He goes on to quote Toynbee on Rome: "The economy of the Empire was basically a Raubwirtschaft or plunder economy based on looting existing resources rather than producing anything new. The Empire relied on booty from conquered territories... With the cessation of tribute from conquered territories, the full cost of their military machine had to be borne by the citizenry.
A highly misleading chart, as it shows growth rate but the discussion centers around the overall economy. That doesn't reflect the actual composition of the GDP, just what has grown over that period of time. I suspect that military spending, while a significant chunk of the US economy, does not dwarf all other sectors combined as in the way some people are reading it.
Comparisons to the modern US aside, that's a pretty misguided analysis of Rome. The territories whose loss cost Rome the most economically were Africa and Gaul, and calling them 'conquered territories' is like calling Texas and California the US's 'conquered territories.' At some point in the distant past they were conquered, but their inhabitants considered themselves Romans, and the Roman government reciprocated. Rome didn't 'plunder' 'booty' from Africa any more than we 'plunder' produce from California.
You have to remember this is BoingBoing. They were never ones to let facts and logic get in the way of a good rant or questionable puff piece. They are basically the Fox news of the digerati...
Instead of "buy", it should say "are raped by the producers in exchange for".
The Iraq war was probably less about cheap oil and more about propping up government contractors, with a good amount of "let's not admit we are clueless" thrown in for good measure.
Yep. If cheap oil was the goal then we can conclude that it did not work. You could have bought quite a few barrels of oil in return for the money sunk in the iraq war.
Ah, but remember that the net present value of an annuity is based on what that annuity truly turns out to be. If there's a point even in ten years where oil has severe scarcity, it will pay off quite well.
But I don't think it's about that. I think that, unlike most countries, the American infrastructure is utterly and completely dependent on oil. It's its lifeblood. In my opinion, it's about concerns for the future and securing a resource that's vital for the survival of the entire nation.
