History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 17

History - Essay Example n the widening of the gap between the haves and the have-nots, which in turn results to an increase in levels of crime in the form of drug trafficking and abuse, and theft and burglary among other criminal activities. Politically, oil affects society as the ruling elite strive to acquire and sustain control of oil wells or the oil business, and make political decisions in such a way that the supply of oil would not be affected negatively. This essay reviews the role of oil in determining the social, political and economic history of the United States over the years since the 1970s to the present. In 1973, the United States government decided to supply the Israeli military with artillery and other war requirements during the Yom Kippur war. This stirred a response by the Arab country members of the OPEC who withdrew from the organisation that was the primary oil producer at the time (Pelletià ¨re 140). The United States took the blame for disrupting oil supply and creating the possibility of high prices of oil and a possible recession, which resulted in tensed relationship with other countries. These countries included some European countries and Japan, all of whom took measures that could have cut ties with the United States. Moreover, Regan lost the presidency to Bush owing to his poor policies when the country needed him, especially by opting to commit resources to fight communism instead of fighting poverty back home. This shortage of oil had an economic role in the stock market crash of 1973 to 1974, which resulted in loss of investments in the stock market. When the Arab countries realised the impact that oil shortage had on the world, they decided to practise price control measures, which resulted in a sustained increases of prices in the United States over the years. This resulted in an increasing price of goods and services, and resulted to deterioration of living standards in the United States, which mostly affected the poor and minorities with the