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"The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry"

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Trebor

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I just mentioned this lecture in another thread, but I think it's worth mentioning again in a new thread so that it gets some notice (via the thread's topic title):

For a fascinating and informative lecture on the history of the development of the oil industry including the development of the Middle East oil fields, here's Alex Epstein's lecture, free to listen and download, at ARCTV: "The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry" .

Part 1: 77:05

Part 2: 91:34

Part 3: 85:30

From the description:

"Recorded Summer 2008—Born out of scientific and inventive genius, and brought to the masses by entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller, the oil industry took a seemingly useless substance and transformed it into an incalculable value to men’s lives. And yet with all the glory it has brought man, the oil industry has been vilified, strangled, looted since its inception.

“The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry” tells the story of how scientists, inventors, engineers and, above all, businessmen transformed black glop into black gold—into the fuel that would power man’s transportation by car, boat, truck, airplane, space shuttle. It tells the story of how this glorious achievement has been undercut by bad philosophy and bad politicians cashing in on its spoils. Finally, it chronicles the oil industry’s own role in its destruction, and how it has managed to keep producing and profiting despite huge regulations against it."

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Mr. Epstein's lecture is very good. He starts off a bit slow and awkward, yet if one is willing go go beyond that, then he smoothes out and delivers a worthwhile history and understanding of the development of the oil industry to date. The lecture gets better and better. The lecture also explains why we now have the various Middle East dictators who are supported by the enormous wealth derived from oil, yet which they have no rightful claim to. Ideas have consequences.

Mr. Epstein mentions, in his lecture, his own article in The Objective Standard, "Vindicating Capitalism: The Real History of the Standard Oil Company." That article is available, free to read in its entirety (follow the link).

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