ON LEADERS AND SANE LEADERSHIP ......

Striking a fair balance between genuine national security and expansionism, hegemony, neocolonialism and supremacy, as well as respecting the rights and dignities of others, ought to be carefully thought and considered by any person claiming to be a leader of any state or entity.

Clearly times of terror and chaos are a clear danger to democracies, and to regional and international stability, but leaders all through times had the strong tendencies to go overboard in their determination to enforce their own dreams and visions of hegemony and grandiose schemes . Even if often camouflaged under big words of protecting national security and/or the prosperity of their people.

Always at whatever the cost to others and even their own people . Resulting more often than not , in curtailing and terminating freedoms and instituting semi and quasi fascist regimes in their own sides. When leaders lose their heads, and start envisioning bigger than realistic dreams, ordinary people, as well as intelligentsia and the media, must keep their clear minds and their commonsense , must be able to perceive and express what is ridiculous, dangerous or even comical in a situation or character.

All have a clear duty , to make sure others see and feel the truth of the matter , to clarify the discrepancies between appearances and realities, between the evil that's meant, and what is nicely and eloquently expressed.

Leaders who engage in evil, generally to promote their fortunes or powers at the expense of others, or to prove their superiority and vain, only do so because they want to and because they can, and not as it's always claimed that they were pushed or cornered, or even in defense of their countries and people.

To use recent America as an example of leadership gone astray, leadership that only very few likewise adventurer leaders around the world have welcomed. "The end of history" never came nor materialized as the world order of Mr. Bush the father hardly lasted a half decade. The promised democracy of Mr Bush the son and his brilliant VP Cheney and their advisers, their attempts to end tyranny throughout the world ended with disastrous results for the U.S and the world, from Libya to Iraq and Syria all the way to Afghanistan, and the drive is still on .

I'm going to repeat the words of Jonathan Freedland, from a recent article of his, "Until a year ago, the US was setting a lead of a very different sort, America's first black president seemed about to make way for the first woman president, (both fairly smart and cultured ), italics mine. Once again the US was offering an example to the world, affording a glimpse of what 21st century democracy might look like, instead, Trump has provided a glimpse into gloomier future, one of lies, ethnic divisions, authoritarianism, and the ever looming prospect of war. It's fair to say that most within and outside the US are counting the days, like a prisoner scratching marks onto the wall".

Waiting for Trump to be gone, so that the world might feel steadier and safer again. Recently the favorability rating of the US had fallen by a third, only Russia's top leadership , Israeli neocons and neocolonialists and lately possibly Saudi Arabia ruling King and son, still look approvingly to Mr. Trump and his oligarchic leadership . 

In fact , practically all aggressive and brutal leaders share one thing, they all claim to know what they know or think they know, and they all seal themselves off against any evidence or opinions that might or could change or challenge their basic obstinacy and beliefs . I for one , strongly believe, that ruling in general should not be a single job for any one person anymore in our times , it has to become a collective democratic sharing office .

My as always many thanks for your time ...                         

SAVE LEBANON FROM ITS OWN POLITICIANS .....

This article was written couple weeks ago, while on a private visit to Lebanon, since, some major political/ economical events took place, and are still taking Lebanese and regional  political classes by surprise and puzzlement, fearing a grave war or at least some devastating economical repercussions to the Saudi threats. But Lebanon was always unkind to its own fate , and its politicians classically and more so presently were always and continue to be as careless and selfish, with various loyalties to variable foreign powers, rather than Lebanese interests .

While Lebanon may avoid a crash, or keep on creeping toward an uncertain future, an opaque one at best, politicians and policy makers, war lords and militia leaders, will continue their policies of temporary measures, and personal excessive spending and dept refinancing. Accompanied of course with and equally excessive rate of corruption all through the government hierarchy from the very top to the bottom .

