Talking Points: Shifting Sands; A Clash of Cultures
In the book, I am trying to make several points that I wish to share with Americans. Some will misinterpret what I say as sympathizing with the enemy, approving of terrorism, and blaming America for taking a stand against those who would kill us. Nothing is further from the truth.
I hesitate to use the “walk in my moccasins” expression, but I will. I have walked the desert sands in sandals, with Arabs, Bedouins, friends. I still don’t completely understand them, but there are things I do understand and wish to share.
They are afraid of us, not of our military (and even less lately), but of our way of life--our threat to their way of life. Americans are both proud of our influence on the rest of the world, and oblivious of our impact on the rest of the world. We export our culture, our colas, our fast food, our music, and our lack of respect for traditional values—our traditional values and especially those that aren’t our traditional values.
Many politicians are coming around to what I propose in this work of fiction, written years before I heard anyone expressing the idea. The idea is that the Middle East needs to solve their problems regionally, engaging the regional members in conversations, support of peace initiatives, and building improved infrastructure for the people in the region. The “Baker Report” and others propose we engage in diplomacy with Iran and Syria—I agree. We find diplomacy somehow distasteful, recently, for some reason. We prefer making demands and threatening those countries we don’t like, but we only make things worse when we do this.
There has been a major shift in attitudes of the majority of Americans since I wrote the book, but the principal reason for writing it is as important now, as it was a few years ago. We need to understand our relationship with the Middle East, our responsibility to the world, and exercise our power responsibly. We need to respect ways that we don’t accept, and I’ll admit it’s hard to do, but it’s vital to our position, ourselves, and our security, now, more than ever before.
In the book, I introduce the main character, whom I knew when we were young. I fictionalize his adult life, and I hope he forgives me for what I did. I put him in the middle of the clash of two cultures, Western, Christian, Republican extremism, Militant American—and Middle Eastern, Islamic, Radical, Militant, Traditional, Arabic cultures, the way of many generations before him, and his roots. Saleh, the main character, travels to America to learn, returns to Saudi and is drawn into terrorism, despite his lack of support for their efforts. He makes decisions about how to resolve the conflicts, based on his experiences, as we all make our decisions in life, based on our experiences.
What I’m trying to do, is expand the experiences of my readers, through the book, instead of having to go to the Middle East and live that experience, but simply read about one man’s (fictional) life, and develop more understanding of the problem, and how to go forward, peacefully, thoughtfully, and hopefully. I make Saleh become a negotiator, a diplomat, and a positive force in the Region, to make the point that we can change; we can use our experiences to improve the world. His best diplomatic argument seems to work on both sides, as he reminds powerful world leaders that the decisions we make today will affect our children and our grandchildren.
In the book, "Castle in the Wind", Jesse makes oil from algae, which is not a new idea, but apparently impractical, or financially impractical, in today's economic climate. I remember the seventies, and the long fuel lines, and have never given up on finding alternatives for imported fuel. I was hot on ethanol in those days, but have since decided that unless you have sugar cane in abaundance like Brazil does, it isn't practical, without government subsidies. I disapprove of government susidies to make something that doesn't work, work. Diesel fuel from vegetables like rape seed (Canola oil source) and soybeans are more practical, but there is something about burning the food (that could feed hungry people) in my auto that bothers me. Jesse makes oil from algae, which isn't food (yet), and makes it work, in fiction. The main problem I see with this is the volume of water required to manufacture it, not the volume of fuel required, as in ethanol, which does, also, have a large water requirement. If we can quit requiring imported oil, we can achieve more security as a nation, in my opinion. Oil from algae might be the way to go, but in the book, the United States is one of the last countries to accept the new alternative--go figure. Will
@ 08:07 AM (15 months, 20 days ago)
“CASTLE IN THE WIND”, to be released soon, was my first book, ever. It is less controversial and political than ‘SHIFTING SANDS, A Clash of Cultures,’ is more fun, and does have a point of view.
Read the rest of this entry ... (232 words left)
@ 08:08 AM (15 months, 21 days ago)
- I met Saleh (pronounced SAH-leh) when he was nineteen, married to his wife when he was fifteen and his wife was twelve. I was initially shocked, I admit. It was so normal for him, I gradually accepted it as different, not bad, as I learned many things that were quite different from my experience. He planned to marry again, three more times, for the maximum allowable number of wives—four. I fictionalized his life in the book, but in the fictional version, he never got his four wives, maybe he did in real life; I don’t know.
- I found it fun, in the book, to threaten Iran with an American ad campaign (beamed in by satellite) to convince Iranian women to rise up and demand their equal rights in their country. It was a more effective threat than economic sanctions or military threats.
- I developed a theory of fuel prices (many years ago), which I shared in the book, that if there is a 1% shortage of fuel, prices rise by ten percent, 2% shortage results in a 20% rise in prices, etc. Equally for excess supply, 2% excess results in a 20% drop in prices. What I didn’t include, was a theory that the 2% shortage of fuel, not only results in a 20% increase in prices, but a 200% increase in drilling and exploration by the oil companies. Why is the market so overly responsive? I have no idea, but it seems to be fairly accurate. It may be the same in other commodities, I don’t know.
- It is common to theorize that there is a conspiracy to manipulate fuel prices, and I agree that there is some intentional attempt to control prices, by controlling supply, certainly by OPEC, and probably by oil companies, but they don’t seem to be very good at it. The market is too vulnerable to greed for any one entity to have a lot of control on the market. Saudi Arabia is the one country that does seem to have some significant impact, but not for any significant length of time, before the other suppliers undermine their control of fuel supply.
- There is a poor reward system, built into the system. If the oil companies quit drilling and exploring, the prices eventually go up and they make more money than they would if they had longer-range programs to keep up with supply. That point is in the book, but not well developed, I realize. I play the oil companies as spoiled, arrogant, fat cats, with little sense of world markets and political influences, which is the way I see them. Fair? I’m not sure, but it is my book, and my opinions.
- In the book, Saleh manages to achieve peace in the Middle East. It is tenuous, at best, but a peace. In real life, it is much more difficult to do than in fiction. I don’t think for a moment that it would be as easy as it was in the book, but I think the basic premise is accurate. If America quit interfering, attacking, and antagonizing the area, the area would find some equilibrium, eventually. As long as we keep poking the ant bed, it will continue to be a threat, to others and us.
- Saleh, in the book, is quite insulted that Americans see his people as ignorant desert dwellers, and as children, who need our interference and tutelage. At one time, it might have been an accurate perception of the people in the area, but not so much any more. They are quite savvy in politics, and are catching up in technology, and certainly economically. Our role in the area needs to be examined, but as long as we consider thinking, talking, and negotiating as weaknesses, it won’t happen.
