Around this time last year, I was corresponding regularly with a
globe-trotting Viennese Jewish linguist who was visiting Oklahoma City. She
wrote from
there about being deeply unnerved by the live and televised celebrations
that
she'd seen during our "Fourth Of July" holiday, because they vividly reminded her
of 1930s Germany, both as described by her older relatives and as captured by
Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda films.
This year, her astute observations came to mind as I watched the televised
Independence Day reveries in New York City, Boston, and DC. Despite their
beautiful pageantry, I could not help but note the presence of three virulent traits
that she'd observed: narcissistic solipsism; grandiose nationalism; and
strident militarism. [1]
As for our narcissistic solipsism, the USA's national consciousness has
become so insular that the rest of this wonderfully-diverse world appears to be a
gossamer haze which might - or might not - really exist, but is irrelevant in
either case. Today, this trait is rooted in Manifest Destiny's superiority
complex: "We don't need to understand them; they need to understand us. After all,
we ARE the world's sole superpower!" Historically, this trait was rooted in
Manifest Destiny's imperialist racism: "We must march from ocean to ocean. ...
It is the destiny of the white race." [2]
As for our grandiose nationalism, I certainly don't think it's wrong to feel
love for one's nation! However, the regressive right's "form-over-substance"
celebrations venerate abstract national symbols like the flag with piety
while they eviscerate substantive national realities like the Bill of Rights with impunity. And they triumphalistically elevate "The Troops" and "The Homeland" to
pseudo-messianic status while they separate us from the supranational love of humankind. Furthermore, the right misunderstands the holiday, formerly known as
"Independence Day" but currently known as "The Fourth Of July," as their license to
indulge in arrogant, ahistorical, over-the-top displays of our "national superiority" that feature flags, food, and fireworks: "It's all about us! We're
number one! We are the champions of the world!"
Contrastingly, the progressive left understands that inviolable substantive
rights trump mere symbols. And that Independence Day should be celebrated in
its proper historical context. It's all about honoring the ideas of the American
revolutionaries - especially the founders who signed the Declaration of
Independence on July 4, 1776. Our communities publicly honor them because their
brilliant ideas about self-governance in a democratic republic eclipsed the
royalist pretensions of the British Crown, and their sacred convictions about
liberty and equality withstood the intimidating might of the British Empire.
Progressives realize that Independence Day wasn't meant to be the
megalomaniacally self-congratulatory pridefest that it has become. It was meant to be
both a gracious way of acknowledging our priceless heritage - for which we never
could thank the founding generation enough - and a humble way of saying "We've
come far since 1776, but we got here by riding on the shoulders of giants!"
As for our execrable swoon into strident militarism, many people incorrectly
think "militarism" connotes a blanket condemnation of the military. It does
not. What does "militarism" mean? Here's one scholar's definition: "The term
'militarism' describes a society in which war, or preparation for war, dominates
politics and foreign policy. Soldiers and military-minded civilians become a
governing elite dedicated to expanding the military establishment and
inculcating martial values." [3]
If militarism can be likened to a disease, are there any recognizable
cultural symptoms? Yes. Economic addiction to war, a bloated military-industrial
complex, rampant corporate war-profiteering, a timid propaganda-parrotting media,
near-worship of the troops, and widespread public corruption are some of the
cultural symptoms of a nation that is suffering from the disease of militarism.
These symptoms should sound familiar, as in "An America Celebration at Ford's
Theater: A Salute to the Troops!" [4] Or "New Spartanland's Military-Minded
Civilian Leaders Support Our Glorious Troops on the Fourth of July to Inculcate
Martial Values."
Unlike today's leaders, the American founders learned about the perils of
militarism through sore experience. As colonial subjects of the militaristic
British Empire, they saw firsthand that a large standing army in the midst of a
democratic people poses a grave danger to liberty, and that unnecessary
entanglements in foreign military adventures can bankrupt a nation financially and
morally. [5] Hence, they sought constitutional measures to prevent both
situations. Nevertheless, both situations are upon us today, largely because we're far
less wise. If our leaders had learned history's lessons, they'd know that
militarism is a toxic catalyst that can trigger a national descent into fascism.
