil imports. Mostly through fracking but also by energy savings and alternative sources, he managed to close most of the American oil intake valves. Other oil-consuming countries moved in similar directions, often more effectively than the United States.

It has been devastating to oil exporting countries, with varying effects. The almost entirely oil-dependent Venezuelan economy pretty much collapsed. The problems of Brazil’s state-owned oil company exploded into huge corruption scandals across the region. The Gulf oil sheikhs went on war footings in search of new resources and political buffers as the source of their wealth and power could be seen diminishing on the horizon. In Russia, already in a desperate way in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, the threat to their energy export sector amplified every other real or perceived threat in the eyes of those running the show in the Kremlin.

In 2016 the US oil barons reasserted total control of all parts of the federal government and began a generalized rollback of all Obama energy initiatives. Except, their plans are incoherent and entail attacks on science, accounting, environmental laws and the standards of living of most Americans. They lost control of the House of Representatives, with aggressive rookies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortéz calling for a Green New Deal and Democratic establishment types like John Lewis embracing the cause. Meaningful change will be blocked by federal government gridlock for at least a couple of years but states, cities and private industries continue to forge exits to oil dependence.

Does America need to go to war for Venezuela’s oil? Maybe in the eyes of predators attracted toward armed robbery writ large or vulture funds looking to cash out defaulted bonds. Maybe for discredited demagogues looking for distractions from their lacking responses to their constituents’ economic needs.

As the voices get more shrill, in steps Vladimir Putin to make a silly show of strength to the folks back in Russia – he sends bombers to visit Venezuela. Perhaps it served as a warning to Colombia and Brazil, but surely nobody at the Pentagon was all that impressed.

Look at it from an ancient Greek perspective. The gods intend to destroy the petroleum economy and those who depend on it, and whom they are about to destroy they first drive mad.

So let’s not have any rash reactions to the Russian Air Force’s visit to Venezuela, let’s disentangle from the Saudi-led Sunni jihads, let’s treat the political rants of fossil fuel interests as precisely those things and reject them. Let’s move ahead into a solar future. Let’s take hint from the fossils of extinct animals in California’s La Brea tar pits, and not fall into an analogous morass with the endangered oil economy people.

~ ~ ~
These announcements are interactive. Click on them for more information.

~ ~ ~

Estos anuncios son interactivos. Toque en ellos para seguir a las páginas de web

A two-pronged policy needed
to stem the flow of migrants

by Alon Ben-Meir

To dramatically slow the flow of illegal immigration and even end it does not rest on building walls or sending troops to the border, or by heartlessly snatching children from their mothers’ arms, or by incarceration, deportation, or prosecution. A big part of the answer lies in economic development, mainly sustainable development projects, in the migrant’s country of origin. Indeed, instead of building walls, we need to build the kind of bridges that can change the lives of other people for the better and give them hope. After all, the political destabilization in Central American countries was in part, if not to a great extent, precipitated by the United States, which makes America even more morally responsible to do something about it.

Beyond that, abject poverty and hopelessness breeds resentment and despondency and leads to gang violence and extremism, which is only the natural outcome of these subhuman conditions. Little will change unless the people, especially the youth, are given an opportunity to live a normal and productive life, develop a sense of belonging, and have vested interests in their work and self-worth.

The plight of three Central American countries tells the story behind the influx of immigrants flocking to our country from these and other countries.

Honduras is Central America’s second-poorest country. More than 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, and it has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in Latin America. Poverty in Honduras is chiefly due to rampant crime, violence, political instability, corruption, and a significant susceptibility to hurricanes and droughts.

Guatemala has the largest economy in Central America, but despite recent growth, economic inequality and poverty have increased, particularly among the rural indigenous population. Malnutrition and maternal mortality rates are among the worst in Latin America, especially in indigenous areas. More than half of the population lives below the poverty line.

El Salvador has one of the lowest economic growth rates in Central America. Since the end of the civil war in 1992, the country has made progress in terms of political and social development, but high rates of crime and violence continue to threaten these gains. El Salvador is also vulnerable to adverse natural events, which is only made worse by extreme climate change.

In these countries, rural poverty places great stress on cities and ultimately propels immigration, and as long as it does, the enormous economic and political instability that it creates will continue.

Trump’s demand of $20 billion to build a wall along the Mexican border is misguided, impractical, and a waste of precious resources that can change the lives of millions of people if invested wisely in these poverty-stricken countries. Does Trump know how cost effective it is to promote people’s projects within the country of origin?

A fraction of $20 billion would change the socio-economic conditions in these countries. One billion dollars invested in economic development projects can provide food, drinking water, jobs, self-empowerment, and hope for better life for a million poor, displaced, and despairing people.

According to Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, President of the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco and a 20-year veteran in sustainable development, a $100,000 investment can establish a women’s co-operative of approximately 50 members benefitting approximately 300-350 people. “The outstanding investment needed ends up being a relatively small proportion of the cost the nations that receive or repel migrants incur.”

