A Thoughtful Response - Number II
Hey Folks,
A while back I posted two Hugo Chavez-related items: “Truth and Fiction” http://www.ukuleleman.net/2006/09/truth-and-fiction.html and “Did I miss something?” http://www.ukuleleman.net/2006/09/hey-folks-did-i-miss-something-i.html .
A long, thoughtful comment was added at the second posting (click above to see the entire comment). I think it deserves a thoughtful response. Here is Part II.
My comments are in red.
- Uke Man
The Saudi economy is so completely dependent on oil now that opportunities for livelihoods in that country which are unrelated to petroleum are few and far between, which is just one of the causes of great discontent for the educated young engineers and natural scientists who study abroad, specifically in the midst of Western prosperity, and return home to a country that cannot offer decent employment opportunities. When young people have no significant work to do, it's convenient for them to hang together and cook up resentments, schemes and activities that give meaning to their lives. Like blowing up American and Western interests.
Well, it seems strange to hear that Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - BECAUSE they are blessed with tremendous amounts of oil – are doomed to unemployment and terrorism. What if they were similarly blessed (damned??) with other natural resources like gold or diamonds? It seems to me that it is GOOD to have abundant resources, and that if a country goes bad, such as Saudi Arabia, it isn’t the oil’s fault.
No, actually, it is the kind of government Chavez claims to oppose that brought trouble to the Saudi upper crust and to us via the terrorists. It’s exactly the pattern I described in one of my postings.
A cooperative minority is set up, enriched and protected by a foreign imperialist power who, in return is granted carte blanche to suck riches out of the country – at the expense of the people.
In Saudi Arabia the elite allowed/encouraged hateful religious teachings demonizing the West and others purposefully to keep their people focused on boogey men rather than on the real cause of their suffering: the self-serving elite.
Actually, it was western imperialism and the elite rule it engendered that produced the 9-11 disaster – not an abundance of oil.
I also find a number of incongruities in the comment that for “educated young engineers and natural scientists who study abroad … and return home to a country that cannot offer decent employment opportunities … it's convenient for them to hang together and cook up resentments … Like blowing up American and Western interests.”
First of all, Osama Bin Laden wasn’t unemployed, nor was he upset because of his employment opportunities. The leader of this mess was a wealthy playboy who was pissed off, essentially, because HE wanted to be George Bush bullying the world, but wasn’t.
Secondly, worrying about the hurt feelings and resentment of well-to-do Western-trained engineers and scientists belies an elitist vision that sheds tears for the relative minor difficulties of the “special” few while totally denying the squalor of the vast majority.
Moreover, it reaks of blackmail. The argument goes: unless you take care of the elite, they will blow up the West. The real fear of the elite is the resentment and anger of their mistreated masses being turned on THEM.
They did everything they could, legally and illegally – some things with the help of the US – to get rid of Chavez. So far they have failed, but they won’t stop trying, and Chavez is courageous to spit in their faces.
- Uke Man
A while back I posted two Hugo Chavez-related items: “Truth and Fiction” http://www.ukuleleman.net/2006/09/truth-and-fiction.html and “Did I miss something?” http://www.ukuleleman.net/2006/09/hey-folks-did-i-miss-something-i.html .
A long, thoughtful comment was added at the second posting (click above to see the entire comment). I think it deserves a thoughtful response. Here is Part II.
My comments are in red.
- Uke Man
The Saudi economy is so completely dependent on oil now that opportunities for livelihoods in that country which are unrelated to petroleum are few and far between, which is just one of the causes of great discontent for the educated young engineers and natural scientists who study abroad, specifically in the midst of Western prosperity, and return home to a country that cannot offer decent employment opportunities. When young people have no significant work to do, it's convenient for them to hang together and cook up resentments, schemes and activities that give meaning to their lives. Like blowing up American and Western interests.
Well, it seems strange to hear that Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - BECAUSE they are blessed with tremendous amounts of oil – are doomed to unemployment and terrorism. What if they were similarly blessed (damned??) with other natural resources like gold or diamonds? It seems to me that it is GOOD to have abundant resources, and that if a country goes bad, such as Saudi Arabia, it isn’t the oil’s fault.
No, actually, it is the kind of government Chavez claims to oppose that brought trouble to the Saudi upper crust and to us via the terrorists. It’s exactly the pattern I described in one of my postings.
A cooperative minority is set up, enriched and protected by a foreign imperialist power who, in return is granted carte blanche to suck riches out of the country – at the expense of the people.
In Saudi Arabia the elite allowed/encouraged hateful religious teachings demonizing the West and others purposefully to keep their people focused on boogey men rather than on the real cause of their suffering: the self-serving elite.
Actually, it was western imperialism and the elite rule it engendered that produced the 9-11 disaster – not an abundance of oil.
I also find a number of incongruities in the comment that for “educated young engineers and natural scientists who study abroad … and return home to a country that cannot offer decent employment opportunities … it's convenient for them to hang together and cook up resentments … Like blowing up American and Western interests.”
First of all, Osama Bin Laden wasn’t unemployed, nor was he upset because of his employment opportunities. The leader of this mess was a wealthy playboy who was pissed off, essentially, because HE wanted to be George Bush bullying the world, but wasn’t.
Secondly, worrying about the hurt feelings and resentment of well-to-do Western-trained engineers and scientists belies an elitist vision that sheds tears for the relative minor difficulties of the “special” few while totally denying the squalor of the vast majority.
Moreover, it reaks of blackmail. The argument goes: unless you take care of the elite, they will blow up the West. The real fear of the elite is the resentment and anger of their mistreated masses being turned on THEM.
They did everything they could, legally and illegally – some things with the help of the US – to get rid of Chavez. So far they have failed, but they won’t stop trying, and Chavez is courageous to spit in their faces.
- Uke Man
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home