[6]
After carefully considering my Viennese friend's apt historical analogy
between 1930s Germany and the Bushite USA, I too am wondering whether atavistic
realities lie beneath the symbolic surface of our nation's prideful pomp and
fireworks pageantry. In days to come, will we pull ourselves back from the
militaristic brink upon which we've been teetering, or tumble headlong into homegrown
fascism?
I hope a sea-change is occurring. That the day might be dawning when the
American people finally wake up, and let their government know that they've had
enough. We can tell them with our votes that we've finally had ENOUGH of their
bloodthirsty militarism; ENOUGH of their depraved global empire of more than
6,725 military bases; ENOUGH of their extravagant expenditures on the endless
overkill of superfluous hi-tech weaponry; and ENOUGH of their obscenely-bloated
defense budgets! [7]
It's up to us. It's our watch now. We're freedom's flamekeepers. Dark storm
clouds are approaching swiftly on the horizon. If we don't tell our leaders
"Enough!", a severe challenge could emerge soon. In 1945, our parents and grandparents proved equal to their challenge by defeating fascism before it
snuffed
out freedom's flame abroad. Like them, we must prove equal to our challenge
by defeating neofascism before it achieves a stranglehold at home. [8]
"American Militarism, Part 1: Is The USA Addicted To War?
First Consider The Evidence, Then Draw Your Own Conclusions":
http://orbstandard.com/News/Peterson/peterson_is_the_us_addicted_to_war.html
Endnotes
[1] Also see James Carroll's wise 7-5-05 CD/BG essay, "The Day After The
Fireworks": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0705-24.htm
[2] Representative Giles of Maryland, quoted in Dr. Joel Andreas' excellent
illustrated book, Addicted to War - Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism (Oakland,
CA: AK Press, 2004), p. 3 [You can order the updated hardcopy version for $10.00
at this e-mail address: akpress@akpress.org . Or you can read the 2002 online
version after you've signed up for free at this website:
http://www.american-buddha.com/addict.war.toc.htm .]
[3] Arthur A. Ekirch Jr., "Militarism And Antimilitarism," The Oxford
Companion To American Military History (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999),
p. 438. [American militarism has deeply-embedded cultural and economic
components that his definition doesn't reach. The subject is far more complex. For
example: (a) the 2004 presidential race was focused for months - absurdly and to
our detriment - on the candidates' so-called "qualifications to be
commander-in-chief," which ultimately reduced down to their brief tenures as
lower-ranking military officers 35 years ago (this is tantamount to arguing that "I
coached a Little League baseball team in 1970, so I'm qualified to coach the New
York Yankees today."); and (b) the Bushites chose to ignore international law's
outlawry of aggressive war so they could wage "perpetual war" against Islamic
civilization, and thus conquer and occupy its petro-states before the global
energy market reaches "peak oil" and fossil-fuel prices skyrocket.]
[4] Mr. Bush and his national-security team attended this "salute to the
troops," which ABC televised on July 4, 2005. These essays and books insightfully
address American militarism, which is to say our vehemently-denied, and yet
very real addiction to war:
A. Greg Guma's 6-24-05 CD essay, "Addicted to War: An Insider Examines
The Seductive Myths Of Militarism" [Summarizes the excellent arguments against
militarism that BU Professor Andrew Bacevich makes in his book, The New
American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005). Bacevich is a former conservative military officer who
graduated
from West Point, served in the Vietnam War, then studied as a Bush Fellow at
the American Academy in Berlin.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0624-26.htm
B. UCSD Professor Emeritus Chalmers Johnson's outstanding book, The
Sorrows Of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (New York:
Metropolitan Books, 2004) [A brilliant and sobering assessment of the
Congressional-military-industrial complex, which has produced a global empire of bases, a war-dependent economy, and an ever-deepening militarism that threatens to
destroy our democratic republic.]
