Thursday, November 14, 2002
Dr. Paranoia objects to US getting unjustly bad press
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Dr. Paranoia claims that he tuned in on a Bill Moyers program on Channel 13, featuring an interview with the British historian Simon Schama, and could take just about 30 seconds of his description of the American empire before losing his cool. Dr. P's explanation: "We did not ask to be in foreign entanglements. We Americans elected a domestic-affairs only-minded President who did not want to know about foreign relations and diplomacy, who had never been abroad and who abhorred the concept of nation-building. Then we were subjected to a terrorist attack, forcing the new leader straight into the big world. Obligated to react in our defense, the President took direct action against the overt enemy, and preventive action against the covert potential enemy who's hoarding weapons of mass destruction. Now we, who are defending the world, are portrayed as the aggressors and imperialists. Stuff it, Shama.
"Are we imperialists, as accused by our own people? That self-hate tradition goes way back. Gore Vidal, within recent memory, whacked us for fostering imperialism, claiming information control exercised by both government and industry. He dredged up Admiral Mahan, TR and John Cabot Lodge, the Monroe Doctrine, the overt wars of Korea, Vietnam and Gulf, and what he considered the covert wars of Laos, Cambodia, the Caribbean, Central America, Africa, Chile and the Middle East, also the drug wars and the Iran-gate, as evidences of our actions in supporting "mostly anti-democratic forces." No discussion of our response to requests by the United Nations, nothing of defending legitimate establishments against terrorist type insurgencies, of the predatory nature of our Cold War enemy, and of helping nations attain independence.
"Someone has also shifted the definition of imperialism, to include the US among the bad guys. Once Spain, France and Britain were the imperialists, starting in the 16th Century. Then it meant political and economic subjugation of nations and exploitation of their resources. After 1945 and WWII we actively helped many exploited national groups attain independence, as we had after 1917 and WWI. Now the definition refers to domination in technological advances, culture and finances. No mention of the fact that we in the US provide an umbrella and a market for the products of emerging nations, abandoning jobs that our own workers need. We are blamed for keeping wages abroad at poverty levels, never mind that these nations would be suffering without our purchases, as the sluggard and beggarly countries are.
"Meanwhile, it is costing us. Such thinkers as Immanuel Wallerstein of Yale maintain that the US is fading as a global power, ever since our 1974 defeat in Vietnam, and the draws in Korea and in the 1991 Gulf war have not helped. The dollar is also fading, having been, by some miracle, the investment vehicle for 70^% of the world's savings while we produce only 30% of the world's output (actually it was due to Japan's collapse and the sluggish start of EU). That was the Clinton miracle, holding up the value of the dollar for ten years, sort of like levitation, without visible supports. Now, as the investments flow back out, the market cannot recover with ease, even when earnings improve and the political news lighten up.
"It is not all bad, pundit-wise. Such liberal oracles as Michael Ignatieff think that the US should really become the force of the world, for humanitarian reasons. That we are the world's only rescue against aggressive and destructive emanations should be clear to any thinking person. And there are emanations, not just al-Qaeda. The China vs Taivan conflict (we have helped hold the impasse), India vs Pakistan, threats from all the drug nations (Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Afghanistan), other crime nations in the making (think of the little banking facilitator islands for Russian and drug money), rogue nations presenting potential nuclear threat (North Korea, Iran, Libya), nations in the midst of infighting and genocide (Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone). And the real imperialists, controllers of the world's blood flow, its oil supply, some threatening, some threatened by their own radicals - not only Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait, Iran and Iraq in the Middle East, but also Russia, China, Venezuela and Mexico.
"So, how did we get to be the bad guys in the world's eyes?. Why did 500,000 people walk to Florence in a peace march, at the antiglobalization conference, threatening President Bush and America ? Don't they realize that they, as well as we, are the subjects of the terrorist aggression? Their ennobling struggle is that of the have-nots against the haves, the US and others who have polluted the world and are destroying its resources and ecologies, and are not willing to stop the industrial engine. There are mostly naive peaceful Luddites, urged on by radicals and prodded by some trouble-making anarchists. The smart people try to move Saddam to submit, to avoid war, the others, naively, try to move us.
"What about the Islamists, why are they our enemies? Well, in their view we are culturally corrupt and must be destroyed before we corrupt them. Then, add the street Islamists' hate for the rich and the powerful (they also hate their leaders for the same reasons). Then, factor in our support for our ally Israel. There is no hope for peace here, until the Islamist men acquire some wealth, property and the middle class values that come with it (the Palestinians were almost there when the 2nd Intifada was incited. The terrorist leaders cannot afford having their constituents turn soft with the comforts of the good life, and must foster the provocations that lead to war and suffering. Peace advocates get chopped down.) A most desirable direction would be the emancipation of the downtrodden Islamic women, which in some nations is less than a generation away. That could turn the faith around. Forget about quick solutions."
Happy Thanksgiving to all readers and their families from Wally Dobelis and the staff of T&V, and congratulations to Peggy Keilis, the poet laureate of Brotherhood Synagogue, for her New Yorker-style Chanukah Greetings, appearing in the November Bulletin (autographed copies available, upon application). Roger Angell will love them, as I did. He once warned me of getting in trouble with friends over the words. Have no fear, your words are gentle.
