Dismantling The Empire: America"s Last Best Hope
"Dismantling The Empire: America's Last Best Hope", a collection of essays written over the decade 2000 - 2009, is Chalmers Johnson's unabashed indictment of America's military-industrial complex and the politicians and institutions that comprise, support and promote it.
The Arsenal of Democracy, through its worldwide network of bases and its bloated, muscle-bound military and intelligence services seeks to maintain global domination to enrich the defense industry elite while draining the coffers of unwitting citizens of the empire.
The pursuit of global hegemony has brought the United States to the brink of bankruptcy.
After the Allied victory in World War II America assumed the roles of global benefactor and military superpower, purporting to maintain the peace and promote national prosperity while in reality undermining both.
President Eisenhower warned the nation and the world to beware of the military-industrial complex yet every administration and every congress fell under the intoxicating spell of the money and power it offered.
National resources were enthusiastically channeled to the military and intelligence services to influence international politics under the guise of establishing democracy and promoting free enterprise.
The result of these political and economic manipulations was the exploitation of a uniquely productive economy toward martial pursuits profiting the fear mongers and the industrialists controlling the political hierarchy.
The United States, once the wealthiest and most productive nation on earth, now stands at the precipice of economic collapse.
The day of reckoning is only deferred by way of an illusion of military invulnerability and a swagger of misplaced confidence - the last gasp of a international bully and former global benefactor.
Though of merit, "Dismantling The Empire" is redundant and lacks perspective.
Johnson exhibits insight into international politics and the workings of the federal government but displays an immature bias evident amongst modern political pundits on both the right and the left.
He dismisses the motives and the intentions of service members, politicians, and the unwitting public as purely self-serving and calculated to optimize profit and maintain power on a global scale.
Johnson's significant and justifiably disconcerting claims are clouded by schoolboy emotions and vitriolic rhetoric.
Only those holding Johnson's liberal left views are likely to make it through this book.
This is unfortunate as there is much truth in Johnson's observations.
The United States is pursuing a path of self destruction.
Johnson laments, accurately I fear, that only calamity in the form of bankruptcy will deter the United States from its course.
Johnson would be more convincing, however, if he focused on highlighting the failings of the pursuit and maintenance of the American empire as opposed to attributing and attacking the supposedly malicious intentions of everyone: soldiers, politicians, and workers, who have contributed in any way to the rise and dominance of the military-industrial complex.
While the game is all and always about power, the reality is that America's posture, purpose and history are not as simple as those on the far left or the far right tend to declare.
The liberal sentiment expressed by Johnson suggests with self-righteous indignation the moral superiority of a limited viewpoint.
The reality is most human beings are as much motivated by power as those they tend to denigrate.
Johnson's reasoning to dismantle the misguided empire is offered in the final chapter and consists of three claims: First we can no longer afford our postwar expansionism; Second we are going to lose the war in Afghanistan and it will help bankrupt us; and Third we need to end the secret shame of our empire of bases.
These recurring claims may in fact prove prescient.
But in troubled times the politicians and the people alike tend to cling to their weapons and attempt to puff themselves up as fear dominates.
The United States is in fact an empire with global reach.
The pursuit of empire, coupled with financial missteps of enormous proportion, have brought us to the edge of ruin.
To survive the United States must change course.
While Chalmers Johnson claim, that the military-industrial complex is solely to blame for the failings of empire falls short of a complete analysis, following his sound advice to peacefully dismantle the empire is one of the necessary steps to save the nation.
Copyright (c) 2011 Scott F Paradis
The Arsenal of Democracy, through its worldwide network of bases and its bloated, muscle-bound military and intelligence services seeks to maintain global domination to enrich the defense industry elite while draining the coffers of unwitting citizens of the empire.
The pursuit of global hegemony has brought the United States to the brink of bankruptcy.
After the Allied victory in World War II America assumed the roles of global benefactor and military superpower, purporting to maintain the peace and promote national prosperity while in reality undermining both.
President Eisenhower warned the nation and the world to beware of the military-industrial complex yet every administration and every congress fell under the intoxicating spell of the money and power it offered.
National resources were enthusiastically channeled to the military and intelligence services to influence international politics under the guise of establishing democracy and promoting free enterprise.
The result of these political and economic manipulations was the exploitation of a uniquely productive economy toward martial pursuits profiting the fear mongers and the industrialists controlling the political hierarchy.
The United States, once the wealthiest and most productive nation on earth, now stands at the precipice of economic collapse.
The day of reckoning is only deferred by way of an illusion of military invulnerability and a swagger of misplaced confidence - the last gasp of a international bully and former global benefactor.
Though of merit, "Dismantling The Empire" is redundant and lacks perspective.
Johnson exhibits insight into international politics and the workings of the federal government but displays an immature bias evident amongst modern political pundits on both the right and the left.
He dismisses the motives and the intentions of service members, politicians, and the unwitting public as purely self-serving and calculated to optimize profit and maintain power on a global scale.
Johnson's significant and justifiably disconcerting claims are clouded by schoolboy emotions and vitriolic rhetoric.
Only those holding Johnson's liberal left views are likely to make it through this book.
This is unfortunate as there is much truth in Johnson's observations.
The United States is pursuing a path of self destruction.
Johnson laments, accurately I fear, that only calamity in the form of bankruptcy will deter the United States from its course.
Johnson would be more convincing, however, if he focused on highlighting the failings of the pursuit and maintenance of the American empire as opposed to attributing and attacking the supposedly malicious intentions of everyone: soldiers, politicians, and workers, who have contributed in any way to the rise and dominance of the military-industrial complex.
While the game is all and always about power, the reality is that America's posture, purpose and history are not as simple as those on the far left or the far right tend to declare.
The liberal sentiment expressed by Johnson suggests with self-righteous indignation the moral superiority of a limited viewpoint.
The reality is most human beings are as much motivated by power as those they tend to denigrate.
Johnson's reasoning to dismantle the misguided empire is offered in the final chapter and consists of three claims: First we can no longer afford our postwar expansionism; Second we are going to lose the war in Afghanistan and it will help bankrupt us; and Third we need to end the secret shame of our empire of bases.
These recurring claims may in fact prove prescient.
But in troubled times the politicians and the people alike tend to cling to their weapons and attempt to puff themselves up as fear dominates.
The United States is in fact an empire with global reach.
The pursuit of empire, coupled with financial missteps of enormous proportion, have brought us to the edge of ruin.
To survive the United States must change course.
While Chalmers Johnson claim, that the military-industrial complex is solely to blame for the failings of empire falls short of a complete analysis, following his sound advice to peacefully dismantle the empire is one of the necessary steps to save the nation.
Copyright (c) 2011 Scott F Paradis
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