Disgusting bald face opportunism—because Hegseth, Trump, Miller *can*. So many legit problems we need to put our strength to, but instead we have a huge , expensive aircraft carrier and all the bridesmaids out in the Caribbean, seizing a tanker and its oil, and incinerating dozens of boats.. to protect “our health and safety”. Or.. simply because a president is bored, needs distractions. No. Just no.
Drug deaths are down. Is that worthwhile libby boy? Deaths for the calendar year 2025 are estimated to be down to 70,000 vs 84,000 last year. 14000 lives saved. 2026 will show huge drop when all of the Trump policies. Glad the soy boys are not in charge. Hope you sleep well with all of American bombing of drug craft. Venezuela is in a horrible state. When I was 10 the country was free and going strong. It is beautiful and has natural resources. They have lost 8 million people in a country of 25 million. And those in the country want him gone.
As are you, Bible boy. After seeing your fake stats on premarital sex, you need to post sources on any numbers you claim. We all know this administration has quit publishing data on jobs, economy, environment and more. Fentynal isn't produced in Venezuela. But, there is a lot of oil there.
My guess is that Trump's posturing on Venezuela has all been because oil, a global commodity, can't get any traction for pricing on global markets and is way below a 'break even' price that would be needed to inspire American oil companies to do more drilling.
Trump's fossil fuel enablers can't be thrilled.
So, this move on Venezuela is not about increasing the supply of oil but reducing the supply from competitors to boost prices, in my view.
Trump's plan was to "drill baby drill" and there is no incentive if it can't be profitable for oil companies because the price per barrel is too low.
The old saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" comes to mind.
Oil has been hovering the the 50-60 dollar a barrel range for a few months, and has not been this low since covid, and last I checked it was $57.38 and change today and having ships off the coast, threatening Russia with sanctions, and now seizing this vessel has not changed this dynamic at all.
They got squat.
This is not enough to get investors, speculators, and buyers, to think a reduction in supply will be a reason to boost prices.
According to the economist Paul Krugman, the break even incentive to drill price is somewhere in the 60-70 dollar a barrel range, if I remember his substack post correctly, and that is just break even.
Drill, Baby, Dr … Never Mind Will Trump kill energy independence?
I assume that was the goal for this administration in Venezuela, to cause prices to rise based on a perceived threat to supply. Not only to reduce sanctioned oil being shipped when it was not supposed to be shipped, but to boost prices to help American suppliers and thus, inspire drilling at home.
In my view, investors and speculators on global markets see the writing on the wall regarding oil and I do not think it is simply because they are concerned about a global recession.
This is what I hope anyway.
I think they already know that a plateau in demand may be in the cards -maybe- and given OPECs idle capacity of millions of barrels should they want to tap into that, who would want to spend big to drill these days? Sure, old wells are often replaced with new ones, but maybe that too is not a good financial bet.
Even 3rd world countries are installing cheap solar, and this may be followed with a continued increase in the purchase of cheap electric bikes, mopeds and cheap cars from China, etc. So, a shift seems pretty clear in my view.
Anyway, this is me being hopeful in thinking about the motive for them to have become pirates.
It is desperation.
Next, lets hope his crypto enablers see a massive hit, as well.
"So, this move on Venezuela is not about increasing the supply of oil but reducing the supply from competitors to boost prices, in my view."
That clearly is likely to be the short-term result of these actions. This is very short-sighted thinking, as the obvious solution to our energy problems as well as environmental & economic problems & international stability & security is to rely less on fossil fuels, & develop & expand the much cheaper by now (as well as much cleaner) renewable energy. Trump is so focused on antiquated, self-serving thinking that has long been proven folly & detrimental in the long run to nearly all concerned.
The point I was making is that what the Trump admin may be doing does not seem to be working and the reason may be that alternatives are now so much cheaper, especially solar, that the trend will be away from fossil fuels no matter what, and I think this is showing up in the reduction in what oil is able to sell for on global markets - oil is even down today compared to yesterday - so not working.
This was my point.
When something is cheaper, like solar, it may succeed globally even without government policy and subsidizing. The tide seems to have already shifted or at least that is my hope.
Now, of course urgency is also a massive issue, so I wish Trump and the GOP were not in control and that we had the means to actually push through a Green New Deal type of policy, but it is comforting to see that the world is at least not dependent on Trump's short sighted aims and that fossil fuels may become old hat regardless.
