Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Second_Titan who wrote (9900)	10/24/2001 11:28:30 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Respond to of 23153

Q007, I think the common denominator in your list is simply ignorance. When a people are ignorant and poor, it's easy to convince them that their troubles are the fault of some far away and fabulously wealthy society that exploits the third world. The fact that there is some truth in the charge of economic exploitation lends credibility to the charge. If a people feel that many of the tragic things that occur in their life are the result of the actions of others and if their religious leaders denounce those others as evil and godless, hatred and anger are inevitable. We need to do the right thing by such people when we have choices and are involved. More importantly, anything we can do to replace ignorance with education is invaluable. I have long term high hopes for the wordwide internet as a vehicle to provide a bigger view for many areas of the world which are information controlled and deprived. I wish that in the past we had a peace core service requirement for our young people that sent them off to faraway places to help people with local issues of health, housing, medicine and agriculture. What a group of ambassadors those young people would have been and what a wealth of wisdom they would have brought back. Many people only know us through distorted views from television and we know less about them. In reading reports of interviews with Afghans and in hearing historical incidents, it seems reminiscent of the Mad Max movies with Mel Gibson. One of the points I was making is how difficult it would be to set up an effective government in a region where warlords have ruled and the victors of disputes massacre the losers. In the meantime they will hate us and we will have done little to convince them they are wrong. One of the thoughts that has been cropping up lately is that we should no longer care about who controls Arabian oil. If they sell it to us fine, if not, let them sell it elsewhere. It will still satisfy world demand and free up other oil for us. In the final analysis it takes a seller and a buyer to make a market and we sure as hell qualify as a customer. It might have been different when oil was a strategic weapon in the cold war but now that there is no cold war, what will happen to the Arab countries if they stop selling oil? Maybe we should stop propping up the oil rich countries and let them find their own equilibrium. Whoever is in charge will certainly sell oil unless they really are fundamentalists. In that event they will starve. Ed