Hunger, Iraq, And Conspiracy
How much would it be worth to you to eliminate starvation and malnutrition and educate every child on Earth? I saw this wonderfully thought-provoking piece, and paying particular attention to pages 4 and 9, realized that some simple calculations were in order:
456bn / 1.2 = 380bn dollars per year spent on gas by Americans
(54bn + 30bn) / 380bn = 0.22
In other words, if America was to pay 22% more for gas than they do now, they could feed every hungry person and educate every child. In the entire world.
In the interests of full disclosure, I've never been one to advocate throwing food at the hungry, primarily for reasons of sustainable development. And Americans might object that if they had that kind of money kicking around, they'd prefer to use it for something else. But the thing is, they did have that kind of money, and they used it to fight a war that is in some ways an even bigger failure than Vietnam. About the only LESS defensible choice of how to use that money would have been to actively finance terrorism themselves.
And while I'm on THAT topic, a note to all the 9/11 conspiracy theorist people: mostly, you're nuts, mostly, your theories are obviously flawed, and mostly, I don't like encouraging you. Having said that, here's what I would look at if I was into such things: I have read that Osama bin Laden has publicly stated that he wants to financially bleed America dry by provoking a war. I have read that there are documented connections between the Bushes and the bin Ladens, specifically that both have had ties to the Carlyle Group. I have now read that Bush will likely spend $456 billion or more on the war. I have read that much of this money has gone to companies like the Carlyle Group and Halliburton.
Assuming that all of these are accurate, and putting it all together, we find that as a result of this war, George W. and Cheney either personally profit or can make their old friends personally profit, Osama bin Laden gets to advance his goal of financially ruining America, and their families are downright chummy. It's all a bit convenient.
Please note that the above conspiracy theory was authored at 3:00am and is largely unconsidered. I will not be shocked if it has huge flaws in it.
456bn / 1.2 = 380bn dollars per year spent on gas by Americans
(54bn + 30bn) / 380bn = 0.22
In other words, if America was to pay 22% more for gas than they do now, they could feed every hungry person and educate every child. In the entire world.
In the interests of full disclosure, I've never been one to advocate throwing food at the hungry, primarily for reasons of sustainable development. And Americans might object that if they had that kind of money kicking around, they'd prefer to use it for something else. But the thing is, they did have that kind of money, and they used it to fight a war that is in some ways an even bigger failure than Vietnam. About the only LESS defensible choice of how to use that money would have been to actively finance terrorism themselves.
And while I'm on THAT topic, a note to all the 9/11 conspiracy theorist people: mostly, you're nuts, mostly, your theories are obviously flawed, and mostly, I don't like encouraging you. Having said that, here's what I would look at if I was into such things: I have read that Osama bin Laden has publicly stated that he wants to financially bleed America dry by provoking a war. I have read that there are documented connections between the Bushes and the bin Ladens, specifically that both have had ties to the Carlyle Group. I have now read that Bush will likely spend $456 billion or more on the war. I have read that much of this money has gone to companies like the Carlyle Group and Halliburton.
Assuming that all of these are accurate, and putting it all together, we find that as a result of this war, George W. and Cheney either personally profit or can make their old friends personally profit, Osama bin Laden gets to advance his goal of financially ruining America, and their families are downright chummy. It's all a bit convenient.
Please note that the above conspiracy theory was authored at 3:00am and is largely unconsidered. I will not be shocked if it has huge flaws in it.
posted by Gideon Humphrey at 1:54 AM
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