[ExI] riots again

[David Lubkin]

Mirco wrote:

>Elimination of oil will cause the fall of Islam.

You're overstating the case. 80% of Muslims don't live in
Arab countries. Not all substantially Muslim countries have oil.
Not all substantially Muslim countries have nothing to offer
but oil.

But it's true enough for the combination of Arab + Muslim + oil,
although you're neglecting the billions of dollars worth of
mineral reserves they have beyond oil.

A general question about jurisdictions that have substantial
oil revenues (Kuwait, Venezuela, Alberta, Alaska, etc.) is are
they doing anything useful for their future prosperity with their
current revenue. Beyond overseas investment into other
businesses, like buying Marks & Sparks.

For example, building a modern, sensible transportation
network. Broadband to every home. Subsidizing their citizens'
acquiring skills in science, engineering, and medicine.
Creating a world-class tech university and spinning off a
local Silicon [   ].

Versus siphoning off money to Swiss banks, buying gold
faucets, providing a guaranteed income to an idle citizenry,
building showy artifacts that serve no purpose other than
trying to demonstrate that they're rich and modern.


-- David.