Through the Eyes of a Concerned Liberal

By Earle F. Zeigler

Through the Eyes of a Concerned Liberal argues that the socio-political position of liberalism is the only one that can get us back on course toward the now-vanishing "enlightenment ideal". This was the vision of the "founding fathers," looking to a time when all of the conditions of life--social, p

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rustik Haws LLC
• Release date: Jun 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649340986

Earle F. Zeigler

A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Dr. Zeigler has taught, coached, researched, and administered programs at four universities. (Western Ontario [twice]; Illinois, UIUC; Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Yale.) He has published 56 books and 451 articles. He has received the top six awards in his field in North America. Zeigler has received three honorary doctorates and is listed in Who’s Who in Canada, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World.In this autobiography Dr. Zeigler tells his life story to the present. He describes the “ups” and “downs” of both his personal and professional experiences. Born at the end of World War I in New York City, Earle tells how his divorced mother, Margery, and his grandparents raised him. Then, when his mother remarried, they moved to Norwalk, CT where his stepfather (“Chaplain Jim”) was a pastor. Completing junior and senior high school, he went off to Bates College and a bit of graduate study in physical and health education at Columbia Teachers College. He also completed a master’s degree in German and a Ph.D. in Education at Yale University.In his 70 years of experience with the field of sport and physical activity education (including athletics), he worked in the Bridgeport, CT YMCA briefly, and then went to teach, coach, and administer programs in sequence at Yale University, Western University in Canada, The University of Michigan, University of Illinois, and finally back again to Western University as dean of a new faculty where he remained until 1989. He had been active in semi-retirement to the present day. Starting in the new century, he has published 22 books and 21 articles to the present day.Earle does his best to make this life story both interesting and humorous. Just as he was about to reach the pinnacle of his career, 3 staff members in his department at Illinois were involved in what became known as “The Illinois Slush-Fund Scandal”. Finally realizing that intercollegiate athletics in America was “hopeless”, and that a great deal about American values was beginning to “turn him off”, Zeigler became a Canadian citizen, also shortly after becoming dean of a new college in his field at Western University in Ontario. He is now “actively” semi-retired, still “writing away” in British Columbia at age 93.

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Preface

If you’re reading these words--and maybe have even bought Through the Eyes of a Concerned Liberal (Why North American Should Wake Up Soon’)—I hope you won’t say, Oh no, not another diatribe, a ‘self-help book’ by somebody who probably needs help himself! Actually I don’t need help at the moment, unless possibly the knowledge that someone has read these words--and found them useful! That would truly help me quite a bit. Why? Not because I need the money, but because I’m very worried about the ways things are going all around us here in North America and abroad.

Note to Canadians: Because there is an entity called the Liberal Party in the Canadian political scheme, I stress that what I am referring to throughout this book is a small l liberal--not a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

A couple of years ago I decided to try to do something about the situation. I started to write what are called trade books (i.e., books that are sold in bookstores for the general public). In doing so, I found it was necessary to separate myself as much as possible from academic words and phrases. Whatever, I decided to simply offer some down-to-earth ideas about how one person--YOU!--might go about becoming more knowledgeable about yourself (e.g., your values, your socio-political stance, your RQ[recreation quotient]) I believe that such knowledge can help a person--anybody!--become a more effective person who enjoys life more fully.

Here’s a brief outline of what this book includes. Section One is an assessment of the North American situation in what some people have been calling the postmodern age. My thought at this point is what we are actually witnessing are the early stages of the breakdown of the American civilization. Sounds ridiculous, I know. However, I will try to explain to you how this may be happening. The late historian, Arnold Toynbee reasoned that most past civilizations went through four stages in their life cycle. There has typically been a fairly identical pattern of birth, growth, breakdown, and disintegration. A civilization or society is, of course, but a group of individual humans with an infinite number of interrelationships. It could go on indefinitely, although none has to the present day.

Toynbee endowed history with the possession of certain themes of action. They all seemed to have a one-two rhythm such as challenge-and-response as the society develops. Then there is withdrawal-and-return or rout-and-rally as it begins to disintegrate. Humans throughout known history answered the right challenge presented by the environment and were thereby started forward on the path to what we decided to call civilization. This does not mean necessarily that people have had the help of a favorable or easy environment. Conversely, they have often been confronted with many difficulties that stimulate them. However, humans develop as they respond to the challenge of various stimuli. Subsequently, the developing society in which they live faces a number of other stern challenges such as war, unfavorable environmental conditions, plagues and other conceivable moral or physical pressure.

