Until the decade of the 1980s, representatives of
former colonies and other Third World countries gave speeches at the United
Nations in which they “whined” about the bad treatment their countries had
suffered at the hands of the known colonial powers and other “countries of the
North”.
The people said this was the reason why they were
having a hard time developing their economies. They asserted that they were
preordained to fail, and there wasn't much they could do about it. But instead
of the rich countries helping them get on their feet, what they saw were rich
countries of the North do all that they can to rob them of their sovereignty so
as to continue exploiting them economically and culturally.
In response to those claims, the print pundits and
the talking heads of the electronic media in America came out the woodwork and
loudly wished that someone would invent a serum that can cure those Third World
people of the whining disease that's afflicting them. They wanted to see the
underdeveloped countries get on with the business of doing something positive
for themselves, thus improve the lives of their people instead of relying on
others to bail them every time they got into trouble.
What no one was commenting on at the time,
however, was the whining of the Jews. They were not complaining about the
colonial powers or the countries of the North; they were complaining about
everyone in the world without discrimination or exception. They accused the
entire human race of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments, and lamented they were
treated badly simply because they were Jews. They also accused everyone alive
of plotting to cleanse their corner of the earth of its Jewish population.
And while the Jews adhered to that line of
thought, they chastised the people of the Third World for complaining about
being treated badly. It was as if the Jews were saying, the people of the Third
World were infringing on a Jewish monopoly: the right to whine, to complain and
to ask for compensation.
Anyone, at that time, that read excerpts from a
speech given at the UN not knowing who gave it, could tell whether it was given
by a Third World country or a rich Northern country. That's because each group
had a lexicon of its own, and a viewpoint that ran contrary to the other.
Fast forward to our time, and you'll discover that
if you read excerpts from a speech given at the UN not knowing who gave it, you
can tell whether it was given by a developing country or one that's considered
wealthy. But here is the surprise: you'll discover that there has been a
reversal from the past.
It is that the rich countries –– especially the
United States of America –– are the ones whining about the loss of opportunity
for their young and of sovereignty, at a time when the poor countries are
exhibiting optimism and the assertiveness of a people who savor their
independence. Whereas the American struggle to fight against what it says are
unfair practices, is done in the open and seen by the public; the struggle for
independence is not as visible. But that struggle is there, and can be detected
in the latest Clifford May column.
That column came under the title: “Americans'
right to self rule,” published on September 25, 2018 in The Washington Times.
Here is what the writer says early on in the article:
“The Trump administration has had one consistent
and overriding foreign policy theme: Defending American sovereignty … Some
consider it imperative that the United States remain a political community
without a political superior, and that Americans rule themselves”.
To achieve that independence, America is giving up
its old preference for generating the collegial cohesion by which it used to
lead the world. Time after time, America pushed forward in search of a
consensus –– that distinct American character which made it the superpower that
it was throughout most of the Twentieth Century.
Since it is impossible to lead the world without
generating cohesion and building consensus, it is not clear if America is
giving up on its leadership of the world, or if it has a secret plan to
continue leading by a heretofore unknown magic formula based on bilateral
relations.