In Guatemala, for example, an organization working on family planning in 2017 alone prevented over 14,000 unwanted pregnancies, 95 child deaths, and 6 maternal deaths, all with only $880,000.

It has unequivocally been shown that would-be immigrants strongly prefer to stay in their home communities if only their basic needs are met and there exist opportunities for growth. They will work hard to ensure the sustainability of projects they choose and develop vested interests in their implementation and outcomes.

It should be noted that the principle of economic development is the same, be that in countries in South America or Africa; only the nature and the type of project differs from one country or community to another, depending on their special needs. Here is where we must invest, to give people a chance not only for their sake but ours as well, because America flourishes when other people in far lands flourish too.

Economic investments and the implementation of sustainable development projects doesn’t mean that all illegal immigration will stop. We still need a comprehensive immigration policy consistent with our tradition of receiving migrants with open arms—a sensible and compassionate policy that governs all aspects of migration to America.

We should end the painful instability for DREAMers by offering a path to citizenship to the nearly one million individuals who came to the USA when they were children. They are Americans in their hearts and souls; they are here to stay, and we have a solemn obligation to remove any cloud of uncertainty about their future.

We must resolve once and for all the problem of the over 12 million undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for years and have become an integral part of America’s social fabric. They should be assured that they will not be deported if they voluntarily register and will too be offered a path to citizenship — a one-time amnesty program.

We must enforce established procedures to deal with refugees and asylum seekers, not ignore or completely violate them as the Trump administration has cruelly done – a decent process that allows safety for those who are escaping the horror of violence and would face certain death if turned back.

And finally, existing programs for legal immigration, including the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, family reunification, and employment-based immigration, should be fully implemented. The Trump administration should be prevented from undermining these processes that have been in place for many years.

America has and must continue to welcome immigrants of all colors, denominations, and countries. Each and every new migrant, regardless of his or her background, brings with them the riches of their culture, talents, and skills, and ultimately is economically beneficial to the United States, not a drain.

There is something magical about America. It is a country that has opened its doors to immigrants from the world over, and the wider the door has been open, the better and greater America has become. But sadly, Trump’s racist, Islamophobic, and white supremacist DNA has made an even greater mess of the already unsavory, incoherent, and partisan policy and methods in addressing the problem of immigration.

The solution to illegal immigration must be based on a two-pronged policy: first, investing in economic development projects through private entities to alleviate poverty and substantially reduce violence, which would also encourage other countries to invest. Second, developing a comprehensive immigration policy consistent with our tradition and moral obligation to extend our hands to those whose only sin is escaping the horrors of war, violence, and starvation.

The simultaneous implementation of this two-tiered policy would, within a relatively short period of time, significantly reduce the influx of migrants to our borders while developing the socio-economic conditions to give substance and reason for the inhabitants of these countries to stay put and build a hopeful future in their homeland.

~ ~ ~

These announcements are interactive. Click on them for more information.

This holiday season, I’m standing with migrants

by Kerri Kennedy – American Friends Service Committee / OtherWords

This holiday season — a time so often associated with bringing family together — my thoughts keep turning to the families in the migrant caravans making their way to the US southern border.

I had the privilege of spending four days in Mexico last month with my organization, the American Friends Service Committee, to assess the needs of participants in the caravan and expand human rights monitoring.

As I crept into my children’s bedrooms to give them a kiss when I got back, resisting the urge to wake them up for cuddling and conversation, I thought about what would make me pick up with them and flee, with little notice and even less information about what would lie ahead.

Over and over again, our delegation heard of the need for more strollers for the migrant caravan. Could I even imagine dropping everything to walk 3,000 difficult miles with my children in my arms — without even a stroller?

Watching coverage of the US troops firing tear gas at migrants at the border, and hearing the harrowing reports from my colleague who witnessed that violent repression, I thought again about the mothers I’d met in Mexico. What could push me to take the risk of facing this violence to protect my children?

I met so many people in Mexico who joined the caravan because it was their only way out.

I think about “Maria” (not her real name), a young mother of four I met. Maria is from El Salvador, where violence and a complete lack of opportunities put her family at risk. One of her children had already been killed by gang violence.

When word spread of the caravan, Maria made a spontaneous choice to join. She told me she was in search of opportunity for her family, and the hope of seeing her children grow up in a place without constant danger.

Like Mary and Joseph, who fled to Egypt when King Herod’s government threatened their newborn child, Maria and so many other parents have picked up everything and undertaken a harrowing journey to save their children’s lives.

Caravan participants I met expressed so much faith — both in God and the idea that United States is a place that embraces those fleeing violence and poverty. What else can they do in the face of such an existential threat but hope and pray for a chance for their families to live?

In the season when many celebrate the birth of a child whose family had to flee to another country to keep him alive, what does our shared humanity demand from parents making the same difficult choice today?

