A ritual is a habit that’s practiced by people who inherit the
thing from previous generations. A small number of people might know why the
habit was started by their ancestors in the first place, but the majority would
not. Still, they go on practicing the ritual, simply because it is the thing to
do. They do not seek to learn about its origin, and do not question its
continued validity.
Most of the habits which are practiced by one culture and frowned
upon by others have to do with table manner or feeding habits. One such
practice is burping deliberately during a meal because it is considered a sign
of appreciation in some cultures, when it is considered disgusting and
grotesque in most other cultures. Other habits loved by the practitioners but
frowned upon by others, range from the attire to the decorative cosmetics that
make the wearers feel secure, but make some onlookers feel threatened.
A different class of habits considered the thing to do by its
practitioners but remains objectionable to others, concerns personal
comportment. The most threatening of all is that of boundless competitiveness.
It is one thing to be in business and do something, only to see your competitor
try to outdo you. It is another thing to be in some kind of social gathering,
and notice a guy obsessively track what you say, and then out-speak you; as
well as track every move you make, and then outmaneuver you. You think of this
behavior as a form of mindless competitiveness instilled in that individual for
a reason you cannot begin to fathom.
But would an obsession of this intensity develop in a jurisdiction
as large as a country? The answer is yes. It became evident when the Soviet
Union launched its Sputnik satellite into space, and America vowed to do better
by sending a man to the moon within the decade, and bringing him back to Earth.
It turned out, and repeatedly shown time after time, that this was not a
one-off performance on the part of the United States of America. In fact,
mindless competitiveness proved to be an American ritual that is ingrained in
the culture as any fanatic obsession can be.
You can see proof of that in the piece that came under the title:
“Cutting OPEC down to size,” an editorial that was published on March 13, 2019
in the Washington Times. This is a bizarre piece of nonsense that has gone well
beyond the mainstay of American competitiveness as it used to prevail in the
decades of the 1950s and 1960s. What you see in this editorial, is a kind of
combativeness that is not warranted by the existing circumstances. The
worrisome reality is that for some years now, most expressions of defiance
uttered in America have shown signs of combativeness, and have carried a
threatening message.
When you probe deep into this new phenomenon, you find it to be a
ritual that the Americans inherited in the early 1970s. As expected, those who
practice the ritual today, do not know why they behave the way they do; they
only know it is the thing to do and so they do it. In fact, the editors of the
Washington Times set the stage for you to learn something about them … but
ironically, something that escapes them totally.
Look at their opening sentence: “Since 1973 the US economy has
been at the mercy of tightly held oil producers masquerading as Middle Eastern
sovereign states.” These are both the complaint and the insult that support the
vow to cut OPEC down to size, seen in the title of the piece. But where did the
content of that sentence originate?
It all began when the Egyptians decided it was time to kick the
Israelis out of the Sinai, they had occupied for six years. During the battle
that ensued, the Israelis cried uncle, and Uncle Sam responded by attacking the
Egyptian forces to slow them and give the Israelis time to withdraw in an
orderly manner. The trouble is that the American fleet in the Middle East was
powered by the oil that's produced by Egypt's Arab allies, and given cheaply to
the Americans. That's why the Arabs told the Americans they will no longer act
as a charitable organization and subsidize their economy by giving them oil at
cost. From now on, the Americans will have to pay the price of replacement as
dictated by the natural forces of the marketplace.
The Americans, who are free traders, understood and accepted that
move, and resigned themselves to it. But not so the Jews who were beginning to
monopolize the flow of information in America. They launched a campaign of
misinformation aimed at inciting America's legislators to make the moves that
would poison the relationship between the United States and the entire Arab and
Muslim worlds.
Taking advantage of the spirit of competitiveness that’s powering
America's culture, and relying on it to deliver for them, the Jews said that the
Arabs were holding the gun to America's head, and that they blackmailed America
into ending its support for Israel. The Jews added that were this to happen, it
will be a defeat not for Israel but for America that needs Israel more than
Israel needs America.
To shield itself against the mythical gun held to its head,
America created a Strategic Reserves of about a billion barrels of oil, and
filled it with oil from guess where. Yes, it was from the Arab dominated OPEC.
What is most deliciously ironic in all of this, is that the
moments when the Strategic Reserve was called upon to bail America at times of
crises, happened not because OPEC did something to punish America, but because
the oil traders in New York, Chicago and elsewhere created the conditions that
messed up the oil market.
It is that after reconciliation, the government of the United
States and those of OPEC had decided to work together to stabilize the price of
oil and keep the world economy humming, thus benefit everybody. Well, that was everybody
except the commodity traders who get rich by the chaos they create. And please
note that many of these traders are Jewish.
But now that a new paradigm is establishing itself in America, and
the Jewish causes are crumbling the way that a cookie crumbles, the natural
instinct of Jewish editors in the print and electronic media, is to scrape the
bottom of the barrel looking for sharp objects they can use to poke the
American legislators in the rib, and incite the dogs of war among them to
attack someone … anyone at all … be it the Arabs, the Muslims, the Asians, the
Latin Americans or the Africans.