It has been the same Christmas break for me as for so many others of the western world. But in my love for connections, the highlight came on New Years Day.

On of the regular commentators in our "Granny" Herald is Garth George, a comparitively mild right wing American who, from time to time, makes very pertinent comment on things New Zealand.

So, the first of my "connections" is the Garth George column published New Years Day, in which he draws attention to his experience of life (he is in his seventies), and his qualifications as a long time "committed Christian" to relate his life to the experiences of history. He also reveals himself as the essential weekly columnist with a holiday week block. His "column" is really limited to a brief intro pointing out as a matter of history that the august Wall Street Journal has published the same editorial every year since 1949 in its Christmas / New Year edition. He then quotes said editorial in full, and concludes with a little homily.

I have now to move to third hand quotation because I have been unable to track this editorial into the 'net. Mind you I am sure that if Garth George is right then it will be a classic of US journalism. If it is, then please forgive me for not quoting the actual words, but what I recollect.

Essentially, it is the story of Paul of Tarsus, his conversion to Christianity, and ending with a quote from the Bible giving the strength of faith to those subjected to oppression.

Garth George's little homily on the end drew the attention to the importance of resisting oppression in all forms, and how fortunate The United States is to be free.

Now I want to leave Garth George at that point and move to the "second leg" of this particular double. It was published by the Herald, on the same "op-ed" pages as the Garth George column.

It comes in the form of an editorial from another august American newspaper, the New York Times. While fairly brief, the central paragraphs tell the story of a Phillipine cotton grower. He is not rich. He has difficulty selling his product on the world market, and hardship making a living from it.

He is convinced that President George Bush is also a cotton grower. Why else would the American government give so much money to the American cotton growers?

Now without in anyway denigrating this cotton farmer's lack of knowledge of things American we can point out that President Bush is not a cotton grower. We can also acknowledge that the federal subsidies that allow American cotton growers to sell their product on the world market at only a fraction of the actual cost are the product of influential Members of Congress who owe their position to Old King Cotton.

So, where is the connection?

Well, let us return to the story behind the New Testament. We need to recall that Israel at the time of Christ was ruled, governed and taxed by Rome. The WSJ editorial makes much of this and the iniquities of the Roman Empire, and also of the position of Christ in history as the prophet and leader who led the people of Israel at least to a spiritual freedom from the "yoke of oppression" (the words are used several times).

And here we arrive at the crux which is ignored by so many of us in this "western civilisation", and by Garth George in his column...

Does the Phillipine cotton farmer consider himself free from economic oppression?