From Deseret News archives:
Price of oil linked to pace of freedom
When I heard Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez telling British Prime Minister Tony Blair to "go right to hell" and telling his supporters that the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas "can go to hell," too, I couldn't help saying to myself, "I wonder if the president of Venezuela would be saying all these things if the price of oil today were $20 a barrel rather than $60 a barrel, and his country had to make a living by empowering its own entrepreneurs, not just drilling wells."
As I followed events in the Persian Gulf during the past few years, I noticed that the first Arab Gulf state to hold a free and fair election, in which women could run and vote, and the first Arab Gulf state to undertake a total overhaul of its labor laws to make its own people more employable and less dependent on imported labor, was Bahrain. Bahrain happened to be the first Arab Gulf state expected to run out of oil. I couldn't help asking myself: "Could that all just be a coincidence?
I would be the first to acknowledge that this is not a scientific lab experiment, because the rise and fall of economic and political freedom in a society can never be perfectly quantifiable or interchangeable. But I think there is value in trying to demonstrate this very real correlation between the price of oil and the pace of freedom, even with its imperfections.
The First Law of Petropolitics posits the following: The price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions in oil-rich petrolist states. According to the First Law of Petropolitics, the higher the average global crude oil price rises, the more free speech, free press, free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, the rule of law and independent political parties are eroded. And these negative trends are reinforced by the fact that the higher the price goes, the less petrolist leaders are sensitive to what the world thinks or says about them.
Comments
- Woods says he let family down 7:47 a.m.
- Productivity up at 8.1 percent rate 7:39 a.m.
- Retailers report surprise drop 7:36 a.m.
- Obama, Soviet's Afghan endgame 1:04 a.m.
- Victims of Bhopal demand cleanup 12:55 a.m.
- Pakistanis kill 15 militants 12:47 a.m.
- SLCC campus briefs 12:24 a.m.
- Westminster campus briefs 12:22 a.m.
- SUU campus briefs 12:20 a.m.
- Sports on the air 12:12 a.m.
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
- Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
- Mitchell said to share LeBaron traits
- Teen girl killed in Kaysville crash
- BCS just keeps dirty laundry on spin
- Utahns growing tired of Bennett
- Woods says he let family down
- MWC awaits bowl destinations
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Miles is back, but others still out
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
914 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
483 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
406 - Max Hall issues apology
392 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
359 - Utes won't respond to Hall
278 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
244 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
239 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
184 - Religion in politics is tiresome
154
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Did you really just tell us not to make ridiculous statements? Um, why don't...
I hate you Aggs and your whole organization too! Just kidding! But...
Did Dick Harmon help you write this article? Wow, I didn't realize you were...
I've noticed a huge difference in the comments on this board. Most are...
Hail the Utah Aggies!
Logan is the best "college community" in the state. Most students actually...
USU=best team in state? Didn't USU lose to Utah earlier?
This article is a little OVER THE TOP. Get over it Amy
If it is so safe...then I'm sure their own country would love to be in...
Other than the Morgan Scalley comments, which were in a pre-game locker room...


You can be the first to comment on this story.