Most of use remember the movie “Blackhawk Down” which took place in Mogadishu, Somalia in the latter part of 1993. If you saw the movie you probably remember scenes of the Red Cross and others unloading tons of food to feed the starving, war and famine racked population. As the populace moved toward the food, groups of heavily armed men blocked their paths and loaded the food into trucks to be carted off to warehouses controlled by the local Warlord. The Warlord knew fully the power of controlling the food supply, regardless of how many thousands of men, women and children starved to death. The same thing can be said about fuel, medical and water supplies since they can lead to the same demise. The mission of the U.S. Military was to break the hold of the Warlord and allow the starving people to receive the aid intended for them. This Warlord was easy to identify and overpower with enough military might as the story unfolded. On the same but a much broader scale we now have groups of people attempting to control supplies in a similar manner using fuel prices as the catalyst to trigger massive inflation and eventual shortages. The prize for them is to hoard and control the wealth of the world and use the masses as they see fit. As a former stockbroker and investment banker, I always wonder why our leaders in Congress do not see the danger of what can happen when a few people have the power to control the value of resources vital to the well being of the general public. We have anti-trust laws as well as laws against individuals owning certain dangerous military weaponry, so why do we allow ourselves to be herded and robbed by a few speculators. At the present time the U.S. is threatening military action against Iran’s nuclear program which focus is feared by the U.S. to be more for the development of nuclear weapons rather than for production of electric power. Nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranians would directly threaten Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States, as well as the possibility of ending up in the hands of Iranian sponsored terrorists. However, step back and look at the big picture because the end result of aggession and control always ends up the same way when a few power hungry people try to control the masses. There is no difference in using FOOD, FUEL, WATER or ARMED FORCE to control or destroy the general public and our leaders need to recognize this and take the steps necessary to prevent it from happening. In natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, hurricanes or tornados, individuals profiteering and gouging the public from the sale of water, fuel, food and generators are promptly exposed, fined, arrested and publicly embarrassed. Why then are certain wealthy speculators in the commodities markets allowed to freely bid up the price of critical fuel supplies when shortages do not exist?
REMEMBER THE BASIC RULE OF FREEDOM: “ONE PERSONS RIGHTS END WHERE ANOTHER PERSON’S RIGHTS BEGIN”. So why is this so hard to understand and deal with?