At 04:03 PM 4/10/03 -0700, Tim May wrote:
On Thursday, April 10, 2003, at 02:41 PM, Major Variola (ret) wrote:
Nothing the world wants to buy? Forgotten about the oil?
What part of "no _factories_ producing stuff" was unclear? (Emphasis added. Oil is not something skilled workers produce...it is something that a very few produce, leaving most dependent on only what trickles down.)
Nothing was unclear. But I don't understand your emphesis on factories. You can make a living off wheat, you don't have to make bread. Growing wheat, pumping oil don't need skilled labor. Its enough to have nature provide the opportunity.
It is sufficient for a country to sell raw materials, it does not have to process them, or make elaborate things to sell.
The peasants have their labor to sell, and the oil companies will buy it.
You clearly have not visited oil wells or refineries lately.
True. Most of
the drilling is done by specialized drilling companies, e.g., the French, German, British, Dutch, and U.S. drilling companies. They hire a small number of locals...probably they'll be hiring far fewer for upcoming projects, due to security measures.
Ok, the Iraqis will work in the 7-11s which serve the yankees. Some Iraqis will do better. They will inspire others. They will also be used by psyops to argue for "the american dream" for Iraqis. And although exploited by psyops, I think all humans want to improve their circumstance. And to handle security, you might employ locals, who are more politically expendable. And if they're offed, the USG might even gain points locals, since gen-u-ine Ay-rabs would have been killed. Much more empathetic to the natives than imported Halliburton Texans. Yes, the US could keep the Iraqis poor. But its not in the USG interest. The USG wants MTV in every Arab home. (Albeit this will piss off the Islamo Fundies, but they're already majorly pissed.)
Refineries are built by the Bechtels and Parsons and their European and Japanese counterparts. Most are nearly fully-automated. Again, a comparatively tiny number of locals will be hired.
Even if true (I'm not fully clued to the oil biz, I'd be surprised if any readers here were) the US imposed 'interim' govt will tax this to fund things (like jobs, or even sinecures) that win favor. Why? Because the govt worries more about Iraqi/Arab backlash more than Halliburton's profits. For a while, anyway. And I am dubious of the "fully automated" claims, frankly, though that is also an empirical matter, perhaps researchable by studying oil ops in the region. If you liquidate the towelhead kings of the region, you might find a lot of distributable wealth (I'm not a socialist, neither am I an admirer of monarchy.) which the US conquerers would distribute. A great way to curry favor with the populace. Libertarian ideals don't prescribe a way to distribute land-based wealth in the region, though I'd love to be corrected. .... Mohamed Atta --An Army of One