1. i am not persuaded that oil is the explanation for the iraq debacle. i think that it was an element at play, but it doesnt explain anything.
2. on american dependency on oil and its relations to foreign and military policies, read michael klare's book "resource wars." it's still the best resource on this i know of.
3. on doing individual actions to reduce pteroleum dependency---well, they are something, yes? i sometimes wonder about this...for example because i ride a bike all over the place, i use a messenger bag to carry groceries in, but i dont have the impression that impacts on the production of plastic bags. but i do it anyway--but it isnt really a matter of principle. it's just a pragmatic thing that follows from other choices. i guess the bigger choice was getting rid of my car, my ultimate homeboy car, my 98. but even that was mostly just a pragmatic choice--i live in a city, what do i need a car for? if i want one, i'll rent one. if i dont, i wont. but again, i dont see any particular effects of this on the overall number of cars being driven (judging from the numbers that i encounter riding around chicago, doing all the lunatic things that people make their cars do)...maybe it's simplest to have larger-scale matters like Reduction of Petroleum Dependency as subtexts or second-order motivations for what you do, but to do them and stick to them for other, smaller reasons.
__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
|