This spitting thing was probably a powerful meme then - whoever invented it, found some who would really do it.//edited//
I still don't get the logical leap to a nefarious manipulator- unless you believe in Satan of course. ;-)
What's wrong with the simple explanation? Rationalizing poor behavior behind a fig leaf of righteous indignation is a common human trait.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
