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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (8764)	2/12/2005 6:15:37 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 32591

It has been consistently shown that countries that rely on export sales of natural resources are more likely to be non-free and non-representative. The economics are relatively simple to understand. Freedom is an indicator of economic prosperity. When wealth can be mined, the poor of a country can be paid poorly to mine the resource. Exploiting the resource makes the powerful wealthy, and they prefer to control themselves or allow their allies to control parts of that resource. A free economy never forms because wealth is controlled by a few. Success in the middle is either elevating or it is squashed. They don't want an uppity middle class. The powerful do not care the harm done to others as long as they are able to be wealthy and powerful. Saddam Hussein ruled through control of the purse, and brutal repression. HE was quoted as saying a life without power was not worth living. Oil flows and both local and western companies will line up to do the work of freeing the oil from the ground. Little actual economic freedom is required to motivate the middle class. All is provided by the ground. Look at Saudi Arabia for an extreme example of that. Until recently most Saudis did not ever work, they just had wealth, and hired the work done by foreigners. Political freedom and local economic wealth creation are closely related.