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For example, America doesn't have any energy production to speak of.

Actually, the US is 70% or more self-sufficient in overall energy - see:

http://www.cera.com/aspx/cda/public1/news/articles/newsArticleDetails.aspx?CID=8560

See the graph titled Us Energy Consumption 1949-2003. The graph shows that our consumption is relatively flat from 1973 on, especially when compared to the projections or price of oil.

We were not talking about total energy, we were talking about oil.

THIS table shows that our use of fossil fuels has actually decreased from 2004 to 2006.

And finally, from HERE:

Again, we were not talking about total energy consumption or fossil fuel consumption, your original statement ("US demand has been flat") was in reference to oil, not generic energy. I posted a graph of US oil consumption to refute that statement. Stats showing total energy use do not contradict my assertion that the US petroleum demand has not been flat.

Also, I've heard many predictions that we would be out of oil by now.

[citation needed]

Google "Peak Oil" for all the citations you need.
Compare those stories to THIS one:

I am advised by real experts that BP, BG, BHP and others, are making massive investment decisions in the oil and gas sector of this country that have as much as a 25-year horizon. They are the real experts who put their money where their mouths are, and they know that we will not be running out of gas (or oil) in the near future.

And THIS one:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 14, 2006 â" In contrast to a widely discussed theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into sharp decline, a new analysis of the subject by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) finds that the remaining global oil resource base is actually 3.74 trillion barrels -- three times as large as the 1.2 trillion barrels estimated by the theoryâ(TM)s proponents -- and that the âoepeak oilâ argument is based on faulty analysis which could, if accepted, distort critical policy and investment decisions and cloud the debate over the energy future.

I am aware of peak oil theories, but nowhere have I seen a theory that predicted "that we would be out of oil by now" (your words). Where are these predictions? Simply typing "peak oil" onto Google does not yield any predictions that the oil will be gone by 2008. You are just beating up your own strawman. Where are these predictions?

Flat in comparison to what? Here [indexmundi.com] is a graph of US oil consumption for the last 25 years, sure doesn't look flat to me. It looks like we have increased our consumption nearly every year.

See the graph titled Us Energy Consumption 1949-2003. The graph shows that our consumption is relatively flat from 1973 on, especially when compared to the projections or price of oil.

THIS table shows that our use of fossil fuels has actually decreased from 2004 to 2006.

And finally, from HERE:

A report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows that U.S. energy consumption (as measured per dollar of economic output) will be slashed by the end of 2008 to half of what it was in 1970 from 18,000 British thermal units (Btus) to about 8,900 Btus.

Moving along...

Also, I've heard many predictions that we would be out of oil by now.

[citation needed]

Google "Peak Oil" for all the citations you need.
Compare those stories to THIS one:

I am advised by real experts that BP, BG, BHP and others, are making massive investment decisions in the oil and gas sector of this country that have as much as a 25-year horizon. They are the real experts who put their money where their mouths are, and they know that we will not be running out of gas (or oil) in the near future.

And THIS one:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 14, 2006 â" In contrast to a widely discussed theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into sharp decline, a new analysis of the subject by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) finds that the remaining global oil resource base is actually 3.74 trillion barrels -- three times as large as the 1.2 trillion barrels estimated by the theoryâ(TM)s proponents -- and that the âoepeak oilâ argument is based on faulty analysis which could, if accepted, distort critical policy and investment decisions and cloud the debate over the energy future.

Right, and that is teh sux0r.

> How do you think America go to be where it is today? where do you suppose all of the things that allow for our quality of life comes from? that's right they come from other countries, so while you enjoy the availability (not that you necessarily have the means to buy them) of everything from cheap clothes to cheap food to cheap toys remember that almost all of that comes from countries where the people who make them are living well below your standard...
>
> everything costs something at the expense of others,

With the exception of Chinese prison labor, those things do not come at the "expense" of others.

The people who make your Nikes for $5/d do not have guns to their heads. They line up outside of the factory, because working in the fields and villages pays $0.50/d. They work in the factories instead of the farms for the same reason you work in a cubicle instead of a factory - because in their economy, that's where the money is.

(All the more ironic, then, that Russia has a flat tax, a lower tax, and a simpler tax system than the US of A - and gee, whose economy is growing by leaps and bounds these days? We showed them that capitalism was a better system than central planning, so they adopted capitalism at precisely the time when we've finally rejected it. To answer another Slashdot thread, now that's irony! :-)

I'd strongly encourage you to watch the fantastic PBS documentary Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy. It's probably airing on your local PBS affiliate this week.

(Worth seeing, if for no other reason than that it makes macroeconomics seem fascinating, at least for the six hours the series lasts :)

If you do nothing else, at least glance over this Washington Post review of the series.

The episode on the reform of India (Episode 3, I believe) should also prove useful. But I don't want to give any spoilers ;)