I totally agree with you, which is my point. Raising the cost of oil, even if it succeeds, will do nothing for its competitiveness, but provide further incentive for nations to develop & expand their renewable resources. Even as Trump tries to make it harder for domestic interests to develop renewable energy (which makes absolutely no sense for our overall economy), & tries to bully other countries into buying our oil (which will more likely make them less inclined to buy oil or anything else from us), other nations will find a way to get around it, & our influence on the world stage, as well as our overall prosperity & well-being, will decline even more precipitously.
TDS is a syndrome afflicting people who are gullible enough to believe anything that the most mendacious, corrupt, perfidious, immoral, treasonous crook to ever disgrace the United States of America claims.
Okay Jim. You have not posted one thing on Substack. They have tech that can help you if you are illiterate. There are thousands of fake accounts. Three theories. Paid propagandists. Radical leftists. Correct answer: 300 pound stoners living in Mom’s basement who fear losing their free government money.
"Even 3rd world countries are installing cheap solar, and this may be followed with cheap electric bikes, mopeds and cheap cars from China, etc. So, a shift seems pretty clear in my view."
Yes, I am aware, I simply meant that it seems like it is a trend that will continue, and not a gap filler due to there currently being less economic opportunity or lower income levels. Thus, it may reduce potential demand for oil in the long run. I made my statement more clear above based on your reply, by adding "increase in" and thanks for the links. This is really good news!
Structurally it’s hard to see oil increasing in price since we have substitutes now. Any price action for oil and gas is also going to improve the investment case for EVs, solar, heat pumps, etc, and those can be installed quicker than new oil supply can come online.
The invisible hand of the market has realized this, which is why we’re now seeing the visible, loud and disruptive hand of bought-and-paid-for politicians come out cheering for oil
Never in my long life have I met a billionaire. When I talk about billionaires, I mean all those multi-millionaires, CEOs, corporate executives, and business leaders of major companies.
The closest I came was when I visited Nantucket, where billionaires dock their yachts at a secure wharf with a gate and a security guard who told me they never sail on their boats. Instead, they tell their captain where to go, then fly there in their private jets. In Nantucket, there is also a ridge overlooking the harbor with enormous “trophy houses” owned by billionaires who visit these houses maybe two days a year.
Forbes reports that there are 2,781 billionaires worldwide, with a total wealth of $14.2 trillion, and that we have between 900 and 924 billionaires, excluding other millionaires.
Honestly, I have to admit I despise billionaires. I see them as abusers; I believe their existence is harmful, insulting, and subtly degrading to the average person. To me, their display of privilege is offensive. They can live among others, flaunt their wealth and status among less fortunate people, and feel justified in amassing their riches. By their mere presence, they create a two-tier society.
I can only imagine what it's like to have billions of dollars at your disposal. I wonder what motivates them to keep trying to grow their wealth. What will they do with their money? If they have children, they can leave their fortune to them. My experience with “trust fund children” is that they often face serious issues due to a lack of direction. For example, when my family rented a cottage in Nantucket, a young psychiatrist rented the one next to ours. We spent time together on the lawn and became friends. One day, I noticed he seemed upset and asked if I could help. He said he always knew he wanted to be a psychiatrist. He did well in college, excelled in medical school, enjoyed his psychiatry residency, and worked to establish his private practice in Boston. Yesterday, his father, who was wealthy and, in his eighties, told him and his brother that he was reducing his assets and giving each of them $50 million. Now, he had nothing to work for; he didn't have to work, and he felt completely disoriented, as if his world had been turned upside down.
As a psychologist, I try to understand how they can deny the harsh reality when faced with the suffering of their less fortunate neighbors in their country and around the world. They often resort to widespread denial and create their own illusion of grandeur. They deny the obvious, reject the world around them, and remain in some form of cocoon-like thinking. They reinforce the idea that they are superior and deserve their billions; they stay isolated from the public, living in secure private facilities and associating only with other billionaires and multi-millionaires.
I do not believe they are all the same. Some billionaires have donated large sums to public institutions such as hospitals and schools (Ken Langone, CEO of Home Depot, donated to the NYU hospital). Another example of a different type of billionaire is my hero, Warren Buffett, who made his fortune without underpaying his employees and still lives in Omaha in the same home he grew up in. When he attended a fight event at a civic center, he sat in the back rows, not in the front rows reserved for celebrities.
