Texas and Alberta Oil Barons

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Photo credit: online pic.

Why do kids run away from home? Many reasons. One of them is independence to do what they want and not wait for the magical age of 18 that opens many doors, including driving a car and pushing open doors of a liquor store.

What about states? Why would they want to break away from a federal system of government? We won’t go into federalism because the school system taught you about it but basically, the reason is independence. States want to break away to do as they please and not listen to ‘parents’ that live in either Washington D.C. or Ottawa, in Canada’s case.

- Texas, the second biggest state in the U.S.

- Alberta, one the ten Canadian provinces, the fourth largest.

What does these two have in common? Barrels and barrels of crude oil. They also share a desire not to be bound by decisions of their federal governments in Washington D.C. or Ottawa. Why? Because they think oil will last forever. They don’t want to break away completely and create a Country Texas and Country Alberta. They want to pick and choose, and natural resources (oil) is top of the list. Natural resources in Canada belong to the people, and is controlled by the federal government in Ottawa. Alberta feels that because it is rich, it should control its own natural resources, education, health and pensions.

The problem is that a drastic change in how a country is governed cannot be based on natural resources, because they will dry up one day. There are coal mines and gold mines full of ghosts because they were exploited to death. Health issues and heavy lobbying killed coal mines. Concern for the environment has led to the creation of electric cars that don’t need oil. Texas and Alberta have passed Sovereignty Acts because of oil arrogance. They are only looking at what is before their toes, and not what is at the end of their arms. The future.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

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