[5] Medea Benjamin's 7-3-05 CD essay, "Creating Independence In The Era Of
Empire": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0703-25.htm
[6] Evan Augustine Peterson III's 2-6-05 NFPNZ essay, "Of Militarism,
Fascism, War And National Consciousness" [Explains from a social sciences perspective
the genesis of American militarism, the possibility that we are currently
devolving into fascism, and the alternative possibility of evolving into an
authentically nonviolent society.]: http://nuclearfree.lynx.co.nz/of.htm
[7] Four fact-based articles expose the shocking degree to which the USA has
overinvested in its military. We ought to be asking ourselves "How much is
enough?"
A. Tom Englehart's 6-2-05 CD/TD essay, "Bases, Bases Everywhere: It's A
Pentagon World And Welcome To It" [Provides eye-opening details about the
Pentagon's ever-expanding empire of over 6,000 domestic bases, and 725 overseas
bases; demonstrates that the Bush administration has planned, from the very
beginning, to expand this vast empire of US military bases, and thereby achieve
control of oil-rich nations in the Middle East and Central Asia.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0602-28.htm
B. Peter Starck's 6-7-05 CD/Reuters article, "World Military Spending
Topped $1 Trillion In 2004" [In its annual study of world military
expenditures, SIPRI concluded that the USA accounted for nearly half - 47% - of the
world's military expenditures in 2004. By comparison: (1) the next four biggest
military spenders COMBINED - Britain, France, Japan and China - account for only
17% of the world's military expenditures; and (2) the USA's $455 billion
military expenditure in 2004 was LARGER than the COMBINED amount the 32
next-most-powerful nations spent on their militaries. SIPRI is globally respected for the
reliability of its data, but the USA's 2004 military spending was higher than
SIPRI stated. SIPRI might not have taken into account the multibillions in
supplemental appropriations that Congress allocated for Bush's wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.]: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0607-03.htm
C. Jurgen Brauer and Nicholas Anglewitz's 6-12-05 TP essay, "Two Thirds
On Defense" [The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) wanted to accurately
account for total government spending on defense and nondefense, so they
recalculated the 2004 federal budget outlay. BEA concluded that: (1) the government has
been massively UNDERSTATING ITS DEFENSE SPENDING BY HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS; and (2) for every dollar that the US government spends, 68 cents goes to military defense, and only 32 cents goes to civilian nondefense. In short, THE US GOVERNMENT ACTUALLY SPENDS MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF EVERY DOLLAR ON MILITARY DEFENSE!]: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050610/twothirds_on_defense.php
D. CitizenWorks.org's webpage, "Stop Corporate War Profiteers!" [Contains
eye-opening information, such as: (a) fact sheets about the gold-plated,
no-bid contracts that the Pentagon awards to certain favored defense contractors
like Bechtel and Halliburton; and (b) links to useful websites that reveal
heretofore well-kept secrets, like the huge dollar amounts that corporate
war-profiteers "donate" to politicians and their parties.]:
http://www.citizenworks.org/corp/warcontracts/warcontracts.php
[8] Thom Hartmann's must-read 7-5-05 CD essay, "Supreme Court - Media Ignore
Possible 'Fascist' Play" [Compellingly explains why the stakes will be
unusually high
in the coming fight to determine who will replace retired SCOTUS Justice Sandra Day O'Connor - especially if
Mr. Bush nominates USAG
Alberto Gonzales,
or someone who shares his history of fascistic contempt for our civil and human rights under constitutional and international law.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0705-31.htm
_______________________________________
About The Author:
Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D., is the Executive Director of the American
Center for International Law ("ACIL"). He writes on international law, human
rights, foreign policy, government, politics, culture, and ethics. His articles
have been published online by - among others - AxisOfLogic, BuffaloReport,
CentreForGlobalResearch, CoalitionForFreeThoughtInMedia, ColdType,
Democrats.com, Eklektikos, EnvirosAgainstWar, ForeignPressFoundation,
InformationClearingHouse, IrishAntiwar, NewtopiaMagazine, NuclearFreePeacemakerNewZealand, OnlineJournal, OpEdNews, OrbStandard, PopulistAmerica, Scoop, TheModernTribune, ThePeoplesVoice, TheRepublic, TodaysAlternativeNews, UrukNet, VHeadline, and ZNet.
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