Giant Tortoise
The National Zoo,
Washington, DC,
2000.
The movement of the tortoise on a hot summer day at The National Zoo is slow. The US general public too may be slow to catch on to the role of chaos as a diversion and as a wealth-building tool.
Disasters and emergencies may be one of the last obvious 'profit-centers' in chronically distressed national and international economies. The pursuit of profit rises like the price of bottled water during a flood. Disasters produce money flow through products, services, and philanthropic donations.
The wave of Democracy Protests from Northern Africa through the Middle East is perceived as a money-making opportunity by oil and gasoline traders there, in the US, and internationally. In early February, 2011 Yahoo News ran a story on the probability of increased oil and other product prices due to the January/February, 2011 Democracy Protests. The Suez Canal returned to the news as in the days of the 1970s oil embargo and the rise of the power and influence of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
USA Today projects a spike in US gasoline prices to $5.00 per gallon with disruption of oil supplies due to the African and Middle Eastern protests.
In Libya, a major African oil-producing state, Moammar Gadhafi reportedly has called for his pro-socialist government supporters to destroy oil supplies and production facilities. If Gadhafi cannot control it, pro-socialist government supporters can deny it to the Democracy Protesters, and their European and US supporters. The result? Less supply, continued demand, and a likely increase in price for remaining Libyan oil products.
The numerous spellings of the name Gadhafi reveals something about the chaos of the Middle East. Since the beginning of the Libyan Protest, US news media has used at least 4 different spellings for the name: Gadhafi, Gaddhafi, Khaddhafy, Qaddhafy, Qaddhafi. A flamboyant figure in a brown tunic and hat, the same man seems to appear in news reports. But the various spellings of his name reflect the ambiguities of the issues in Libya, North Africa, and the Arab Middle East.
Different spellings, different sects, a more modern use of political 'spin' to describe the wave of uprisings complicates the issues in an area with a large number of less literate and illiterate tribal populations. Dictatorships, like the Egyptian government inherited by Egyptian 'President' Hosni Mubarak, began as socialist uprisings used by the Egyptian Army during a 'coup' to take control of Egypt.
Recently, the old socialist term 'communique' was used by the Egyptian military when dictating its terms for resolution to the street protesters in Cairo, Alexandria, and other Egyptian cities. Ironically, Egyptian protesters got what they most did not want: martial law is now official under current military control of the Egyptian government. Mubarak may have stepped aside but the Army-based government he arose from, and appointed, remains.
Moammar Gadhafi, now a notorious African leader known for human rights violations, is supported by old socialist friends like the Cuban Castro brothers. Other South American socialist 'rulers' using the more democratic government term 'President' may become more outspoken in their support for Gadhafi's Libyan government.
Truly natural disasters of course cannot be controlled. But political disasters like the violent wave of purportedly democratic revolutionary activity in Northern Africa and the Arab Middle East perhaps could have been moderated to prevent the creation of yet another international financial crisis. Oil and gasoline traders and investors in these countries, the US, Europe, and around the world anticipate strong financial gains. But such gains come only at considerable human and financial cost to their compatriots.
The sound of enormously important financial deals also can be damped by the constant news noise of politically unstable countries. During the Egypt Protests, a deal was made to sell the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to foreign investors, Deutsche Broses. This piece of news briefly appeared, without discussion, as the Democracy Protests subsided after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped aside and the Egyptian military stepped forward.
Email mkrause54@yahoo.com or mkrause381@gmail.com to comment or request copies of this or other blogs posted by mary on monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotesten.blogspot.com or http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com through http://monthlynotes20.blogspot.com on www.google.com. See http://monthlynotes18.blogspot.com for the monthlynotes bloglist.
Graphic: An Original Photographic of the Giant Tortoise at The National Zoo, Washington, DC, 2000, by mkrause54@yahoo.com or mkrause381@gmail.com.
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