I accidentally ordered a Swiss documentary video from Netflix called "A Crude Awakening" Yes it was about oil.

It was an eye opener and put everything into perspective.

When crude oil was found seeping out of the ground in Pennsylvania in the late 1800s, no one could have conceived how our society would change. It has spawned the chemical industry, the plastic industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the auto industry and the oil industry and finally the bloated healthcare industry that is suppose to fix our ills, but in reality is adding to the crisis in some ways.

In the United States, we are addicted to oil and consume 25% of the world oil while we account for only 2% of the world population. We have seen $100 for a barrel of oil. It's only the beginning when India and China with over a third of the world population wants to emulate the success of the American dream, and is now only beginning to modernize and build cars and roads to handle the transportation needs of their countries. There is not enough oil for all in the future and depletion will occur at some point in time.

Unless a cheap and reusable form of energy is found, our society as well as others will collapse. An expert shown in the documentary on oil predicted that we are an epizootic society. He was ridiculed for his position and has passed away, but his prediction is real. Epizootic is a statistical analysis that predicts the future based on supply and demand. When we run out of oil, the industries mentioned above will collapse.

The major problem is that the leadership in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans are not acknowledging the reality of the situation. Privately, I'm sure that both Bush and Cheney understand the realities of the situation, but don't want to publicly recognize the problem. It could cause panic and financial chaos for the United States. I'm convinced it is the motivation for being in the Mideast because the countries that supply the oil are inefficient in processing the crude and the intention is to fix that problem.

The chemical industry that relies on oil for their source of raw materials produces thousands of new chemicals each year, most of which impact the environment in ways that we don't understand. Our air, our water and our food supply is contaminated with them. Our only personal defense is to shift to organically grown products that reduce our personal chemical burden.

.The plastic industry produces tons and tons of waste that doesn't biodegrade, polluting our environment. We are just starting to learn about the negative impact of a by product of clear plastic container molding called Bis Phenyl-A that is an estrogen interrupter and impacts the health of everyone that consume products from these types of plastic containers.

The pharmaceutical industry has become expert on the manipulation of carbon compounds into too many drugs that interfere with normal biochemical processes to produce a short term positive effect, but too often without clear recognition of the long term negative impact of the drug on the human body.

It's ironic, that the chemical, plastic and pharmaceutical industry has spawned many of the healthcare problems that have to be managed, and at the same time the American auto industry is suffering from being non-competitive in price due to the burden of Healthcare costs for their workers, and the big three auto makers finds themselves on the brink of extinction.

"If the federal government assumes the role of being the sole payer in our bloated healthcare system, will there be enough savings to reverse the current trend of sky rocketing healthcare costs that are bankrupting this economy? It is not a question of whether or not you have a right to healthcare in the United States, but a question of how much more it will cost, if we don't reverse the basic causes of an unhealthy society and the ultimate impact on our cost of living".

If we could only admit to the cause and effect of many of our healthcare problems, we could go a long way in solving some of them permanently. Dr. Samuel Epstein spent his life time studying the causes of cancer for the University of Illinois Public Health College and wrote a book called "Politics of Cancer". Rather than being recognized for his efforts he was ignored and censored. Politics comes before good medicine. The only benefactors in the current scenario are the oil giants that continue to produce record profits. That too will come to an end.

The disruptions to our economy will become more frequent as the world competes for limited oil reserves. I hope that new leadership will emerge in the United States that will set a course to steer us away from a crisis of apocalyptic dimension that is headed our way.

It will be the ultimate "Perfect Storm" unless we admit that we must dramatically change our life style before it is too late.

Tom Braun

Retired but not yet senile!


QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? WRITE tbran10@hotmail.com

Copyright © 2008 Thomas Braun

T. Braun, Pharmacist, Buyer, Marketing Executive for a Major Drug Chain. Active for over 45 years in Pharmacy.

Legal Stuff: Permission is granted to all to reproduce this document in whole and redistribute to all that are as concerned as I about the future of our Medical system that has so many superior attributes that is operating under needless dark clouds of distress.

Disclaimer - This document is informational in nature. Medical advice should be secured through your physician.