The Crash Course : An Honest Approach to Facing the Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment

Description

An intellectual history of American conservativism since the New Deal. The New Deal fundamentally changed the institutions of American constitutional government and, in turn, the relationship of Americans to their government. Johnathan O'Neill's Conservative Thought and American Constitutionalism since the New Deal examines how various types of conservative thinkers responded to this significant turning point in the second half of the twentieth century. O'Neill identifies four fundamental transformations engendered by the New Deal: the rise of the administrative state, the erosion of federalism, the ascendance of the modern presidency, and the development of modern judicial review. He then considers how various schools of conservative thought (traditionalists, neoconservatives, libertarians, Straussians) responded to these major changes in American politics and culture. Conservatives frequently argued among themselves, and their responses to the New Deal ranged from adaptation to condemnation to political mobilization. Ultimately, the New Deal pulled American governance and society permanently leftward. Although some of the New Deal's liberal gains have been eroded, a true conservative counterrevolution was never, O'Neill argues, a realistic possibility. He concludes with a plea for conservative thinkers to seriously reconsider the role of Congress―a body that is relatively ignored by conservative intellectuals in favor of the courts and the presidency―in America's constitutional order. Conservative Thought and American Constitutionalism since the New Deal explores the scope and significance of conservative constitutional analysis amid the broader field of American political thought. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I How to Approach the Next Twenty Years Chapter 1 The Coming Storm Chapter 2 The Lens Chapter 3 A World Worth Inheriting Chapter 4 Trust Yourself Conflicts of Interest You Are the Ultimate Truth-Teller Instincts Can Save You Head and Heart Part II Foundation Chapter 5 Dangerous Exponentials More on the Concept of Exponential Growth Speeding Up Making It Real Surrounded by Exponentials The Rule of 70 Your Exponential World Chapter 6 Problems versus Predicaments Chapter 7 An Inconvenient Lie Chapter 8 Complex Systems Systems—Open versus Closed Economists—Closed Minds Our Complex World Chapter 9 Our Money System Full Faith and Credit How Hyperinflation Happens Money Creation A Quick Anecdote on People’s Understanding of Money Back to Our Story The Fed Two Kinds of Money—One Exponential System The Trouble with Future Claims on Wealth Chapter 10 What Is Wealth? The Hierarchy of Wealth Money and Wealth The Nature of Wealth Part III Economy Chapter 11 Debt What Is Debt? Levels of Debt Debt Distorts GDP Good Debt and Bad Debt The Crisis Explained in One Table The History of Debt This Time Is Different Too Much Debt Debt’s Massive Assumption How It Unfolds Chapter 12 The Great Credit Bubble What Is a Bubble? Bubble History Bubble Characteristics A Bubble 50 Years in the Making Withering Heights Chapter 13 Like a Moth to Flame The Moths The Flame Quantitative Easing The Central Bank’s Reign of Error Chapter 14 Fuzzy Numbers Administrative Bias Inflation Gross Domestic Product (GDP) And All the Rest Chapter 15 Crumbling Before Our Eyes The Story of . . . Concrete? Summing It Up Part IV Energy Chapter 16 Energy and the Economy The Master Resource Energy Budgeting Net Energy The Economy and Energy We Live Like Gods Chapter 17 Peak Oil Petro-Realities Bombshell! Saudi Arabia Fesses Up to Peak Oil It’s Not “Running Out” Find First, Then Pump A Global Peak? Oil and GDP The Oil Production Output Gap Peak Exports The Ugly Power of Reverse Compounding Chapter 18 Shale Oil Shale Oil—Amazing Technology, but Expensive Oil Shale Oil—Game Changer or Retirement Party? Fledged on a Cliff International Shale Chapter 19 Necessary but Insufficient Simple Math The European Energy Disaster of 2022 The Reality—Time, Scale, Cost, Limits The Nuclear Option The Coal Story The Alternatives—Solar and Wind Biofuels Natural Gas Hydrogen Conclusion Chapter 20 Why Technology Can’t Fix This Fact 1: Technology Does Not Create Energy Fact 2: Transforming Energy Is Expensive Fact 3: Energy Transitions Take Time Why Technology Can’t Fix This Part V Environment Chapter 21 Minerals Quantity and Quality (Again) Economic Growth and Minerals The End of an Era Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Gone with the Wind Chapter 22 Soil Do We Heat or Do We Eat? The Important Difference Between Soil and Dirt Exporting Nutrients The High (Energy) Cost of Low-Cost Fertilizers Soil Erosion and Desertification Conclusion Chapter 23 Parched Running Dry What Lies Beneath Exporting Water—The Food Story The Food Bubble Energy and Water The Future of Water Chapter 24 All Fished Out The Oxygen You Breathe The Great Thiamine (B1) Mystery The Bottom Line Chapter 25 What Do You Mean We’re Running Out of Sand? Part VI Convergence Chapter 26 Where Have All the Insects Gone? Chapter 27 The Bumpy Path to 2030 The Foundation The Economy Energy The Environment “Unsustainable” Convergence: The Timeline This Time Is Different Part VII What Should I Do? Chapter 28 The Good News Technology Food Energy Economy and Money Population A New Narrative The Good News . . . Chapter 29 Closing the Book on Growth Chapter 30 What Should I Do? Simpler, Harder, and More Expensive Becoming Resilient Re·sil·ience The Bare Minimum Where to Live Insufficient, but Necessary Set Targets Being in Service Step 0 The Importance of Community What’s the First Thing I Should Do? Chapter 31 Build Up Your Capital! Home Cry Once Health Nature Connection Mastering Stress The Spiritual Side Wealth The Great Wealth Transfer The Scarcity Mindset Protecting Your Monetary Wealth Build Your Knowledge and Skills Use Time Wisely Community Capital Local Culture Matters Finding a Culture That Serves You Conclusion Appendix Notes Index EULA