Ending War in Iraq.

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Forrest_Gump

Active member
Do you want almost the entire country to stand up at once and really take control of their own destiny?

Two words: Profit Sharing.

Along with a Democratic (whatever flavor) Government, start a profit sharing program. Imagine if every Iraqi citizen living in the country got a slice of the oil pie? It doesn't even have to be a big slice, just enough to lift the average citizen up a bit and make them really want to keep getting it. Everyone, no matter what their flavor (Shia, Sunni, Kurd) would get the same amount. The "Insurgency" would end in a heartbeat. Greed is a great motivator.

Alaska has such a program (PFD and Native Corporation checks), least one of the Native tribes that run a casino in Minnesota (Gambling profits instead of oil), and I believe Kuwait also has such a plan (and when was the last time you heard of political or violent social unrest there?).

Just my cent and a half.
 
I think the people of Iraq actually don't know how to put a monetary value on something. For hundreds of years, pretty much all the guy on the street had was a small room and barely enough to eat while dictators spent the oil income on palaces and armies. Once they get an idea of what "rich" means, they will fight harder to keep what they earn. I have hopes that this Government they are forming will give "incentives" to support them.
 
Forrest_Gump said:
Do you want almost the entire country to stand up at once and really take control of their own destiny?

Two words: Profit Sharing.
Just my cent and a half.
Click to expand...

A very interesting concept. I hope that it will elicit more discussion!
 
Well, I think the oil revenue would be better spent taxed and then given back as public works projects and economic stimuli than as an Alaska-type proffit sharing.

A vibrant economy is the bedrock of a stable society.
 
Whispering Death said:
A vibrant economy is the bedrock of a stable society.
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Not so my friend or else there would have never been the American Revolution. Oftentimes even the affluent can become disenchanted with their government of the day.
 
The rich often are the ones to find the faults in society but they very rarely gain popular support until the proliteriat starts hurting in their wallets.

Was the American Revolution not brought forth because of increased taxation?
 
Actually no it was not. That is one of the myths of the revolution. At the time of the Boston Tea Party the actual tax we learn about in school had actually been rebated and tea was cheaper than ever. The "party" was carried out by smugglers who were losing profits to the lower priced legally imported tea as a result.

The revolution was more accurately an issue of home rule. Something that England afforded Australia and Canada years after the American colonies were denied it. The British learned from the error and that is the reason the other colonies did not follow suit. Less than 100 years later the American federal government parlayed this very eggregious act upon the South and led to the Civil War in the states.
 
Yay and now we have New York and Washington telling the rest of America what do to and how to think. Thank god for that revolution! :p

But the point is that people didn't really care too terribly much about home rule until it hurt them in the pocketbooks. I did not say that good economies ALWAYS make for social stability, what I said was a vibrant economy is the bedrock of a stable society.

In the western world where there has been relative economic prosperity for the last 50 years, there has been no wars. Then you've got poor economies in some parts of South America, Africa, and the Middle East in that same 50 year period and there have been numerous wars. It isn't coincidence that these two factors just happen to go together more often than not.
 
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