Most billionaires still view themselves as a separate, regal class, but this two-tier perspective has been common throughout our history. There has always been an emphasis on privilege and subjugation in our past. It is deeply rooted in our religious beliefs, with ideas about God and humanity, dating back to biblical times with lords and kings, through the medieval era with nobility and peasants, to our history involving slave owners and slaves. This two-tier mindset is reinforced in subtle ways, such as at the Oscars, where all the elite celebrities sit in the front, while peasants sit in the balcony.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not with them but with this history of royalty and peasants. Why does it exist, and from where did it come?
I can identify four conditions that led to this two-tier mentality. First, there was the conquest, involving a conqueror and the conquered. The second was the formation of a ruling class of kings versus the peasants; the third was the creation of owners versus workers; and the fourth was the belief that some members of our community deserve to be paid more.
The billionaires who bother me the most are those who are sociopaths. Many sociopaths are in our society, and quite a few are abusive to those they live with (such as abused wives, syndrome). A sociopath must have the right conditions to act out, and some of them are dominant because the situation does not exist. A billionaire sociopath can neglect the welfare of others, have no remorse for what they do, and ignore the social consequences of their actions. This combination worries me: a billionaire, a sociopathic person, and a situation where they can indulge in grandiose ideas. These are the three parts of a stool: 1) a billionaire, 2) a sociopath, and 3) a situation that lets them act out.
The first two conditions that led to the formation of our two-tier society are part of our history, but the last two are still present and active today. The first active condition is the widespread belief that certain positions in our society deserve to be paid large sums, while others do not. Implicit in our thinking is the idea that the winner is the best and that there can be only one winner, and never that the two teams generated a momentous occasion. We accept the fact that Michael Jordan was the best and should be paid a salary of $94 million, and that some professions, like doctors and lawyers, should be paid more. Conversely, others, such as teachers, should be paid less; this is never questioned and is consistently accepted. Having spent my life as a professional, I have always questioned my salary and kept it aligned with that of other working men in our society.
The second active condition is accepting the core principle of capitalist society: a free market provides the opportunity to achieve the American dream, and the profits from industry belong to the owner. The definition of capitalism is “an economic and political system in which private owners control a country's trade and industry for profit.”
Ask anyone what capitalism is, and they will tell you it is what made us great, not that all the profits generated by a business belong to its owners. Why? Why is that? Was anything else handed down to Moses besides the Ten Commandments?
There has been a successful, historic, widespread campaign to brainwash us into accepting and believing that “profit belongs to the owners” thinking. This campaign has been financed and encouraged by the business establishment. We are like the watchers in Plato's cave, looking at the shadows, and somehow, we believe that God handed down this “profit to the owners” for us to accept and follow.
Maybe the French Revolution was an attempt to correct the continuation of monarchical and papal rule. To quote historian Francois Aulard, “The Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity."
In conclusion, billionaires are a product of our misguided mentality, where we never examine our own beliefs or consider their validity.
They bribe politicians, buy elections, even electronically manipulating votes to steal elections, manipulate markets to gain even more money, take over other companies, monopolize media & other information sources, engage in disinformational propaganda, create mechanisms of surveillance & invasions of privacy over American citizens, & generally do a lot more harm than good to this world. If only they had good intentions & made magnanimous efforts to make a better world, imagine what positive results they could achieve! Since they won't do it on their own, we must raise tax rates on corporations & the wealthy considerably, reducing their overall wealth & clout while using the revenue for very worthwhile efforts like mitigating climate chaos & other environmental threats, greatly reducing poverty & homelessness, improving, expanding & making less costly healthcare, providing more affordable housing & better education, etc.
Warren Buffett isn't an angel. His companies often cheapen their goods. His railroad (BNSF) has been engaged in the same labor abuses as the competitors (many articles out on this). His apparel companies, including Lee and Justin Brands (a consolidation of all the mid-tier Western boot makers), notably lowered quality of their goods once he acquired them. I like his persona. And at least he's nominally a Democrat. But....
I did have dinner with a billionaire three decades back, when there were far fewer of them, and when his mere several billion put him well towards the top of the pile. He didn't seem evil, or even mad.
Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse argues that “lootable” resources—such as fossil fuels—are a key structural factor enabling hierarchical, unequal, and often authoritarian forms of governance. Thank you, Bill, for highlighting yet another reason to appreciate today’s low-cost solar energy.
Mr McKibben aptly points out that "it will be difficult to fight a war over sunshine!" We are now living under the "Tyranny of fossil fuels." The world's rich and powerful see oil as a source of power and money. The best interests of the people be damned. It is why the fight for democracy is now more important than ever. Our future demands that we fight back against this tyranny.
Many members of the same generation that once declared, "We sold our soul for rock & roll" are now proudly proclaiming, "We sold our soul for oil & coal."
While Ford, GM & Stellantis are thrilled to be given a green light to flood our roads with thousands more highly profitable Navigators, Suburbans and Grand Wagoneers, Chinese companies are carving out an enormous chunk of the worldwide automotive market. Just like Nissan, Toyota and Honda were overwhelmingly preferred to the riverboats American car manufacturers were spewing into the marketplace in the '70's and '80's, so Chinese electric vehicles will overwhelm their ancient, gas-guzzling, less efficient, US competitors.
Meanwhile, Iran was forced to tolerate decades of abuse at the hands of the Shah to prevent their nation from profiting from their own oil. 58,000 American soldiers died trying to make sure Vietnamese oil wound up in the hands of American, British & French corporations. 4,500 US soldiers died to secure rights to Iraqi's oil wealth. I wonder how many American soldiers will die so Exxon Mobil and others can get their greasy, greedy hands on Venezuela's oil?
What will Trump do with 2 million barrels of high-sulfer heavy crude? US has very limited refining capacity for our own California heavy crude, let alone Canadian tarsands bitumen piped down to Texas from Alberta for further export to places like China who can refine it.
Great summary of environment & energy related matters in much of the world!
What Trump is doing to Venezuela is something he has done over & over throughout his life, extorting people & entities. He is a master extortionist, unlike any other. The most corrupt politician by far in US history. In this case, it is extremely reckless bullying that can only have terribly negative consequences if continued, both on international relations & global security as well as the environment.
GD Republicans blocked Senator Merkley's bill to reassert Congress's right and responsibility to declare war, not the president's. Once again, a draining dread of the wild lawlessness of my country waging war on weaker countries, wasting energy to seize energy to waste it.
We should be marshalling our people and resources to create and install solar panels. We should be finding ways to get actual health care, not just to pay for the insurance we need because we don't have health care. We should be alarmed at the increasing gap between the many without, while the few have too much. We should be agast that $50,000 signing bonuses are being offered for more ICE agents to inflict systemic cruelty on mostly innocent immigrants.
Instead, our megalomaniacal president smashes our White House, mocks and impedes clean energy gathering and use, and murders a few on his way to murdering more. He's utterly amoral and lawless, and GD Republicans keep enabling this dangerous clown fascist.
Trumpty Dumpty had a big, bad, fall (certainly not summer, or spring, or winter, but it rhymes),
All the republican senators and all the republican representatives (definitely not all the king’s horses, and all the king’s men, since there is no king in the United States)
Couldn’t put Trumpty Dumpty’s presidency together again. (‘nough said).
Anyone who participates in this sort of piracy deserves to be stopped from doing so by whatever means prove necessary to get the job done. Anyone who orders others to perform this sort of piracy deserves to be prosecuted and locked up.
Disgusting bald face opportunism—because Hegseth, Trump, Miller *can*. So many legit problems we need to put our strength to, but instead we have a huge , expensive aircraft carrier and all the bridesmaids out in the Caribbean, seizing a tanker and its oil, and incinerating dozens of boats.. to protect “our health and safety”. Or.. simply because a president is bored, needs distractions. No. Just no.
Bored, maybe, but also pretty clearly attempting to wag the dog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_dog?wprov=sfti1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog?wprov=sfti1
Drug deaths are down. Is that worthwhile libby boy? Deaths for the calendar year 2025 are estimated to be down to 70,000 vs 84,000 last year. 14000 lives saved. 2026 will show huge drop when all of the Trump policies. Glad the soy boys are not in charge. Hope you sleep well with all of American bombing of drug craft. Venezuela is in a horrible state. When I was 10 the country was free and going strong. It is beautiful and has natural resources. They have lost 8 million people in a country of 25 million. And those in the country want him gone.