Dr. Paranoia claims that he tuned in on a Bill Moyers program on Channel 13, featuring an interview with the British historian Simon Schama, and could take just about 30 seconds of his description of the American empire before losing his cool. Dr. P's explanation: "We did not ask to be in foreign entanglements. We Americans elected a domestic-affairs only-minded President who did not want to know about foreign relations and diplomacy, who had never been abroad and who abhorred the concept of nation-building. Then we were subjected to a terrorist attack, forcing the new leader straight into the big world. Obligated to react in our defense, the President took direct action against the overt enemy, and preventive action against the covert potential enemy who's hoarding weapons of mass destruction. Now we, who are defending the world, are portrayed as the aggressors and imperialists. Stuff it, Shama.
"Are we imperialists, as accused by our own people? That self-hate tradition goes way back. Gore Vidal, within recent memory, whacked us for fostering imperialism, claiming information control exercised by both government and industry. He dredged up Admiral Mahan, TR and John Cabot Lodge, the Monroe Doctrine, the overt wars of Korea, Vietnam and Gulf, and what he considered the covert wars of Laos, Cambodia, the Caribbean, Central America, Africa, Chile and the Middle East, also the drug wars and the Iran-gate, as evidences of our actions in supporting "mostly anti-democratic forces." No discussion of our response to requests by the United Nations, nothing of defending legitimate establishments against terrorist type insurgencies, of the predatory nature of our Cold War enemy, and of helping nations attain independence.
"Someone has also shifted the definition of imperialism, to include the US among the bad guys. Once Spain, France and Britain were the imperialists, starting in the 16th Century. Then it meant political and economic subjugation of nations and exploitation of their resources. After 1945 and WWII we actively helped many exploited national groups attain independence, as we had after 1917 and WWI. Now the definition refers to domination in technological advances, culture and finances. No mention of the fact that we in the US provide an umbrella and a market for the products of emerging nations, abandoning jobs that our own workers need. We are blamed for keeping wages abroad at poverty levels, never mind that these nations would be suffering without our purchases, as the sluggard and beggarly countries are.
"Meanwhile, it is costing us. Such thinkers as Immanuel Wallerstein of Yale maintain that the US is fading as a global power, ever since our 1974 defeat in Vietnam, and the draws in Korea and in the 1991 Gulf war have not helped. The dollar is also fading, having been, by some miracle, the investment vehicle for 70^% of the world's savings while we produce only 30% of the world's output (actually it was due to Japan's collapse and the sluggish start of EU). That was the Clinton miracle, holding up the value of the dollar for ten years, sort of like levitation, without visible supports. Now, as the investments flow back out, the market cannot recover with ease, even when earnings improve and the political news lighten up.
"It is not all bad, pundit-wise. Such liberal oracles as Michael Ignatieff think that the US should really become the force of the world, for humanitarian reasons. That we are the world's only rescue against aggressive and destructive emanations should be clear to any thinking person. And there are emanations, not just al-Qaeda. The China vs Taivan conflict (we have helped hold the impasse), India vs Pakistan, threats from all the drug nations (Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Afghanistan), other crime nations in the making (think of the little banking facilitator islands for Russian and drug money), rogue nations presenting potential nuclear threat (North Korea, Iran, Libya), nations in the midst of infighting and genocide (Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone). And the real imperialists, controllers of the world's blood flow, its oil supply, some threatening, some threatened by their own radicals - not only Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait, Iran and Iraq in the Middle East, but also Russia, China, Venezuela and Mexico.
"So, how did we get to be the bad guys in the world's eyes?. Why did 500,000 people walk to Florence in a peace march, at the antiglobalization conference, threatening President Bush and America ? Don't they realize that they, as well as we, are the subjects of the terrorist aggression? Their ennobling struggle is that of the have-nots against the haves, the US and others who have polluted the world and are destroying its resources and ecologies, and are not willing to stop the industrial engine. There are mostly naive peaceful Luddites, urged on by radicals and prodded by some trouble-making anarchists. The smart people try to move Saddam to submit, to avoid war, the others, naively, try to move us.
"What about the Islamists, why are they our enemies? Well, in their view we are culturally corrupt and must be destroyed before we corrupt them. Then, add the street Islamists' hate for the rich and the powerful (they also hate their leaders for the same reasons). Then, factor in our support for our ally Israel. There is no hope for peace here, until the Islamist men acquire some wealth, property and the middle class values that come with it (the Palestinians were almost there when the 2nd Intifada was incited. The terrorist leaders cannot afford having their constituents turn soft with the comforts of the good life, and must foster the provocations that lead to war and suffering. Peace advocates get chopped down.) A most desirable direction would be the emancipation of the downtrodden Islamic women, which in some nations is less than a generation away. That could turn the faith around. Forget about quick solutions."
Happy Thanksgiving to all readers and their families from Wally Dobelis and the staff of T&V, and congratulations to Peggy Keilis, the poet laureate of Brotherhood Synagogue, for her New Yorker-style Chanukah Greetings, appearing in the November Bulletin (autographed copies available, upon application). Roger Angell will love them, as I did. He once warned me of getting in trouble with friends over the words. Have no fear, your words are gentle.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 3:18 PM 
