No Good End

There are many problems associated with any discussion of the American Empire, of its manifest decline, and of its inevitable end, not the least of which is the refusal of the average person to believe that there even _is_ such a thing as an “American Empire”. Most people, when you say the word “empire”, will immediately think of Rome, and armored troops out of one of those Hollywood Biblical epics marching around to the sound of long trumpets, oppressing the local populace and trampling underfoot anyone who gets in the way. And yes, theirs was a military empire first and foremost, but it was also an economic empire – consisting not just of Rome and various captive nations, but an economic center with many colonies, working toward what could, in many cases, be seen as mutual benefit. And to this it should be added that the colonies were, by and large, allowed to govern themselves up to a point – at least in the domestic arena – and their many and varied customs, folkways, and even religions were hardly tampered with. This, of course, reflected the accumulated wisdom of empire builders throughout the ages; even at that (to us, early) time it was recognized that if you leave people more or less alone in the simple, daily things they are not likely to rise up in revolt on matters of “foreign affairs”, and not even regarding self-determination, on any given day. There was, in fact, such a thing as the Pax Romana, and it was not unattractive – especially compared to some of the alternatives, like having to suffer invasions from the real barbarians – or one's neighbors (assuming those were not the same thing). And we know that the Dark Ages, so-called, only came to predominate after Rome lost its grip; it took new nations, and new empires, to restore a semblance of order and civilization of the “advanced” -- i.e. literate and with some continuity – sort to Western Europe.

But there were, of course, other forms of “empire”, principally those that originated with invasions from the East – and in those cases, the conquests were so total, and the oppression so brutal, the exploitation so one-sided, that one hesitates to even call the conquerors and their conquered territory “civilizations”. They were more like a variety of anarchy, with warlords roaming the countryside and only settling down after many years of conflict, if ever. And sure enough, not a whole lot in the way of significant cultural artifacts has come out of those times and those places; you might say that civilization, or “progress”, was on hold until someone with a better idea came along.

But in both of these major categories – and everything in between – one can discern three basic, seemingly-inevitable stages: I call them Expansion, Consolidation, and Decay. (These stages also describe various life processes, political and social movements, artistic movements, philosophical trends, and just about anything else for which time is a major factor.) In purely economic terms, for instance, we can characterize Expansion as the stage at which new markets are being opened up, new trade routes established, and where the nation or empire in question is getting a positive “return on investment” (ROI). In other words, for the price of a few military campaigns, invasions, etc., the rewards more than make up for the effort. (The Spanish exploration of the New World is certainly one of the better examples.) Consolidation is the stage after that initial influx of wealth when great fortunes are, perhaps, not as easily come by, but where there is still, in the aggregate, a positive ROI. (Think of Consolidation as the “capped well” stage of oil field development, vs. the initial “gusher” stage.)

Now we come to the tough part, which is Decay – and this can happen for any number of reasons, as so well demonstrated by Jared Diamond in “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and “Collapse”. Sometimes it really is about depletion of natural resources. It may be pestilence, or -- yes -- climate change. Sometimes it's increased rebelliousness on the part of the native populations... or migrations based on scarcity or famine. Sometimes it's a competing empire – and that may, in turn, be motivated by economic considerations, or by religious ideas, or by secular ideals. And, sometimes it's trouble on the home front – rebellion, revolution, economic crises, religious movements, and so on. (Think of Vietnam as one of the best examples in our own history.)

But here's the point. No one wants to live in “history” -- not really. Oh, they may enjoy living at a time when their nation, or culture, is dominant and seems to be on top of the world. The Expansion stage is exciting, no doubt – especially for certain personality types and people looking to make a quick buck. And the Consolidation stage isn't bad either, although it involves a lot more work than many people are willing to do. But nobody loves the Decay stage. For one thing, it's humiliating – there is great loss of face... self-doubt sets in... questions arise as to the validity or value of the culture, its underlying ideas, its creeds. But mainly there are economic losses, a narrowing of perspective, a loss of hope. Suddenly there is no longer any reason to believe in “progress” -- the next generation will live about the same way as the current one, if not worse. The icons and idols that sustained the society when it was dominating its neighbors are no longer performing that function, and no one is exactly sure why. There is a feeling of fatalism – of being, suddenly, trapped in a world one never made. And the few people who seem to remain dominant – or the new breed that starts taking over – are foreign-seeming, strange, “not like us” -- carpetbaggers, in effect.

