But one has to wonder what would have happened if greed had not caused man to want to hit his fellow man on the head and steal his berries...to go forth and be "fruitful".  Well, we have democracy, you say.  Democracy means one person one vote.  Is it really democracy when you can vote, but only on a few choices laid out by the government who is in collusion with the rich?  We used at least give the facade of democracy when the vote first began.  But people were gathering in the streets in large numbers to cast their vote.  The government saw this as a potential problem, not just because it was inconvenient, but because they felt very uneasy about a gathering over politics.  Our government has created many diversions, and this was one of them (assigning representatives), to avoid creating a climate that may instigate riot or revolution.  In fact, it was written in legal documentation that they did not "trust the masses".  But do you ever wonder why you are always electing officials who are wealthy, have corporate backing, and graduated from an ivy league school?  Often times, we are electing those who have never lived in a common house in a common neighborhood and drove a common car.  It is not they go out of their way to cause distress to the less fortunate.  They live in a world like Paris Hilton;  They have no concept of what it is like to not have a lot of money and they don't know any better than to look down on you and I.  It is simply what they have been exposed to since birth. 

So, how did this start?  How did end up being a part of a nation and world where the "rich get richer and the poor get poorer"?  You have to go back to the beginnings, when man was introduced to earth.  It was just him and homies and vast land that contained "natural resources".  Man cannot do much of anything without natural resources.  He learned to manipulate not only the resources themselves, from raw materials to finished consumer goods, but his fellow man, as well.  Instead of "Woah, dude, let's take this earth and create things and share it", it was "Um, dude, could you help me out, I'll give you a little something for it."  Thus, followed Marx's theory of labor to explain this.  It is simply capitalizing on the exploitation of others.  Exploitation is not used in the pejorative in the definition, but it has truly come to connotate everything bad over the years.  Exploitation began the moment man used his fellow man to create wealth for him, while compensating him only a fraction of that wealth.  Some people like this and would call me a radical for even discussing it.  And, you can bet the rich like it. 

The problem with exploitation standing for everything bad, is that the heat was taken off capitalization.  Did you know that many of us are born and die without ever even knowing why we worked, retired, then passed on, never knowing the history behind it.  Humans invented money they invented the economy and a social reality.  All that was here was land and nature.  But, many live there lives never even thinking about it, that the human condition always was, and always will be, exactly within the constructs they experienced it.  And, he government and corporate America is really very good and creating distractions so that we don't focus on the exploitation they sustain, such as blaming our state of economy on the lazy welfare mother.  The truth is, the money holders of the world depend greatly on those who don't work.  Don't think the unemployment figures you hear on CNN are accurate;  It is much higher and is only based on those who reported to the government for unemployment benefits.  Ok here's the scoop.  Let's say everyone did want to work.  Well, if you did the math, you would discover that there are not even close to enough jobs for that to be a reality.  The so-called "American Dream" does not apply to all, as there are only so many of those $70,000/year jobs that even exist.  So let's get to the root of why.  For one, let's study our economy, Capitalism.  It means to capitalize.  It means that in order for a business to grow and succeed, it must continuously beat out the competitor, selling it's product for less.  It is a system that knows no boundaries and can simply not exist with them.  It depends on natural resources and the exploitation of labor.  Do not be fooled into thinking that monopolies are illegal just because laws are written as such.  Capitalism depends on monopolies.  And in order to make it seem like they don't exist, companies develop subsidiaries, parent companies, sister companies, and the like.  We have been hearing the commercial: Singular is now AT&T...a prime example.  Guises like these help the wealthy to con us into thinking that our government really does care about the welfare and protection of the little guy, and the little guy as a whole, falls for it lock stock and barrel. 

Okay, so now let's look at raw materials.  The companies are only able to make products if they have the materials to do it, and those come from mother earth.  Many economists tell us the world has infinite resources and is ever self-sustaining.  If this were true, you might not have as many poor and as many wealth mongers.  Much of the earth's resources are finite.  It means, we use them up...we're s.o.l.  Some of them are made synthetically, but that still takes resources of some kind.  Some are replenishable, but are dependent on a fairly healthy planet.  You hear people all the time saying, "No one should ever have to go hungry".  Granted, morally, I agree.  The reality of it is yes, the world and the "haves" depend on it.  We have, what, roughly over 6 billion people now.  As fellow humans, we should see that everyone has shelter clothing and food, and able-bodied adult should work to ensure that happens;  But, guess what happens to our ever-so-precious natural resources if we were to provide like that.  Hey, this is not rocket science, folks.  Anyone could do the math and figure this out.  But, we don't think about these things, and unless we take upper division sociology in college, most of us will never know why things are the way they are.  Do you think that our government has welfare programs, such as social security, disability, aid to dependent children, veteran's benefits, etc... because they truly have compassion for all those folks?  Well, there a certain element that does suggest that.  But, keep in mind that the big corporations are what fund the government, moreso than the common man.  However, the common man out-numbers the corporates by a long shot.  And, the government doesn't want the natives getting restless, if you know what I mean.  They don't want a revolution.  That was the very reason that Roosevelt and his brain trust were assigned the job of figuring out a solution, thus, the "New Deal" of social reform was born.  And, if you pay attention, you will discover that the government only doles out to the little guy what it feels necessary in order to prevent chaos and an overthrow of the government.  They are always cutting funding here and there.  They monitor the people's reaction to those cuts.  If they see a public outcry that may become a problem, they start giving back some of the funding to try and see if they can curtail it enough to settle things down. 