You are clueless. Deluded.
As are you, Bible boy. After seeing your fake stats on premarital sex, you need to post sources on any numbers you claim. We all know this administration has quit publishing data on jobs, economy, environment and more. Fentynal isn't produced in Venezuela. But, there is a lot of oil there.
I didn’t comment on premarital sex. But most high school kids graduate without having sex. It isn’t due to Christianity, it is due to porn.
Now it is worse. We find you not only hate men, but reject God. Not good. You need to investigate. I was a rabid unbeliver untill God hunted me down.
Your link to the video re electric motor is ng
I was going to post that.
Can you fix the link to the electric motor video? Thanks for the rest!
Same here, still not fixed (Sat afternoon 12/13)
One of my favorite T-shirt slogans: Whenever there's a Solar Energy spill, We call it a Nice Day!
My guess is that Trump's posturing on Venezuela has all been because oil, a global commodity, can't get any traction for pricing on global markets and is way below a 'break even' price that would be needed to inspire American oil companies to do more drilling.
Trump's fossil fuel enablers can't be thrilled.
So, this move on Venezuela is not about increasing the supply of oil but reducing the supply from competitors to boost prices, in my view.
Trump's plan was to "drill baby drill" and there is no incentive if it can't be profitable for oil companies because the price per barrel is too low.
The old saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" comes to mind.
Oil has been hovering the the 50-60 dollar a barrel range for a few months, and has not been this low since covid, and last I checked it was $57.38 and change today and having ships off the coast, threatening Russia with sanctions, and now seizing this vessel has not changed this dynamic at all.
They got squat.
This is not enough to get investors, speculators, and buyers, to think a reduction in supply will be a reason to boost prices.
According to the economist Paul Krugman, the break even incentive to drill price is somewhere in the 60-70 dollar a barrel range, if I remember his substack post correctly, and that is just break even.
Drill, Baby, Dr … Never Mind Will Trump kill energy independence?
Paul Krugman, May 13, 2025
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/drill-baby-dr-never-mind
I assume that was the goal for this administration in Venezuela, to cause prices to rise based on a perceived threat to supply. Not only to reduce sanctioned oil being shipped when it was not supposed to be shipped, but to boost prices to help American suppliers and thus, inspire drilling at home.
In my view, investors and speculators on global markets see the writing on the wall regarding oil and I do not think it is simply because they are concerned about a global recession.
This is what I hope anyway.
I think they already know that a plateau in demand may be in the cards -maybe- and given OPECs idle capacity of millions of barrels should they want to tap into that, who would want to spend big to drill these days? Sure, old wells are often replaced with new ones, but maybe that too is not a good financial bet.
Even 3rd world countries are installing cheap solar, and this may be followed with a continued increase in the purchase of cheap electric bikes, mopeds and cheap cars from China, etc. So, a shift seems pretty clear in my view.
Anyway, this is me being hopeful in thinking about the motive for them to have become pirates.
It is desperation.
Next, lets hope his crypto enablers see a massive hit, as well.
"So, this move on Venezuela is not about increasing the supply of oil but reducing the supply from competitors to boost prices, in my view."
That clearly is likely to be the short-term result of these actions. This is very short-sighted thinking, as the obvious solution to our energy problems as well as environmental & economic problems & international stability & security is to rely less on fossil fuels, & develop & expand the much cheaper by now (as well as much cleaner) renewable energy. Trump is so focused on antiquated, self-serving thinking that has long been proven folly & detrimental in the long run to nearly all concerned.
The point I was making is that what the Trump admin may be doing does not seem to be working and the reason may be that alternatives are now so much cheaper, especially solar, that the trend will be away from fossil fuels no matter what, and I think this is showing up in the reduction in what oil is able to sell for on global markets - oil is even down today compared to yesterday - so not working.
This was my point.
When something is cheaper, like solar, it may succeed globally even without government policy and subsidizing. The tide seems to have already shifted or at least that is my hope.
Now, of course urgency is also a massive issue, so I wish Trump and the GOP were not in control and that we had the means to actually push through a Green New Deal type of policy, but it is comforting to see that the world is at least not dependent on Trump's short sighted aims and that fossil fuels may become old hat regardless.