Now, if all of the immediately-preceding sounds familiar, it's because it is. The American Empire, despite our continued military and economic (if on increasingly shaky ground) dominance, is already – even as we speak – going into decline, and the symptoms are already out there for all to see. And one of the leading symptoms – no surprise, really – is that of denial. And this denial is two-pronged; it can be denial that the empire is declining, or denial that there is anything to decline – i.e. denial that there is an empire at all. (In which case, one has to explain the symptoms some other way.) And this country, because we are an “ideational” or “propositional” nation rather than a more traditional one founded on land, blood, and faith, is more likely to engage in this sort of denial, and for a longer time – because the notion of “empire” is not really part of our self-image; it is not found in the founding documents, and is scarcely to be detected in so many words in the current pronouncements of our leaders (although it was more explicit in Theodore Roosevelt's day, for example). It is true, there is something a bit, well, crude about the notion of “empire”. It calls up images of mindless conquest for conquest's sake... of oppression and brutality... of exploitation... of making slaves of conquered races. None of it seems to have much to do with “ideas”, and if there is one thing America prides itself on, it is that it's a nation of “ideas” first and foremost. The problem, however, is that, historically, our zeal for ideas has frequently overtaken our aversion to empire-building, so that what we find ourselves with now is what is, in effect, an empire, which may have started at the idea or ideal level (think “Woodrow Wilson”) but which has, naturally and inevitably, grown into an empire pretty much like any other in history. In other words, no matter what the original motives may have been – and no matter whether honorable or no – the process itself of attempting to spread those ideas has had paradoxical results. You start out by trying to set a good example... and then turn to various forms of political and economic pressure... and then eventually give up and send the troops in – still preaching, in no less fervent terms, that it's all about things like “democracy”... and not only that, but that only the most ignorant and benighted would refuse to see it that way and try to resist our advances. So we have this paradox by which ideas that might actually have worked for one country (our own) have a tendency to morph and decay when applied elsewhere – not because the ideas per se are bad, but because the the idea of spreading them through force or coercion is bad. And that degree and type of badness really does, in effect, wipe out all the good those ideas might have done – so we wind up looking, and acting, like just another oppressive, conquering, empire-building race, that the rest of the world can't wait to get rid of. And not only that, but we experience “blow-back”, by which our attempts to spread our ideas by force lead to their being fatally compromised here at home.

Well, the above sums up what is in, I imagine, just a few thousand books... but the points to be drawn when it comes to current events are nonetheless worth making. Because even if it is admitted that there is, in fact, such a thing as the American Empire, not everyone will be willing to admit that it is in severe decline. Because, hey – don't we have troops in scores of places overseas? Don't we have the CIA, the “eyes and ears” of our national security apparatus, stationed virtually everywhere on Earth? (I don't even rule out North Korea.) Don't we spend more on “defense” than the rest of the world combined? (I'll get back to this point.) And – hey, let's get real here – isn't much of the rest of the world basically scared shitless of us? Doesn't that count for something? I mean – if they don't want “democracy”, the least we can do is to kick their sorry asses once in a while, right? Better than nothing, right? Well, maybe... except like a vaccination with booster shots, we are building up massive resistance around the world not only to our “ideas” but to us in general... and the latest economic crisis, which the rest of the world rightly sees as originating right here and richly deserved (by us, not them), isn't helping matters any. There are peoples and nations everywhere just waiting for the chance to leave the Empire – and some already have, in the case of Latin America. For others, it's not so much a matter of getting out from under our economic boot as declaring independence in the ideational sense – as witness the unraveling of our “coalition of the willing” in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's finally starting to dawn on them that we're just as crazy, in our own way, as the “terrorists”, and are actually less in touch with reality. They don't want to have anything more to do with our madness, and they now see a way out that they might not have seen before – we can't stop them, and we can hardly threaten them either. Besides, many of them already have experience with declining empires – their own; so why subject themselves to a repeat performance on our behalf? Better to let us learn our own lesson (or not learn – as the case may be) and leave them out of it.