All still hoping and betting on a surely fading Arab and international interest in financing some of Lebanon's needs or even just coming to its rescue when in deep crisis. Lebanon indeed appears to be headed toward some social and existential extreme difficulty, but the most inflicting to its survival would be an economic and monetary collapse and bankruptcy. Maybe that's exactly what some internal and external powers want and look for, for a permanent change of the country's geography and mapping.The past history of attracting quick financial aid and ample capital, whether Arab or international  to address various crisis, is surely coming to an end .

Relying on temporary tactics, like the appreciation of the Euro bonds market, or a surge in the gold prices, have been so far helpful and favorable to the Lebanese currency stability and the central bank. But the strategic economic challenges are as grave and persistent, and more so with a looming Saudi and Arab monetary boycott .

Yet the political elite and the power princes , do not seem willing to actually reform the system or their visions of the country, though it is serving their own interests in clear and obvious ways, they are all satisfied buying time, through little temporary economical tactical gimmicks, and profiting and making use of some regional crisis, like the Syrian refugee exodus, or an eventual Syrian reconstruction opportunity, or playing some divides like the Saudi/Iranian/Israeli/American differences of political views and interests .

While Lebanon may avoid a total crash as a result of this reliance on temporary measures, and by eventually exploring and sharing some of its natural gases and oil reserves in the Mediterranean sea, equitably over all its citizenry. One thing remains a constant, the country's policy makers and war lords are morally and intellectually bankrupt, no sincere interest what so ever in any social development, nor saving the economic system, or getting out of a feudal religious sectarian mentality and application.

All my thanks as always for your continuing persistence in reading the blog .                                            

BADLY WRONG BACK THEN ...TERRIBLY WRONG TODAY ...

Yesterday the 2 of Oct. 2017, coincided with the Balfour declaration's centenary , when colonial Britain offered Palestine to a third foreign party, in order to attract Jewish people from across the world, and probably get rid of some of its own Jews in Britain, They were invited to create a "Jewish home-land" on Palestinian lands. applying the saying ;"He who doesn't own, gave to who is unwarranted."

Hannah Arendt, in her famous book ,"Eichmann in Jerusalem", tackled the hardly ever mentioned problem, of Jewish leadership collaboration in facilitating the prosecuting and bringing many Jews to death camps, the fact that she being one of very few who recognized and criticized the Jewish leadership and counsels, was shocking to many Jewish thinkers and observers, as she wrote ; "Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders, and this leadership, almost without exception, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis."

She couldn't accept this behavior or hush it in the name of  the greater tragedy and misfortune of the general Jewish community at the hands of the Nazi regime. Insisting on the darkness of such behavior of the Jewish own leadership, she says ;" To a Jew , this role of the Jewish leaders in the destruction of their own people is undoubtedly the darkest chapter of the whole dark story."

Arendt's remarks about the Jewish leaders councils, managed only to raise the most furious reactions among Jewish intelligentsia and media commentators, "Self hating Jewess" the NewYorker magazine's  headlines screamed, in yet another commentary " In place of the Jew as virtuous martyr, she gives us, the Jew as accomplice in evil." And in another "In place of the confrontation between  guilt and innocence, she gives us the collaboration of criminal and victim." She was often accused of being malicious, impertinent and frivolous .Though most of the book later, was subsided , forgotten and forgiven .

Many books or publications, in our times, criticizing any aspect of Israeli, Zionist, or even Jewish political or criminal acts, had the same harsh fate and criticism and absolute condemnation. Today Israeli behavior toward the whole issue of occupation, the treatment of the under occupation , apartheid, the hegemony  and the theft of land and wealth, and the legal status of Israel, the messing up of all their neighbors in the occupied territories or neighboring sovereign countries, follows the same pattern, of harsh shutting up anyone who dare mention the truth under any form, being a Jew or not , they are all muted, insulted , hushed and punished . And brought to silence under different forms and headings .

If we are to argue and combat evil, we ought to do it wherever it occurs, and whenever we find it, and see it. We cannot allow ourselves to be selective in choosing only certain aspects of evil behavior or only condemn specific acts of terrorism, and overlook other acts of equal terrorism . A crazy religious fanatic animal, driving his truck through innocent bikers, or strollers, is as bad and condemnable , as the alt-right zealot who drove his car into a peaceful marching crowd in Charlottesville , and equally as bad as a soldier shooting an unarmed kid at a military checkpoint in occupied Palestine, as well as delaying an ambulance deliberately for hours with dying injured people on board .

