While the number of people decreases who condone Osama Bin Laden's destruction of the World Trade Center, increasing numbers realize, recognize and understand the rational and irrational anger behind his terrorism.

The source of this anger and terrorism is not the US's consistent, unconditional support of one party in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. The source is America's obsession with oil upon which the following questions focus:

1. Would the Bin Ladens have the money if America had not bought Arab/OPEC oil?
2. Would the Bin Ladens have the anger if America had not supported anti-democratic regimes for decades?
   • Egypt
   • Indonesia
   • Iran
   • Iraq
   • Kuwait
   • Nigeria
   • Saudi Arabia

Consider Americans who are angry about high rates of taxation, crime, insurance and unemployment. Consider Americans who are angry about delayed or derailed retirement. Consider Americans who are angry about the decay of education, safety, mediine and retirement. Consider the cause of the anger being many times worse. This is the fate of many who are not Americans.

Because of American politicians and corporations, the average American is the enemy in the eyes of many foreigners. America takes not only the natural resources but the human resources of foreign nations as we export our unemployment and inflation--monetary colonialism. We use our monopoly on the world's currency to import teachers, engineers, doctors and nannies who could benefit the country of origin. This is especially true in Arab and Islamic nations.

Innocence: Murder or Aggravated Assault

Using the above questions, those who died at the World Trade Center can be positioned on a innocence-to-guilty scale. No one who died on Sept 11 was past the scale's mid-point which has Bin Laden at the worst end of this scale. But consider two theoretical individuals:

1. An environmentalist who refused to own a car, who recycled to save resources and who was a low BTU user at home.
2. An energy-waster who bought the biggest gas-guzzler with an immigrant chauffer, who wastes more than is used, and who chills the house in summer and burns it in winter.

If you accept that oil is the modern black plague, which one of the above persons was the most infectious, causing the disease that nurtures the many-headed Hydra of terrorism?

Nothing can be done to undo WTC Sept 11. A lot can be done to prevent re-occurrences if the above questions and considerations are taken to heart in formulating energy and foreign policies.

1. If America had never imported oil, America would never have imported terrorism.
2. If America is to reduce future terrorism, part of the reduced exposure will come from reduced energy consumption.

Americans can either adjust their lifestyles to prevent terrorism or the inevitable terrorism will adjust American lifestyles. The cost of prevention in dollars, in lives and in climate is a lot less than the cost of response. As noted elsewhere--Tax Me, Please--the pump price of gasoline is merely a downpayment on a loan that has monthly costs for years to come. In addition, the total cost of WTC ($500 billion) needs to be allotted to each gallon of gas sold. The WTC costs are a hidden oil tax paid through other tax collection systems. The true cost of oil must include the tax and insurance costs of Hurricane Katrina, a CO2-enhanced hurricane. And what about he cost of increased mold and disease from global warming as well as the Alpha Trifecta.

Inflation can be understood solely as a monetary phenomenon. Or, it can be understood as a cheapening of time. This latter lends itself to covering the traditional definitions of inflation, and, more importantly, this timism definition conceptually exports and imports examples of time cheapening to better understand inflation.

1. When inflation cheapens your savings or money, it is cheapening the time you worked to own that money. In a sense, if you save the equivalent of 1000 hours of work, a 50% inflation rate reduces the time value by half, to 500 hours.
2. When one lives beyond one's means, either one is cheapening one's future time or one is cheapening other's current time. At some point, repayment is required.
   • If one cheapens one's future time, then one must live at a level below one's means to repay the over-living costs. Most paycheck-to-paycheck Americans know this as maxing the plastic till none remains.
   • If one is cheapening another time's by legal or illegal theft, it is only a matter of time before the victim of one's legal/illegal theft is brought to account through laws or terrorism.
3. When a nation lives beyond its means using its monopolistic control of money and military, it is only a matter of time before the victims retaliate. The WTC was an instance of America being punished for living beyond its means. America exports its inflation and unemployment while we create foreign problem-solving voids as we import not only oil but teachers, engineers, doctors, nannies and mothers. Americans know well the problems of a non-stable family. America is learning the problems from generating non-stable foreign economies in this global economy.

America is living beyond its means, creating an inflationary bubble that is beginning to burst, with a cataclysmic collapse into economic, social and political stability. How many more WTC's will we suffer before America cuts its energy consumption? The Oil Droughts discovery shows that we cannot increase domestic production.

A somber fact: In the 1970's, the average terrorist act was 10 or less. In the 1980's, it increased to 100 or less. In the 1990's, it was 1000 or less. The 2000's have begun with terrorism on the 10,000 or less scale.