darkness
A NV Guest Commentary
"Over coffee this Sunday morning, my spouse and I had a
discussion about how the United States in its current
empire-building mode is beginning to resemble the Soviet
Union:
- The paranoia and turn to ideological rigidity;
- Lack of accountability
- Economic stagnation
- Restrictions on information and civil liberties
- Preoccupation with the use of military force as a policy
option; and
- The increasing use of propaganda.
That discussion stimulated the writing of this concept piece
that explores the thought in a little more detail. Hopefully,
this idea will interest others to contribute their own thoughts
and research to it. For those interested in Presidential politics,
the value of sinking this meme deep into the public
consciousness should be obvious.
DOWN THE WRONG PATH
President Bush and his neocon cabal are taking this country
down the same path traveled by the former Soviet Union in
the 1980s and 1990s. And you know what happened to the
Soviet Union (hint for those of you who dont read history
closely it doesnt exist any longer).
What are the signs that this is happening? Here are just a few
examples:
Our leadership is becoming ideologically rigid. It argues that
our way of life has to be spread, at the point of a gun if
needed, all over the world as a means of self-defense. Those
who would question or oppose the direction this country is
heading (which is their privilege as citizens) are accused of
providing aid and comfort to our enemies.
Policies of the federal government, both foreign and domestic,
are increasingly being debated and implemented in secret,
with little accountability to Americans or their elected
representatives.
Investment in municipal infrastructure is declining in
proportion to the needs of the country transportation, water
and wastewater systems, education and research, health care,
civic life (arts, recreation, social services), and environmental
protection. The Russian republics have never recovered from
this disinvestment in their domestic needs.
Economic planning has become increasingly centralized. The
fact that centralized planning is occurring largely through large
private corporations rather than the federal government
doesnt change the fact that economic decisions affecting
millions of Americans are being made unilaterally by a small
group of people.
The rest of the world is being viewed with increased paranoia
and unilateral military action is increasingly viewed as the first
option in managing geopolitical problems. There is a
preoccupation with achieving technological military
superiority over all rivals, real or imagined.
Investment in military hardware in increasing, and threatens to
choke the economic vitality of the nation. A significant
proportion of this spending on is items that are not really
pertinent to national defense or the threats this country faces.
At the same time, there isnt sufficient investment in other
things that win wars, such as the human capital of our military
services.
Increasingly, the United States is viewed by other nations as a
rogue power that needs to be reined in.
Civil liberties and the free flow of information are being
curtailed in the name of homeland security.
Propaganda and disinformation are being used increasingly to
spread the federal governments point of view and to quash
any who would challenge those messages.
The intent of this is not to equate the neocons currently
running this country with the old men who ran the Soviet
Union (though some readers of this essay will connect those
dots themselves). However, any leader class that becomes
infatuated with its sense of importance and power can fall into
this same trap. There is a growing awareness that our
leadership fits this description, but this is happening very
slowly. Ill be satisfied if the communist meme has any
value in alerting large numbers of people to this growing
threat.
Many correspondents will inevitably be peeved or outraged
by the apparent comparison of the conservative Bush
administration (heir to the stalwart commie-hating Cold
War-fighting Nixon and Reagan administrations) to
communists. However, they are not my audience and I am
not interested right now in a debate with those possible
critics. The audience for this essay consists of those
thoughtful individuals, conservative or liberal who may be
intrigued by this model. If enough people help in compiling
the research needed to determine whether or not we
Americans are turning into Soviets, then writing this essay has
been well worth the effort."
Thanks To John L
5:40:07 AM
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