Oil; The slippery slope

One of the benefits of the Christmas period, although busy generally, is a bit more time to catch up on movies and books.

I have just read, in a couple of days, the book by the Polish journalist and writer Ryszard Kapuscinski about the final days of the last ruler of Iran, entitled "Shah of Shahs"which was published in 1985. It is an interesting fact based telling of the oil rich state and the vast wealth that was intended to create a Western type economy and outlook. The problem was that the majority of the Iranian nation did not want to go that route.

The following is a word for word extract by Kapuscinski on the subject of Black Gold. The words are as true now as they were 30 years ago and more poignant given that no lessons seem to have been learned in the interim and for all of the upheaval, turmoil and human tragedy that continues to be the situation throughout the Middle East.


"Oil kindles extraordinary emotions and hopes, since oil is above all a great temptation. 

It is the temptation of ease, wealth, strength,fortune, power. 

It is a filthy, foul smelling liquid that squirts obligingly up into the air and falls back to earth as a rustling shower of money. 

To discover and possess the source of oil is to feel as if after wandering long underground you have suddenly stumbled upon royal treasure. Not only do you become rich but you are also visited by the mystical conviction that some high power has looked upon you with the eye of grace and magnanimously elevated you above others, electing you its favourite. 

Many photographs preserve the moment when the first oil spurts from the well; people jumping for joy, falling into each other's arms, weeping. 

Oil creates the illusion of a completely changed life, life without work, life for free. 

Oil is a resource that anethetises thought, blurs vision, corrupts. 

People from poor countries go around thinking. God, if we only had oil. 

The concept of oil expresses perfectly the eternal human dream of wealth achieved through lucky accident,through a kiss of fortune and not by sweat, anguish, hard work. 

In this sense oil is a fairy tale and like every fairy tale a bit of a lie. Oil fills us with such arrogance that we begin believing we can easily overcome such unyielding obstacles as time.

With oil many leaders of nations used to say, I will create a second America in a generation. They never create it. 

Oil, though powerful, has its defects. It does not replace thinking or wisdom. 

For rulers one of its most alluring properties is that it strengthens authority. Oil produces great profits without putting a lot of people to work.

Oil causes few social problems because it creates neither a numerous proletariat nor a sizeable bourgeoisie. Thus the government, freed from the need of splitting profits with anyone can dispose of them according to its own ideas and desires. 

Look at the Ministers from oil countries, how high they hold their heads, what a sense of power they have, they ,the lords of energy who decide whether we will be driving cars tomorrow or walking"