I totally agree with you, which is my point. Raising the cost of oil, even if it succeeds, will do nothing for its competitiveness, but provide further incentive for nations to develop & expand their renewable resources. Even as Trump tries to make it harder for domestic interests to develop renewable energy (which makes absolutely no sense for our overall economy), & tries to bully other countries into buying our oil (which will more likely make them less inclined to buy oil or anything else from us), other nations will find a way to get around it, & our influence on the world stage, as well as our overall prosperity & well-being, will decline even more precipitously.
Your view is from your raging TDS.
TDS is a syndrome afflicting people who are gullible enough to believe anything that the most mendacious, corrupt, perfidious, immoral, treasonous crook to ever disgrace the United States of America claims.
Okay Jim. You have not posted one thing on Substack. They have tech that can help you if you are illiterate. There are thousands of fake accounts. Three theories. Paid propagandists. Radical leftists. Correct answer: 300 pound stoners living in Mom’s basement who fear losing their free government money.
"Even 3rd world countries are installing cheap solar, and this may be followed with cheap electric bikes, mopeds and cheap cars from China, etc. So, a shift seems pretty clear in my view."
Followed by? Try already doing -
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/electric-bikes-african-cities-hope-clear-air-and-empower-women
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773153723000427
https://www.cnn.com/world/africa/electric-tricycle-rural-africa-spc
https://africaema.org/africas-electric-mobility-status-2025/
for some links about African adoption of e-bikes, e-trikes, and e-scooters..
\
Thanks for this information! This is good to see.
Yes, I am aware, I simply meant that it seems like it is a trend that will continue, and not a gap filler due to there currently being less economic opportunity or lower income levels. Thus, it may reduce potential demand for oil in the long run. I made my statement more clear above based on your reply, by adding "increase in" and thanks for the links. This is really good news!
Structurally it’s hard to see oil increasing in price since we have substitutes now. Any price action for oil and gas is also going to improve the investment case for EVs, solar, heat pumps, etc, and those can be installed quicker than new oil supply can come online.
The invisible hand of the market has realized this, which is why we’re now seeing the visible, loud and disruptive hand of bought-and-paid-for politicians come out cheering for oil
Have you ever met a billionaire?
Never in my long life have I met a billionaire. When I talk about billionaires, I mean all those multi-millionaires, CEOs, corporate executives, and business leaders of major companies.
The closest I came was when I visited Nantucket, where billionaires dock their yachts at a secure wharf with a gate and a security guard who told me they never sail on their boats. Instead, they tell their captain where to go, then fly there in their private jets. In Nantucket, there is also a ridge overlooking the harbor with enormous “trophy houses” owned by billionaires who visit these houses maybe two days a year.
Forbes reports that there are 2,781 billionaires worldwide, with a total wealth of $14.2 trillion, and that we have between 900 and 924 billionaires, excluding other millionaires.
Honestly, I have to admit I despise billionaires. I see them as abusers; I believe their existence is harmful, insulting, and subtly degrading to the average person. To me, their display of privilege is offensive. They can live among others, flaunt their wealth and status among less fortunate people, and feel justified in amassing their riches. By their mere presence, they create a two-tier society.
I can only imagine what it's like to have billions of dollars at your disposal. I wonder what motivates them to keep trying to grow their wealth. What will they do with their money? If they have children, they can leave their fortune to them. My experience with “trust fund children” is that they often face serious issues due to a lack of direction. For example, when my family rented a cottage in Nantucket, a young psychiatrist rented the one next to ours. We spent time together on the lawn and became friends. One day, I noticed he seemed upset and asked if I could help. He said he always knew he wanted to be a psychiatrist. He did well in college, excelled in medical school, enjoyed his psychiatry residency, and worked to establish his private practice in Boston. Yesterday, his father, who was wealthy and, in his eighties, told him and his brother that he was reducing his assets and giving each of them $50 million. Now, he had nothing to work for; he didn't have to work, and he felt completely disoriented, as if his world had been turned upside down.
As a psychologist, I try to understand how they can deny the harsh reality when faced with the suffering of their less fortunate neighbors in their country and around the world. They often resort to widespread denial and create their own illusion of grandeur. They deny the obvious, reject the world around them, and remain in some form of cocoon-like thinking. They reinforce the idea that they are superior and deserve their billions; they stay isolated from the public, living in secure private facilities and associating only with other billionaires and multi-millionaires.