If a civilization meets its challenges, it survives. Its life is measured by the number of challenges that are met successfully. Trouble comes when an incorrect response is made to a specific challenge or stimulus. (Here is where I think the U.S.A. has been making a number of wrong decisions since World War II) Then the society is faced with what Toynbee called a Time of Troubles. This period in the civilization’s development is not necessarily a catastrophic fall to oblivion; it may go on for hundreds or even thousands of years. The civilization may even seem to be invincible as it goes from victory to victory. What is happening, however, usually results in a Universal State. This occurs when the conflicting countries or influences have order imposed on them by a stronger force. An example of this would be ancient Rome’s Augustan dictatorship. A second example might be that of ancient Egypt. It had a Universal State extending over what today seems to be a very long period of time (i.e., 2400 years for its two empires!).

Another example, much closer to home, can conceivably be called the presently extending civilization of the United States of America. The 20th century has been called the century of the United States’ rise to power. I believe that this past century was indeed characterized by the rise of a new civilization (if you will). Along the way this new powerhouse--the United States--has been exporting democracy, capitalism, technology, and Christianity strongly.

Then at one point (the beginning of a new century), the world’s only remaining superpower—the United States!--having defied the will of the United Nations, went to war a second time to defeat the forces of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. The rationale provided was that Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and that he was also aiding and abetting the efforts of terrorists (e.g., Osama bin Laden). It is now generally accepted that both of these claims were false. (Our leaders [Bush and Blair] say that they received false intelligence.) Whatever the case may have been, more than a few people are beginning to think that the United States with its tentacles reaching out all over the world in both overt and covert ways some time ago began to assume some of the characteristics of what Toynbee called a universal state. For example, it is also quite obvious that indeed one characteristic of this condition is present: there is presently massive unrest in multiple quarters both in North America and on other continents.

The world will undoubtedly continue its present evolutionary process. Those who have studied the past with high degrees of intelligence and diligence have offered us a variety of philosophies about humans’ history on what we call Earth. It would seem inaccurate, or at least excessive narrowness of definition, to deny a degree of scientific status to the discipline of history. We can indeed argue that with each succeeding generation the study of history, broadly defined, is becoming more of a science (as that term is generally understood).

We can’t be sure about what the future holds. However, if the study of the past is credible, we can surmise that there will be continuing uncertainty. In defense of such a condition, we can argue that uncertainty is both dynamic and stimulating as it concomitantly provides a challenge to us all. What should concern us, however, is the amount of individual freedom we are permitted living within a type of political state known as a democracy. We still have to prove that democracy is possible (i.e., successful and rewarding in a variety of senses) over a period of centuries. The prevailing trend toward an increasing number of full-time politicians and an overwhelming percentage of indifferent citizens does not bode well for the future.

The various political communities in the Western world that are democratic political states should stress the concept of political involvement much more strongly to their citizens. They should also promote this ideal whenever and wherever possible to so-called Third World countries as they become ready to make a choice. In addition to reviving and reconstructing the challenge to people within these countries, we should continue to work for the common good--for freedom, justice, and equality for people all over the world who aspire to better lives for themselves and their children. If people can learn to live with each other in relative peace, the world may not see devastating nuclear warfare with its inevitable results. As the historian McNeill (1963) stated, The sword of Damocles may therefore hang over humanity indefinitely (p. 804).

I believe that Americans, and many Canadians as well, do not fully comprehend their unique position in the history of the world’s development. In all probability this status will change radically in the 21st century. For that matter, I believe that the years ahead are going to be really difficult and trying for all of the world’s citizens. However, the United States, as the one major nuclear power, has deliberately assumed the ongoing, overriding task of maintaining large-scale peace. The States has also taken the lead in seeking to put down the terrorist threat so evident in all quarters around the globe. This will be an interminable task, increasingly difficult and worrisome because a variety of countries, both large and small, may already have, or may soon have, nuclear arms capability. That is one stark fact what makes the future so fraught with danger for us all. . . .