The political philosopher Hanna Arendt was one of few courageous pioneer thinkers, to critique this behavior in her book "Eichmann in Jerusalem" and even she,  paid a price for her critique and opinions . The world has to come to its senses , especially the Western world , they have to help  save Israel from itself , as all fanatics .

As always , all my thanks for your time .
    

              

THE WAY IT IS ....

For thousands of years, various thinkers, philosophers, religious or non religious, all questioned the nature of reality, human related reality, questions of how should people lead their lives and what ethics should reign among different groups of people. All religions were an attempt at telling people to obey certain laws or face consequences, they were called  "godly inspired and spread laws" Simply for more weight, but most humans kept asking, what constituted the best way to live !!!

Some of our later worldly religions, such as Judaism and to a fair extend its offshoots, Christianity and more so Islam, take a different look and approach to these laws, ways and applications. A legalistic and pseudo moralistic God ordered approach, and less of a philosophical one, accompanied always with a firm threatening tone generally from God himself, and always implying that disobeying or infringing on his laws would bring about and entail the harshest of punishments, often imaginative involving various forms of cruel tortures with fires and skewers et all, and in both lives, the here in this world and in the next one !! God for some reason , never proved himself very philosophically empowered .

From the oldest commandments handed to Moses, to proliferate among his people , to all other prophets of the old Bible, to modern Greek influenced Bibles, to Mohammad and his follower's versions of an Aramaic/Judaeo/Arabian Islam , they all stressed on not committing basic sins, faithfully and blindly obeying god's laws and rituals, and a total feverish devotion and loyalty to him. the religious institutions and hierarchies there after, inherited these divination, obedience, and devotions and turned them into a full school.

Even early Hinduism was very similar in those aspects and approaches, whereby performing the right religious rituals , showing piety during one's life, and he's assured an incarnation of a better and higher quality, and eventually after death one would dwell with the Gods. Later Buddhist concepts mixed with Chinese and Japanese religions, turned more philosophical and addressed human well- being and nature more directly , and less godly and threatening .

Lately , many people all over the world are more than ever shifting emphasis , asking and rationing in the lines of ; " How should a virtuous person act, and under what rules of civility should we conduct ourselves toward others, rather than " how to serve God and live happily ever after" . The positioning of human affairs and persona, rather than God as a central goal in life, is becoming the norm in many civilized societies .

It is accepted nowadays that any authority, including god's and his religious hierarchies, is only legitimate, where it has the consent of the governed . Humans historically surrendered some of their rights to some absolute authorities and to religions and religious institutions only and mostly when life was very poor, nasty, brutal and short. in modern times all theocracies are a perfect example .

When the Rwandan genocide took place in the 90s, the majority extremists Hutus began originally to refer to the Tutsis as cockroaches, the characterization of intended victims as low insects or animals are common phenomena in or before any genocide, the Nazis frequently depicted Jews as rats, and all their victims as Untermenschen, (Sub-humans), Americans labeled native red Indians as savages, and black slaves were always less than humans.

Israeli Zionists, are often referring to Palestinians as animals or even less than animals, many still use the old demeaning adage against Palestinians of "a cancer" , obviously it says and implies that most people can be persuaded to participate in , and condone and justify large scale killings, annihilation, theft and apartheid, only after they begin to think of their victims as completely alien and lowly , that  they are indeed sub-human .

" Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities, has the power to make you commit atrocities." said Voltaire back in 1765.

My thanks as always ...

                                   

AMERICAN NEW FOREIGN INCLINATIONS .....

Indeed it is the first time ever, for a Saudi monarch to visit Russia, The king of Saudi Arabia and Mr. Putin in Moscow had many meetings , many exchanges, and signed deals that are very significant to both , the world geopolitics and the U.S.  The Saudi side will pump many billions of Dollars, into the Russian economy, a first by all aspects, and the Russian counterpart will send some considerable and advanced military hardware, including the famed S-400 anti aircraft missile system.

