I do not think that we are causing terrorism because we don't support moderates. There are not a lot of moderates to support, for one thing. For another, many of these societies are very unstable, and we would have to invade and occupy to give the moderates a chance, otherwise, the overthrow of many regimes would merely lead to anarchy or another dictatorship. But mostly, the terrorists want to have dictatorships, only one's that are to their liking, for example, by ruling through Shari'ah. If we support moderates, we will remain the target of their attacks, because we are thwarting them in their intention to radicalize the various countries.
Nor is our consumption the problem. Without consumption and economic growth, the world will remain largely a sea of pauperism. Many countries would have nothing without the sale of oil, or tourism, or multinationals in search of cheap labor. Our austerity would mainly mean the condemnation of many of these people to starvation, or, at least, hopelessness.
Oil is the the cheapest means to run many things in an industrial economy. Without it, economic growth all over the world will slowdown, and who knows how many will die of malnutrition, or lack of potable water, or inadequate access to medical facilities, because they could not sustain economic development at a rapid enough pace? Research into alternative energy sources takes place, but so fair, those sources are economically unattractive. They will be used if they are improved upon, so as to yield more energy at less cost, or if the oil runs out, and we have no alternative.
We can stop the terrorists by killing them and destroying their infrastructure. There is no especial reason to think that the sea of fanatics is infinite, and even fanatics need the cash and technical means to do their worst. |
