tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post3544537279733593213..comments2023-11-05T01:53:40.235-06:00Comments on the Hipcrime Vocab: The Secret History of Oil and Money - Part 2Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-73265325899085865472015-09-19T04:55:02.717-05:002015-09-19T04:55:02.717-05:00I found Alex’s comment extremely interesting consi...I found Alex’s comment extremely interesting considering my own recent experience with a neurologist here in Queens, NY. She is an Iranian Jew whose view on her country astounded me. She was so pro Israel and had no understanding or compassion for the Palestinians that we our conversation was close to becoming a screaming match. She saw me as a self hating Jew because I saw similarities in the behavior of the Israelis to the how the Germans behaved in Germany during the 30s.<br /><br />Like Alex’s father she was a fan and great supporter of the Shah and said he brought great things to Iran and has been demonized by those who don’t really know what things were like in her country. She said I have no right to an opinion as I hadn’t ever lived in Iran.<br /><br />I asked her what she knew of US history and it was very little, but she seemed to feel she was entitled to her opinion of the country of my birth. She knew nothing of the history of how we treated the Indigenous People and could not believe that a genocide was committed upon more of this group than the number of Jews that died in the camps. Nor was she aware of how many gays wound up dying here in the US and the world because our Government (Regan and his supporters) allowed the AIDS crisis to grow to the mammoth proportions that exist today.<br /><br />Too bad that most gays today seem to believe that we’ve conquered the virus and so high risk behavior has returned especially as there is an entire generation missing. The use of the term “cocktail” is a misnomer for what is really a regime of chemotherapy and powerful drugs that play havoc with your system. It’s not a martini shaken right.<br /><br />What was sad, but not surprising as I interact with many people from all over the world who have come to the US is their narrow and limited view of their adopted country no matter how “educated” they were before they came here. They measure everything by how much money they have and don’t understand, care or are interested in the history of their adopted country.<br /><br />So, to them the streets are paved with gold and they are in the freest country in the entire world, no place is better. They don’t know about Guantanam or the disgraceful events at Abu Ghraib. From conversations with them I learn that they have never heard of or are even interested in Smedley Butler, Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”, Ronald Wright’s “Stolen Continents: The New World Through Indian Eyes Since 1492” or Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick’s book or television series, “Untold History of the United States.”<br /><br />This has been a great series for me as it summarizes much of what I’ve learned over the last decade and puts the story in a wider context by bringing together all the various sources. I’d never heard of Adam Smith (Goodman) and have searched out copies in our various library systems in NYC (he didn’t write many books yet not all are in each system and available) to read.<br /><br />What stuns me is that in the background of all these events were the warnings and concerns of M. King Hubbard who warned Shell in 1959 about the waning of what seemed like the never ending glut of oil. Too bad few believed or could go up against those who still can’t see anything but blue skies and never ending growth forever into the future.<br />Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17012583302556420812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-5303953846817766262015-09-16T20:21:22.343-05:002015-09-16T20:21:22.343-05:00Yeah, there's so much to the story you have to...Yeah, there's so much to the story you have to leave stuff out. The Shah was Britain's guy in the Middle East especially. There are a lot of connections with Anglo-Persian petroleum going at least back to WWI. escapefromwisconsinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369565788469048090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813525365834911757.post-71269592031307460782015-09-14T00:50:07.003-05:002015-09-14T00:50:07.003-05:00You don't mention the Shah was installed by th...You don't mention the Shah was installed by the USA, and I grew up with my father talking about the Shah like he was some combi ation of jesus Christ and king Arthur. He damn near moved us all over there. Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13916394695449933164noreply@blogger.com