Capitalism, thugs and oil
Bookworm on Aug 08 2006 at 10:16 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Christopher Chantrill, writing at the American Thinker, has a quick rundown about capitalism’s civilizing influence in the world. I don’t want to steal his thunder (because it builds well) by quoting any here, so I just suggest you go over there and check it out.
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The last part of the article, reflects upon a basic truism I figured out for myself awhile ago. It was that war is the ultimate competition, and in competitions between life and death, certain inalienable qualities crop up. Those qualities being, the freer and more democratic the system of governance, the more productive the economic power of that nation. The more wealthy the people are, the less inclined to loot, vandalize, and otherwise disrupt the status quo with revolutionary furor. The more orderly the system of the rule of law, the more productive the people are, the more wealth generatedion, and a greater chance for unity of purpose and design.
All these qualities and consequences, produce a better war fighting nation. A nation that can buy guns, train soldiers by valuing individual lives over the price of training and guns, a nation that can sustain warfare for a long time via the economic position of the people and the economic endurance of the nation.
Steven Den Beste used to think wars were just who had the bigger club, using brute strength to knock down all the competitors. That’s thug warfare all right, but it isn’t the epitome of the ultimate competition between peoples and nations.
Most Democrats think war is all about who has the bigger weapon, and since America has the biggest weapon the Democrats believe America is not vulnerable or at risk. If a few Americans die here or there, well the Democrats are not going to care unless those dieing are their children and their loved ones. Since the Democrats send out the military to the backwoods corner of the world, it is most likely that people will die that they don’t care about. Only an attack on AMerica’s homeland itself, will galvanize Democrat reactions.
However, war isn’t aentirely about who has the biggest gun, or who has the most money, or who has the most people. The ultimate competition is just that, the ultimate competition. Everything is used. Soul, will, wealth, skill, knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, and numbers. Among others. War isn’t a limited competition, at least not Total War. You can have competitions with rules or you can have competitions without rules. With rules, means you impose upon reality certain limitations taking into account your desired goal. Without limitations or rules, then reality decides who is the best an the winner. In terms of wars to the knife, total wars, wars of either salvation or extermination, then you basically have IMperial Japan vs America. One loses, and one wins. The best nation wins. That is the only rule of Total War. The best nation wins.
If it was just about who had the bigger gun, we’d go back to crime land and thug warfare. With technology, however, the people now matter, not just who has all the swords.
The reason why some people don’t like Total War, is because they don’t like losing. Either they think they are invulnerable, like HOward Dean, or they believe they will lose against a superior force (Islamic Jihad). So either way, they don’t like Total War, either because they believe they won’t need it to win or they believe they need to avoid it to win.
However, if you are confident in your nation’s power, the power of the citizens in that nation, the wealth and wisdom of America, then righteousness of your cause, then you should have no doubts about your nation winning Total War, the ultimate competition between peoples and nations.
After all, if you are right and God is on your side, then you must have done everything right not only according to reality but morality as well, eh? Military expediency is about doing everything right, and thus accomplishing your objectives. If you have the right military leaders, the right politicians, the right amount of willpower, where everyone always made the right decision or recovered through hard work if they made the wrong decision, then does not your nation have a high chance of winning Total War?
The problem with Islamic Jihad is simple. Nobody has been engaged in Total War with them. Not Israel, not Russia, Not China, not the US in Iraq, and so on and so forth. Oil powers Islamic Jihad, Oil powers their infrastructure, their national will, and their desire to fight. Oil also powers their economy, so that they can do the wrong thing by oppressing their people, yet still have the advantage of a robust economic warchest to buy weapons with.
So why doesn’t someone take away Iran’s oil via Unrestricted Submarine Warfare? How is Iran going to sell oil when no oil tanker is allowed into their ports? What is the point of having a Navy if you are not going to use it to reinforce national security?
