OT: World Trade crash...

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Wed Sep 12 12:25:16 2001

One problem is that, like the French, the U.S. is always sticking its fingers
where they don't belong. It's one thing for them to offer to help someone, but
to offer that and then say, "We'll help you do it OUR way, but otherwise, to
hell with you ..." creates ill will. Likewise, when our missionaries go to
countries where there's an established religion, and, in some cases, a STATE
religion, and then try to sell their own bill of goods, it doesn't make folks
like to accept U.S. aid.

If our way of doing things were so much better than that of other cultures, we
wouldn't have to give it the hard sell. People would flock to us to find out
how we do it. That's not happening. True, Mexicans are coming here to get our
dollars, and, true, their president wants us to let them, so they can ship the
dollars back to Mexico where they can use 'em without the strings attached that
come with government aid.

I've only talked to a very few Palestinians, but I can tell you for sure that
they agree on one thing. That's that the land they once called Palestine was
stolen from them by the winners after WW-II and simply given to a competing
cultural group, who then began to bully and exploit them. Now, I'm not sure
what really happened, but it's clear that this group sees things that way.

The U.S. had interests to defend in the middle east during the "cold war" and
it's likely the U.S. oil interests see that need as ongoing. With Dubya's
orientation, it's likely he sees things that way too.

The recent Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and their handling of the
"peace process" does seem, to me at least, more reminiscent of the way the Nazis
went about treating conquered people than the way one would hope a purportedly
civilized group would treat another, even a competing one. If we treated the
illegal Mexican/Latin immigrants the way the Israelis treat the Palestinians,
there would be a cry of outrage from the farthest reaches of the civilized
world. Why that doesn't happen with respect to the Israelis is a mystery.

The constant U.S. meddling in the internal affairs of other nations, regardless
of how warranted by the values of our own culture, is an irritant to other
nations, and, frankly, should stop. I think the enormous amounts of foreign aid
given to Israel, which is one of our most predatory and unethical adversaries in
the high-tech industry, should stop too, until they begin to embrace the same
values that we insist other recipients of U.S. foreign aid are forced, by
purse-string, to accept.

Until U.S. policies take on a more balanced proportion, the smaller nations of
the world will have to deal with the U.S. as one might when wrestling with a
gorilla . . . Set his nuts on fire . . . It's not nice, but, from their
prespective, it's necessary.

Now, none of this justifies the barbaric acts of the probably small group that
hijacked those airliners and subsequently used them as weapons of terror, but it
might explain, just a little bit, the things we saw on the tube in the form of
those street celebrations in Palestine and elsewhere. Nobody likes a bully that
goes around telling folks, "No, no, no ... you're doing it wrong. What you ought
to do is ..."

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Quebbeman" <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 10:32 AM
Subject: RE: OT: World Trade crash...


> > > Like I said, this is a reckoning.
> > >
> > It is only a reckoning in the eyes of a select few -- such
> > as those firing guns in the air in celebration of the many
> > dead. There is no way that the taking of thousands of
> > "innocent" lives balances out anything. Just as nothing
> > will be resolved when we inevitably do the same in
> > retaliation.
>
> I think the point he was trying to make regarding reckoning
> is that America's foreign policy doesn't take into account
> (or does a poor job of doing so) the reactions of various
> peoples who think of themselves as disaffected.
>
> So, our nation throws it weight around long enough, and
> eventually, push comes to shove. I had expected something
> like this for a long time; the recent economic good-times
> had lulled me into a false sense of security (things are
> great all over, no?)...
>
> It's not about whether they are justfied (in reality) or not,
> but how they feel about their situation. They feel put-upon,
> and they hold us partly (w/r/t Palestinians) or totally (Iraq)
> to blame.
>
> Should we therefore have a foreign policy that is doomed to
> forever "walk on eggshells"? No; but status quo clearly isn't
> working.
>
> -dq
>
>
Received on Wed Sep 12 2001 - 12:25:16 BST