Having made an effort to explain the prevailing societal situation in Section One, with the hope that this would serve as a foundation or backdrop for the remainder of the book, Section Two provides an opportunity to assess your own socio-political position. (I have taken this test myself and can report that I am a (small l) liberal--i.e., my score places me in the middle of the left side of the spectrum). I firmly believe that, wherever you may find yourself personally on the socio-political spectrum (i.e., your score), depends a great deal on the values you hold. Accordingly, I made an opportunity for you to assess yourself in this regard too in the Appendix (What Do I Believe?). I believe that it makes a great deal of difference in how you lead your life whether you believe that certain values are inherent in the nature of the universe, or whether you believe that humans alone are responsible for the presence of, the quality of, and the future development of the value structure on Earth.

I also believe that people in North America are searching for the good life and don’t know how to find it because of the situation created by onrushing democracy, capitalism and technology. So, under Section X, I have included a self-evaluation questionnaire where you can figure out what I have called a person’s recreation quotient (RQ) is. (See p. 174.)

Next I selected a number of short essays, statements, and columns from a large number I have written recently. I believe they make the case for my claim that I am a small l liberal. The essays are included under nine different sections, respectively. Each is based on a different theme as follows:

Section Three—politics

Section Four—religion

Section Five—social living

Section Six—applied ethics

Section Seven—management

Section Eight—education

Section Nine—health and physical activity education

Section Ten--recreation

Section Eleven--competitive sport

These short essays range from a recommendation that it’s time for all elected officials to be guided by a creed and code of ethics to a discussion of why I don’t think that human morality is disintegrating. As a further example of what’s included, there is a discussion of why it is important to preserve (what I term) educational sport in Canadian higher education.

Another short statement, for example, explains what unfortunately happened to the original enlightenment ideal as it is being played out in North America. Still another short discussion seeks to offer some historical perspective on human quality of life down through the ages. All together there is a total of 49 essays, quizzes, and evaluative devices for you to consider. I hope you will find them both interesting and provocative. I believe these essays and statements reflect accurately the position where I found myself on the socio-political spectrum.

Finally, in Section Twelve, I reviewed the entire book by summarizing what I believed to be the essence of the overall approach I am recommending. In addition to determining (1) what you believe, (2) where you fall and a socio-political spectrum, and (3) what your recreation quotient (RQ) is. I ask you (4) whether you have made a decision about your life purpose. I believe this is what puts the icing on the cake for a person today. That is, you examine what your philosophy of life is, what you stand for socio-politically, how you can maximize the pleasure and fun available from the recreational-educational phase of your life, and--finally--what your life purpose is and how you can go about developing it. I believe this is an excellent, overall approach that a person can use for living life to its fullest even under extenuating conditions in North America today.

I want to express my ongoing appreciation and gratitude to those who have helped me. The folks at Trafford, especially Ben Harrison, Joti, and Terry were most helpful in moving this project along and in getting material formatted properly for Trafford’s online, on-demand printing service. Andy Naval, Accugraphic Design, Inc. in Richmond, BC has been most helpful with cover design in this series.

We all need to understand the world situation and the North American scene as fully as possible. This is so important--actually vital--as one matures in what is indeed a troubled and perplexing world. To the greatest extent possible, we simply must rely on incontrovertible scientific evidence and applied ethics to help us improve our ethical decision-making. It is my truly sincere hope that you will find at least some of these ideas, thoughts and approach to analysis helpful as you face the ever-changing situation that will confront you in the years ahead.

Earle F. Zeigler, Richmond, BC, Canada, 2004

Contents/ Conceptual Index

Preface

Dedication

Preamble

I Introduction: An Emerging Postmodern Age

II Where Are You On a Socio-Political Spectrum?

