JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICA’S SELFISH UNWILLINGNESS TO SHARE IN OIL PRODUCTION CUTS THAT IT DEMANDED HIGHLIGHTS SOME FUNDAMENTAL NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS - THOSE AFFECT FAR MORE THAN WORLD OIL MARKETS OR EVEN OTHER INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS – THEY EXPLAIN MANY UNPLEASANT PARTS OF AMERICA’S OWN SOCIETY – THE CURRENT SET OF CRISES HAS PUT THEM CENTER STAGE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE - THE WORLD’S CHANGED PERCEPTIONS OF AMERICA WILL BE BUILT INTO FUTURE GLOBAL ARRANGEMENTS

John Chuckman

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MIKE WHITNEY IN RUSSIA INSIDER


“There Is No Russian-Saudi Oil War, it's a US-Saudi War Because the US Can't/Won't Cut Production”

"Everyone else cuts production, everyone else sees their revenues shrink, and everyone else pitches-in to put a floor under prices. Everyone except the “exceptional” American oil producers from the exceptional United States. They don’t have to do a damn thing."


Sharing the cuts is indeed a reasonable expectation to have, but when was the last time anyone observed the US doing anything reasonable?

"They don’t care about anyone but themselves." That could readily serve as the official motto for the country.

The irony is Americans act the same way internally towards their own people in many matters. Outside observers perhaps don't see that so much, but it is a reality of America.

That's why there is no healthcare system. That's why there are so many appalling slums and ghettos. That's why American primary public education is so weak that in tests, kids in poor little Cuba beat American scores. That's why American police kill an average of three Americans per day. And that's why the political system is totally corrupt and serves only the interests of the wealthy.

This is not a nation which cooperates. It is not a nation which shares. And, the truth is, it is not a nation that gives a damn about almost anything.

Part of the true spirit of America was captured in the often-repeated angry words, “Love it or leave it!” yelled at peace demonstrators during the long bloody, pointless Vietnam War.

We have seen many examples of that spirit in the current crises. Everything from keeping sick people in poor countries under severe sanctions to literally seizing medical supplies belonging to other countries. Delaying crucial decisions and arguing with everyone, blundering and lying, America’s leadership has shown no leadership, even to its own people. And no cooperation with others, more concerned about the dark factions that will play a role in its re-election than doing the right things for hundreds of millions of people.

The current crises put America on show as never before for all the world to see. The new perceptions will get built into future global arrangements.

Old Hollywood fantasy notions about America are drying up and blowing away like so much topsoil in the 1930s Dust Bowl.