Hypocrisies are All Around

I am reading the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" written by John Perkins. This is an excellent book about a profession whose job is to cheat the poor countries and expand the influence of an empire (i.e. Uncle Sam). I was particularly impressed by the speech of an Indonesian woman:

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"What a horrible thought!" I [the author] could barely contain myself. "What can we do to change this?"

The English major looked me directly in the eyes. "Stop being so greedy," she said, "and so selfish. Realize that there is more to the world than your big houses and fancy stores. People are starving and you worry about oil for your cars. Babies are dying of thirst and you search the fashion magazines for the latest styles. Nations like ours are drowning in poverty, but your people don't even hear our cries for help. You shut your ears to the voices of those who try to tell you these things. You label them radicals or Communists. You must open your hearts to the poor and downtrodden, instead of driving them further into poverty and servitude. There's not much time left. If you don't change, you're doomed".

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The world has obviously not learned a lesson. The current issue of Economist (August 4th, 2007) reported that America would be supplying Arabian countries with $63 billion worth of arms, Israel included. What's more, U.S. is having a deal with India on nuclear co-operation - a country which has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Isn't it the best example of having a double standard (or triple / quadruple, who cares)?