III Politics

1. Must We Rely on Dubious Public Figures to Teach Us About Family Values?

2. Politicians or Statespersons? (It Is Time for a Code of Ethics for Elected Officials?)

IV Religion

1. A Natural History of Religion

2. Ideas Upon Which Religions Might Seek Consensus

3. Agnosticism

4. Will a Real Humanist Please Stand Up?

5. A Letter to a Theistic Psychiatrist

6. Human Evolution

7. The Tragic Sense of Life (Muller)

V Social Life

1. Historical Perspective on Quality of Life: Genes, Memes, and Physical Activity

2. Woes of a Dual Citizen Living in British Columbia

3. Marriage Is Currently Defined in the Dictionary

4. What Happened to the Original Enlightenment Ideal?

5. Cellular and Cloning Research: Good Idea, Bad Idea?

6. The Glory of Modern Communication

7. The Fundamental Importance of Individual Freedom

8. How Can We Make Sport More Socially Acceptable?

VI Applied Ethics

1. Human Morality Is Not Disintegrating!

2. A Practical Approach to Ethical Decision-Making

3. Can Bert Be With Both George and Martha?

4. Sport Ethics Should Be Promoted Locally, Regionally, Nationally and Globally

VII Management

1. The Middle Manager: Trapped in the We/They Controversy

2. Sport Management Enters the 21st Century

3. Successful Management for the Future

VIII Education

1. Youth’s Need for an Intellectual Roadbed

2. Liberal Education in 21st Century North America

3. The Process of Education: Some Tentative Definitions

4. Is The Fall of the Ivory Tower

5. Did Canada Lose Another Athlete to the States? So What!

6. Let’s Preserve Educational Sport in Canadian Higher Education

7. Have We Lost Track of What Education Is All About?

IX Health & Physical Activity Education

1. Historical Perspective on Quality of Life: Genes, Memes, and Developmental Physical Activity

2. Are You Out of Shape?

3. Using a Systems Analysis Approach in the Quest for Optimal Health and Effective Living

X Recreation

1. How Do You Rate Yourself Recreationally?

2. Life Must Be Renewed Daily

XI Competitive Sport

1. What Price Sport Heroes?

2. For Better or For Worse: The Use of Power

3. Urgently Needed: A Definition of Semi-Professionalism in Sport

4. What Price Glory in Intercollegiate Football: The Story of Siwash U 50 Years Ago

5. How Sport Could Provide Experiences Basic to World Peace

6. How Should We Judge Success in Competitive Educational Sport?

7. Why Don’t We Have Sport Critics?

8. An American Dilemma: Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig?

9. How Can We Make Sport More Socially Acceptable?

XII Looking to the Future

1. Life Assessment: Finding a Life Purpose

2. Achieving a "Scotch Verdict About the Future

Appendix What Do I Believe: A Philosophic, Self-Evaluation Checklist

Dedication

To Anne: for everything. . . .

Preamble

Since the word liberal appears in the title of this book, a preamble was absolutely necessary. I need to explain where I am coming from (so to speak) by using this term. Although early in my life, members of both sides of my divided family were strongly conservative, I somehow ended up as a confirmed liberal. (That’s a small l liberal, although I can say that I have on occasion voted for the Liberal party in Canada as well.)

Over the years I have found discussion on this subject very confusing. I presume this is because the term has been used and abused from so many different directions. It is used quite a bit in academe, but not as frequently as conservatives charge. It is used at times, also, by the average citizen, often to describe someone or some stance in everyday politics. So, because of the term’s omnipresence within several circles of society, I felt it necessary to explain my own position.

We read that there are classical liberals (e.g., the philosopher John Locke) and modern liberals (e.g., a percentage of the totality of university professors). The late political scientist, David Spitz (The Real World of Liberalism, 1982), who investigated the topic thoroughly, explained that liberalism exists as a political ideology, but at times it is also used as a justification for an approach to economic theory. Further, in the discipline of philosophy, liberals are known as those who challenge ultimate truth or verities. Liberals are additionally at least somewhat hopeful about the nature of humans and the possibility of human progress.

I was challenged seriously when one of my favorite philosophers, John Kekes, published his Against Liberalism in 1997. Explaining that the positive aim of liberals is to create a situation in which people can live the good life, he asserts that creation of such values for all people fully would actually produce finally the evils liberals seek to avoid. In turn, subsequent attempts to reduce these evils would result in a lessening of any achievement of the liberal values sought. Also, even though Gerber (The Limits of Liberalism, 1984), pointed out that liberal ideology inspired many Americans in the 20th century, he stated that it has left many Americans with a dubious legacy ( Chap. IX, pp. 341-349).

