America’s Economic Myths

Myth # 1: “Dependence on Foreign Oil”

This myth basically suggests that the problem with oil prices is due to America’s “dependence” on foreign oil. One of the worst economic myths, it plays on economic nationalism and on xenophobic feelings that are sometimes pervasive in the United States.

The high price of oil has nothing to do with its origin; the price of oil is determined in international markets. Even if the United States were to produce 100% of the oil it consumes, the price would be the same if the worldwide supply and demand of oil were to remain the same. Oil is a commodity, so the price of a barrel produced in the United States is basically the same as the price of a barrel of oil produced in any other country, but the costs of labor, land, and regulatory compliance are usually higher in the United States than in third-world countries. Lowering these costs would help increase supply. Increasing supply, whether in the United States or elsewhere, will push prices lower.

Importing a product does not mean you “depend” on it. This is like saying that when we “import” food from our local supermarket we “depend” on that supermarket. The opposite is usually true; exporters depend on us, since we are the customers. Also, importing a product usually means buying at lower prices, whereas producing in the United States often means consuming at higher prices. This point is proven when we see the cheap imports we can purchase from China and the higher prices of many of these same products manufactured in the United States. The amazing thing is that the protectionists claim, on the one hand, that America should be “protected” from cheap imports, but when it comes to oil, they say we should be “protected” from “expensive imported” oil.

Most, if not all, of the higher price of oil can be explained by the expansion of the money supply or the debasement of the dollar. The foreign producers are not at fault; our national central bank is the culprit.

Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

“The greater part of most people’s thinking is involuntary, automatic, and repetitive. It is no more than a kind of mental static and fulfills no real purpose. Strictly speaking, you don’t think: Thinking happens to you. The statement ‘I think’ implies volition. It implies that you have a say in the matter, that there is a choice involved in your part. For most people, this is not the case. ‘I think’ is just as false a statement as ‘I digest’ or ‘I circulate my blood.’ Digestion happens, circulation happens, thinking happens.”

Oh yeee gads! Socialism! Get it off! It’s all over me!

Proximity

What is it about proximity, both too much and too little, that drives people insane?

It makes us forget our promises, or hold on to them even stronger, till they are so twisted, or so idolized that they no longer resemble their original shape.

Assumptions

I think lots of people mistake me as dominant in the bedroom because I am so assertive outside of it. I have a leader personality. I take charge when people are fussing about. If it has to be done, I can do it, and well, and bring others into it.

Yet, the bedroom is not the same for me.

I’m still pretty fiery, but really, I’m just trying to see who will stand up to me and try to tame me.

I’m the fox.

I used to be embarrassed about my desires when I was younger. I thought there was something wrong with me. I think most of us believe this at some point or another. We feel we have been wired wrong.

I was embarrassed at how much I enjoyed being submissive. I felt guilty about it. I thought I was being a bad woman. A bad feminist. Just bad bad bad. But I began to understand that pleasure works differently.

It took me a long time to accept who I am, and who and what I enjoy.

 

Let’s all try and be careful about our assumptions, who knows what we could be missing out on?