WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Friends:
Ralph Epperson has given me permission to send you one of his
articles:
God Bless;
Bill
OPEC
"THEY"
IS
"US!"
by
Ralph Epperson
author
of
THE UNSEEN HAND
AN INTRODUCTION TO
THE CONSPIRATORIAL VIEW
OF HISTORY
Newspaper headlines scream:
OPEC REDUCES PRODUCTION,
OIL PRICES RISE
and we, the American people, flail our arms in contempt as we see our
gasoline prices increase! Those blasted "oil producing countries" have done
it to us again! (OPEC stands for "The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries.")
And our American oil producing companies seem powerless to do anything about
the increase in price! Why isn't something done to get us gasoline at a
reduced price? Why are we so dependent on OPEC for our oil needs?
But we do not know who the "they" in the OPEC nations are, but all we know is
that "they" are "foreign nations!" Because our American oil companies would
not do such a thing to their fellow Americans!!
Because we have the "free enterprise system" in America where competition
forces down the high prices, and it doesn't occur to us that OPEC might be
the American (and European) oil companies!!
But let me tell you ................. they are!
Because OPEC is not "the foreigners," it is "us!"
However, proving that statement is more difficult than making it, because
there is but a little information that I am aware of that tells us just who
these "foreigners" are. However, there are adequate clues that OPEC is not
owned by the "foreigners" at all.
But to understand OPEC, we must first understand a few simple economic terms,
such as NATURAL MONOPOLY, COERCIVE MONOPOLY, and CARTEL
The industrialists of the "industrial revolution" soon learned that
exorbitant profits could not be made in the "FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM," where
competitors could enter the market place and compete by selling the same
product at a reduced price.
The "industrialists" soon learned the merits of the MONOPOLY, a market place
where they could continue to charge their exorbitant prices and no one would
compete. But in a "FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM," another producer could enter the
market place even if they had a monopoly and once again, reduce the price.
A NATURAL MONOPOLY is defined as a market place where one seller is allowed
to be the only producer of a product, because no one wishes to compete. But
that threat of future competition caused the MONOPOLIST concern: that
competition could always enter the market place at a future date and drive
prices down.
The NATURAL MONOPOLIST soon discovered the joys of hiring a government to
protect his NATURAL MONOPOLY by closing the door to its competition. (A
basket full of money given to the right person at the right time has strange
effects on politicians!) This NATURAL MONOPOLY became a COERCIVE MONOPOLY beca
use the hired government closed the market place by making it illegal to
compete. So the MONOPOLIST turned to government and together they creates
what is called a COERCIVE MONOPOLY. This exists when govern-ment and the
MONOPOLIST combine to restrict the access of their competitors to the market
place.
But how does THE COERCIVE MONOPOLIST control the world market place when
there is another COERCIVE MONOPOLIST in another nation with its government
supporting its COERCIVE MONOPOLY?
The answer is obvious: THE MONOPOLIST signs an agreement with the competing
COERCIVE MONOPOLY and that resulting agreement is called a CARTEL!
OPEC is a "CARTEL" (defined as "a few sellers in a market place, combining to
set the price of a good sold.")
This connection between the monopolists and government was correctly
discerned by Frederick Clemson Howe, Ph.D., an economist, lawyer, and a
special assistant to Henry Wallace, the Secretary of Agriculture and later a
Vice-President to Franklin Roosevelt. He wrote:
"These are the rules of big business: Get a monopoly.
Let society work for you, and remember that the best business is politics,
for a legislative grant, franchise, subsidy, or tax exemption is worth
more
than a Kimberly or Comstock Lode, since it does not require any labor
either mental or physical, for its exploitation."
John D. Rockefeller, the American oil magnate, one who correctly learned the
lesson about MONOPOLIES as well, expressed his opinion that "Competition is a
sin."
Another who wrote of this connection was Dr. Antony Sutton, who wrote in his
book WALL STREET AND FDR: (meaning Franklin D. Roosevelt)
"Old John Rockefeller and his 19th century fellow capitalists were
convinced
of an absolute truth: that no great monetary wealth could be accumulated
under the impartial rules of competitive laissez-faire [the
free-enterprise
system] society.
The only sure road to the acquisition of massive wealth was mo-nopoly:
drive out your competitors, reduce competition, eliminate laissez-faire
[the free enterprise system] and above all get state protection for your
industry through compliant politicians and government regulation.
The last avenue yields a huge [COERCIVE] monopoly and a legal
monopoly always leads to wealth."
And in his book, WALL STREET AND THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION, Dr. Sutton further
amplified his point:
"The financiers ... could by government control ... more easily avoid the
rigors of competition.
