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Originally Posted by slidey
The Church of England has been on the case for a while now, and more recently the Pope man has taken it up as well.
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I don't know what you are referring to as "on the case". If you mean a general denouncement of antisemitism, that's all well and good but a mistaken inference to what I posted.
What I was referring to with respect to the origins of the Federal Reserve was that the progenitors of the Fed were goyem. Antisemitism was never an appropriate slur to bring into the discussion in erroneously suggesting a Semitic underpinning on the true intent in creating the Fed.
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And if we're not restricting ourselves to the nether regions of mankind i.e. religion, then the opposing idea has been an equally unfortunate radical opposite i.e. communism. The unwillingness of the serpents in power (the politicians) to tread the middle path is more of a statement about the power of these extremists in each of our societies to sway political action, or inaction as the case may be, in their direction. However, from my minimal understanding I get the feeling that Venezuela under Chavismo economics has done reasonably well. Any thoughts on this?
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Whoa, there is no intent in my mentioning Weber's book to get into an "efficacies of capitalism" debate. BTW Weber was a sociologist, not an economist.
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Originally Posted by Louis
Having a massive amount of a super-valuable commodity like oil allows them to get away with quite a few questionable policies. On the other hand, all the folks that are beneficiaries of Venezuelan government charity (oil at cut-rate prices internationally, and staples at reduced prices for the less well of locally) do appreciate it.
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Oil is subject to world-wide demand and price fluctuations. There was no permanent order for the world economy to be reestablished at $110 per barrel crude oil. Crude is currently priced in the mid-$90 range. Brazil, Venezuela and Russia have all suffered contractions to their domestic growth rates as crude oil prices have lowered in world markets.
A nations oil wealth is not a panacea for national stability. I don't follow the political current events in Venezuela or Brazil but temporary buyouts from the government dole will not eliminate unrest if there is societal & political repression sanctioned by their governments. One need not look any further than the situation in Saudi Arabia to evidence stagnation, unrest & internal pressures in maintaining a repressive society subsisted by oil wealth. The only acknowledged, normally functioning segment in modern Saudi society is within the confines of Aramco, the state run oil conglomerate. For everyone else there is a life in the shadow of the state security police, the religious police and the denial of personal initiative.