Review: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth

Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Following up on Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, Maddow continues to explore how the U.S. government has slipped its moorings of good governance. Where the initial one focused on military governance, this one "drifts" into the petrochemical complex to work in economies and governments on a global scale. One common thread is nuclear and Drift touched on such things as lost nuke still cooking away here and there, while this one touches on nuclear bombs used in 1973 underneath Colorado to attempt to loosen natural gas. Starting with Rockefeller as the wealthiest American that has ever lived to today's oil companies that are the wealthiest, most revenue-producing concerns while relying heavily on government subsidies and tax breaks, we have a near century arc of oily grip on the reins of power. This stretches from U.S. voters watching the least significant digit at the pump to Third World countries like Equatorial Guinea seeing an extractive oligarchy enjoying the benefits of resources with little concern for the populace. Rex Tillerson and Putin's "kleptocracy" all get special attention here with explanation helpful to understanding current and recent events. Much is made of the colloquially referred to Dutch disease as it affects and has effected individual nations. I feel a broader impact is implied. As we look back with revulsion on the slave economies of a century and a half ago, I feel in future centuries the global shape and impact of our fossil fuel economies will be similarly reviewed with both wonder and disgust.

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