Still further, John Stuhr (Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and the Future of Philosophy, 2003) once again outlines the oft-repeated evils of liberalism as declared by the early 20th century philosopher W.E. Hocking. Using phrases like incapable of achieving and maintaining political units, attachment to rights without [accompanying] duties, and the emotional appeal of a doctrine that has a cheerful, amiable view of human nature (pp. 35-36). These criticisms sent me back to the drawing board. I won’t repeat Hocking’s proposed essentialistic remedy for these foreseen evils, but at this point I must counter with my considered agreement with John Dewey’s position that liberalism would work with a greater commitment to it and democracy in action.

As one gets older, there is a tendency to become overwhelmed with daily accounts of the world’s evils and woes. Conservatives continue with their claims that intellectually elite professors on campuses use their classes to promote left-wing liberalism, socialism, relativistic ethics, and annoying political correctness. Faced with such damning criticism, it is indeed so difficult to be optimistic about the future. Yet, if we stop to think about it, giving in to a pessimistic outlook may indeed lead toward that state of affairs that we envision thereby. Conversely, the optimism of a Mary Poppins offers a bit too much of a pie-in-the-sky outlook for me. So what does one do? Neither the nay-saying pessimist nor the cheerful optimist makes a welcome bedfellow for me.

I have finally opted for a middle position between the two extremes. It is known as philosophical meliorism. It’s a term that we don’t hear very often, but it’s actually one that represents a choice that we face every day of our lives. This means simply that a person should take the prevailing situation as he or she finds it—and then work to make it better! I decided to accept such a melioristic approach as a working model. I do recognize the perceived inconsistencies present in liberalism to which Kekes refers so cogently (e.g., the power of evil in the world, the folly of liberals’ approach to equality, the presence of individual autonomy as the core of liberalism). Nevertheless, because hope springs eternal, I have chosen to cast my lot with liberalism as characterized by Spitz’s credo.

As you read the various essays and evaluative devices in this book, you will be able to see if I have been reasonably consistent with Professor Spitz’s 10 commandments outlined below briefly (from his A Credo for Liberals [pp. 213-215] at the end of his insightful book).

Esteem liberty above all other values, even over equality and justice.

Respect people, not property, but do not ignore the positive role of property in promoting human well-being.

Distrust power, even that of majorities.

Distrust authority.

Be tolerant.

Adhere to democracy.

Revere truth and rationality.

Accept the inevitability of change.

Do not disparage compromise.

Above all, retain the critical spirit.

Section I

Introduction:

An Emerging Postmodern Age

North Americans do not fully comprehend that their unique position in the history of the world’s development will in all probability change radically in the 21st century. For that matter. the years ahead are really going to be difficult ones for all of the world’s citizens. The United States, as the one major nuclear power, has assumed the ongoing, massive problem of maintaining large-scale peace. Of course, a variety of countries, both large and small, may or may not have nuclear arms capability as well. That is what is so worrisome.

Additionally, all of the world will be having increasingly severe ecological problems, not to mention the ebbs and flows of an energy crisis. Generally, also, there is a worldwide nutritional problem, as well as an ongoing situation where the rising expectations of the underdeveloped nations, including their staggering debt (and ours!), will somehow have to be met. These are just a few of the major concerns looming on the horizon.

Indeed, although it is seemingly more true of the United States than Canada, history is going against the U.S.A. in several ways. This means that their previous optimism must be tempered to shake them loose from delusions they have acquired, some of which they still have. For example, despite the presence of the United Nations, the United States has persisted in envisioning itself--as the world superpower--as almost being endowed by the Creator to make all crucial political decisions. Such decisions, often to act unilaterally with the hoped-for, but belated sanction of the United Nations, have resulted in United States-led incursions in the Middle East in the two wars and into Somalia for very different reasons. And there are other similar situations that are now history (e.g., Cuba Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, Haiti, etc., respectively, not to mention other suspected incursions).

Nevertheless, there is reason to expect selected U.S. retrenchment brought on by its excessive world involvement and enormous debt. Of course, any such retrenchment would inevitably lead to a decline in the economic and military influence of the United States. But who can argue logically that the present uneasy balance of power is a healthy situation looking to the future? Norman Cousins appeared to have sounded just the right note more than a generation ago when he stated that the most important factor in the complex equation of the future is the way the human mind responds to crisis (1974, 6-7). The world culture as we know it must respond adequately to the many challenges with which it is being confronted. The societies and nations must individually and collectively respond positively, intelligently, and strongly if humanity as we have known it is to survive.

