Temple 3 - Thought, Word and Deed

One of the primary military and economic objectives of the United States of America is to restrict the access of China to energy markets. China is the world's second largest consumer of energy. The United States is the world's largest consumer. China is Iran's number two export partner. Japan is number one. Iran has gone on record as stating it would like to shift its export "weight" to China.

If you're interested in knowing how China's energy limitations have protected Iran over the past few years, check this out.

If you're interested in the scope of China's energy issues, check this out.

If you're interested in what Henry Kissinger thinks could precipitate the next global conflict, check this out.

The potentially explosive combination of a China less willing to passively accept U.S. leadership and the prospect of competition between China and other states for control over vital energy resources poses particularly critical challenges to U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Nevertheless, China’s search for oil is making it a new competitor to the United States for influence in the Middle East. If not managed prudently, this competition will generate multiple points of bilateral friction and damage U.S. strategic interests in the region.

There is more to this than is being discussed in the mainstream media. It is why the mass media is not a source of news or information, but a source of US policy imperatives. Those imperatives do NOT indicate clearly what the US intends to do, but they do indicate what the US wants people to believe.

For my money, since "race" is socially-constructed (though difference is not - but the weight or value we ascribe to certain types of difference is) people are "who they say they are." If you say you're white, then you are. If you say you're not - and you're something else (a class identity, a regional identity, a spiritual identity) then you are. All that means is that your primary frame of reference for self-identification is not a specific "racial group" that others might assign to you. It doesn't mean that the history, patterns, constructs, ideology or challenges/benefits of that socially constructed group are not part of your life.

By extension, it's fairly easy to argue that religions are socially constructed. Take the case of international christianity following the leadership of Paul. Paul's clearly the architect - and he clearly was not divine. One may choose to argue the divinity of his inspiration, but his humanity is not a topic of debate. As such, for the sake of this argument, the religion (distinct from the faith) is socially constructed.

Does this mean that christians or non-christians are exempt from the societal implications of this religion? Quite the contrary. Much of what we perceive as valuable is socially constructed...take money. Money is an explicit agreement of value determined by many factors...it's not a fixed, neutral value. Currency values change by the second, the minute, the hour. What's a dollar worth to you? What's in worth if you live in England? What's it worth if you live in Nigeria? or India? or China? The values change not just over time, but according to our location.

"Race" is a similar social construction. It's meaning changes over time and space. It is not some objective neutral indicator of biology or of social value or of quality or mediocrity or intelligence or insanity. It is what it is - and it is what we say it is; and by extension, you are what you say you are - and you may still also be what they say you are...or not.