I always fantasize about having my own dictatorship somewhere. I could create a beautiful tiny country, have gardens everywhere and a booming economy. People from around the world would want to live in my country and obey my bizarre laws. I like order and safety, so my laws might be similar to those in Singapore or Dubai for example. The public would be safe, but drug dealers might get their heads chopped off faster than they can say “illegal transport”.
But, I am a simple guy with modest savings. I can’t afford land to build a country, let alone the military power to secure it in this crazy world. But, a multi-billion dollar oil conglomerate could easily buy their own turf — and why not?
Oil companies seem to have a heavy hand in manipulating the US government. We fight wars partly for our perceived national interests and partly to defend or secure the assets of these oil giants. It is true that the US wouldn’t function too well without oil, so there is a reason for this madness. But, what if these oil companies had their own countries and their own militaries?
Imagine if Mobil purchased some land off the coast of Canada or Washington State. Maybe they might prefer the Caribbean so their executives could live in style. If they looked around hard enough, for a few billion, they could get a comfy piece of land or a few nicely sized islands. They could spend some more and get some of the US’s cutting edge military hardware and might be able to lease some top special forces as well. Think of the possibilities. They could have a population of several hundred thousand. They would have their own tax base, based on income from selling oil worldwide. That tax money could be used to live in style, and have a nice military to let the Iraqis and Iranians know who is in charge! If the cost of defending their rigs got too expensive, they might seek greener pastures somewhere else and sell their property to someone else. The oil companies could have the power and freedom to solve their own problems without dragging the US into the equation! Wonderful — perhaps.
For those who say, “No blood for oil”, these oil companies could pay the market price for top notch mercenaries. How much is a human life worth? You could look online to get hourly bids for what people would accept in salaries to risk their life fighting for oil. It would all be much simpler — much more cut and dry. Can you think of a system that would be more honest than this?
It might be fun to live in such a nation too. Your income tax would likely be very low, and there would be lots of ex-patriots to keep you company.
Tweets:
(1) I always fantasize about having my own dictatorship somewhere! I want my own country!
(2)… the public would be safe, but drug dealers would get their heads chopped off…
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