The terroists have the right idea, bomb Iraq’s oil infrastructure and electrical grid, piss off everyone and sustain an environment of chaos. This delays the orderly transmission of ideas, prosperity, and law. When you leave a base to your enemy, that enemy will gather around and make use of that base for logistics, logistics that will fuel attacks against your forces. That is why cutting off the logistics, is better than destroying entire armies.
What you can or cannot do in Total War is limited only by your ability to affect reality. There is no PC, there is no self imposed limitations like Bush ordered done, there are no limitations except the limitations of reality, of engineering, of technology, and of human will.
These things are not artificial, they are always there, and because they are always there, that is why it is the ultimate competition. The scoring is objective, it has always been objective, it has always been based upon the same quantifiable things.
I ask you this, what prevents Bush from using the military power of the United States to hijack Iran’s oil infrastructure and steal their oil and sell it to the world? We aren’t talking about invasion or democracy or taking over cities, capitals, or villages. We are not talking about maintaining security over a piece of territory, we are talking about a pure business deal. We see an Iranian oil tanker, we either destroy it or hijack it and sell the oil ourselves. If we see an oil tanker from another nation trying to dock with an Iranian port, we either blockade that oil tanker or we sink it. What’s the rest of the world going to do, declare war on America when we control the world’s oil supply? Not even China or Russia has declared war against Iran, it is far more profitable to do business than to do war. Since America has the power, we can do business as well as war. Bush is a business major, I’m sure he’ll be much better at business than war. The same protection Iran has against the world, we will steal for ourselves, and in addition with AMerica’s sheer power, the war will be ended far sooner. The international community submits when you have a katana resting against their heart, they do not submit because you beg them for help on your knees as Bush has been doing and wha t the Democrats recommend doing more of. Demonstrating Power commands respect, and respect produces authority. Authority thus produces obedience, as Europe is obedient to Iran. The Democrats care too much for people liking them, too populist. Real power comes from respect, not “buddy love”. Maybe the Democrats believe that if enough nations like them, then America can send those nations out to do the killing and dieing for the Democrats. Very funny, but that’s not going to happen.
So what’s stopping Bush from ending the war(s)? It’s a self-imposed limitation. Bush doesn’t want to steal anything, he feels it is wrong, he feels it violates international laws and will set a bad example. Bush can afford to do this, barely, because he holds such great power from such a high position of elevation. A person can impose handicaps upon himself and still win against his unrestricted opponent, if the handicapped person is 10X or 100X better at the fighting arts than the unrestricted opponent. However, it will take longer, and when you understand that the longer this fight goes on, the more people that will die, then the conclusion is simple. It is more immoral and unethical to prolong the fight by putting self-imposed limitations on America, than it is to release the limits of America in doing everything we can with every weapon in our arsenal against the enemy. Bush once promised to use every means at his disposal to fight the War on Terror. Bush has not fullfilled that promise, and the fact that Democrats don’t call him on it, only exacerabates Bush’s problem. Bush’s problem is America’s problem, and America’s problem is the world’s problem.
Oil is the one thing that Americans understand. Business, that’s what the wealthy understand, and that’s what the poor understands as well if only because wealth comes form jobs and businesses. Who would truly be against lowering gas prices and securing the Middle East oil supply? The Democrats have done so much damage to American foreign policy when they accused Bush of fighting for oil. Bush had to defend himself against this, and that meant everyone on his side tried to get away from fighting for oil. But oil is what we should be fighting for. Just as Lincoln freed the slaves, we must free the oil. Slaves were adding to the economic power of our enemies. When we freed the slaves, they joined the Union armies and helped defeat the South.
Who exactly would be willing to committ political suicide by going against America’s need for oil? The Democrats don’t care about oil, they care about being re-elected.
Most people don’t care who’s in charge of big business, just so they don’t get cheated. People do not absolutely care who they do business with, as Europe has proven. Americans have higher standards, which means we are less corrupt. However, it does make fighting an economic price war, very hard when you are up against unscrupulous people not only in Iran but in Washington D.C. as well.
How long can you afford to fight with one hand tied behind your back against two ruthless enemies that attempt to destroy all that you protect and cherish? How many family members are worth the price of moral purity?