I do not believe they are all the same. Some billionaires have donated large sums to public institutions such as hospitals and schools (Ken Langone, CEO of Home Depot, donated to the NYU hospital). Another example of a different type of billionaire is my hero, Warren Buffett, who made his fortune without underpaying his employees and still lives in Omaha in the same home he grew up in. When he attended a fight event at a civic center, he sat in the back rows, not in the front rows reserved for celebrities.
Most billionaires still view themselves as a separate, regal class, but this two-tier perspective has been common throughout our history. There has always been an emphasis on privilege and subjugation in our past. It is deeply rooted in our religious beliefs, with ideas about God and humanity, dating back to biblical times with lords and kings, through the medieval era with nobility and peasants, to our history involving slave owners and slaves. This two-tier mindset is reinforced in subtle ways, such as at the Oscars, where all the elite celebrities sit in the front, while peasants sit in the balcony.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not with them but with this history of royalty and peasants. Why does it exist, and from where did it come?
I can identify four conditions that led to this two-tier mentality. First, there was the conquest, involving a conqueror and the conquered. The second was the formation of a ruling class of kings versus the peasants; the third was the creation of owners versus workers; and the fourth was the belief that some members of our community deserve to be paid more.
The billionaires who bother me the most are those who are sociopaths. Many sociopaths are in our society, and quite a few are abusive to those they live with (such as abused wives, syndrome). A sociopath must have the right conditions to act out, and some of them are dominant because the situation does not exist. A billionaire sociopath can neglect the welfare of others, have no remorse for what they do, and ignore the social consequences of their actions. This combination worries me: a billionaire, a sociopathic person, and a situation where they can indulge in grandiose ideas. These are the three parts of a stool: 1) a billionaire, 2) a sociopath, and 3) a situation that lets them act out.
The first two conditions that led to the formation of our two-tier society are part of our history, but the last two are still present and active today. The first active condition is the widespread belief that certain positions in our society deserve to be paid large sums, while others do not. Implicit in our thinking is the idea that the winner is the best and that there can be only one winner, and never that the two teams generated a momentous occasion. We accept the fact that Michael Jordan was the best and should be paid a salary of $94 million, and that some professions, like doctors and lawyers, should be paid more. Conversely, others, such as teachers, should be paid less; this is never questioned and is consistently accepted. Having spent my life as a professional, I have always questioned my salary and kept it aligned with that of other working men in our society.
The second active condition is accepting the core principle of capitalist society: a free market provides the opportunity to achieve the American dream, and the profits from industry belong to the owner. The definition of capitalism is “an economic and political system in which private owners control a country's trade and industry for profit.”
Ask anyone what capitalism is, and they will tell you it is what made us great, not that all the profits generated by a business belong to its owners. Why? Why is that? Was anything else handed down to Moses besides the Ten Commandments?
There has been a successful, historic, widespread campaign to brainwash us into accepting and believing that “profit belongs to the owners” thinking. This campaign has been financed and encouraged by the business establishment. We are like the watchers in Plato's cave, looking at the shadows, and somehow, we believe that God handed down this “profit to the owners” for us to accept and follow.
Maybe the French Revolution was an attempt to correct the continuation of monarchical and papal rule. To quote historian Francois Aulard, “The Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity."
In conclusion, billionaires are a product of our misguided mentality, where we never examine our own beliefs or consider their validity.
"What will they do with their money?"
They bribe politicians, buy elections, even electronically manipulating votes to steal elections, manipulate markets to gain even more money, take over other companies, monopolize media & other information sources, engage in disinformational propaganda, create mechanisms of surveillance & invasions of privacy over American citizens, & generally do a lot more harm than good to this world. If only they had good intentions & made magnanimous efforts to make a better world, imagine what positive results they could achieve! Since they won't do it on their own, we must raise tax rates on corporations & the wealthy considerably, reducing their overall wealth & clout while using the revenue for very worthwhile efforts like mitigating climate chaos & other environmental threats, greatly reducing poverty & homelessness, improving, expanding & making less costly healthcare, providing more affordable housing & better education, etc.
