[lit-ideas] Re: A Revolution in the USA?
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:24:41 -0400
Morris Berman (Dark Ages America) makes the point that there is no left in
the U.S. We don't have and have never had a socialist or even social
tradition. And yes, Berman thinks Americans are apathetic, they'll vote
for any dictator who will allow them an SUV. He didn't use the words in
his talk, but essentially he says Americans are happy with bread and
circuses. It's what the Romans used to keep their people quiet. Berman
says we're one terror attack from a police state. He makes the point that
torture in this country has been written into law for the first time in our
history. Who was the author of that law? Gonzalez, the Justice
Department.
It's curious that Lawrence is always carrying on about the left in the U.S.
undermining the country. There is no left in the U.S. and never has been,
Berman says, and when something goes wrong, a mythical left is conjured up
to take the hit. Berman makes the argument that even FDR's social
policies, limited as they were, have been the cause of more consternation
and contention, and now in these Dark Ages, charities are peddled to
eliminate social programs all together. Result: Katrina. Berman also
makes the point that the American experiment started to go wrong virtually
at the turn of the 1800's. It's taken the rest of the time for this
experiment to play out, and, he says, the empire is now over.
> [Original Message]
> From: Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 8/14/2006 12:49:36 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] A Revolution in the USA?
>
> A few years ago, on the Fourth of July, a bunch of friends got together
for a picnic and to
> watch the fireworks. The sun went down and the fireworks went up.
>
> In the group, there was a 20-something and after a while, she said "yes,
but why are there
> fireworks? What's the connection?"
>
> There was a long awkward silence. Finally, I said "well, it's to
celebrate the American
> Revolution."
>
> She scoffed "Oh, c'mon, there's never been a revolution in the US."
>
> And that caused a great deal of nervous laughter, because, well, she was
right. She can well
> be excused for thinking there has never been a revolution in the USA.
Lawrence and his
> friends would certainly deny any revolution ever happened.
>
> The history of the USA and the UK is very odd. Only because of history
books do I know that
> the British also had a Glorious Revolution. But if I ignore history
books, then who could
> possibly imagine that the British ever had a revolution?
>
> The French had a revolution, and everyone is well aware of that, even 200
years later.
> Germany tried to have a revolution in 1848, but it was crushed. What
might have been if they
> had been successful? The Russian Revolution and later, the Chinese
Revolution threw the 20th
> century into turmoil.
>
> But a revolution in the USA and the UK? Really now.
>
> The US thinks of itself as a progressive country that is an example for
others. Yes, during
> the US revolution, it was. But like Soviet revolutionary slogans, the
idea has remained
> while the leadership has replaced it with its opposite.
>
> The Nazi were also revolutionary. Revolutions aren't always leftist:
there have been
> conservative revolutions, monarchist revolutions, theist revolutions, and
so on. The
> Fascists wanted to install a New World Order (starring only themselves).
Similar to
> Revolutionary France vs. Everyone Else, it became Fascists vs. Everyone
Else. The Soviets
> were first allies with the Nazi (unbelievably) and then, just to show
that the Goddess of
> History is a joker, the Soviets became allies with the USA. WWII was
essentially an upstart
> country trying to seize land and other countries resisted. The UK and the
USA were the
> conservatives of the 1900s. The USA beat down every possible form of
socialism and social
> justice in the USA with Red Scares, witch hunts, and, well, just plain
shooting them. There
> are very very few Americans who are revolutionary, even in the sense of
the original
> American Revolution.
>
> The USA, born in revolution, became the leading power for conservatism.
Perhaps it was
> slavery that killed the revolution while it was still a baby. The men who
led the revolution
> and signed the Constitution were slaveholders. Life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness,
> but only for the elite. All others are dogs. The American revolution
limped on throughout
> Jackson and up to Lincoln, where the boil finally broke. The North won,
but... it was the
> Southerners who had led the revolution and had the high American ideals.
They lost and
> Northern industrialisation wiped out the country gentleman farmer. Up to
the early 1830s,
> 90% of Americans worked their own farms and were self-substaining. After
industrialization
> (and even up to now), 95% of Americans work for somebody else. The
idealists of the
> revolution lost and were replaced by merchantilists and industrialists.
>
> As people became workers, they became politically passive. The elites
write the laws and use
> the laws to protect their property (and that property includes land,
minerals, factories,
> and the workers in those factories.)
>
> Thus the USA and the UK and other industrialized nations that were born
in revolution and
> liberty have become essentially conservative. Even the Soviet Union, born
as the Russian
> Revolution, became conservative by the 60s. Conservative countries only
join together when
> they have to fight wars against upstarts that threaten the system of
exploitation and
> ownership. They joined together to defeat the fascists and Tojo Japan
(and rightly so: both
> were destructive enterprises.)
>
> The conservative countries keep citizens under control by using the
revolutionary slogans
> (democracy, rights, liberty) and even uses them against revolutions that
are indeed
> progressive. Ronald "The Great American" Reagan used these very ideas to
attack the
> Nicaraguan Revolution, which has overturned a hated authoritarian
government.
>
> Thus we have the USA, where conservatives despise "Liberals". Liberals,
of course, were the
> revolutionaries who created the USA, fought the War of Independance
against a British
> aristocracy, and wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, some of
the finest documents
> in world history. Those liberals are now widely viewed as treasonists. If
alive today,
> they'd be hunted down, locked up in Guantanamo, and tortured forever.
George Washington,
> Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and others used terrorism to fight
authority, fought a
> guerilla war while hiding among the population, and called for others to
overthrow
> established governments sanctioned by God. Clearly enemy combatants.
>
> It isn't only the US that has developed this way. Communist China is
(very) quickly turning
> into a capitalist state.
>
> Quite a reversal, no? A political movement, born in revolution, becomes
conservative and
> uses the slogans of revolution as justification to destroy further
revolutions, thus
> becoming ever more conservative.
>
> That's why a 20-something can scoff and say there's never been a
revolution in the USA.
>
> yrs,
> andreas
> www.andreas.com
>
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