Oil and the Enemy
Here’s an original thinker:
“The problem we face today is not our love of oil, but oil-rich dictatorships like Iran and Saudi Arabia--who use ill-gotten profits to spread totalitarian Islamic ideology around the world and terrorize us with their minions. The solution is not to punish ourselves by renouncing oil--but to punish our enemies until they renounce their aggression.”Let me add that the economics of oil doesn’t change if we refuse to buy oil from Saudi Arabia. Oil is not like a custom suit, tailor-made for one individual. Oil is fungible and a liquid commodity in a financial sense. It is sold into the market—not to a person. Even if we weren’t a customer, Saudi Arabia would have the same financial income to fund the worldwide jihadist movement. Iran proves that you don’t need to sell to America to fund Islamic aggression.
posted by Jason Pappas at 9:59 PM
7 Comments:
How is this compatible with the "non-initiation of force" doctrine?
I never could be a full-fledged Randian. I like to hit people in the mouth too much.
As action taken to mitigate force initiated against oneself.
Its retaliatory force.
Let's not renounce oil. Let's renounce Saudi and Iranian ownership of it. The time is near for us to conquer the oilfields and let the Arabs and Persians return to their beloved squalor. In addition to sharing out the wealth amongst our allies, we can watch as Wahabi Islam shrivels, deprived of Saudi funding. Has anyone in history ever paid out such wealth to avowed enemies when it had the power to simply steal what they were selling? No. Only us lily-livered Westerners. We can do the deed and then let our grandchildren tut-tut about it. So what, at least they'll do it in English.
"Addiction to oil" is another example of the soundbites which appeal to the world today. Like most soundbites, it contains an element of truth but also an element of false hyperbole.
Oil is a commodity, but not an edible one.
AOW, you are right, but still too easy on the "addiction to oil" metaphor. Oil is a reasonably inexpensive energy source. Energy is necessary for living. The people who yak about "addiction to oil" are really saying that they don't approve of others' lifestyles -- we should all settle for whatever is these self-appointed experts think is appropriate.
I note that rarely do people who complain about "addiction to oil" seem to be cutting back on their own consumption -- it is mostly phoney moral posturing.
Before we all agree to kick the oil habit we need to consider the consequences of the nuclear option. When I hear someone promoting it, at most they will say that government subsidies are necessary. But, they never seem to mention that nuclear pollution (radio active wastes) is essentially forever! Storing them in swimming pools is not a viable long-term option. Neither is burying them in the fluid earth. No, the only way out of this mess is massive investment in conservation and green economies.
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