Of 'Felt' and 'Real' Autonomy in the Collapse of the American Empire

The space of freedom, the feeling of what it is like to be an American citizen--in America--in 2020, is an open question. We must be clear that a person consists, from a legal perspective, as an entity possessing the liberties and protections of the constitution, etc. It is unlikely it seems that this core set of values will be stripped in a substantial way. I don't mean to sound naive here, for I am well aware of the human rights abuses that will be visited upon our own people and especially those who live in oil rich regions. But for the average American, perhaps only small breaches of personal freedom will be at issue from the standpoint of their identity as political persons--persons possessing a legal identity as subject of a robust scheme of rights under a scheme of law.

More likely what will change are the material aspects of our life. Transportation, manufacturing, consumer goods, all all of this will change. And remember: this is all going to happen within 15 years! Fifteen years. Automobiles will use fuels like hydrogen, ethanol, hybrid fuels, electricity, biodiesel, and lastly, gasoline. Perhaps the sudden need for new automobiles will create a surge in the economic base? Air travel will weed out multiple carriers, tending to consolidate two or three top carriers that can afford the massive jets that will be payed for by enormous quantities of seats. There is the argument, though, that we cannot transition to these alternative forms of transportation within the fifteen or twenty years in which all of this is going to happen. 15 years!

It is a great time to invest. Money is to be made in the energy market. Clean coal is my number one bet for a surge in demand--and we have 300 years worth of it. As energy prices go up, a rising tide floats all boats, coal (relatively cheap to extract--especially with the Bucyrus machines) finds itself in a favorable bargaining position. And there is no transition to Coal--for we already are on it. The ecological problems with coal are manifold. They are imputed in Acid Rain, mercury poisoning of lakes and waters, and global warming. But a strong regulative push to demand clean coal and technologies that eliminate pollutants, could be a viable path to ask for. But I shouldn't go off spending my 100 possible Thalers, where I am digressing from my task.

I should clarify my terms. First, though, the issue of "Collapse of the American Empire". This is a kind of hyperbole, for we are sure to remain a dominant military presence on the international scene throughout the twenty first century. "Collapse " here means the erosion of a standard of living that we have grown accustomed to over the last hundred years. Now, "autonomy" is a moral concept that I employ to describe the ideal of rational personhhood. It is, in other words, the concept of a person who is self-regulating and it is, in many ways, the core liberal value.

"Felt" autonomy is that term meant to convey how in control of our lives we actually feel. "Real" autonomy is that term which describes our actual freedom. Real or actual freedom is subject to different interpretations, therefore, one must choose a conception of itwhich best meets all of the features we would want for it, while best answering all of the objections we might have to it. In a state of perfect harmony, an individual's felt and real autonomy will coincide.

Initially felt autonomy will not differ from what it is at present. But once the machine starts seizing up, people will begin to bitch about what they perceive to be a pinched existence: unemployment may rise above 10 percent, gas will cost four or five bucks a gallon, wages will actually lower in some cases, heating costs will rise, etc. Then things will get more difficult: unemployment at 20 or 30 percent, gas will be 7 or 8 dollars a gallon. People will begin to default on their loans and payments en masse, the banking system will seize up, widescale looting. OK that is the apocalypse scenario.

But there is an opportunity for the preservation and cultivation of a culture of real autonomy under these circumstances as well. I do not mean to assimilate real autonomy with the alienated and fragmented form of it that passes for self-possession. This caricature has been aptly gone over by the critics of liberalism, such as Marx or Hegel. Without the trimmings and window dressing of industrial oil economics to bolster our material existence, a new phase of human freedom will emerge. An older freedom which we will greet as a much truer form of our selves.

We have to remember that under the current conditions of material culture, many things have been taken from us. In the post-industrial scenario, these shall be returned to us. Welcome to the jungle.