Through political influence they could manipulate the police power of the
state to achieve what they had been unable, or what was too costly, to
achieve under the private enterprise system."
In other words, the police power of the state was a means of maintaining a
private COERCIVE MONOPOLY.
As I said before, the best known cartel in the world is OPEC. This cartel is
thought to be foreign, primarily Arabian, in ownership. However, there is
ample reason to believe that the principle ownership of OPEC is not primarily
Arabian but international, primarily American.
Dr. Carroll Quigley, the mentor of President Bill Clinton at Georgetown
University, (Clinton praised Quigley in 1992 on national television as being
one of the two men who got him into politics) in his massive 1300 page book
entitled TRAGEDY AND HOPE, discussed an oil cartel formed in 1928:
"This world cartel had developed from a tripartite agreement signed on
September 17, 1920 by Royal Dutch Shell, Anglo-Iranian, and Standard Oil.
These agreed to manage oil prices on the world market by charging an
agreed fixed price plus freight costs, and to store surplus oil which
might
weaken the fixed price level.
By 1949 the cartel had as members the seven greatest oil com-panies in
the world: Anglo-Iranian, Socony-Vacuum, Royal Dutch Shell, Gulf, Esso,
Texaco, and Calso.
Excluding the United States domestic market, the Soviet Union and
Mexico, it controlled 92% of the world's reserves of oil . . . ."
It might help if I try and identify each of these 7 oil companies:
Anglo-Iranian: an Iranian company in partnership with
several American and European oil companies
Socony-Vacuum: Standard Oil Company of New York and
Vacuum (an English company)
Royal Dutch Shell: owned in the main by the Royal Family of
Holland
Gulf: Not certain, but I believe this is an American owned
oil
company
ESSO: Standard Oil of England
Texaco: A Rockefeller oil company
Calso: Standard Oil of California
(Not much Arabian ownership in that list!!)
James P. Warburg, who should know, further discussed the cartel in his book
entitled THE WEST IN CRISIS. Apparently the cartel had grown to include an
additional member:
"Eight giant oil companies - five of them American - control the non-
Communist world's supply of oil, maintaining administered prices which
. . . yield exorbitant profits.
The oil companies extract oil from the Middle East, which contains 90%
of the known reserves of the non-communist world, at a cost of 20 to 30
cents a barrel and sell it at a collusive price, varying over a period of
recent
years from $1.75 to $2.16 per barrel, f.o.b., the Persian Gulf.
The resulting profit has, as a rule, been split on a fifty-fifty basis
with the government of the country in which the oil is produced."
See how noble these oil companies are? They share the profits "50 - 50" with
the country they take the oil out of!
Now for the fun part: I will use the figures shown above to show you just why
there is money to be made in the CARTEL BUSINESS! Using Mr. Warburg's
figures, it is easy to extrapolate price increases to today's oil market
prices.
Years Cost Price Profit % of Profit
1950 $ .30 $ 2.16 $ 1.86 620
1979 ** $3.25 $20.00 $16.75 515
** presuming a lO% per year increase in costs and using the OPEC price of
$20.00 in 1979, the profit of $16.75 is approximately the same as that
pointed out in Warburg's book. (Gee, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to
determine that a 620% profit on your investment is NOT TOO SHABBY!)
(I must admit that these figures come from my 1985 book THE UNSEEN HAND and I
have not updated them.)
In other words, the OPEC countries are increasing oil prices today (in 1979)
in order to maintain their profit percentages of 30 years ago.
It is interesting to note that both Dr. Quigley and Mr. Warburg wrote about
the years 1949 and 1950. OPEC was formed in 1951, right after both authors
pointed out that the Arabian oil reserves were owned by non-Arabian oil
companies.
It is doubtful that these non-Arabian oil companies gave up the ability to
make a 620 percent profit to the OPEC nations when OPEC was formed. So, I
think it is fair to conclude that they still own the oil from "the middle
east."
In summary, then, these agreements that artificially set prices, (the cartels
and their cousin, the monopolies) lead to the accumulation of large
quantities of amassed wealth through exorbitant profits!
These marketplace aberrations exist solely because the monopolists have
formed a partnership with the government, and the result is higher prices for
the consumer.
Think about this as you pay the higher price for your gallon of
gasoline!!!!!!!
"They" is "us!"
(If you want to read THE UNSEEN HAND by Ralph Epperson, call him at (520)
886-4380 or contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED])
end of article
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
******************************************************************************
*******************
A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies!
A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America!
Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America!
Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan!
Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a
snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become
nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey...
Patrick Buchanan
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
