I see this as even more serious than you guys have stated.
Our country is returning to the days when it was a source of raw materials for England, just as Africa and the Near East has been a source for everyone during our lifetime.
The raw materials will be, as they have been in the examples above, removed from our country, processed in other countries and then sold around the world.
Of course, history seems to indicate that the real profits are made and the resulting increase in living standards is made in the country that does the manufacturing, not in the countries from which the raw material is extracted.
Further, when we have no refineries, who will control our destiny, our world influence? He who can shut off our access to refineries or bleed us for access to them.
This will be a turning point in world history as great as that of WWII because it will be the beginning of the end of the USA as we know it.
CSSJR
If we do not wish to lose our freedom, we must learn to tolerate our
neighbor’s right to freedom even though he might express that freedom
in a manner we consider to be eccentric.
Hastening our demise is our gubmint's full tilt run towards Socialism. This has been going on for at least 30 years and the pace is rapidly increasing. The politico's long ago spent our generation's money. We're now well into our great-great-grandkid's money. The gubmint has been printing and spending and printing and spending like there will be no tommorrow and it has for at least two decades with no end in sight. We are effectively bankrupt now when you factor in Social (in)Security and Medicare.
So, what do the politicians do? They create more Socialistic give-a-ways, kicking the can down the abyss even farther. Socialism will be the end of this nation as we know it. There is a massive economic storm coming. It isn't quite here yet, but it is coming......and I'm preparing every day for the consequences......