Burj Dubai and the elevation of petro-wealth

Burj Dubai construction, originally uploaded by Bret Oliver.

Jake in Jerusalem commenting to mentalblog.com: petro-authoritarianism:
In former times, colonial empires plundered lands they controlled and took all the gold and slaves they wanted. This made them wealthy. Armies were sent to occupied lands to take whatever taxes they could grab and bring it home. All capital went to the capitol.

In modern times, something similar is done via business activities and is, in fact, a large factor in the animosity that so many people feel towards the USA.

If "[t]he oil producing countries are in fact quite poor", perhaps we should be sending financial aid to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc???

The income of the oil producers is simply mind-boggling and challenges comprehension. That they mis-distribute that wealth and leave hundreds of millions of Arabs barefoot and uneducated is a separate matter. Similarly, their re-investment of petro-wealth outside of their own societies doesn't make the oil producers poor.

The point remains: the greatest transfer of wealth in all of history has occurred in recent decades and is ACCELERATING WILDLY now. Within a year, Arab oil producers will be able to buy up entire major US corporations with oil revenue they earn in less time that it will take their lawyers to draw up the contracts. This is a point of major concern.

The other point is also of concern. Who really controls the banks, the media, everything????