[thechat] Why?

Martin martin at easyweb.co.uk
Thu Jun 5 08:43:47 CDT 2003


In case anyone else is still reading, trying to bring this back to brevity
and greater civility.

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Chris Marsh wrote:

[*much* snippage]

> Yes. Unfortunately yes. But in this respect there is no fundamental
> difference between nations, only a difference in their size and power.

Indeed. Small, weak nations would *love* to go round the nation beating up
everyone else economically and militarily for the profit of their native
paymasters.

> The mistake is to think of things in terms of the good guys and the bad
> guys. All conflict is caused by two (or more) factions who *both*
> consider that they are the good guys. It's not like the movies, where
> Ming the Merciless decides to do something evil for the sake of
> evilness. *Everyone* thinks that they are doing "the right thing".

Generally, that's the case. But 'the right thing' is an interestingly
variable concept when you're talking about powerful nations. Increasingly,
'right' is congrent with 'profitable' (just as true now as it was in the
days of gunboat diplomacy 1st time round).

Generalised example: If the G8-run (actually US dominated, but we'll
leave that aside rn) IMF ordered your country to sell off your monopoly
services (eg water, power, paid for by local public money) to foreign
companies for a song, without restriction on the monopoly power that the
buyer may have on prices, and then demanded that your government meet
local protests about 1000%+ price increases with 'political resolve'
(involving shooting protestors), would the IMF sponsor nations be able to
claim that they were doing 'the right thing'?

As said above, small nations would probably do the same if they had the
chance (the struggle of class against class is a what struggle?). But
beyond the "You bastards are doing this to us" antipathy, I think a
*major* cause of hatred of the West is the hypocritical 'right thing'
preaching that goes along with it. This is the 'all nations should have
democracy, but only if it's after our model, and elects the leader we
approve of' attitude.


Cheers
Martin

-- 
"Names, once they are in common use, quickly
 become mere sounds, their etymology being
 buried, like so many of the earth's marvels,
 beneath the dust of habit." - Salman Rushdie


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