December 16, 2002
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The blustering of the government in its continual war on terrorism as
echoed by its subservient media has overshadowed what I consider the major
story of the year -- the growing opposition by people all over the world to
the policies of the US.
The dramatic reaction of the people of Venezuela to the strikes and coup that attempted to oust Hugo Chavez provided a fitting metaphor for that phenomenon. Since WWII the US has pursued a disastrous foreign policy that frequently backfired as evidenced by the overthrow of US-supported puppets like Batista, the Shah, Samoza, Marcos, Suharto, etc. People who suffered from those policies in many of the African, Asian and Latin American countries have been hostile to the US ever since. The military option that Washington relied on to control or maintain a corrupt foreign government did not correct the abominable political conditions that had caused unrest. This year dissatisfaction with US policies spread all over the globe. Anti-war protest rallies drew huge turnouts, and surveys reporting majorities opposing US war policies were taking place in countries considered long time friends and close allies of the US -- Western Europe and Japan. In the Middle East, puppets aware of the hostility of their people to the US are treading ever so lightly to satisfy Washington. If they offend their subjects they will be ex-puppets. South American as well as other nations have suffered by adopting the US touted globalization policies. Argentina, a once prosperous well-advanced country that won the praise of US economists for adopting so well to globalization, is now a basket case. Its government and those of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and other countries are abandoning the policies that have been destroying their economies and are actively pursuing change in disregard of the US. In the US as well, the anti-war movement as evidenced by protests in ever-increasing numbers in cities all over the country is growing at a faster pace than during the Vietnam period. The PR campaigns that had long deluded so many have lost their potency; the actual character of the US has become apparent. · · · · · ·
Philip Greenspan's bio is concise and right to the point: 76 years old, married 50 years, 2 children, 3 grandchildren. Veteran World War II Army of the U.S. Graduate Brooklyn Law School, member of the NY bar. Private law practice, followed by employments in the motion picture industry -- distribution and exhibition, and data processing industry -- retailing and stock market; retired 6 years. Do you wish to share your opinion? We invite your comments. E-mail the Editor. Please include your full name, address and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Please, feel free to insert a link to this article on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting the first paragraph or providing a summary. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge or repost this work on the Web without the expressed written authorization of Swans. This material is copyrighted, © Philip Greenspan 2002. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. |
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