Wayne F. Perg, Ph.D.
The arms of Islamic Terrorism are the people who believe that they have been grievously wronged, so wronged that they feel justified in blowing themselves up along with innocent others in an attempt to right this wrong.
It is not possible to eliminate this terrorism simply by killing those who perceive themselves to have been wronged. By itself, this killing will simply increase the number of people who believe themselves to have been wronged, thus increasing the terrorism, not decreasing it.
The state of Israel is currently experiencing this result of violence begetting more violence. The more terrorist “leaders” that they assassinate, the more people step forward to volunteer as suicide bombers.
To disarm Islamic Terrorism we must listen to the people who are, or will become, its arms, the people who perceive themselves to have been wronged by the U.S. In a Frontline program produced for PBS by Bill Moyers, these people spoke of the wrongs that the U.S. has perpetrated upon them, wrongs that Osama Bin Laden has used to recruit his arms against the U.S.
Two major wrongs stand out: 1) the stationing of U.S. troops in the Holy Land of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia); and, 2) our support of a Saudi government that they perceive to be corrupt, incompetent, and wasting the oil wealth of the country.
We are creating these “wrongs” as a result of our efforts to protect our own self-interests by securing reliable supplies of energy.
We can right these “wrongs” and thus take a giant step toward disarming Islamic Terrorism while securing truly reliable supplies of energy, protecting our environment, and stimulating economic growth. All of these goals can be accomplished by committing to a massive investment in the infrastructure needed to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.
My fellow economists will say that the “cost” is too high. However, their cost estimates are based on flawed economic models.
Their models ignore the costs of depletion of fossil fuels. As a result, our current tax system actually subsidizes the using up of fossil fuels by granting tax credits (depletion allowances) for using them up!
In addition, their models are based on an incorrect assumption about how economic activity creates satisfaction and happiness, which in turn results in an incorrect methodology for measuring costs and gains.
I create true human and economic satisfaction not by consuming ever more, but rather by working together with others to create things and services, sharing them with others and appreciating them. The object of economic activity is not to “get more for less,” it is to “do more with less.”
When we apply the correct object of economic activity to a massive investment in renewable energy sources, we will see this investment not as a cost, but rather as a gain that will produce satisfying jobs and economic growth while protecting our priceless environment. And we can at the same time take a major step toward disarming Islamic Terrorism, a true win-win.