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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: quehubo who wrote (89775)	4/3/2003 9:04:17 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Respond to of 281500

> Again ass backwards Sun Tzu. <g> I knew somebody would say that, but I don't think so. > We are not forcing our culture on them, we cannot make people watch Baywatch, drink Coke or wear Levi's. Really? Whys is that? Because we are not holding a gun to their heads and telling them to drink coca cola or be shot? Now that would be a very expensive way to sell cola wouldn't it? There is a massive advertising, organizational behavior scientists, industrial psychologists, and slew of other overpaid gurus who disagree with you. And when all of the above fails, there is good old pentagon to the rescue. Here is a little something to illustrate the point. I heard this story long ago when Iranians were in the streets calling America the great Satan. It may surprise you that the reason I was told this story was that I was taking the position you are taking now. Here's the story: One day the Devil went to a saint and said he is getting a bum wrap. To prove his point Devil asked the saint to follow him for a few hours. As they got to busy intersection at the local market Devil bought some honey. Ate it by hand. And wiped his hands clean to wall at the corner. He looked at the saint and asked, "now I haven't done anything wrong, have I". A little later flies came and got stock to the honey on the wall. A couple of lizards came to eat the lizards. The grocer's cat came for the lizards. And the butchers dog chased after the cat. Which led to a fight between the grocer and the butcher, during which one stabbed the other. Happy with the course of events, Devil left claiming he had nothing to do with it. Now you may think this is phony story. But it is closer to the truth than you think, especially when it comes to opening markets. Most Asian cultures sit on the floor (often there are very short seats or pillows there). All you have to do is to convince them to wear jeans or suites. In doing so you have come a great distance towards selling them dining tables and chairs. The changes are not just cosmetic. Aside from putting many of the local industries out of business, many of the simple life style changes lead to massive social changes. These changes are not always welcomed. But we force the trades at all costs, even war. See my much earlier note on colonialism the Viking way. One of the earliest examples of this is in our dealings with Japan. In 1853, arrival of US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his 'black ships' started a profound change in Japanese society. He came demanding trade and was soon followed by British and other westerners. Some years later and after a show of force in 1864, the Tokugawa Shogunate was losing the support of the daimyo (barons). They were unhappy about the foreign intrusions and wanted to expel all foreigners by force. The Shogunate surrendered power to the emperor Meiji in 1867 and subsequent rebellions were quashed. The reason you do not hear about such things as often anymore, is that (a) most governments know what will happen to them if they disagree. (b) trade disputes hardly grab public's attention (unless they are escalated to the extreme). And (c) the threats are often more subtle (think along the lines of if you don't want to see a strong Kurdish regime next to you let us use your military bases or face potential civil unrest for years to come). Or as is more often, we will withdraw our support in international bodies for you. Or we will retaliate by imposing tariffs on your goods. Now I am not saying that we are wrong in every instance we press others in trade matters. I am saying also use this method to reshape the world. It is imperialism the Viking way. Sun Tzu PS I am actually pro-trade and pro-free trade at that. Don't construe my remarks to the contrary.