Obama and the removal of the Opiates of the Mass Market

The US is about to hit its toughest problem - the intersection of its long undeclared war against the poor and USD 100 per barrel of oil. How do you tell the poor bastard who works at McDo(ugh) that 1) he can't afford to pay for gas to get to work; 2) his work may not be there anyway; 3) the lack of heat in his home may give him pneumonia for which he will not be able to afford treatment and 4) the price of food will rise because of subsidies to corn fed f***wits and the higher price of transportation and 5) cheap stuff from China sold at Walmart won't be so cheap anymore. Oh yeah, let me not forgot, how the shysters from Wall Street conspired to take away her home and leave her further in debt.

The average Joe may not be quick enough to figure out the economics of how he's been had, but know he does.

The vote for Obama in an all white state is not some message of racial tolerance. It is rather the solidarity of class - the subtext being "that poor black bastard is more likely to know what life is like for me". Maybe he will even do something about it.

One cannot but be keen on the return of healthcare, education and public transportation to the US. It was once a great country. Alas, I fear it is too late for the US to recapture its lost glory - it is too indebted and likely to be riven by internal strife for the next decade to be much of a world player (except by its death throes causing the rest of us pain). I do not mean its deficit, but its rather too large environmental footprint and the likely result of its reduction.

There is no longer doubt that US consumers must reduce their use of world resources - the repricing of the dollar and oil will see to that, as will the rise of China and India. The question that will exercise America is who within that country will bear the brunt? Will the poor and disenfranchised find a way to keep some of their standard of living?