{"id":13457,"date":"2019-12-03T10:41:10","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T18:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=13457"},"modified":"2019-12-03T10:41:12","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T18:41:12","slug":"american-exceptionalism-is-killing-planet-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/12\/03\/american-exceptionalism-is-killing-planet-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"American Exceptionalism Is Killing Planet Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

December 02, 2019 by TomDispatch<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the many abuses of executing endless war on a finite planet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by William Astore<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\""For<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“For a select few, war pays dividends in ways that peace doesn’t,” writes Astore. “In a nutshell, or perhaps an artillery shell, war is anti-democratic, anti-progressive, anti-intellectual, and anti-human.” (Photo: Stockbyte\/Stockbyte\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since 2007, when I first started writing for TomDispatch<\/em>, I\u2019ve been arguing against America\u2019s forever wars, whether in Afghanistan<\/a>, Iraq<\/a>, or elsewhere<\/a>. Unfortunately, it\u2019s no surprise that, despite my more than 60 articles, American blood is still being spilled<\/a> in war after war across the Greater Middle East and Africa, even as foreign peoples pay a far higher price in lives lost<\/a> and cities ruined<\/a>. And I keep asking myself: Why, in this century, is the distinctive feature of America’s wars that they never end? Why do our leaders persist in such repetitive folly and the seemingly eternal disasters that go with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sadly, there isn\u2019t just one obvious reason for this generational debacle. If there were, we could focus on it, tackle it, and perhaps even fix it. But no such luck.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In waging endless war, Americans are also, in effect, mutinying against the planet. In the process, we are spoiling the last, best hope of earth: a concerted and pacific effort to meet the shared challenges of a rapidly warming and changing planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why do<\/em> America\u2019s disastrous wars persist<\/a>? I can think of many reasons<\/a>, some obvious and easy to understand, like the endless pursuit of profit through weapons sales<\/a> for those very wars, and some more subtle but no less significant, like a deep-seated conviction in Washington that a willingness to wage war is a sign of national toughness and seriousness. Before I go on, though, here\u2019s another distinctive aspect of our forever-war moment: Have you noticed that peace<\/a> is no longer even a topic in America today? The very word, once at least part of the rhetoric of Washington politicians, has essentially dropped out of use entirely. Consider the current crop of Democratic candidates for president. One, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, wants to end regime-change wars, but is otherwise a self-professed hawk<\/a> on the subject of the war on terror. Another, Senator Bernie Sanders, vows to end \u201cendless wars<\/a>\u201d but is careful to express strong support for Israel and the ultra-expensive F-35 fighter<\/a> jet. The other dozen or so tend to make vague sounds about cutting defense spending or gradually withdrawing U.S. troops from various wars, but none of them even consider openly speaking of peace<\/a>. And the Republicans? While President Trump may talk of ending wars, since his inauguration he\u2019s sent more troops<\/a> to Afghanistan and into the Middle East, while greatly expanding drone and other air strikes<\/a>, something about which he openly boasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War, in other words, is our new normal, America\u2019s default position on global affairs, and peace, some ancient, long-faded dream. And when your default position is war, whether against the Taliban, ISIS, \u201cterror\u201d more generally, or possibly even Iran or Russia<\/a> or China<\/a>, is it any surprise that war is what you get? When you garrison the world with an unprecedented 800 or so military bases<\/a>, when you configure your armed forces for what\u2019s called power projection, when you divide the globe — the total planet — into areas of dominance<\/a> (with acronyms like CENTCOM, AFRICOM, and SOUTHCOM) commanded by four-star generals and admirals, when you spend more on your military than the next seven countries<\/a> combined, when you insist on modernizing a nuclear arsenal<\/a> (to the tune of perhaps $1.7 trillion<\/a>) already quite capable of ending all life on this and several other planets, what can you expect but a reality of endless war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of this as the new American exceptionalism. In Washington, war is now the predictable (and even desirable) way of life, while peace is the unpredictable (and unwise) path to follow. In this context, the U.S. must continue to be the most powerful nation in the world by a country mile in all death-dealing realms and its wars must be fought, generation after generation, even when victory is never in sight. And if that isn\u2019t an \u201cexceptional\u201d belief system, what is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we\u2019re ever to put an end to our country\u2019s endless twenty-first-century wars, that mindset will have to be changed. But to do that, we would first have to recognize and confront war\u2019s many uses<\/a> in American life and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War, Its Uses (and Abuses)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A partial list of war\u2019s many uses might go something like this: war is profitable<\/a>, most notably for America\u2019s vast military-industrial complex<\/a>; war is sold as being necessary for America\u2019s safety, especially to prevent terrorist attacks; and for many Americans, war is seen as a measure of national fitness and worthiness, a reminder that \u201cfreedom isn\u2019t free.\u201d In our politics today, it\u2019s far better to be seen as strong and wrong than meek and right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the title of a book by former war reporter Chris Hedges so aptly put it<\/a>, war is a force that gives us meaning. And let\u2019s face it, a significant part of America\u2019s meaning in this century has involved pride in having the toughest military<\/a> on the planet, even as trillions<\/a> of tax dollars went into a misguided attempt to maintain bragging rights to being the world\u2019s sole superpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And keep in mind as well that, among other things, never-ending war weakens<\/a> democracy while strengthening authoritarian tendencies in politics and society. In an age of gaping inequality<\/a>, using up the country\u2019s resources in such profligate and destructive ways offers a striking exercise in consumption that profits the few at the expense of the many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, for a select few, war pays dividends in ways that peace doesn\u2019t. In a nutshell, or perhaps an artillery shell, war is anti-democratic, anti-progressive, anti-intellectual, and anti-human. Yet, as we know, history makes heroes out of its participants and celebrates mass murderers like Napoleon as \u201cgreat captains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the United States needs today is a new strategy of containment — not against communist expansion, as in the Cold War, but against war itself. What\u2019s stopping us from containing war? You might say that, in some sense, we\u2019ve grown addicted to it<\/a>, which is true enough, but here are five additional reasons for war\u2019s enduring presence in American life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n