Friday, June 15, 2007

Corn and Gas and Unexpected Laws

A New Era has come upon us without our doing anything to make it happen. Like most events both big and small we had nothing to do with making these things happen. Congress passes a new law to reduce the use of energy and another law takes over and changes everything. That law is called, "The Law of Unexpected Consequences".

There is an evangelistic fervor sweeping the world right now about energy usage and what is called "Global Warming". I know so little about such things I will refrain from pontificating about whether or not humans are to "blame" for increasing the temperature. I do not know.

However, because I have a small understanding about the way one small change acts like a billiard ball careening around the billiard table hitting and moving other balls I can often predict that almost any well intended legal intervention designed to reduce our "Carbon Footprint" will instead increase it.

The Federal Government as represented by the Congress became very concerned about gasoline consumption. The Representatives from the corn growing states came up with an idea. Let's make corn into a form of non oil based gas and sell it on the open market. Every gallon of corn gas will reduce the gasoline usage of oil based fuels and everyone will be happy but the corn farmers will really be happy. Happy farmers make for happy voters who make for happy Representatives.

The flaw in the thinking is simple. If more corn is used to drive cars instead of feed cattle and people then the price of corn will increase. If corn increases in price meat will increase and cereal costs will increase, and... They all did increase.

Second, it takes a lot of energy to produce corn. That energy comes from oil. So, more oil is consumed because of switching from oil based gas to corn based gas.

Third, it takes a lot of energy to produce corn based gas. This make oil consumption rise.

Fourth, corn gas is weaker than oil based gas so it takes a lot more of it to travel the same distances making it less efficient.

Fifth, gas from corn is much more expensive that oil based gas so a gallon would cost at least a dollar more and we could not drive as far because it is weaker than real gasoline.

My cousin Stanley Taylor in southern Illinois will be ecstatic about corn gasoline because he raises corn. However, I do not want to pay twice as much for meat because the feed corn is higher nor do I want to pay over $5.00 a gallon for the corn gas.

I am not really thinking about corn costs. It is just a metaphor. My goal is to help you see how things work from a biblical perspective. God's word is systemic. He touches a person or a nation thousands of miles away from the USA to impact events in the USA. It is hard for us to think the way God does because we tend to think in straight lines instead of the way various systems interact.

In WWII the German Air Force was called The Luftwaffe. It was hated and despised by the Jewish people as an arm of an evil state. Now the number one most popular air line serving Israel and its WWII survivors is called, Lufthansa. It is the former enemy of Jews who now serves Jews.

When God wants to start a national revival and then an awakening He plans many years in advance and plants seeds that will bloom and blossom decades later. Right now we are in the early stages of The Fourth Great Awakening, an event that is and is changing the way we see the world.

The seeds of this world wide tsunami were planted generations ago. We who are living in it are not in control of it or even understand it. About all we can do is ride the wild surf and enjoy God's leadership. Hang on!

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