As I drove to work today, I saw that the gas price at station I pass is now $2.13 per gallon. Yesterday, it was $2.15, the day before, it was $2.17 and $2.19 the day before that. We have all watched with some relief as gas has slipped and tumbled down to prices that we haven't seen in a few years. And while it all seems good from a consumer standpoint, I still reflect on what it all means geo-politically.

Things don't happen for the simplistic and filtered reasons that make it into the evening news...nor do they happen through conspiracy and Bildeberger type groups. No, things happen because of economic forces, pressures and consequences and powers that be react to these forces...sometimes wisely and with a long view but most invariably often stupidly and with the shortest and most idiotic of views rooted in human frailty and imprudence and self-interest unchecked by the free will of others in the socio-economic marketplace of the world.

Now we all know that most of our oil comes from not-so-free-will-driven places in the world....places like the Middle East, Venezuela and Russia to name a few. These corrupt and often despotic (like Saudi Arabia) or faintly token-democratic oligarchic (Russia or Venezuela) states depend on oil export profits to mask the incompatibilities with their regimes in a free-moving marketplace. The lollipops and crumbs they throw to their people come from their heaps of oil money. So what happens when that cash cow weakens? What happens when the facade becomes exposed? What happens the difficulties it poses raise tensions and cause anger and resentment? Interesting questions to ponder.

If a events unfold that lead to events that lead to events that eventually stoke tension and hostilities between national factions or neighboring countries, you can be certain that we are seeing the initial dominoes that chain of events being tipped over by dropping oil prices...and not some jumbled explanation that has nothing to do with these factors. Most importantly what will be our role...if any? These are unpleasant questions to hash out.
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