Quote Originally Posted by aimlesswanderer View Post
To me, the people who say that hundreds of millions of people should suffer and be oppressed by western friendly dictators just so that I can have cheap oil and short term stability are rather selfish. Why should people suffer just so that I can live my relatively luxurious lifestyle? While it would be nice if I could live a prosperous, stable life free from worry, I personally do not want that to be underwritten by vast amounts of brutality and cruelty. Some people may be able to ignore the unfortunate underpinnings of their easy lives, but I cannot. And if you were one of those who were brutally oppressed, just so that Americans can have cheap petrol, how would you feel?

So, say the price of oil goes through the roof. Yes, it will mean the Australian economy will take a hit, but we'd better get used to higher energy prices as oil is running out anyway, while demand is increasing. We need to be smarter with how we use and generate our energy, and it's better to start sooner rather than later.

And, as I think is most likely, if the newly free countries (or most of them) can get themselves organised in a decade or so, the world will be a much improved place. Imagine a Middle East mostly free and mostly democratic, and not a hotbed for extremism. That has got to be a good thing for everyone.
Playing Devil's Advocate, the rise in Oil would cause massive instability around the globe, possibly leading to insurrection in countries such as Pakistan, India, China and large protests in Europe, America and elsewhere as commodity prices skyrocket and people's standard of living takes a hit for reasons that they can not see/understand and care little about.