Chanting Down Babylon?

Are the Rastafarian’s succeeding in chanting down Babylon for all its wickedness? Of course, Babylon is the metaphoric name given to the land where the lost tribes of African slaves were brought into captivity and the evil motivation for it. Ras Tafari’s have always predicted the collapse of Babylon, whose modern capitals are in the USA and England.

The truth is that Babylon is indeed collapsing under the weight of its own success. The phenomenon is akin to attempting to build a skyscraper from stone. As the structure reaches new heights… the weight and downward force upon the lower foundation will lead to the foundation crumbling under the pressure. Of course, when the foundation crumbles, the structure is doomed for collapse. Architects, therefore, need to be cognizant of the laws of physics and the constraint it places on how high a stone structure can be built before it collapses from achieving height.

Capitalism is like a stone Skyscraper where architects and builders are more concerned with achieving height and growth, than the the physics that should constrain height and growth to support structural integrity and sustainability. Instead of measuring growth and success in floors and height, capitalism measures growth in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and as long as GDP is increasing, the project is thought to be going well. In Babylon today, GDP and the stock market are the primary indicators of wealth and hence health of the nation and its people. As often stated as the reason people vote one way or anther: “It’s the economy…Stupid”. How many floors have been added under the current Nebuchadnezzar? It does not matter that part and parcel to this growth is moral decline and the lessening in importance of religion, family and other.

The ignored physics of capitalism is the correlations between success and energy consumption. All movement requires an energy source. Thus, the success of the action verbs of production and consumption, endemic in degree to capitalism, requires massive amounts of energy to fuel the movements of production and consumption in producing its great GDP and wealth. The problem here is that the fossil fuel that provides the energy prerequisite is finite. Consequently, as new heights of production and consumption are reached, the corollary is proportional new lows in finite fossil fuel supplies. Eventually a point of diminishing returns will be reached, which is also the point that collapse begin. Hence, the curse of capitalism is its success and the blessing of less productive systems is its failures, relative to finite energy supplies. In short, there is a correlation between wealth and energy consumption and rates of depletion. Hence, there is a correlation between capitalism ability to produce wealth and the depletion of fossil fuel energy.

There are already signs that Babylon’s most productive economy is in trouble. The accelerator and brakes of our economic vehicle are monetary and fiscal policy, mainly monetary though. When GDP is sluggish or recessionary, the FED attempts to accelerate growth by reducing the price to borrow money, which infuses more money (fiat money) into the system, stimulating economic activity. This is usually followed by the less effective fiscal policy of cutting taxes. Together, historically, when these two actions are taken, the economy picks up steam. However, in the current practice of this policy, the economy is still sputtering and staling after several years of implementing accelerating measures.

An ominous indicator for the economy is that interest rates are rising while rates of GDP growth indicate that the economy has not fully recovered from the recession. The constraining of bank lending, the resultant of interest rate hikes, is what brought about the last great depression, by bringing about the collapse of the stock market, whose performance is greatly correlated with FED FUND activity. Usually interest rates must rise to fight off inflation or the devaluation of currency. The biggest influence on inflation, besides theoretical full employment, is energy prices. The secular (long term) trend in oil (primary fuel of capitalism production and consumption) prices is radical prices increases, due to increased demand and shrinking supplies. Note that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped ONLY because of the slow down in the US economy (the largest consumer), has reduced demand creating an inventory sold off by reduction in price.

Other tale tales signs of foreboding can be gleaned from the activity and policies of the advocates for the elites, which is the Republican Party. The changing of Bankruptcy law is designed to help protect creditors in the upcoming economic crisis. The proposal of private accounts for SS is more aimed at having a new infusion of cash into the stock market, in order to help prevent its negative reaction and selling that will result from rising interest inflation and interest rates. Preventing the collapse of the stock market is a key to preventing a collapse in the economy and depression. Finally, only a zealous political patriot of the right cannot see the link between our military actions and Oil. Whoever controls the Oil will have the fate of nations in their hand in the near future, during the era of diminishing returns. The US is positioning itself to have control, via proxy, of largest areas of know reserves, given the growth and demand of China and India and other rising economies.

Many people have their heads stuck in the sand or consumed by politics of left and right, will they ignore the consequences and tradeoffs of capitalism that has subtracted from the future in order to maximize production and consumption in the present.


I and I build a cabin
I and I plant the corn
Didn't my people before me Slave for this country
Now you look me with a scorn
Then you eat up all my corn

We gonna chase those crazy baldheads
Chase them crazy
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town

Build your penitentiary, we build your schools
Brainwash education to make us the fools
Hate is your reward for our love
Telling us of your God above

Here comes the conman
Coming with his con plan
We won't take no bribe, we got stay alive

We gonna chase those crazy
Chase those crazy baldheads
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town

-Bob Marley