When will Iraq end ?
Discussion
Will this episode of 'Human Stupidity' continue for years or has any particular leader got the balls to finish it unnaturally early?
I call it 'human stupidity' as all wars are stupid and inhumane, highlighting our failures as advanced citizens whilst also highlighting our monkey instincts to fight for power.
I put this to the intelligencer of PH.
I call it 'human stupidity' as all wars are stupid and inhumane, highlighting our failures as advanced citizens whilst also highlighting our monkey instincts to fight for power.
I put this to the intelligencer of PH.
There will always be local conflicts while there are "rogue" states with unstable dictators.
Eventually there will need to be a one world government, at which point the vast majority of regional and geographical based conflicts will stop through lack of relevance.
>> Edited by alexkp on Thursday 16th February 22:52
Eventually there will need to be a one world government, at which point the vast majority of regional and geographical based conflicts will stop through lack of relevance.
>> Edited by alexkp on Thursday 16th February 22:52
No ones leaving Iraq, until all the middle eastern countries are invaded under the pre-text of 'war on terror' and all the religious arabs shave their beards, where suits, and start a diet of pizzas and burgers washed down with a pint of carlsberg or fosters. I hear Australia is lining up for the beer contracts already!!!! 
Probably.
Probably.
Timmy30 said:
Where there's oil, there's a way (to keep this going forever!)
In that case the Canadians better start worrying
one slight problem, a need for large production capability, condition of oil (some fields still need another 100 odd years before they can be used), then theres the problem with cheap labour to keep overall costs down, dont forget the very special export tax systems in middle eastern countries, especially saudi, all this wont work in Canada or in most oil rich nations, including the US! (who also have a large amount of currently unuseable oil might I add!)....
SXS said:
one slight problem, a need for large production capability, condition of oil (some fields still need another 100 odd years before they can be used.
???? Canada is sitting on the worlds 2nd largest reserves according to the latest reserve surveys ( up from 17th last time around ) there's upto 1500bn barrels in the oil shales, about 500bn easily recoverable. Shell are in there big time, so are the other majors. As I understand it it'll be 5-8 years before it starts coming onstream not 100.
simpo two said:
Religious, racial tensions will eventually fade, but the new evil is capitalism!
Don't be daft. Capitalism makes money which people depend on, wherever they are in the financial food-chain, to live on.
Daft? Yeah and what happened to free-markets?
Heres a description of alternative economic systems and anti-capitalism ideas:
Socialism argues for extensive public control over the economy, which may or may not be associated with democratic control by the people over the state (there are both democratic and undemocratic philosophies calling themselves socialist). In addition, socialism advocates a high degree of economic equality and the eradication of poverty and unemployment.
Marxism argues for collective ownership of the means of production, and the eventual abolition of the state, with an intermediate stage in which the state will be used to eliminate the vestiges of capitalism. Marxism is the foundation of several different ideologies, including communism and certain types of socialism.
Social democracy is a partially anti-capitalist ideology that has grown out of the reformist wing of the socialist movement. Social democrats do not oppose the actual foundations of capitalism, but they wish to mitigate what they see as capitalism's most negative effects through the creation of a mixed economy and a welfare state.
Anarchist philosophies argue for a total abolition of the state, with those schools of anarchism that oppose capitalism (all except anarcho-capitalism) doing so because they believe it entails involuntary relations and coercive hierarchy. Some forms of anarchism oppose capitalism as a whole while supporting some particular aspects of capitalism. For example, mutualists (traditional individualist anarchists) support private property (including private ownership of capital), a market economy, and wages, but oppose profit and ownership of untransformed land.
There are also strands of conservatism that are uncomfortable with liberal capitalism. Particularly in continental Europe, many conservatives have been uncomfortable with the negative impacts of unfettered capitalism (and the egoistic, hedonistic individualism it nurtures) on culture and traditions. The conservative opposition to the French revolution, the Enlightenment, and the development of individualistic liberalism as a political theory and as institutionalised social practices sought to retain traditional social hierarchies, practices and institutions. There is also a conservative protectionist opposition to certain types of international capitalism.
Some religions criticize or outright reject capitalism:
Christianity is the source of many criticisms of capitalism, particularly its materialist aspects. The first socialists drew many of their principles from Christian values (see Christian socialism), against the "bourgeois values" of profiteering, greed, selfishness and hoarding. Many Christians do not oppose capitalism entirely but support a mixed economy in order to ensure decent labour standards and relations, as well as economic justice. Nevertheless, there are also many Protestant denominations who are reconciled or ardently in favour of capitalism, particularly in opposition to secular socialism.
Judaism has always had a tense relation to capitalism, notable in the number of secular Jews attracted to the socialist and communist movements.
Islam forbids usury (lending money at an interest), an important aspect of capitalism.
Free-market, equality, a fair chance to all the growing countries in the world to equalise, no more money network controlled by the so called superpowers and then hand-outs given in the form of aid....
Its a broad argument - but millions are anti-capitalist, are they daft too?
timmy30 said:
one slight problem, a need for large production capability, condition of oil (some fields still need another 100 odd years before they can be used.
???? Canada is sitting on the worlds 2nd largest reserves according to the latest reserve surveys ( up from 17th last time around ) there's upto 1500bn barrels in the oil shales, about 500bn easily recoverable. Shell are in there big time, so are the other majors. As I understand it it'll be 5-8 years before it starts coming onstream not 100.
As far as I am aware canada provides more oil to the US than the Middle East.
timmy30 said:
one slight problem, a need for large production capability, condition of oil (some fields still need another 100 odd years before they can be used.
???? Canada is sitting on the worlds 2nd largest reserves according to the latest reserve surveys ( up from 17th last time around ) there's upto 1500bn barrels in the oil shales, about 500bn easily recoverable. Shell are in there big time, so are the other majors. As I understand it it'll be 5-8 years before it starts coming onstream not 100.
5-8 years????? I stand corrected. But all the other issues around the cost per barrel factor etc will still be a stumbling block, unless the americans are prepared to pay what WE ALREADY pay for our petrol!
But I guess if Bush was serious about alternative energies in his Congress speech earlier this year, then we could be see the use of oil become a thing of the past in the next 25 years? Or do you think that was another Bush administration ploy to keep our eye-lids closed? What can we believe? who can we believe? I mean, our own PM lied to the public on a number of accounts and just walked away scot-free.... there goes democracy and in comes the semi-martial-democracy train.... I cant wait to see what happens this year!
Place your bets, Iran? Yes or No?
and will the pre-text be WMD's or the same use of the now gloabally feared word "pre-emptive" removal of the government of a sovereign state? Happy days.... not.... Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff