Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, November 03, 2006
America the Temporary
I understand what you’re saying, and you’re absolutely right.
I’ve traveled the world, been all over. And for me America is not represented by the things you mention. Its the ideas that live after an empire dies that define it.
The Roman Empire is remembered for its horrific industrial scale slavery, aggressive war waging in the name of “glory”, and supplanting local cultures with a “Roman” culture.
It is also remembered as spreading the idea of “Reason”, literacy, pragmatism, aqueducts, roads, a system that emphasized rule of LAW, not rule of POWER.. even if they failed at it.. they tried.
For good or evil, the Romans unified a huge portion of our planet, and a thousand years after its fall, the resurrection of its ideas led to the renaissance.I’ve traveled everywhere, and I can tell you that American ideas are good ideas in general, and that many countries understand that rule of law, equality of opportunity, not judging someone on their background… things that have gone far, or have started in our own country will carry on.
In China, a young man told me that his favorite thing about America was Greenday’s song “American Idiot”. “Not because I think your president is an idiot,” he said, “But because there could never be a song called “Chinese Idiot”.
Perfect? NO. But answer this question… who would you rather have as the most powerful country on the planet?
None would be nice… but not realistic, yet.Posted by Joshua J on from DC (Imperial City) 11/03 at 06:46 AMHm… I don’t know. Well I’m going to see this Borat movie tomorrow. I don’t understand him, don’t Kazaks find him offensive?
And yeah, JOS is probably going to get jealous of me. As will Mudge for different reasons.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/03 at 07:34 AMHello Expendables...from a chilly NYC. What’s up, Cat Lady?
Joshua: Welcome to the site and thanks for the comments. Sure, America is more open and free than China. But you also say Charles Manson is less murderous than Adolf Hitler. I’m not sure what to make of such comparisons.
Also, you say it’s not realistic to not have a “most powerful country on the planet,” but how realistic has it been to have one? No one is aiming for “perfect,” but how much more can the planet take?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/03 at 08:59 AMGood morning Mickey, Joshua, and James…
Joshua, My view is a bit different from yours. Are you really saying that the “rule of law” will carry on in the usa? Maybe I am not hearing you correctly. In the usa we have the rule of money. The court system has been so contaminated with money, politics, and corruption that, in some cases the legal system in China is better than ours. As just one example refer to the report in People’s Daily Online (April 8, 05) titled, “Chinese courts exempt poor litigants from lawsuit fees.”
As far as which country should be the most powerful, maybe one that did not try to shove predatory Capitalism down the throats of unarmed sovereign nations all around the world. Also, maybe one that had universal health care. Also one that really did follow the rule of law. No nation is perfect, but I can think of a lot of improvements that could be made in the usa.Also has anyone noticed that none of the major party candidates is calling for all usa troops to come home. They are calling for “redeployment”, a buzz word for, let’s bring them across the Iraqi border. I wonder how the usa would feel if there were hostile troops lined up on the Mexican or Canadian border.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/03 at 09:03 AMSorry, RMJ...simultyping. Good morning.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/03 at 09:05 AMMIckey, we were symultyping. Funny how we both mention China. Right now I would welcome being in a Chinese court.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/03 at 09:06 AMAnd besides that, the usa is now targeting the youngest usa citizens, those born in the usa to immigrants. These little babies will not be allowed ANY health care unless the parents come up with the cash. Where is our humanity? We better get some doctors from Cuba to come over here and help deliver health care to the needy.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/03 at 09:25 AMLewis Lapham’s ‘Notebook’ column in the November issue of Harpers starts with these lines from Shelley:
War is the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight,
The lawyer’s jest, the hired assassin’s trade,
And to those royal murderers whose mean thrones
Are bought by crimes of treachery and gore,
The bread they eat, the staff on which they lean.Posted by sk on from 11/03 at 09:25 AMThe U.S. was founded on genocide. A cursory glance at our history, (the decimation of indigenous people, slavery, mass warfare and imperialism abroad--to boil it down) makes this clear.
I’ve been reading Endgame of late, and it is blowing my mind. One thing I more fully realized is the necessity of violence and destruction to maintain the way of life and “freedoms” that we “enjoy.”
Here’s the thing that really sent shock waves through me: What if all of the sudden the liberal fantasy came true, and the U.S. totally cut out it’s military and instead spent the resources on schools, social programs, solar panels, or, I don’t know, fighting AIDS in Africa? If that actually happened, our whole society would completely collapse. Sure, the Saudis would still sell us oil, and the Chinese would still sell us manufactured goods, but at prices we would no longer be able to afford. This isn’t necessarily direct, mind you, the Saudis and the Chinese (and many other countries, I’m just using them as an example) aren’t exactly looking down the barrel of an American gun, but the very existence of our bloated war machine, with an invasion and/or bombing every now and then, gives us the ability to completely loot the world.
