Excrement of the Devil
A sad, enduring truth is hidden in the 1970s saying of OPEC co-founder Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo:
"Ten years from now, 20 years from now, you will see, oil will bring us."
WHich is why he had his own name for the black gold.
And it's strange that he's been proven right, Venezuela has gone from the richest country on the continent, with an educate dpopulace and a democracy, to a country poorer, less stable, and less certain of its future. Is oil to blame?
I'd say yes. When the earth spits up gold, folks don't focus on making themselve better, the pie bigger, the country stronger. They squabble over the gold. And become very adept at that, rather than creating value.
