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Bein' rude to Saudi Crude

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Old Geezer

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Saudi Arabia has been bothering me for some time now.

But having read Robert Baer's sleeping with the devil and seeing a Saudi Friend struggle night after night to find an effective way to work for his freedom, and seeing him sometimes CRYING when I inadvertantly mention some freedom I take for granted, I decided

enough is enough

I believe that it will be several years before we can start seeing more Oil from russia, and even then I wont be jumping for joy as the "Russian Oil" will probably be coming from those failed states known as the "stans"

the same applies for Iraq, and ANWR, (even if ANWR was opened completely for drilling today, it would be several years before seeing sizeable results)

I am beginning to think that I ought to use my consumer dollars to help my friend. (either by limiting my usage of fuel, patronizing a company that pours less money to the House of Saud and its terrorist subsidiaries, or financially supporting some pro reform group)

can you guys poke some holes for me?

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I can understand sympathizing with your Saudi friend for the situation he is in but I don't understand why you feel responsible for doing anything about it. If he valued freedom he would leave Saudi Arabia by any means possible.

He alone is responsible for his own life. The best thing you could do for him is to help him understand it and encourage him to act on it.

The Saudi government is near bankrupt. Oil revenue barely keeps up with expenditures and falls behind whenever prices drop too far. As a consumer, there is nothing rational you can do to effect the price of Saudi crude. The oil market is a global one and prices are determined on the major commodity exchanges.

Once oil from any country is pumped onto a tanker it loses its "nationality". These ships will often set out to sea not even knowing where they will deliver their cargo until their owners have satisfied themselves they are getting the best possible price.

Almost everything in Saudi Arabia is done and produced by foreigners. Saudi royals and a large portion of Saudi nationals consume. That's it. Should the price of oil fall far enough, the government will not be able to provide its citizens with the welfare entitlements to which they have become accustomed. Political change may occur at that time, but it is likely to be ugly before/if it ever gets better.

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"I can understand sympathizing with your Saudi friend for the situation he is in but I don't understand why you feel responsible for doing anything about it. "
I dont feel a "responsibility" to help him. I WANT to help him. At the very least I don't want to actively contribute money to people who are actively hurting someone who is of value to me.

"He alone is responsible for his own life. The best thing you could do for him is to help him understand it and encourage him to act on it."

He understands this and is actively working to act on it. But any action that is not futile or suicidal involves inspiring people around him to identify with his struggle. And that is precisely what he has done, inspired me.

". Oil revenue barely keeps up with expenditures and falls behind whenever prices drop too far. As a consumer, there is nothing rational you can do to effect the price of Saudi crude. The oil market is a global one and prices are determined on the major commodity exchanges"

Can you explain this in a little more detail, or link to a site that does?

Also, what if my objective is not to effect the price of Saudi Crudde, but rather to reduce the amount of dollars I give to a corrupt theocracy?

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Old Geezer-- From what I have read, Socionomer is right about trying to track which companies are getting their product from which countries. You will have a hard time doing this.

I'd be very careful about doing this, however:

or financially supporting some pro reform group)

What sort of a group are you looking to get involved in? I assume that it will not be a group that tries to make your friend's situation the non-voluntary responsibility of American taxpayers? That would be a problem.

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Old Geezer-- From what I have read, Socionomer is right about trying to track which companies are getting their product from which countries. You will have a hard time doing this. AP
:) I had figured as much. I am leaning more towards an overall reduction in spending on gasoline

What sort of a group are you looking to get involved in? I assume that it will not be a group that tries to make your friend's situation the non-voluntary responsibility of American taxpayers? That would be a problem.

good assumption... any suggestions about secular reform groups?.

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link

The above link provides a social, political and economic summary of the state of affairs in Saudi Arabia.

World renowned investor/speculator Jim Rogers also gives a first hand account of his time driving through the kingdom a few years ago (one of the few tourists ever granted permission to do so) in his book "Adventure Capitalist" which is a chronical of his three year around the world tour through approximately 160 countries.

He provides a realistic "on the ground" assessment of the economic/investment prospects of each nation. His long term outlook for Saudi Arabia is grim.

If I were in your friend's situation I would try to reach out on the internet to locate like minded individuals. (ISPs in Saudi Arabia employ heavily filtered access to the net so I'm not sure what if any obstacles he would have in his way in that regard).

If I learn of any political activion groups in the U.S or over there with which he could communicate I'll let you know. The psychological benefits alone of being able to communicate with like minded individuals can make life in such places mush more bearable.

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The above link provides a social, political and economic summary of the state of affairs in Saudi Arabia

Thanks, Im wondering if you might have stumbled on something that visually depicts the middle men and middle companies etc between Saudi sand and my car

If I were in your friend's situation I would try to reach out on the internet to locate like minded individuals.

He spends an hour or so searching every week :) the closest we have found is some place in Brittain, it seems to lean too much towards maintaining Islam in the constitution.,,,,

"(ISPs in Saudi Arabia employ heavily filtered access to the net so I'm not sure what if any obstacles he would have in his way in that regard)."
The filters are a problem yes, but the literal physical detention and destruction of the dissenters is a bigger problem :P everyones afraid to talk.

"If I learn of any political activion groups in the U.S or over there with which he could communicate I'll let you know. The psychological benefits alone of being able to communicate with like minded individuals can make life in such places mush more bearable"

I whole heartedly agree, thanks for keeping an eye open

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