American Imperium

There is a little known curse that comes with teaching Critical Thought. It is especially bad if you also teach History. It is that your thoughts do not always go where you want them to go. Sometimes they bring you to conclusions that you would rather not think about.

I have not written in a while. Events happen, or rather transpire, and the writing sometimes gets pushed aside. However, that does not mean that the thinking goes away. Watching events play out on the world’s stage lately have transfixed us all, especially since 9/11. You know what I mean? This whole interplay between America and the rest of the world seems to be something brand new, and most people are unsure of what to think about it.

The fact is America has been, and is now, in the position of being not just the world’s benevolent leader, but the world’s dictator. In other words, America could become an Imperium like Rome was in its days of glory. The reason this has never happened is because our leaders have been patriotic Americans who have been fairly well reasoned individuals who were more intent on using diplomacy to solve the world’s problems. Our leaders generally have also had the check and balance of Congress to oversee their decisions.

Our current President, however is a redneck Texan. This is not an accusation nor a derogatory statement of Mr. Bush. He is a good and decent man. He is even a religious and prayerful man, and I have learned to pray for him too, since he took office.

We all know that people like him are true blue patriots, through and through. They are just different kinds of Americans than, say Americans from the East or the West Coast. For a redneck American, if a neighbor, or a country or a people should happen to cross them, they will bring out the big guns and just blow them folks away without thinking twice about any morality or justification for their actions. This is just how they are. It is up to you to conclude if this is a good thing or not for our country right now.

There are a lot more issues involved here than meets the eye, and there are issues of personality concerning our President and those of his staff than we could go into here. Then there is the issue of oil and our dependence on it. There is also the debate about whether Saddam is the threat to us and the world that our President portrays him to be.

There are a dozen more issues in all of this, but I think you see the point that we are in a new and different place right now in the history of the world than we have ever been before. And the world knows it. Global anti-war demonstrations and the surprisingly hot disagreements of the United Nations charter members are unprecedented.

So where do you think this is all going?

Twenty years from now we could all be living in the new American Empire. The world could also be dealing with the United States on the same desperate basis that the nations of the world had to face with the Roman Empire.

What would life in an American Imperium be like?

First of all, forget personal freedoms such as the right to assemble, the right to bear arms, and the right of free speech. These would all be taken away in order to protect the Motherland. You might also lose the right of free travel in between states. You could also see the sale of Citizenship replace the right of people born here to be citizens. But the country and the world would be a safer place to live, right?

How close would the American Imperium be to a dictatorship? Ask any ancient Roman citizen. Perhaps if we are lucky we will not have to burn incense to an American Caesar casting himself as a god sometime in this century.

All of this is impossible, you say?

Think about it.

Only a third of Americans bother to vote in any election. The majority of all high school graduates are unable to read beyond a sixth grade level. The very idea of Critical Thought is a joke. Most Americans are more concerned about their personal wealth and their mobility than they are about the real issues facing our planet such as global warming, genetics, or crop control. Apathy and ignorance abound in our proud nation. This of course does not apply to MyMac readers!

You might be thinking that the current events are just that, current events, and they won’t be an issue in the future. Not so. Our population is in decline. The nations who we view as our enemies have very prolific populations. Millions of Americans are laid off their jobs, while the very important and necessary jobs in this country go begging for qualified and educated applicants. History says these current events are not going away in this century.

Suppose our President is successful in the impending war with Iraq? Suppose our faltering economy booms afterward, and oil prices fall? Suppose Mr. Bush and others who think like he does continue to fill the office of President in the coming decades? Suppose we see that the other nations are powerless to prevent us from doing what we please, and that the United Nations is indeed ‘marginalized’ because of its weak and unenforceable policies?

Suppose there are to be more horrors like the fall of the Twin Towers on September 11th inflicted upon our shores by our enemies?

Do you see the pattern? Can you see the trend?

Some people even believe that an American Imperium might be the only thing that could prevent a catastrophic World War III. What do you think?

For a picture of what the American Imperium would be like, go to “Advanced Citizenship 10101” Or re-read Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers,” Or perhaps if you are very brave, read Orwell’s “1984.”

History changes. Nations rise and fall.

History also repeats itself, (there went another Serbian leader, right on time!)

– and those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Thanks for your time. . . – oh, and don’t forget to vote!

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Roger Born