A 'doomer' conundrum

The ‘doomer’ community in Portland was all aflutter Monday with two different, yet equal choices to make as to what prominent doomsday seer they should go see to get a complete, truthful picture of the economic deflationary depression we find ourselves entering into without “official” government acknowledgement.

In Westbrook, an event procured by the University of New England held at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center played host to M.I.T. professor Noam Chomsky. He’s been called by many one of the foremost thinkers in our time, and was set to speak about how odd it is that while people in Arab nations are uprising against governments for various rights, Americans seem to be more than willing to lay face down and take it from this corp.gov – allowing entry into our private lives and private parts – removing even the veneer of freedom in a land that no longer resembles the one we inherited.

Here in Portland, at the Wishcamper Center at USM, Nicole Foss aka “Stoneleigh” from the economic blog “The Automatic Earth” was making an appearance to talk about the causes for and ways to cope with the new, greater depression.

As described by Wikipedia, which does the best job of wrapping it up in one sentence, a ‘doomer’ is “one who believes that Peak Oil will cause the collapse of industrial civilization.” Basically, although we will never “run out” of oil, the increased supply required to fuel current population growth and the sort of economic “good times” (aka “growth”) oil barons helped bankers manipulate over the last 110 years that kept all us, to quote Henry Kissinger, “useless eaters” happy, just isn’t going to seep out of the ground like it used to.

So for me, because Mr. Chomsky, while touching on certain economic themes close to a doomer’s heart, is a guy who still hangs on to the belief that we’re somehow going to be able to work together to magically eliminate corruption and save the scraps of the current system, the choice was easy. For a more realistic view, and some hardcore doom, I went with Nicole Foss. Plus, I have to admit a huge contributing factor in making the decision. The 4 bus to Westbrook during rush hour is jam packed; I could walk to USM.

So there I was, eagerly waiting the start of Ms. Foss’ presentation in Lee Hall, a large room in the new Muskie School complex. While sitting in the chairs that while new, ironically were better suited for the chair-through-windows looting that will occur as we descend deeper into depression than they were for sitting, I mused to myself how much money was wasted during our growthapalooza on buildings like these that will serve no purpose when the grid goes down. I thought it odd, too, that the talk we were about to listen to would focus on the mistakes made in part by the very type of students to come out of one of these public policy-maker factories. Then I remembered our new mayor taught here. Then, I thought “oh, s___!” And finally, the program started, clamping down the brakes on the in-my-mind horror train, The Irony Express.

For those in the standing-room only audience that had followed Foss’ work, her overall message remained unchanged, though it was nice to see it all laid out, chronologically and presented as an entire package. Foss lays out the history of credit booms and busts, going back to the Tulip craze of the 1720’s right up and through the first great depression. Then came the description of the current credit build up, only this time was different – this time our growth depended on Fossil Fuels. She explains that this credit crunch was bound to happen, showing how a boom crunches in cycles throughout history and even without the problem of increasing fossil demand versus flattening or declining supplies; we would have dropped us into this “recession.” The problem, she explained, will be facilitating a return to the post World War 2 economic system we all are clinging to right now, the idea of infinite growth. She showed, with plenty of evidence that it can’t happen mathematically, scientifically or continue as it is as I am writing this now, superficially propped up by government.

Instead, she told the audience that we are going to experience a world-wide deflationary depression “at best just as bad as the Great Depression, but more likely much worse.” She showed the beginning of the current credit expansion, which took off in the early 1980’s, and told us to “expect the value of your assets to at least return to levels not seen since the 1970’s, and more likely much lower.” She advised people to maintain liquidity, invest only in hard, tangible assets and to stay away from equities, as markets are certain to crash in the near term. Before I left, a member audience asked about the future of the younger generations, and Ms. Foss replied, with a heavy heart, “It’s a horrible thing that we (baby boomers) have done to you.”

These aren’t the type of messages you are going to hear, the truth, come from the mouths of Brian Williams-types on the media owned by, from the President who’s advisers, cabinet members and campaign contributors personally profit from, or the congress members who insider-trade in, the system that is beyond repair and will not resemble anything us useless eater consumers remember. Kicking the can, finger pointing, protection from prosecution and computerized money manipulation will be the game the one-per centers play until it’s too late and we’ve dished out all the liquidity in the system there is for them to grab. This useless eating citizen is going to hold on to the cash and buckle in for what promises to be the advanced ski trail downhill ride of 2012, avoiding every tree in my path as long as I can.

Grab your ski poles.

(Jeffrey S. Spofford manages circulation for The Portland Daily Sun.)