1st edit, http://teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=38929, to TeamSwift registered members only. I realized the general there is for members only. Here is the jist of the original post, copied and pasted. Good point, there. Raise the price of exported wheat, corn, and beans. And that's not me, I am crazyman there too. .
Quote T3ragtop"I got an email over the weekend that said something like "oil is $148 a barrel from saudi arabia. we ship wheat to the saudis at $7 a bushel. we should charge them $148 a bushel for wheat and if they don't like it, let them eat their oil."
at first, i thought that it'd probably go something like we'd be walking to the store for cheap bread but then after i thought about it a little more, i was left wondering why we have such a lop-sided trade arrangement.
even more than that, how can north america be the world's farmer, ship thousands of metric tons of food all over the world (a lot of it as foreign aid) and still get bent over for oil? considering that a good percentage of the oil goes to food production - not only as fuel for the farm machinery but in part to produce fertilizers, ship the supplies to the farms and ship the foodstuffs around the world.
the more i thought about the skewed trade balance, the more i think that somebody might be onto something about increasing the price of food as a trade item. when opec has to pony up to get that food on their tables, maybe they'll get their over-inflated heads out of their arses and make that crude available at a more attractive price.
the moral of that story is: don't bite the hand that feeds you.
"And his second post on the subject...
"if i remember correctly, usal (the strength of the base of the pillar) reclaims aracus for the fremin and takes control of spice production.
maybe we need to take back control of our wheat, include the price of oil needed for it's production, and include that in the price we charge opec countries for it. if we need to reorganize our trade agreements to git r done, go for it.
r. boone pickens is right when he says that oil represents the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world. our corporations, in league with our government, have sold american technology lock, stock, and barrel to foreign countries. then they crippled our manufacturing by sending all the work overseas. if all we're left with is our military, technology and agribusiness, we'll have to realign our values to make those undertakings define our world standing.
having spent a good bit of time in the middle east and having had a good look at what's there, i would have to say that it's not a "breadbasket" by any stretch of the imagination. if the world stopped shipping food to that sand pit their populations would dwindle to levels that could be supported only on what they could scratch out of the sand.
there's not a doubt in my mind that world markets would be shaken to their cores if we took the dire actions needed to readjust opec's mindset but the fact of the matter is that the emirs are getting a bit too big for their britches over this oil bullshit. i say that we raise the prices for technology and food, maybe only to them and every country who trades with them (to maintain price controls over north american products that might get brokered by third parties.) where there's a will, there's a way.
when the saudis threw us this last curveball by putting a choke hold on our energy costs, i say it's high time to even the playing field. they've had no problem shifting the playing field to favor them. smells like home cookin'. if our only "persuader" is what they have to put on the stove, i say we should up the "steaks." (sic) "
