Happy Independence Day

Someone in Austrailia Google Blogsearched “consumption financed by debt” and found The MinusCar Project this morning.

This is the third and final installment in a series related to Dave Ramsey's appearance on the Focus on the Family Radio Show.

Dave Ramsey and his Podcast.

Dr James Dobson, on the Focus on the Family Radio Show, combining National Evangelical Association Lobbyist and the Koyoto Protocol - “What Richard Cizik and his associates want us to do is roll back the use of fossil fuels (oil) to the 1998 levels, or even earlier, which would paralyze industry and put millions of people out of work.”

The MinusCar Project’s summary of Dave Ramsey’s appearance on the Focus on the Family Radio Show – what Dave Ramsey and his associates want us to do is roll back consumer debt and consumption to the 1998 levels, or even earlier, which would paralyze industry and put millions of people out of work.

Dave Ramsey himself admits that “if every single American stopped using debt of any kind over the next fifty years, banks and other lenders would suffer.” He’s on pretty safe ground diluting his message by spreading out the change over an arguably meaningless 50 years. He also strives to make everybody a millionaire which is much more palatable than say, trying to ensure the earth remains inhabitable. But, suffering banks can’t come without consequences, and 50 years is probably too generous, given Kevin Phillips assessment in “American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil and Borrowed Money” that finance, insurance and real estate are 20% of our GDP and “moving money around has surpassed making things.” (I haven’t read this book. I read this blog post. I found it by doing my own Google Blog search for “consumption financed by debt.”)

Living The MinusCar Project for the past year has been much more than blog posts and bike riding. It’s been asking a variety of questions. One of the answers I’ve found is that my greenhouse gas emissions are largely linked to my consumer consumption. I’m no rocket economist but I’m pretty sure a meaningful reduction of greenhouse gases requires a meaningful reduction of consumer consumption, especially in a country where 6% of the globe’s population consumes 40-50% of its resources.

One of Dave Ramsey’s favorite bible verses is Proverbs 22:7 – “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

It’s interesting that Dr James Dobson suggests “an underlying hatred for America” motivates people working on mitigating climate change. In Exodus the Israelites response to Moses as he’s trying to negotiate their release from slavery, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Happy Independence Day – will those fireworks be cash or charge?

Might I suggest The New Exodus? Part III is especially excellent...if you're already inclined to ask these sorts of questions.