So... if I have succeeded in establishing that there is, indeed, such a thing as the American Empire, and that it is in decline... and that much of what we see in the way of our troubles domestically and overseas is based on that fact... what is to be done? Well, for starters, the first step – as with any form of therapy – is to recognize that there is a problem. And then we have to decide whether we, in fact, even want an empire – and, to tell the truth, the American Empire has done the average American citizen about as much good as a case of scabies. Empires are always good for rulers, for the elite... they enable the military to earn plenty of medals... but as to the average citizen, they are typically a drain, and never more so than when in decline, and the government is taxing everyone into poverty for the sake of maintaining them. Thus, the more we lose our grip on the rest of the world, the higher a proportion of our national wealth is spent on “defense” -- i.e. defense of empire, not of the country per se... and as we lose our credibility abroad, and our perceived value to other countries, we are all the more anxious to occupy or dominate as many square miles as possible – hence, our obsession with setting up overseas “bases” in nearly every other country on earth. And, as always, the rest of the world is not loath to exploit our obsessions and our hubris, so is busy pecking away at us even as we fancy we are still in charge.

But, politics and even history aside, what is the average citizen to do? To begin with, we have to realize that much of our postwar prosperity has been false – that it has been built on the backs of our (undeclared) colonies – the “banana republics” come to mind, but there are plenty of others as well. Were we ever the blatant colonizers that the Belgians, for example, were in the Congo? It depends who you ask. No, we didn't hand out slave collars... but converting entire countries into American-owned plantations may not rank much higher on the moral scale... nor does enticing people who have lived on the land for millennia into sweatshops to produce leisure wear for Americans. Then there's the little matter of arming rebel groups in order to get a better “deal” on mineral rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Oh, heck, you might wind up with a few million children with missing limbs, but at least we get our molybdenum, or whatever it is. (And, not to forget, nearly all of those precious minerals from Africa wind up in our “defense” program. Just thought I'd throw that in.)

So, as a therapeutic protocol, I would recommend that anyone who is interested in retaining his sanity over the next few years do the following: (1) Admit that there is, and has been, an American Empire. (2) Admit that all indicators point to the fact that it in decline. (3) Admit that this decline is: (a) an inevitable stage in the natural cycle of all systems; (b) deserved; and (c) actually a good thing, from the moral point of view – i.e. it would be better, other things being equal, to live in a moral non-empire than an immoral empire. But then comes the tough part. We also have to admit that any form of decline – if cleansing on some level – is very seldom fun, or enjoyable. The rest of the world has shown up and is demanding that we pay the bill for our aggression and offenses of many years – and what this also means is that those alive now will be paying for the sins of those now dead. Call it “unfair”... call it “karma”... but that's just the way it's going to be. The world will give us no choice – it's not going to call off the day of reckoning just because of all the “innocents” who currently live here. Besides, they have all seen how we continue to beat up Germany because of the Nazis, and the North continues to beat up the South because of slavery, racism, discrimination, and so on. So we have not been the epitome of fairness... and why should anyone else be “fair” to us? It's payback time... and the process has already started in earnest in the Middle East and in Latin America, and could spread elsewhere without much trouble. We have already been made fools of by any number of warlords around the world... and in places like Afghanistan we are acting more like a helpless giant every day – lashing out, but digging ourselves deeper into the mire.

But hey, look on the bright side. Haven't you ever wondered what life was like during the declining days of the Roman Empire? Well, here's your chance to find out. And lest we forget, that empire-in-decline was the cradle of Christianity. Who knows what good might come out of this whole process? All we have to do is to get used to living in a world we never made, or grew up in... and get used to being unpopular, to put it mildly. Inconvenient... unfair... but very possibly character-building, which is what we may need more than anything else right now.