Significant Developments Have Transformed Our Lives

In this discussion of national and international developments, with an eye to achieving some historical perspective on the subject, we should also keep in mind the specific developments in the last quarter of the 20th century. For example, Naisbitt (1982) outlined the ten new directions that are transforming our lives, as well as the megatrends insofar as women’s evolving role in societal structure (Aburdene & Naisbitt, 1992). Here I am referring to:

the concepts of the information society and the Internet,

high tech/high touch,

the shift to world economy,

the need to shift to long-term thinking in regard to ecology,

the move toward organizational decentralization,

the trend toward self-help,

the ongoing discussion of the wisdom of participatory democracy as opposed to representative democracy,

a shift toward networking,

a reconsideration of the north-southorientation, and

the viewing of decisions as multiple option instead of either/or.

Add to this the ever-increasing, lifelong involvement of women in the workplace, politics, sports, organized religion, and social activism, Now we begin to understand that a new world order has descended upon us as we begin the 21st century.

Moving ahead in time slightly beyond Naisbitt’s first set of Megatrends, a second list of 10 issues facing political leaders was highlighted as Ten events that shook the world between 1984 and 1994 (Utne Reader, 1994, pp. 58-74). Consider the following:

the fall of communism and the continuing rise of nationalism,

the environmental crisis and the Green movement,

the AIDS epidemic and the gay response,

continuing wars and the peace movement,

the gender war,

religion and racial tension,

the concept of West meets East and resultant implications,

the Baby Boomers came of age and Generation X has started to worry and complain because of declining expectation levels,

the whole idea of globalism and international markets, and

the computer revolution and the spectre of Internet.

The World Has Three Major Trading Blocks

Concurrent with the above developments, to help cope with such change the world’s economic manageability may have been helped by its division into three major trading blocs: (1) the Pacific Rim dominated by Japan, (2) the European Community very heavily influenced by Germany, and (3) North America dominated by the United States of America. While this appears to be true to some observers, interestingly perhaps something even more fundamental has occurred. Succinctly put, world politics seems to be entering a new phase in which the fundamental source of conflict will be neither ideological nor economic. In the place these, Samuel P. Huntington, of Harvard’s Institute for Strategic Studies, believes that now the major conflicts in the world will actually be clashes between different groups of civilizations espousing fundamentally different cultures (The New York Times, June 6, 1993, E19).

These clashes, Huntington states, represent a distinct shift away from viewing the world as being composed of first, second, and third worlds as was the case during the cold war. Thus, Huntington is arguing that in the 21st century the world will return to a pattern of development evident several hundred years ago in which civilizations will actually rise and fall. (Interestingly, this is exactly what was postulated by the late Arnold Toynbee in his earlier famous theory of history development.)

Thus, internationally, with the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia and the remaining communist regimes are being severely challenged as they seek to convert to more of a capitalistic economic system. Additionally, a number of other multinational countries have either broken up, or are showing signs of potential break-ups (e.g., Yugoslavia, China, Canada). Further, the evidence points to the strong possibility that the developing nations are becoming ever poorer and more destitute with burgeoning populations and widespread starvation setting in.

Further, Western Europe is facing a demographic time bomb even more than the United States because of the influx of refugees from African and Islamic countries, not to mention refugees from countries of the former Soviet Union. It appears further that the European Community will be inclined to appease Islam’s demands. However, the multinational nature of the European Community will tend to bring on economic protectionism to insulate its economy against the rising costs of prevailing socialist legislation.

Still further, there is some evidence that Radical Islam, along with Communist China, may well become increasingly aggressive toward the Western culture of Europe and North America. At present, Islam gives evidence of replacing Marxism as the world’s main ideology of confrontation. For example, Islam is dedicated to regaining control ofJerusalem and to force Israel to give up control of land occupied earlier to provide a buffer zone against Arab aggressors. (Also, China has been arming certain Arab nations. But how can we be too critical in this regard when we recall that the U.S.A. has also armed selected countries in the past [and present?] when such support was deemed in its interest?)

As Hong Kong is absorbed into