I never totally understood the logic, from the Neo-Con perspective, of invading Iraq. It was obvious that we would never promote democracy, or at the most cynical, be able to profit from Iraqi oil anytime soon. Now I realize that wasn’t the point. The point is to create and maintain destabilty in the region. By doing so, we still get our (relatively) cheap oil. It was then I realized our operations have actually been a success. For slightly different yet similar reasons, our operations in Vietnam were a success as well.One of the core concepts of Buddhism is impermanence. Can you dig it?
Posted by Brian on from Belly of the Beast 11/03 at 10:13 AMhello everyone
good article mickey.
i mentioned some similar stuff in one or two things i did (namely a review of your book and one other thing)
it is not just the usa though, most nations have a founding myth or at least a distorted and romanticised version of the events around the creation of any given state. the people in charge find it very useful to have a myth that they can attempt to unify people with. ditto religion.
Posted by michael on from exile 11/03 at 10:27 AM9 seconds long
????...Posted by michael on from exile 11/03 at 10:34 AMMorning everyone…
James, are you telling me you and a certain someone have hooked up? I am jealous.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 11/03 at 10:40 AMahhh
having a homesick day
i feel forced to post this for some reason…
and another, myself (taking the photo) and a friend on a trip in a different place. i go to these places a lot when i am at home..
Posted by michael on from exile 11/03 at 12:08 PMFrom yesterday, I had the same problem with Finkelstein’s site--a blank page.
As for Seattle, particularly with reference to owen’s #9, it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. Like in The Grapes of Wrath where the agent provacateurs try to crash the party and start a brawl, but Tom Joad and the others are on to them and don’t let any trouble start, police themselves and prevent any violence from occuring.
People should learn that lesson from Seattle. The lesson is not to protest, but if we protest and trouble starts, we need to put an end to it ourselves if the police won’t, but only use it as an excuse to crack down on peaceful, legitimate protestors.
As for “America the temporary”, I think MZ’s struck a topic of IMMENSE importance. The collapse of the Mayans is but one example. There is no shortage of others. History repeats itself, but we refuse to learn from it.
Long story short--we’re living completely unsustainably, and the only possible outcome is disaster and quite possibly utter devastation.
I’m one of those who subscribe to the belief that if we don’t act now to change course, we will very soon be beyond the point of no return.
I don’t happen to believe that’s pessimistic. I think that’s realistic with a great deal of optimism. There’s still time. We can still prevent a cataclysmic collapse.
(BTW, I’m not talking about preserving the American Empire--just in case that needed clarifying. I’m talking about the bigger picture, civilization as we know it itself).
Michael, thanks for the pics. Makes me feel good just imagining I’m there. I need to get out, take a hike in the mountains.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei 11/03 at 12:36 PMFor the Finkelstein, try this: http://tinyurl.com/y3b95j
Jeremy, I have felt for a while that we are far past the point of no return. That’s it. The apocolypse hit, and this is what it feels like living in hell: no one is happy, everything is sick and in a state of decay, plant and animal species disappear all the time (we do that), on and on and on and on.
Now. If that is the case—and this is something Jensen writes over and over—what do we have to lose? Nada.
Is that why people are so goddamned decadent, unaccountable, and confused, or why there is such a powerful movement to make this horrid place livable again? I dunno, you decide.
PS: what powerful movement would that be?
Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 11/03 at 01:43 PMHello again, all. In line with today’s gloom and doom, I submit this for the “movement." Don’t you just love the “seafood” headline?
Also, it looks like I have an enemy.
Excellent photos, Michael, but that video…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/03 at 02:40 PMHa ha, I saw that headline on CNN.com yesterday, and thought the same thing. It isn’t an ecosystem with a life of its own and a right to that life, but SEAFOOD. My god.
Posted by Brian on from Belly of the Beast 11/03 at 02:48 PMEverything is defined by how it serves privileged humans.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/03 at 02:55 PMOUR seafood will be gone!
Someone in my office actually read this story and announced it to everyone, then said that it’s OK because all the seafood is poisoned by mercury. I pointed out that we were the ones that put the mercury there...pretty funny, huh?
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 11/03 at 03:04 PMReminds me of one of my latest poems, entitled “Cliff Divers:”
Have you ever spoken
to the people
in your life
about how we are
ending this world?It is kind of like
speaking to a nihilist
on a suicide pact
in a Dostoevsky novel.Posted by JOS on from Chicago 11/03 at 03:06 PMNice poem, JOS. Amazingly, I sometimes do talk about our dire situation and many (mainstream) folks just shake their head and agree. No fight left in them.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/03 at 03:07 PMIt’s not the earth that’s in danger. It’s We who are in danger. We are on the road to extinction and we are doing it to ourselves. No need for anything to fall from the sky just give us a little more time and we’ll take care of it ourselves. The Earth will be fine. It will shrug us off and just go on with it’s bad self.
Posted by David on from Louisville KY 11/03 at 11:56 PMKeir, thanks for the Finkelstein link. On being past the point of no return, you may be right. I try to be hopeful.
Great comments today. It’s hard to find people who are interested in looking at the problems, much less finding solutions.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei 11/04 at 12:34 AM
Next entry: Fabio: "They cannot keep up with me"
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