Self-reliance

A lot of people are worried about terrorism these days. No wonder. When there seems to be an act of terrorism about every six months or so, it gives you room for pause. Of course, the actions of terrorists in some foreign country, where we chauvinistic Americans don't expect safety from terrorism, don't bother us nearly as much as those acts which have occurred on home turf. That is why the acts of 9-11 are so important to us.

Bombs and firearms, however, are few and far between on American soil. At least from those we identify as terrorists. Our culture is full of bombs and firearms. Even our national anthem refers to "bombs bursting in air." The presence of bombs, bullets and firearms are as natural here as individualism and the preciousness of our freedoms.

However, consider this. Before 9-11, what was the price of gas? Yesterday, the price of oil, per barrel, hit an all-time high. Since the acts of 9-11, the price of gasoline at the pump has continued to increase. I saw a story on the news this morning which showed gasoline prices in a California station at above $4.25 per gallon.

And no wonder. We don't supply our own fuel these days, with the exception of the corn we grow, which is now so expensive because of its use for the production of ethanol. But the days when our fuel was pumped and refined in Texas and Louisiana and California and other places seems to have gone by the wayside.

And now where do we get our oil? Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, South America. Can you find a nation from which we buy our fuel which doesn't have a political problem with us? Are we reaping the harvest from our inability to produce for ourselves and our dependence on countries who dislike us? Is the end result of our actions in the Middle East and Europe the squeezing of our fuel and the subsequent squeezing of our economy? Are we suffering from economic terrorism?

The cost of groceries is dependent in so many ways on the availability and cost of fuel. Fuel for production. Fuel for shipping. Fuel for selling. Fuel for picking up and taking home. Fuel for cooking. Fuel for griping about the high cost of fuel.

We need to work on alternative sources. We need to work on conservation. If we are in a 'battle' with the Middle East for fuel, then we need to act like it and conserve our resources, just like we did in World War II. We need to work on our own production. Just like we did in World War II. We need to work on our ability to exist and thrive without dependence on those other countries that have a problem with us.

Russia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Trade builds cooperation. That is the hope and the goal. But independence is more than just words on a parchment from July 4, 1776. It was more complicated for our forefathers in 1776. They would have to fight two wars to secure there independence. It is more complicated now, as well.