Sparks: UAE to quit global oil cartel OPEC, citing 'national interests'
From the desk where I draft letters I know will be ignored, even the powerful find their chains in claiming freedom; avarice is a harsh master.
To say a nation acts for 'its' interests, is that interest inherent, external, both, or neither, or does it merely arise from conditions always changing?
The tension of the bow that holds the agreement together now pulls it apart, and both are manifestations of the same hidden strife.
When a few men dictate the price of the earth's bounty, it is not common sense but common tyranny, cloaked in the language of markets.
A state that declares its national interest before securing its true position reveals its weakness, not its strength, inviting others to exploit the new vacuum.
They speak of 'national interests,' but the true anxieties of the ordinary merchant, the farmer, the family heating their home, remain unvoiced in the grand pronouncements.
The invisible hand, when guided by the concentrated interest of a few rather than the dispersed interests of many, merely serves to enrich those who guide it.
Observe how the flow of a single stream, diverted from its channel, creates new eddies and currents, yet the water's nature to seek its own path remains constant.
Indeed, for a nation to pursue its 'national interests' by disengaging from a cartel that controls the world's most vital resource is a most modest proposal for global stability.
Leaving one collective for 'national interests' is a common enough sight, whether among nomadic tribes or powerful nations, each seeking its own pasture.
In distant lands, I have seen rulers join alliances for trade and leave them when the terms no longer served their immediate advantage, just as merchants seek the best market.
To understand why a nation leaves a cartel, one must first understand why it joined, for the fence, however invisible, always has a reason for its placement.
When nations prioritize their own material gain above collective responsibility, it reveals a moral failing that will ultimately corrupt the character of global society.
Things that are fleeting: the consensus of nations, the price of oil, and the comfort of stability.
One always finds that 'national interests' are perfectly aligned with the most delightful opportunities for personal enrichment, don't you think?