Modern Imperialism in the U.S. of A.

In the face of American imperialism over the past 30 years, many Muslim nations have fallen at the hands of the United States’ oil-greedy, faux-democracy-bearing, righteous, white, bastard politicians. As Taxi to the Dark Side discusses, much of the current “extremist” problem is due to American treatment of the Middle Eastern peoples. However, extreme torture is only a minor facet to this issue. As a documentary, I can understand why the film would only focus on such a narrow topic to capture and persuade audiences. But the problems with American militaristic imperialism reach far beyond torture and far beyond the era of the 2000s. Our influence on these oil rich nations goes back decades. American actions in the late 20^th century, for example, are directly responsible for the rise of religious extremism in the government of Iran today. In a review of author Stephen Kinzer’s Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, Susan Froetschel writes, “In 1953, the CIA overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh for the British, installing a dictator who had no qualms about welcoming foreign oil firms. That operation galvanized radical fundamentalists, who, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, orchestrated the 1978 revolt, and ‘their example inspired Muslim fanatics around the world.’"  The United States is also directly responsible for the rise of the Taliban – one of our main enemies today. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the US funneled money to insurgents in Pakistan without much direction of the money’s intent. These actions facilitated the birth of the Taliban. Froetschel writes, “ The Pakistanis used the money to build up the Taliban and destroy leftist, nationalist or secular movements. One Afghan warned, ‘For God's sake, you're financing your own assassins.’”

A man heckles Iranians demonstrating for Khomeni in 1980. 

US history is wrought with similar actions all across the globe. Following World War II, these actions reached farther and wider than they had ever before. Using similar tactics as the government uses today to paint Muslims as extremists, the US painted the Soviet Union as a threat to world democracy. I recommend acclaimed writer and activist Noam Chomsky’s book Deterring Democracy if this fact peaks a particular interest. The novel reexamines the Cold War as a catalyst for the rise in the power of the United States in the latter part of 20^th century. Chomsky argues that this new found power allowed America to exploit weaker nations in the name of maintaining national interests.

Our history with the Middle East is the most modern example of this power to which Chomsky alludes. Our exploitation has had serious consequences, however, contributing to the rise of hatred toward America. In an article titled “Obama Moves to Make the War on Terror Permanent,” renown journalist Glenn Greenwald recently wrote, “A primary reason for opposing the acquisition of abusive powers and civil liberties erosions is that they virtually always become permanent, vested not only in current leaders one may love and trust but also future officials who seem more menacing and less benign.” This is the exact pattern we’ve witnessed in the Middle East. The modern “anti-terrorist” campaign is propaganda to fight the very problems America created in the past.

The United States military industrial complex is the greatest threat to human rights in the modern era. For the past decade, the nation has flexed its military strength globally, with an intended focus on the Middle East in particular. America has painted the area as a land of religious extremists with an agenda to take down America. However, this current picture is not the true reality. I urge every reader to question this US government we’ve grown up revering. Realize that our influence on the world is tyrannical and exploitive.

Even our current president, beloved leader of your average middle class democrat, is guilty of serious war crimes and human rights infringements – all in the name of maintaining US power.

The cover of the May/June edition of Adbusters magazine. 

I’ll leave you with two thoughts. If you’d like to become more informed on US militarism and imperialism, these are two very relevant places to begin: the National Defense Authorization Act and drone strikes.

Native American Experiences - The Research Paper Edition

Over the past 200 years, America has seen thousands of treaties and laws passed. This particular history has been highly important and often devastating to the Native American culture. The history of Indians and the American government is wrought with broken agreements, lost land, mass killings, and environmental injustices. However, these treaties aren't supposed to have expiration dates. Could the laws and treaties of past years become prominent today in the fight for Native American lands and for the environment? Author Steven L. Pevar  writes in The Rights of Indians and Tribes, "Regardless of how they seemed then or now, the citizens of this country have legal, moral, and ethical duty to enforce these treaties. Indians paid dearly for their treaty rights, and the United States must keep its end of the bargain." My essay will explore various treaties and laws dealing with Native Americans that have occurred in past two centuries and how they can be applied to modern environmental and social battles within the culture. 

Dear President Obama,

I am an 18-year-old college student at the University of North Carolina-Asheville and I would like a few minutes of your time. The issues you face today are monstrous and you have the incredible responsibility of carrying and maintaining the world’s economic state on your shoulders. While I inherently disagree with the very existence of this responsibility on any one man (as I completely disagree with globalization and the imperialistic endeavors of the United States), I would like to at least encourage you to use your responsibility wisely.

As I’m sure you’re tired of hearing, one of the biggest threats currently facing the United States economy is the debt. President Obama, I want you to take a stand. My future hinges greatly upon which way you will swing the door. This debt was created through years of deregulated mismanagement and corruption on Wall Street and within the banks of America, with whom the federal government continues to have strong ties.  

Your office was born into an era of economic meltdown, a time in which unemployment and foreclosures skyrocketed. And somehow, you were able to evade a complete disaster. Since this time, the economy has somewhat stabilized, but the institutions that led us to meltdown in the first place are still in power and still maintain close ties with the offices in the Washington D.C. This is no solution. Another economic disaster is waiting for us if we continue on this same path.

Author of Living in the End Times, Slavoj Zizek wrote, “We are now entering a period in which a kind of economic state of emergency is becoming permanent, turning into a constant, a way of life. It brings with it the threat of far more savage austerity measures, cuts in benefits, diminishing health and education services and more precarious employment. The left faces the difficult task of emphasizing that we are dealing with political economy –that there is nothing ‘natural’ in such a crisis, that the existing global economic system relies on a series of political decisions.”

President Obama, I beg of you to realize how wisely you must hold this responsibility. You need to take a stand against corruption in the financial system today. If the economy really relies on a series of political decisions, then your role in a new future for America is integral. You must realize and proclaim that this world does not fall and rise at the hands of profit. As Charles Eisenstein writes for Adbusters, “’I wasn’t put here on Earth to sell product.’ ‘I wasn’t put here on Earth to increase market share.’ I wasn’t put here on Earth to make numbers grow.’ We protest not only our exclusion from the American Dream; we protest its bleakness. If it cannot include everyone on Earth, every ecosystem and bioregion, every people and culture in its richness; if the wealth of one must be the debt of another; if it entails sweatshops and underclasses and fracking and all the rest of the ugliness our system has created, then we want none of it.”

President Obama, we need a new dream. The world cannot sustain another economic crisis of the likes of before, literally. This new economy needs to be built for the people and the environment. This new economy needs to be a collective effort. You have the power to make a major change in the way people view economics in this country.  No more empty promises and false hope. Appoint people to office who have the interests of the environment and the people in mind over profit. This will change the face of the economic system and will be what brings prosperity to the planet, to society, to the economy, and to finance. We cannot make the same mistakes and follow the same systems as before.

 As a child of the younger generation, who will reap the effects of your decisions now for the rest of my life, I ask you to take your responsibility as my President and use it for good. No more deception and no more profit-driven decisions. Put Wall Street and the banks into their rightful positions and make mindful decisions about the future of this country.

Sincerely,

Erin Bridges