To look at it strategically, as the Saudi side historically got its military hardware, and more from the U.S. turned it into a significant development, for the area, Saudi itself, and some other allies like Pakistan and others .

The U.S. has been a trusted ally and protector of Saudi, and many other Arab entities, as well as Pakistan, since their inceptions and founding, the U.S. replaced the hegemony and colonialism of classical Europe , plus the implanting of Israel in the M-E, by a pseudo relation of friendship and trust. They all faced a rising Soviet Union , and went into a cold war instigated mostly by the U.S.

The United States confronted a new enemy, and needed some new allies across the glob, to help contain the spread of Soviet influence, Saudi and Pakistan were such exemplary allies. Somehow this whole scene is over, and the logic behind it no longer interest the U.S. and many of our older allies are drifting away , looking and searching for new partners and different alliances, leaving us stuck with some alienating relationships, with entities like Israel that do not help nor advance our position, or our interests in the world or the Middle East. Making it increasingly difficult to manage the entire area of the M-E, as well as  South and East Asia.

The U.S. lately became the hegemonic par excellence we know today , with our unchecked adventures and political weird decisions like the latest pulling off UNESCO, and threatening the United nations, strictly for the sake of Israel's Netanyahu and his alt right partners . Our policies are uncertain to say the least, our unconditional support of a colonial , apartheid state like Israel, is becoming blind and unquestioned and puts us in the follower position that we should not be in, isolating us from a whole Arab and Islamic world, throwing us into a stupid cosines with a very costly recipient of 3 to 4 Billion Dollars yearly of tax payer's money. All dating back to at least 50 years now, and still going like no other time, with no questioning what so ever.

The U.S. of today has clearly moved even closer to Israel in all policies, for no clear Trumpist reasons and his administration's political immaturity. Back up, financial and armament unchecked support, we have reached a total accommodation with Israeli rhetoric and hegemony, even theft and apartheid , Drifting away from our other allies , while toppling some potential allies, pushing everyone to start crafting new national security  policies, and addressing several regional security issues in different frame minds. Rather than letting the U.S implement these plans for them. Reaching out to Russia and China, and some European countries, is becoming the norm of the new strategies and securities.

The problem for the U.S. strategically is that while its relations and influence over the entire M-E, are changing , improving or deteriorating , America and its politicians are not realizing that they still need to work and coordinate with all sides, including maybe saving the Iranian nuclear deal, and not to succumb to only one side and one narrow hegemonic vision.

As we need to make sure Iran doesn't grow too powerful in the Middle East , we  need to make sure Israel Neocons and religious ultra right, don't step too much their presumed security needs and turn them into destructive hegemony and colonialism, dragging us and the world with them . America as the supper power it is ,  needs all sides, and has to maintain a power leverage over all sides, regardless of our petty elections and monetary local election needs and lobbying influences.

It's a crazy enough world as it is , and recent history proved it several times during the last century, and through this one , do we need more moron politicians and crazy leaders all over to restart and jump start new world adventures, conflicts and hellish experiences ???

My as always, many thanks for everything .     

          

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER ......

J.Hector St. John de Creveceur  (1735-1813) was a surveyor with the French army during the Indian wars (1754-63) After the war, Creveceur purchased a farm in NY, and prospered, the following excerpts are from his published ; "Letters from an American farmer", published in (1782).

A new continent, a modern society, different from what we have seen. It is not composed as in Europe, of great lords who possess everything, and of a herd of people who have nothing, here are no aristocratically families, no high courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power giving  to a few very visible ones, no great manufacturers employing tens of thousands, no great refinements of luxury . The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe. Some few towns excepted .

We are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Scotia to West Florida, we are a people of cultivators scattered over an immense territory, communicating with each other by means of good roads and navigable rivers, united by the silken bands of mild government, all respecting the laws , without dreading their power, or sudden change of mood, Because they are equitable.