Another strategy our government uses to deflate our sails of unrest, is to offer us low interest rates and low interest loans.  They promote debt.  Not only are they hugely in debt themselves, but they like Joe Taxpayer to keep his head so buried in the sand, that all he can do is work his life away to pay off his loans, and he doesn't have any free time to concern himself with any corruption or unscrupulous dealings the government is involved in.  This is social science, people, not social philosophy;  When you are taught this academically, they have studies and raw facts to support all this.  You ask, how can this be, that would mean they all conspire against the little guy and are evil, right?  No.  Well, some do, of course.  But, it's back to how the rich cannot relate to the poor, that I pointed out earlier...They are raised that way, have no idea how the common man really lives, how he feels, the struggles he goes to just to help sustain his government's and corporate America's wealth, along with his own.  There are many ploys at work in the government to sustain it's power. 

Let's look at Christianity's function to the government.  You may think that the government is pretty anti-Christian by the way it allows abortion, separates church and state, and forbids prayer in school.  The fact is, it is dependent on Christianity.  It is no mistake that "In God we trust" remains on the money.  Christianity teaches a passive approach;  Forgiveness is vital and we must obey man's laws.  Perfect.  It promotes suppression and "zombieism", if you will.  (I am a Christian myself, so keep in mind I am only explaining the fuctionality of it in relation to the government).  And, furthermore, Christians are generally good-hearted and peaceful folks and keep this world in balance against chaos and crime.  Christianity separated the sacred from the non-sacred, creating moral crimes in the form of the ten commandments.  It also greatly influences our society's crime rate, in so much that, many fear going to hell if they do not behave.  No, our government very much supports Christianity because it helps keep people in line, it just doesn't want to totally support it in every way.  Why?  Because there are many non-Christians who are good law-abiding citizens, too, and the government must keep peace with them, as well.  It's all about maintaining social order, and that social order happens to be interconnected with big corporations, who in turn, rule the government.  In fact, the Sociologists in the know, say we do not have a Democracy, we have Pluralism.  Pluralism is an economy ran by special interest groups instead of the people. 

Ok, so, let's tackle the crime problem.  Why do we have it?  Humans are not born inherently evil, most all of them, anyway.  Nearly all crime can be said to occur due to someone having something that someone else wants or doesn't have.  Hate crime is an exception, but I am referring to the bulk of crime.  It goes clear back to the beginning of man.  Sociologists say man learns greed, that he is not born with it;  And, they have research and proven theories to support this.  They offer up certain tribes they have discovered, living altruistically, as proof.  So, it is not just that man is destined to have a certain populace that hits others over the head and steals their berries;  But, once greed is learned, they say that man cannot go backward.  Where does greed play into this?  Well, it is really pretty easily explained with something as simple as "have" and have-not".  How the industrial era helped create this by moving corporations out of the inner city, and eventually out of the country, is also an important factor.  But, anyway, the less someone has (in relation to others), the more he wants what they have.  While poor people do rob each other, that is because of convenience. They'd much rather be robbing the Hilton's or the Rockafeller's;  They just don't happen to live in their neighborhood.  The more people who exist who do not have the same possessions , monies, or opportunities as others, the more crime you will see.  Could we potentially take care of all our people.  In theory, we probably could.  It would mean all the wealthy people giving up their lifestyles and the whole world coming together as one and sharing equally.  You think some just don't deserve it.  well, we don't really know because we didn't grow up in a world that nurtured every human being.  But, I don't think humans are capable of unlearning greed.  I don't think they are capable of Altruism unless they never learn greed.  So, I don't hold out much hope in turning around the world.  Some say we won't even be able to stop global warming because it is too late.  The problem is, it's not you and me, it's not Joe Blow everyday citizen, it's corporations with government backing, that rule.  What can we do?  Most don't even know what is going on.  If we did, how do you fight City Hall?  If we continue in this state, eventually a small group (ultimately one, if it went that far) would own all the wealth, and how much others got and who got it, would be totally up to that corporation.   

Dow Chemical, Aramco Finalize Venture

By Anees Al Qudaihi and Jeffrey Ball

About Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco is a fully-integrated, global petroleum enterprise, and a world leader in oil and gas exploration and production, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing. The company manages proven reserves of over 260 billion barrels of oil, the largest of any company in the world, and manages the fourth-largest gas reserves in the world. Saudi Aramco operates one of the world’s largest integrated gas gathering, processing and industrial distribution systems. These strengths, combined with the massive resource base of oil and gas, have allowed the company to fuel and feed the Kingdom’s burgeoning petrochemical business over the past three decades. Saudi Aramco, which is also among the top ten refiners in the world, also owns and operates one of the world’s largest tanker fleets to help transport its crude oil production, which amounted to over 3.2 billion barrels in 2006. In addition to its headquarters in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province city of Dhahran, Saudi Aramco has affiliates, joint ventures and subsidiaries spanning the globe, with presence in the United States, Europe and Asia. More information about Saudi Aramco can be found at http://www.saudiaramco.com.

SOURCE  The Dow Chemical Company

/CONTACT: Jamal Kheiry, +966-3-874-5350, jamal.kheiry@aramco.com , or Neville Roome, +966-3-874-5419, neville.roome@aramco.com , both of Saudi Aramco; Chris Huntley +1-989-859-5588, chuntley@dow.com, or Louis Vega +971-50-457-9649, LAVega@dow.com , both of The Dow Chemical Company; or Joanna Steele, jsteele@golinharris.com, or Upasna Swain, uswain@golinharris.com , both of GolinHarris for The Dow Chemical Company, +971-4-332-3308, fax: +971-4-331-6733,

/Web site: http://www.dow.com  
/Web site: http://www.saudiaramco.com

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