hal@finney.org wrote
> > America has no interest in being allied with Israel. Nor do we have a
> > significant commonality of values. Israel is more like the hated Muslim
> > countries than like the United States.
>
> One of the biggest differences, of course, is that Israel is a democracy.
> You may not like Sharon, Begin, Shamir, etc., but they were elected
> by their people. There are multiple competing parties and legitimate
> campaigns. Few if any of the arab countries can make the same claim.
But the main reason the US must support Israel at all costs is that Israel
is its only reliable ally in a region that contains something like 2/3 of
the world's proven oil reserves. Even if the US were not now totally
dependent on imported oil to maintain its economy, its economy is largely
dependent on foreign trade, which depends on oil obtained from a limited
number of locations worldwide.
Oil is crucial in almost every industry from agriculture up. Without a
steady supply of oil at relatively low prices, there would be a transition
stage (to a new sort of economy) of a scope that is difficult to imagine.
I may be missing something, but as far as I can see, major US involvement in
war in the middle east has been inevitable for some time; the 9-11 terrorist
attacks have made the war politically feasible, but they did not change the
basic situation.
Because decisions are usually sounder when they're made with the greatest
possible understanding of reality, I think all of us who enjoy a "First
World" lifestyle need to acknowledge that it has been purchased largely on
credit, through the extravagant use of oil and that this has involved the
brutal treatment of a large number of people and will require ever more
brutality as oil becomes scarcer and more people want more of it (Asian
people, for example). Even if we could somehow educate the people of the
middle east and transplant our lifestyle to them, there would still be the
problem of not enough oil to go around.
As long as we depend on oil, our whole way of life is fragile. Research into
alternative power sources, new kinds of food, fiber and fuel crops, new
agricultural methods, and lifestyles that do not require daily commuting
from home to distant work are, in the long run, more crucial than securing
sources of oil.
Barbara
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:47 MDT