Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that natural resources, especially oil, lead to more conflicts than essential food supplies like wheat.
Simone Weil highlights the notion that resources critical to survival, such as food, might not incite as much international strife compared to valuable commodities like petroleum. This statement aims to provoke thought about the geopolitical tensions that arise from the competition for energy resources, emphasizing the irony of how a life-sustaining necessity can be less contentious than the pursuit of profitable resources.
In practice
During a speech on international relations, this quote can highlight the dangers of resource-based conflicts.
The afflicted are not listened to. They are like someone whose tongue has been cut out and who occasionally forgets the fact. When they move their lips no ear perceives any sound. And they themselves soon sink into impotence in the use of language, because of the certainty of not being heard.
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All normal life, Peter, consciously or otherwise, resent domination. If the domination is by an inferior, or by a supposed inferior, the resentment becomes stronger.
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.
I hear a drum in my soul's ear coming from the depth of the stars.
The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.
The mind, placed before any kind of difficulty, can find an ideal outlet in the absurd. Accommodation to the absurd readmits adults to the mysterious realm inhabited by children.
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