This Friday marks the 25th year anniversary of The World Trade Center attack. Oil has breached $100 once again. This is as the largest state sponsor of terror, Iran – specifically the IRGC – has been allowed to manipulate global economics and politics in a continued effort to destabilize the “Free world” / West and specifically instill Jihadism against a Western way of life. None of this of course happens in a vacuum.
The plight of the West being so intricately linked to petro whims of the world stems from consumer choice. Independence is at the core of this choice. Individualism, specifically American, is now in question by disgruntled citizens who hardly knew what the hate and evil actually meant as globally expressed on September 11th. New York’s current mayor, an affront to so many Americans, has done what Osama Bin Laden planned: to systematically use American Democracy against our own interests.
Each time a headline crosses or more specificallly when a politician barks about how we should be concerned about paying $4.50, $6 or $7 per gallon at the pump, it should be considered a direct challenge on your individual rights and freedom.
This site and specifically the film, LUBIE LOVE, has been a place giving examples of how American consumption habits, especially linked to getting into a car or delivered by a semi truck impact more than your local community. When you choose local your impact is indeed global. No better example today exists than the rise of an American immigrant and manufacturing success story: Tesla and SpaceX.
The world’s wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, put his own money initially at risk to create a different outcome. Consumers responded in multiple ways to his first company, Paypal, and then in his vision for Tesla. Today, SpaceX (a rollup conglomerate of Twitter/X, Grok/xAI and Starlink primarily) are completely different solutions to human consumer problems. With Tesla, the immediate problem of a more reliable, non-oil based vehicle became a complete reinvention of how first Americans and then global citizens can independently get from point A to B. Tesla’s inclusion of Solar City became a partial answer to energy independence and an alternative to oil powered transportation and electrical power generation.
At the same time, because of September 11th, Nationalism grew globally and, with Trump 45, became a visual marker for some to rally and support. Mission accomplished, proclaimed by President Bush, was effectively the oil industry’s global chokehold on consumerism. Yes it was a reason for the Iraq invasion. Yes it was the basis for the fall of tyrants like Libya’s Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein. Yes it was the cause for the invasion of Afghanistan and the Obama success of hunting down and eliminating Osama Bin Laden as he was given safe haven in Pakistan.
It should not be lost that countries fighting for resources and power is nothing new. What those younger than 25 have not experienced is what the loss of freedom actually means. The shoe bomber, the formation of Homeland Security, and airport security lines occurred because of September 11th. The neighbors watching neighbors was an outcome of September 11th as were the controls implemented by most noticeably Vice President Dick Cheney as he was thrust onto the airwaves days after the WTC bombing. Today’s ICE actions under Trump 47 is a direct outcome of the hate advanced in communities and countries against what a prosperous society represents internationally.
America’s melting pot today has been given extra unnecessary heat by an oil centric consumer base. The only thing preventing change is an educated consumer. A consumer who recognizes that cheap today is a more expensive choice for tomorrow’s desires and wishes. While trade tariffs are a protectionist action typically, domestically sourced and produced goods only takes hold when quality is matched by competition. Congressional funding decisions and Presidential executive orders that fail public education are at the heart of why a quarter century from the billowing smoke of Ground Zero barely motivates a Kalshi, Game Stop and 365 Bets society into action for a better tomorrow.
As for a sequel to LUBIE LOVE – The Movie: Autonomous driving and delivery is upon us. So too are air taxis by Joby and drone grub hub deliveries. A lone trucker on an American cross country journey fueled by a supposed gas crisis that no one had seen coming is a story too many now know first hand. Pot hole ladened highways remain unaddressed. 40 million Americans are subject to the Western states water crisis at the same time that legalized Marijuana and Natural Gas exploration and extraction are taxing the need for clean drinking water nationally. Amazon’s delivery of the original cut of the film has ended as abruptly as a Prime Cargo plane’s mysterious brake failure and botched landing in Miami. Only the 36 unique signed and sold DVDs remain as a viewable lesson to a quarter century past.