In the face of our government’s cruelty, I feel called to stand up for the people of the migrant caravan. That’s why the American Friends Service Committee has called for a week of action in the US under the name Love Knows No Borders: A moral call for migrant justice.

We mobilized faith leaders to the border on December 10, and for the following week groups lined up to host actions around the country expressing love and solidarity with migrants.

We are demanding that our country open its doors to people like Maria, and thousands of others, instead of meeting them with violence.

In this season of giving, I hope people of conscience across the country will join us in standing up for families in need of aid.

~ ~ ~

These announcements are interactive. Click on them for more information.

Apuntes para una política de la clase trabajadora panameña sobre las migraciones

por Olmedo Beluche

Una particular combinación de circunstancias ha producido en Panamá una ola de xenofobia que no tiene precedentes, salvo en las primeras décadas del siglo XX, cuando llegaron a Panamá decenas de miles de afroantillanos a la construcción del canal, muchos de los cuales se quedaron a vivir en nuestro país.

En las décadas del veinte y treinta se produjeron movimientos “nacionalistas” que parecían dirigidos contra la influencia norteamericana, pero mucho más contra la población “extraña” recién incorporada a la “nación”. Esa ola seudonacionalista, mezcla de xenofobia y racismo fascista, tomó cuerpo en la “Doctrina Panameñista” del ex presidente Arnulfo Arias M. y su Constitución Política de 1941, en la que se hablaba de “razas de inmigración prohibida” refiriéndose entre ellas a los de “raza negra cuyo idioma originario no sea el castellano” (art. 12).

La actual ola xenofóbica parece obedecer a la combinación de dos circunstancias contradictorias: un alto crecimiento económico de Panamá respecto de la región, lo que la convierte en sitio privilegiado de inmigrantes en busca de trabajo (es notable la presencia en las calles de miles de recién llegados colombianos, nicaragüenses, dominicanos, hasta españoles); con un crecimiento económico fruto de la reversión del canal, pero que no ha resuelto los graves problemas sociales que aquejan al pueblo panameño porque se han utilizado sus recursos como fuente de acumulación de la oligarquía financiera.

Contribuye de manera particular a la ola xenofóbica la circunstancia de que la oposición política de Venezuela, y la burguesía de ese país, que practica el sabotaje económico y la fuga de capitales allá, con los petrodólares que el gobierno bolivariano les da, han hecho de Panamá su plataforma de operaciones. Este sector de los inmigrantes, que llega con poder económico, ha hecho de la especulación inmobiliaria y la apertura de miles de pequeños negocios una forma de establecerse en el país, pero con una característica sicológica: son los más agresivos, soberbios y reaccionarios, gustando alardear del dinero que poseen, dinero que le falta tanto al pueblo venezolano como al panameño.

El paroxismo de la xenofobia llegó cuando la diputada Zulay Rodríguez, del “socialdemócrata” P.R.D., quien perteneció a los allegados de Ricardo Martinelli hace cinco años (grupo “PAMAGO”), hasta que intentaron “tumbarle” un cliente, lanzó un discurso en estos términos:

“Panamá no se compra, no se alquila, es de nosotros. Estos colombianos, estos nicaragüenses, estos extranjeros… Pero yo no quiero recién llegados de hace seis meses, de un año,…, que no están invirtiendo absolutamente nada. No quiero recién llegados que estén importando pobreza y nuevas modalidades de delito” (Nótese que la diputada iguala pobreza con delito y no menciona a los venezolanos). Además dejó claro contra qué clases sociales está, a las que llamó “escoria”: “Son desplazados que no tienen un centavo en su país, que no vienen a invertir, no traen dinero para hacer competitividad en Panamá para que este avance…” (La Prensa, 24 y 25 de febrero 2015).

Todo esto a cuento de que un sector de abogados se siente lacerado por una regulación especial denominada “Crisol de Razas”, que permite la regularización del estatus migratorio para trabajar a miles de personas pagando unas tasas directamente al estado. Antes, sólo se podía tramitar la residencia en Panamá a través de abogados que cobraban miles de dólares a lo largo de muchos años de gestiones.

Lo más preocupante es que la ola xenofóbica no solo alcanza a las masas influenciables por los medios de comunicación, sino a mucha gente “progresista”. Esto se debe al bajo desarrollo de la conciencia política e ideológica, en parte porque muchos sectores de la izquierda centran sus esfuerzos en luchas economicistas, pero que rehúyen oportunistamente combatir la falsa conciencia y los prejuicios que la burguesía inyecta en la clase trabajadora.

La situación obliga a la clase trabajadora panameña, y a sus dirigentes, a discutir el asunto y asumir una toma de posición que, para ser revolucionaria, tiene que ser compatible: con la moral cristiana, los derechos humanos, la lucha histórica por la integración bolivariana de Nuestra América y el internacionalismo proletario marxista. Aquí aportamos algunos puntos que pueden servir para ese objetivo:

~ ~ ~

Estos anuncios son interactivos. Toque en ellos para seguir a las páginas de web