Warren Buffett isn't an angel. His companies often cheapen their goods. His railroad (BNSF) has been engaged in the same labor abuses as the competitors (many articles out on this). His apparel companies, including Lee and Justin Brands (a consolidation of all the mid-tier Western boot makers), notably lowered quality of their goods once he acquired them. I like his persona. And at least he's nominally a Democrat. But....
I did have dinner with a billionaire three decades back, when there were far fewer of them, and when his mere several billion put him well towards the top of the pile. He didn't seem evil, or even mad.
Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse argues that “lootable” resources—such as fossil fuels—are a key structural factor enabling hierarchical, unequal, and often authoritarian forms of governance. Thank you, Bill, for highlighting yet another reason to appreciate today’s low-cost solar energy.
Mr McKibben aptly points out that "it will be difficult to fight a war over sunshine!" We are now living under the "Tyranny of fossil fuels." The world's rich and powerful see oil as a source of power and money. The best interests of the people be damned. It is why the fight for democracy is now more important than ever. Our future demands that we fight back against this tyranny.
Many members of the same generation that once declared, "We sold our soul for rock & roll" are now proudly proclaiming, "We sold our soul for oil & coal."
While Ford, GM & Stellantis are thrilled to be given a green light to flood our roads with thousands more highly profitable Navigators, Suburbans and Grand Wagoneers, Chinese companies are carving out an enormous chunk of the worldwide automotive market. Just like Nissan, Toyota and Honda were overwhelmingly preferred to the riverboats American car manufacturers were spewing into the marketplace in the '70's and '80's, so Chinese electric vehicles will overwhelm their ancient, gas-guzzling, less efficient, US competitors.
Meanwhile, Iran was forced to tolerate decades of abuse at the hands of the Shah to prevent their nation from profiting from their own oil. 58,000 American soldiers died trying to make sure Vietnamese oil wound up in the hands of American, British & French corporations. 4,500 US soldiers died to secure rights to Iraqi's oil wealth. I wonder how many American soldiers will die so Exxon Mobil and others can get their greasy, greedy hands on Venezuela's oil?
"When will they ever learn?"
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for “T”
What will Trump do with 2 million barrels of high-sulfer heavy crude? US has very limited refining capacity for our own California heavy crude, let alone Canadian tarsands bitumen piped down to Texas from Alberta for further export to places like China who can refine it.
wait for it splat on Mr. “T”
All we are saying is give peace ✌️🕊️ a chance ‼️✌️🐻
Great summary of environment & energy related matters in much of the world!
What Trump is doing to Venezuela is something he has done over & over throughout his life, extorting people & entities. He is a master extortionist, unlike any other. The most corrupt politician by far in US history. In this case, it is extremely reckless bullying that can only have terribly negative consequences if continued, both on international relations & global security as well as the environment.
GD Republicans blocked Senator Merkley's bill to reassert Congress's right and responsibility to declare war, not the president's. Once again, a draining dread of the wild lawlessness of my country waging war on weaker countries, wasting energy to seize energy to waste it.
We should be marshalling our people and resources to create and install solar panels. We should be finding ways to get actual health care, not just to pay for the insurance we need because we don't have health care. We should be alarmed at the increasing gap between the many without, while the few have too much. We should be agast that $50,000 signing bonuses are being offered for more ICE agents to inflict systemic cruelty on mostly innocent immigrants.
Instead, our megalomaniacal president smashes our White House, mocks and impedes clean energy gathering and use, and murders a few on his way to murdering more. He's utterly amoral and lawless, and GD Republicans keep enabling this dangerous clown fascist.
Bill, I know this is off-topic, but. . . . . . .
Trumpty Dumpty: The story of a loser.
Trumpty Dumpty sat on a wall (of the East Wing),
Trumpty Dumpty had a big, bad, fall (certainly not summer, or spring, or winter, but it rhymes),
All the republican senators and all the republican representatives (definitely not all the king’s horses, and all the king’s men, since there is no king in the United States)
Couldn’t put Trumpty Dumpty’s presidency together again. (‘nough said).
Stephen Kirby
12-13-2025
Anyone who participates in this sort of piracy deserves to be stopped from doing so by whatever means prove necessary to get the job done. Anyone who orders others to perform this sort of piracy deserves to be prosecuted and locked up.
Need to see electric vehicle. Link not available
🙏