Pass me the grey poupon
Sooty, black, and crude… oil is siphoned from the pipes running through the Niger Delta to fund a booming illegal trade of stolen cargo. Oil fuels the wealth of those who possess it and militants are profiting from the theft of oil in Nigeria. This oil, bound for sale on the world market, will be trafficked into Europe, and will then disappear into legitimate markets. Remarkably, Nigeria is capable of producing 3.2M barrels of oil a day although its production rate is only 1.9M barrels a day. If this issue of illegal bunkering were controlled and the Nigerian government and corporations were given methods to raise their productivity; Americans may not have to consider the issues of offshore drilling to increase oil supply and lower oil prices. As, of course, everything revolves around the United States. And… we need another method to save us from putting our paychecks into our gas tanks. Because, god forbid, we pay $4 a gallon for gas.
Did I miss the memo that outlined the entitlement plan for Americans to drive everywhere for free, have orphans feed us fresh fruit, as we lounge about on our manicured lawns waiting for our pensions to kick in? It’s as though we’re the bully lurking in the shadows… you can see us from the corner of your eye, you pretend we’re not there but you know we’re coming… You don’t know when and you don’t know how, until BAM! Bush is taking a lollipop out of the hands of your two year old child and running around the corner as fast as he can where you find him crouching with sticky fingers and a look of guilty pleasure on his face.
One can only hope that one of the future presidential candidates will at least plug the holes of this sinking ship. The Roman Empire lasted for approximately 1000 years, Egypt’s Golden Empire lasted for 5 centuries, and Japan maintained a peaceful empire for 300 years. Will America’s precious empire topple like a game of Jenga after a mere 200 years?
I’m especially interested to see how the play will end or perhaps, begin. The intermission chimes are primed to ring to announce us back to our seats for the second half of the presidential campaign. Will the bully prevail or will the gallant knight in shining armor save us all from impending doom? Or will we all have to move to Mars and start a new breed of humanity? Just in case, I’m building my spaceship now. There’s room for two, I’ll start taking bidders now for that second seat.