We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself. If he travels through our rural districts , he views not the hostile castle, and the haughty mansions, contrasted with the clay-built hut and miserable cabins, where cattle and men help to keep each other warm, and dwell in meanness, smoke, and indigence.

A pleasing uniformity of decent competence appears throughout our habitation, a civilized conformity , the meanest of our long-houses is a dry and comfortable habitation. Lawyers or merchants are some of the fairest titles our towns afford, that of a farmer is the only appellation of the rural inhabitants of our country side .... we have no princes, for whom we toil, starve, and bleed, we are the most perfect society now existing in the world. Here man is free as he ought to be .

WOW !!!! That was 1782 and for 234 years, we've been trying to add to the beauty and betterness and fairness of these lands and this scene, more or less of course depending on who's governing, but at least surely, most of the times. So why is it Mr. president that you and your very, very rich oligarchy, family, and entourage, and administration, your palaces, private clubs and habitat, and private golf courses , your private jets and yakhts  , and filthy  rich friends from all over the civilized and not so civilized  world are working so hard to topple it all !!!

What the American dream have achieved during 250 years , and managed to redistribute over the whole population, you're all trying and working hard to reverse, recreating the opposite , the exact opposite to be honest of what the good gentlemen farmer and many generations later were so proud of , and happy to live within.

Why are you all creating so much havoc and enmity in the land ?? all over the country literally ??  So much division and hatred between its people ?? Europe nowadays is the envy of the world with its fairness to its people , its fair social programs, its medical to all, and social securities to its elderly, even its treatment of immigrants and political asylum seekers , its free superior education at all levels, and they'r not bankrupt by any means.

While we, who had it all here, at least we could see it all coming with the light at the end of our tunnels , are reversing it all, and walking back , with sure steps to feudal days of greed , brutality, and hatred, and unfairness, why is it so Mr. Trump  ??? under your reign . Americans of all walks of life are bewildered , so are the world populations . But of course America comes first .
As always, my very sincere thanks for your time and help, from the la la lands (The lovely Lebanon)  I right to all of you with love .           

      

INDIVIDUALITY ......

What crushes individuality the most in life is despotism, by whatever name it may be called, and whether it's enforced by the will of god, through his religions, or the will of men, they all use the same brutal ways and fear tactics and strategies, to suppress people and individuals and individuality.

It is obvious that the Western and modern view of the value of individuality, took some serious efforts and long sacrifices, extending from the fall of the western Roman empire to the 1300 and 1400 years of the Christian era . Whereby the different primitive societies of Europe started slowly an age of emancipation, and the church was slowed down and became more of a silent witness to a more European influenced progress at the hands of individuality, and enlightened individuals all through the old continent .

Even classical Papal power got diminished with many kings and princes rebelling, and after the Protestant upheaval and its migration to America . Classically , Greeks, Romans, and later European middle-ages encouraged individualism and personal achievement and creativity, rivalry and enlightenment, free thinking and liberalism, until it almost became the reigning trait of modern life in the West. While the other two Monotheistic cousins, Judaism and Islam suppressed it for the benefit of God and the entire religious hierarchy and flock of believers .

This aspect of European and later Western history led to more liberty and freedom and diversity, to more individualistic creativity within their societies than the others, where they led invariably to more oppression , closure of the minds and the imposition of more restrictive rules and religious laws upon  individuals and society .

The firm belief that justice, dignity and basic human rights, mean conformity and total obedience to religion, was enforced by all religious institutions, and generally only intoxicated with power tyrants dared to outmaneuver religious powers to their benefit. Otherwise everyone must dress like all others, and every woman is ordained to her role of house-wife and mother .

Religious principles and ideas of improvement basically consist in persuading or literally forcing all others to be as good as ourselves, individuality has no place in our sphere and societies, and every believer has to keep fighting it . Every religion and every religious group, historically or presently   aspire to bring about obedience and a general similarity among mankind, and surely at least among their compatriots . All and any deviation is contrary to the nature of the divine and is considered impious, immoral, even monstrous .

My, as always many thanks to all , for their time and help spreading the blog by any means possible.