Blissful Ignorance Now

I’m not an oilman, but I write about resources often enough.

For a paper finance major, geology was a major blind spot. I haven’t taken an earth science class since junior high school or a chemistry class since my sophomore year in college. And yet, so much of the world’s business depends on resources.

Luckily, my current crop of students is far more conservative than most of its predecessors. I used to remind the kids, “Everything you are wearing, writing with, or sitting on was either made with oil or was transported to you by oil.”

But that doesn’t excuse my ignorance of the resource world. And I have learned so much, but I’m no rock kicker. Still, I’m reminded of George Carlin’s famous quote:

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

Luckily, in the Paradigm Press family, we’ve got Byron King, our very own “Gandalf the Geologist.”

Meeting Byron King

After decades of working in banking, my bullshit-o-meter is finely tuned. I can pretty quickly tell someone competent from someone who’s “faking it until they’re making it.”

When Byron King started talking, a sudden frisson up my spine told me that I didn’t know what this man was talking about but that I needed to listen, absorb, and appropriate his knowledge. As you may know, Byron is a Harvard-educated geologist, naval aviator, lawyer, and writer. The world makes more sense when you listen to Byron.

War historians will tell you how much logistics matters. How do you get material from A to B? How much food, fuel, and personnel do you need? Most people never even think about this stuff. Unfortunately, most think food and supplies just magically appear on shelves. Because my father is a retired truck driver, I had some idea of transporting goods. He used to talk about his workday every night at dinner. But thanks to Byron, I can look at the world and ask, “Is this news headline even feasible?”

How the World Works

I genuinely think part of the reason it was so easy to fool the general public into thinking Ukraine would beat Russia is that most Americans have no idea what’s under Russia’s soil and how good they are at getting the stuff out of the ground.

If they had known, there’s no way they’d have approved of backing Ukraine, let alone sending billions in U.S. taxpayer funds to “help them.” Since Presidents Trump and Putin have spoken, the writing’s on the wall: it’s over for the Ukrainians. They’ve lost nearly a million men, a chunk of their territory, and any chance of getting into NATO.

I was recently watching Landman, which is a TV series about the oil industry in West Texas. Tommy Norris, the Landman, explained to his female lawyer colleague the economics and environmental impact of wind turbines and how oil companies use them to power the wells. They need to use those monstrosities because the wells are off-grid.

Rebecca: “God, they’re massive.”

Tommy: “400 feet tall. The concrete foundation covers a third of an acre and goes down in the ground 12 feet.”

Rebecca: “Who owns them?”

Tommy: “Oil companies. We use ’em to power the wells. There’s no electricity out here. We’re off the grid.”

Rebecca: “They use clean energy to power the oil wells?”

Tommy: “They use alternative energy. There’s nothing clean about this.”

Rebecca: “Oh. Please, Mr. Oil Man, tell me how the wind is bad for the environment.”

Tommy: “Do you have any idea how much diesel they have to burn to mix that much concrete or make that steel, and haul this shit out here, and put it together with a 450-foot crane? You wanna guess how much oil it takes to lubricate that fucking thing or winterize it? In its 20-year lifespan, it won’t offset the carbon footprint of making it. And don’t get me started on solar panels and the lithium in your Tesla battery. And nevermind the fact that if the whole world decided to go electric tomorrow, we don’t have the transmission lines to get the electricity to the cities. It’d take 30 years if we started tomorrow. And, unfortunately, for your grandkids, we have a 120-year petroleum-based infrastructure. Our whole lives depend on it. And hell, it’s in everything. That road we came in on, the wheels won’t every car ever made, including yours. It’s in tennis rackets, and lipstick, and refrigerators, and antihistamines, pretty much anything plastic. Your cell phone case, artificial heart valves, any kind of clothing that’s not made with animal or plant fibers, soap, fucking hand lotion, garbage bags, fishing boats, you name it. Every fucking thing. And you know what the kicker is? We’re gonna run out of it before we find its replacement.”

Rebecca: “It’s the thing that’s gonna kill us all as a species.”

Tommy: “No, the thing that’s gonna kill us all is running out before we find an alternative. And, believe me, if Exxon thought them fucking things right there were the future, they’d be putting ’em all over the goddamn place. Getting oil outta the ground is the most dangerous job in the world. We don’t do it ’cause we like it, we do it ’cause we run outta options. And you’re out here trying to find something to blame for the danger besides your boss. There ain’t nobody to blame, but the demand that we keep pumping it.”

What impresses me about oilmen is how thorough, precise, and deliberate they are. They possess hands-on, kinesthetic knowledge that only comes from doing a job well, not just researching it.

Future historians will shake their heads in disbelief that we once thought UN interns who lived in NYC cubbyhole apartments knew more about the environment than those who worked the land.

Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

When oilmen like my colleague Byron aren’t in the room, people say, “Hey, just ask them. They know what the hell they’re talking about. They’ll solve your problem in five minutes.” That’s why I tell students to strive for competence. So few people have it. Excellence? Worry about that once you know what the hell you’re doing.

What the Watermelons Want

I refuse to call them “Greens.” The watermelons — environmentalist green on the outside, commie red on the inside — want to weaken the entire human experience. They want people to freeze in the winter, steam up in the summer, eat bug powder, and not get the essential amino acids they need when they eat meat.

They’re not environmentalists. They’re anti-human, and no, the science doesn’t back them up. That’s why you’re never allowed to question it.

They have a single goal: to subdue the human race into an impoverished farming communal dystopia where everything will be done by hand and no one will have a technological advantage. Of course, they’re certifiable, but that hasn’t stopped them from ruining Germany, the UK, and much of the U.S.

The only thing that will stop them is for more people to acquire hands-on knowledge and know-how to refute the silly points watermelons make about the state of the planet.

Wrap Up

Take the time to learn about the world around you, how it works, why we do things the way we do, and when things happen.

The best defense against these lunatics is a good offense.