If you see fault in the cults that preach pessimistic philosophies and conclude that human beings are fundamentally evil therefore must continually fight for survival or perish, you'll see merit in the philosophies that preach, 'live and let live'.
It was the wrong
interpretation of Charles Darwin's, “Survival to the fittest,” that gave rise
to the pessimistic philosophies. In fact, Darwin did not mean to say anything
like that literally, and certainly never said that fighting among the same
species guaranteed its survival. It was people like Adolph Hitler that said war
among humans was the highest form of civilized conduct, thus went on to destroy
those he deemed were physically weak in society.
So then, what
happens when you begin your philosophical quest with the notion that human
beings are fundamentally good? What happens is that you do not undertake
activities that can be interpreted by your neighbors as aggressive. When you
have the opportunity to communicate with them, you let them know you have no
intention to interfere in their affairs because you do not view kindly anyone
interfering in yours.
Being neighbors,
however, and having a common destiny despite the cultural differences that may
keep you apart, you tell your neighbors you wish to expand on your interactions
so that you get to understand each other, even voice in a friendly way,
concerns you might have about practices you see in others; behavior that leaves
you a little unsettled at times.
Whereas this kind
of give-and-take repeats itself in real life among individuals, tribes and
nations around the globe, there are those who continually try to poison the
well by injecting their pessimistic views concerning the current state of
affairs among the nations. And they recommend to governments, taking the kind
of actions that would fulfill their prophesies.
Jed Babbin comes
close to doing just that in his latest article. It came under the title:
“Biden's first hundred days of foreign policy,” and the subtitle: “It's
impossible to be optimistic about how Biden will deal with China and North
Korea.” The article was published on January 16, 2021 in The Washington Times.
Look how Babbin
started his presentation, shown here in condensed form: “Biden is about to
begin his administration. The media will try to manufacture an [idyllic] image
for him regardless of what happens.” This being the start of a 900-word
article, I get hit with two culturally-based streams of thought concerning what
I believe I'll encounter throughout the article.
Having lived 56
years in Canada and being very much a product of the Canadian culture, I think
to myself, “do not judge this book by its cover.” However, born to Egyptian
parents who steeped me in the Egyptian culture from birth, I still respond to
the influence of that culture and think: “Judge the content of every missive by
its sender.” The two sayings being somewhat at odds with each other, I ask
myself: What shall I do with a coin that has Canada on one side and Egypt on
the other? Shall I toss it in the air, and see which side will prevail?
Lucky for me, I
don't have to do that, because I have 900 of Jed Babbin's words that tell what
I should think of his article. Here is a montage of some excerpts you'll
encounter when reading the article:
“The next 100 days
won't be all rainbows and unicorns for Mr. Biden because it will be a period of
danger and risk. Our enemies are lining up to challenge him and our allies are
eager to see how soft he will be on ally and enemy alike. New presidents are
tested by a foreign policy crisis in their first few months in office and Mr.
Biden will be no exception. Iran's regime let our hostages go rather than risk
what Ronald Reagan might do. Judging by his campaign promises, China and Russia
expect Mr. Biden to take a weak approach to them. Iran won't start a war. It
expects being relieved of the Trump sanctions that have rendered its economy a
shambles. North Korea's economy is also suffering greatly from Mr. Trump's
sanctions. Last year, its trade shrank by 80%. Kim Jong-un's only goal is
sanctions relief”.
Bizarre logic
isn't it? Jed Babbin starts by saying America's adversaries are evil, and they
will test Joe Biden by doing something naughty in the first 100 days of his
presidency. But by the time he gets to the end of his presentation, he admits
that Iran will not start a war because all it wants is sanctions relief. As to
North Korea's Kim Jong-un, Babbin says, he has only one goal; it is again
sanctions relief. And this prompts you to yell: That's what makes them evil?
Still, this is not
the only shocking thing you'll encounter in Babbin's article. Look what else he
did. Even though he said America’s adversaries will be the ones to start something,
he now claims that Iran let the hostages out because it feared that Ronald
Reagan would be the one to start something naughty. Well, you’re not shocked
because it is no more shocking than to say good people seeking sanction relief
are evil. True, but that’s not the whole story. Here is the whole story:
Between his
election in November 1980 and his inauguration in January 1981, Ronald Reagan
contacted the government of Iran and asked them what they wanted in return for
letting the hostages out on the day he'll be inaugurated, so as to add joy to
the festivities. They said they wanted shoulder-held anti-air Stinger missiles.
And Reagan said, you'll get them. Because he could not ship the missiles from
America's stockpile, Reagan had them shipped to Iran from the stockpile in
Israel.
Ever since that
time, those who wrote about this incident, have perpetuated the myth that the
Iranians were so astute, they guessed that Hollywood's actor of B movies, was
made of steel, and would annihilate them if they did not release the hostages
on the day of his inauguration. Nonsense.
Here is my friendly advice to the Americans: Stop lying to yourselves and the world, and adopt the adage that says: “Live and let live.” You got away with naughty things in the past because you were a rising power. You are no more. What happens now is that every time you lie, you show your naked ass, and people around the world feel disgusted by your behavior.