The Resource Wars: A Feud of Futility

August 20th, 2036:
An Excerpt from the novel: "The Resource Wars: A Feud of Futility"
Chapter: "The Early Wars - Fighting Over Bones"
By: Wieland Timotheus
In 2014, due to the rapid industrialization and widening of the middle-class in China, oil consumption was at an all-time high. Even though many variations of the electric car were now hitting the markets across Europe and North America, it was a status symbol in China to have a gas guzzling metal beast. A fad that was not unsimilar to what was seen in the 1980's and 1990's in urban America, though ironically aided by China's failed anti-car laws. Due to millions of new cars being let on the road, and with a global turn against nuclear power plants, it became apparent to analysts that the global oil reserves were not going to last. Even with the discovery of large quantities in Australia and the North Sea, tappable for the first time in history, humanity was still consuming fossil fuels at a rate that was quickly going to throw us into a crisis on a level not before seen.
You cannot blame China's middle class for the escalation in conflicts between nations. The truth was that many industries simply did not want to pay the hundreds of millions, or even billions, to switch to green energy. Mining companies in British Columbia and Russia continued to use gigantic gas fueled drills and delving equipment, some of them needing fuel carted in by the truck load on a daily basis. Increased trade with South East Asian and African countries meant that tankers and container ships trundled across the ocean in huge frequencies, as the demand for more and better goods (without that "made in China" stamp) became voracious. 
While the first military strike of the Resource Wars happened in Libya, the true economic wars had started years beforehand. The idea of major power countries going to war with each other had been thought by many as part of history, as economic and debt based ties meant that each nation was tied to each other. China held much of the US's debt, for example. If open hostilities began and if the US then defaulted on those loans, the Chinese economy would collapse overnight. Yet, everywhere you looked tariffs and restrictions on goods began to pop up. One of the first of these to gain public notoriety was a sporting goods tariff imposed by Canada on the US, in response to the US wanting to charge bargain seeking Canadians crossing the border in the face of the weakening dollar.
It wasn't long before many European countries began to impose such tariffs on goods they felt were being imported at too high a price. Fossil Fuels would eventually fall into this category, but at the beginning of the war it was mostly textile and commercial electronics, with the new surge in American exports being faced by rising costs in every market. 
As 2014 faded into 2015, every developed nation began a campaign warning their citizens on the dangers of extreme energy and gas usage. It should be noted that, despite all these public warnings, the oil industry lobbyists remained strong in Washington and did everything they could to make sure Americans should feel pride in buying Detroit made, gas-fueled cars. 
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that many of those lobbyists later ended up in prison.
When North Korea attacked Libya for their natural oil reserves, to say it caused a domino effect would be to vastly understate the issue. It was the moment when leaders around the world realized conflict was more than likely inevitable. Even the United States refused to get involved in the conflict in Libya, instead pulling much of the military abroad back home to conserve funding. A chasm was opening wide under the world and even though scientific advances abounded and new wonders came into being, behind hidden doors frantic meetings saw the clock tick ever closer.
It was a very long time before the general public of the first world nations were told of just how dire the situation really was. Once it finally clicked, governments began fearing their own populace. This was echoed in the post Resource Wars era when the majority of first world governments were duly informed by their people that militarization had reached its end. Governments were just a few people in positions of power and they could never stand against millions whose voices were more-easily raised in dissent thanks to technological advancement. 
The shutdown of the American government in 2013, which lasted nearly three months and caused huge economic stress across the world, was the lynchpin which ended much of the voting person's power. But, in 2015, that ceased to matter. Governments slowly began to draw each other into conflicts over land and resources, refusing to look at diplomatic measures or listen to their own people. Many draw similarities to the rise of conflict leading up to World War One: There was simply too many people and too much power in too few people's hands. The Resource Wars were inevitable.
Category:Resource Wars
Category:2014
Category:China
Category:British Columbia
Category:Russia
Category:Libya
Category:2015
Category:Detroit
Category:North Korea
Category:United States
Category:2013