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able to impact the destiny of U.S. wealth, prosperity and, perhaps, national security. U.S. economic
and military reliance on energy from potentially unfriendly foreign sources [41,42] in conjunction with
the jarring reality of U.S. susceptibility to foreign attacks, heightened by the 9/11 terrorist attack [43],
has made Americans aware of their vulnerability, to an extent that the U.S. populace has hither to
not been exposed. In cases such as these, a sense of impotence can shift to a belief, or fantasy,
that the necessary power to control or at least influence the desired outcome may be obtainable if
sufficient resources are diverted to this endeavor [23]. The demand by the U.S. to envision itself as
in an “all-powerful position” has resulted in an exaggerated global military presence designed to
influence oil rich nations’ willingness to abide by established Western trade practices favoring U.S.
economic prosperity.
In conclusion, we argue that the U.S. military presence in the Middle East was facilitated by a
national sense of loss of international power, economic control, and less effective attempt to control
the flow of oil. U.S. foreign oil dependence has grown while U.S. production has declined. Thus, the
U.S. is, in a sense, replacing its previous world oil prominence with extensive global military prominence.
4.2. Scapegoat Mechanism
Janis’ second defense mechanism, scapegoating, appears initially as a latent attitude rather than
overt action. According to Janis, scapegoating is the wish, fantasy, or desire that “if somebody has to
suffer, let it be him rather than me” [19]. To effectively accomplish this, intolerance, bias, prejudice,
and stereotypes are established enabling those impacted to deflect their frustrations to other people
through the imposition of discriminatory injustices and, if necessary, death and destruction to be
directed toward the “target” without guilt. These de-humanizing processes not only facilitate the
establishment of a scapegoat, they justify actions which are then taken against individuals and groups
defined as flawed and inadequate [44]. This egocentric concern for one’s own well being at the
expense of others yields a narcissistic disconnect from traditional moral grounding and can be
accompanied by guilt and depression, and even fears of retribution, that “next time it will be my turn.”
Once scapegoating has occurred, these emotions and concerns for “payback” and/or revenge may
result in excessive docility, apathy, and other depressive symptoms. Use of de-humanizing scapegoating
to justify actions taken to bolster one’s own situation is particularly likely among persons exposed to
extremely stressful situations where escape is believed to be highly improbable or impossible [45].
Traditionally, conflicts between rich and poor, once played out in the streets of industrial cities, had
been subdued by an increase in the wealth of the nation as a whole (i.e., “a rising tide lifts all boats”).
Throughout the past five decades, however, the Ginni coefficient (a measure of the equitability of the
distribution of wealth) steadily increased, indicating greater inequality between rich and poor. During
this period American workers were relatively quiescent about this because their paychecks, even when
corrected for inflation, tended to increase. That general trend has now ceased; take-home income for
U.S. working families actually decreased by eight percent during the 2000 to 2009 period [46]. This
cessation of income growth is almost certainly associated directly or indirectly with a reduction in the
growth rate of oil production and the net energy from it. As the growth in oil production diminishes
(i.e., the sequence to “peak oil”) and the EROI of oil and other major fuels continues to decline, it
seems fairly likely that the economic pie will continue to contract.