Autarky: Terrible at Political Scale, But Great as Individual Self-Defense |
CounterPunch Exclusives
CounterPunch Exclusives
Autarky: Terrible at Political Scale, But Great as Individual Self-Defense
Photo by Shari Sirotnak
Since everyone seems to have a sticker shock story lately: I rolled one of my motorcycles up to a gas pump yesterday and, for the first time ever, spent more than $5 to fill the tank (small bike, small tank — I paid $5.67 for 1.1 gallons of premium).
The obvious reason is, well, obvious.
Since the US war on Iran began, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed. It’s the flip side of the Otto T. Mallery paraphrase: “When goods don’t cross borders, armies will.” In this case, the engagement of armies — attacks on energy facilities, the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz — is hitting the global, intertwined “supply side” of oil and its associated products rather than vice versa. Same concept, different application.
US government policy in recent years has tended toward aspirations to autarky — “economic independence” at a national level. You’ve heard the slogans. “America First!” “Buy American!” “Energy independence!”
At the level of a society or national government, autarky is a stump-stupid idea.........