I don't wholly agree with the views expressed in this opinion article, but I think it makes an interesting counterpoint.
SourceOil is the basis for the American way of lifeBy MICHAEL A. BABCOCK
12/13/2005We finally have something new to talk about at the gas pump. Prices have moderated from their summer highs - which is good, since I'm tired of hearing about second mortgages and selling one's kids into slavery. Now we can talk about the obscene quarterly profits the oil companies posted while we were struggling to fill our tanks.
But wait a minute. "If you can't say anything good," as my mother (and your mother) used to say, "then don't say anything at all."
But nobody seems to have anything good to say about petroleum or its byproducts - gasoline, diesel, home heating oil, war in the Mideast. And Congress has joined the oil-bashing now. Oil executives are being dragged before "outraged" congressional committees to explain why they're capitalists and why they should be allowed to make a profit. So let me say a few good words about oil.
First, oil fueled America's rise to greatness. The American Century, as we call the 20th century, was powered by the Standard Oil Co. The economic muscle and political clout of the United States was purchased through sweat, blood and oil as Americans did what we do best: build machines that solve problems and make life more efficient. Machines that people all over the world want. Machines that burn oil - and spike up our standard of living in the process.
Listen closely to the rhetoric, and you realize that vilifying oil is really all about vilifying capitalism. "Oil" has become shorthand for imperialism, greed, wastefulness and the "red state" American way of life. We know the contributions of Washington and Lincoln, of Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King. But we never talk about the contributions of oil.
Second, there is nothing inherently evil about fighting for oil. I don't believe for a minute that the Iraq War is "all about oil," though it can hardly be denied that our long-standing interest in the Middle East is rooted in economic realities. And what's wrong with that? In principle, there is nothing wrong with fighting for our economic survival. It's what smart, and moral, countries do. Of course, we must develop alternative sources of energy. That goes without saying. But until we reach this utopian dream, we cannot be held hostage to the threat of complete economic devastation.
Third, oil companies deserve to make a profit. Should Texaco not make a profit just because we choose convenience over sacrifice? Oil is essential to our way of life, but we as consumers exercise individual choices over how much we drive. We cannot deny a profit to the oil companies just because we don't like to car-pool.
Congressional hearings on oil profits are the worst form of political show. Congress seems to notice what people are talking about at the water cooler or gas pump only when another election cycle wheels around. Let's hope Congress gets this out of its system, bellows a bit about the "scandal" of oil profits and then shuts up before it does any real damage.
Michael A. Babcock, Ph.D., an associate professor of humanities at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va,. is the author of "The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun" (Berkley Books, 2005).
