Proponents of a multipolar global society may have to re-evaluate the extent of interdependency and mutual co-operation among nations considering the huge amount of political clout enjoyed by big brother, U.S.A. The superpower’s main objective since World War I has been to ensure sufficient inflow of oil and its products to sustain the American military-industrial complex.
1913 –> Henry Ford, 50 years of age, recast the face of automobile manufacturing by introducing the automated assembly line.
1914 –> Assembly time reduced from 12&1/2 hours to just 1&1/2 hours.
1921 – 1925 –> Declining production costs enable Ford to cut automobile prices upto six times, essentially reducing the cost to $290. This was less than the combined three-month wage of an average American worker.
And that is how, my children, Americans got their ride. Cars were the symbol of the consumer driven society in 1919 and it continues to be even today. There were 6.7 million cars on American roads in 1919 but by 1929 it inflated to 27 million! When big brother got cars, everyone else wants one and here in Trivandrum(India), we have the latest Audi and Mercedes trudging along on tiny pathways. Because, you see, the imported cars are manufactured according to global standards but the road they travel on is unfortunately locally manufactured, lead by your ruling masters(or cretin – used interchangeably), who spend every moment scheming new ways to sponge-off their constituency’s revenue and hence public amenities get the brunt of it. [Pardon the digression]
The American search for energy security began from the early 1900s, which took them into regions of the globe where its national security interests would not otherwise have been at stake. The stalemate between the U.S and the Middle-East is not slated to end anytime soon. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the jet black area towards the middle of the map below.
Worldwide distribution of petroleum deposits
This explains why the Americans are hell bent on bringing democracy to the Arab nations while not blinking an eye in the aftermath of terrible human rights violations in Myanmar or East Timor.
Go back to bed, child…big brother will protect you now, on his terms of course.
A dead, endangered sea-turtle washes up ashore at Pass Christian, April 16, 2011. Following the Gulf oil spill the number of turtles stranded in the Gulf coast was up by seven times in March, as reported by NWF - (Mario Tama/Getty Images/Boston.com)
(End of Part II) Read Gold Rush – Part One
Introspection Junction 