[Texas PPC Discussion] The Moral Imperative - An Essay by Charles Sullivan
Submitted by PPCmember on Sat, 03/31/2007 - 2:00am.
The Moral Imperative
By Charles
Sullivan
The master’s tools will never dismantle the
master’s house. --Andre Lorde
03/26/07
"ICH
" -- - It should surprise no one that the United States
invasion and occupation of Iraq four years ago was based upon lies and
fabricated evidence. Other wars instigated by the U.S. were begun in the same
way, but we never seem to learn the lessons that history could teach us. The
purpose of the U.S. invasion was not to free the Iraqi people or to spread
democracy (when has the government ever done that?); it was to privatize the
natural wealth of the region and to transfer ownership from the Iraqi pubic
domain to the coffers of U.S. corporations. We have a long and shameful history
of imperial invasions and occupations, and no experience building democracies.
The United States Middle East policy is also intended to suppress the
enemies of radical Zionism and to extend Zionist control of the region, as well
as to prop up the sagging U.S. dollar against the strengthening euro. It is the
continuation of Manifest Destiny; the foolish but stubborn believe that
Americans are superior to everyone else; what historian Howard Zinn refers to as
American exceptionalism.
Manifest Destiny and the spread of capitalism
go hand in hand. The growth of the military industrial complex requires imperial
conquests and continuous expansion—an impossibility on a finite planet. We have
yet to learn that wherever reality clashes with economic myth, reality prevails.
The Pentagon, which is the iron fist of American capitalism, requires
enemies in order to justify its vast expenditures to an unquestioning public,
even if it has to invent them. In the past those enemies were the spread of
communism and socialism, which were a threat only to Plutocratic rule, not to
the American people themselves. Now the danger is as cryptic and ubiquitous as
state propaganda—the exaggerated threat of Islamic terrorism.
I do not
contend that there is no real threat of terrorism against U.S. citizens. I do,
however, assert that those threats remain small and are a direct response to
unjust U.S. foreign policy, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
It is important to understand that the interest of the people and the
government are always in conflict. The will of the people has never mattered to
the ruling clique, as evidenced by the ongoing occupation of Iraq, despite
overwhelming public opposition. What matters to America’s rulers is the
acquisition of private wealth through war and expansionism. The ruling elite
have never hesitated to sacrifice the lives of our soldiers and workers for
imperial ambitions, or to sanction the deliberate killing of innocent civilians
in unknowable numbers.
It is equally important to understand that
imperial wars are a product of capitalism. A core element of capitalism is the
unequal distribution of wealth and political power in which a small cadre of
owners can literally purchase political power. The very wealthy are never
satiated. They never have enough. They have ambition. They are driven. They want
more. They want it all. Their dream is to rule the world and privatize its
wealth. To aid them in their quest the language of patriotism and religion are
evoked to stir the public emotions and to inspire hatred and contempt. The
people will be told that we are under siege by the forces of evil, even as
terror emanates from the nation’s capital like spokes radiating from the center
of a wheel.
America’s imperial wars will continue until capitalism is
abolished and replaced by a more just and equitable system—a for use, rather
than for profit economy.
The architects of the invasion of Iraq would
have us believe that U.S. Middle East policy is a complex matter that is best
left to high minded experts. In fact, it is a fantastically simple matter that
can easily be understood by anyone having a conscience, a sense of justice; a
moral compass. What it boils down to is simple right and wrong. A five year old
child can understand that but imperial presidents and their cohorts in congress
and industry cannot.
A thing is wrong when its purpose is anything other
than a desire for justice. We need not make things more complicated than that. A
nation founded upon injustice will have a history of ethnic cleansing, genocide,
chattel slavery, racism, inequality, class divisions, sexism, a suppressed work
force, murder, and war—a history very much like our own. Indeed, our history.
Injustice breeds fierce resistance that can never lead to peace, as we
are witnessing throughout the Middle East. The United States will fail in Iraq
because the government’s policies are not driven by a desire for justice. Its
purpose is not honorable or principled; therefore, it will ultimately fail. It
is wrong to impose our will on other people. It is wrong to murder innocent
civilians. It is wrong to steal their wealth. It is wrong to subjugate people
and to exploit them as cheap labor.
Eventually Israel will be expelled
from Palestine for the same reasons—its cause (ethnic cleansing) is not only
unjust—it is immoral and criminal.
Will governments ever learn that it
is not the physically strongest who prevail, but the just? Were these not the
teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Henry Thoreau, and Gandhi?
Justice
and morality do not enter into the economic equation of capitalism. Neither does
compassion, the rights of other people to exist unmolested in their own belief
systems, or equality. There can be no peace without justice; no reckoning
without a high regard for truth. Our past speaks volumes about the probable
future.
We need not look very far into the past to realize what the
future holds. A better future demands that we act justly in the present.
Otherwise, the patterns of history will continue to repeat themselves in endless
cycles of death and violence, disparity and suffering. We must stop putting our
faith in politicians who serve the plutocracy by exploiting the people, and a
system that from its inception was created to serve the wealthy and privileged.
Our policies are a continuous negative feedback loop that has always
produced consistent results. We cannot continue doing the same thing over and
over and expect to get different outcomes. The fatal flaw is not in the
administration of policy, it is in the policy itself and the corrupt system that
created them; a system that is at its core unequal and unjust; and therefore,
immoral.
A sound moral imperative should inform all that we do, and it
must have at its core a burning desire to see justice done and to help others
fulfill their promise. A strong moral imperative should be the basis of
cooperation between individuals and nations. Without ethical moorings there can
be no trust, no justice, and no peace. It is as simple as cause and effect. We
truly do reap what we sow.
Charles Sullivan is an architectural
millwright, photographer, and free-lance writer living in the Eastern Panhandle
of West Virginia. He welcomes your comments at:
By Charles
Sullivan
The master’s tools will never dismantle the
master’s house. --Andre Lorde
03/26/07
"ICH
" -- - It should surprise no one that the United States
invasion and occupation of Iraq four years ago was based upon lies and
fabricated evidence. Other wars instigated by the U.S. were begun in the same
way, but we never seem to learn the lessons that history could teach us. The
purpose of the U.S. invasion was not to free the Iraqi people or to spread
democracy (when has the government ever done that?); it was to privatize the
natural wealth of the region and to transfer ownership from the Iraqi pubic
domain to the coffers of U.S. corporations. We have a long and shameful history
of imperial invasions and occupations, and no experience building democracies.
The United States Middle East policy is also intended to suppress the
enemies of radical Zionism and to extend Zionist control of the region, as well
as to prop up the sagging U.S. dollar against the strengthening euro. It is the
continuation of Manifest Destiny; the foolish but stubborn believe that
Americans are superior to everyone else; what historian Howard Zinn refers to as
American exceptionalism.
Manifest Destiny and the spread of capitalism
go hand in hand. The growth of the military industrial complex requires imperial
conquests and continuous expansion—an impossibility on a finite planet. We have
yet to learn that wherever reality clashes with economic myth, reality prevails.
The Pentagon, which is the iron fist of American capitalism, requires
enemies in order to justify its vast expenditures to an unquestioning public,
even if it has to invent them. In the past those enemies were the spread of
communism and socialism, which were a threat only to Plutocratic rule, not to
the American people themselves. Now the danger is as cryptic and ubiquitous as
state propaganda—the exaggerated threat of Islamic terrorism.
I do not
contend that there is no real threat of terrorism against U.S. citizens. I do,
however, assert that those threats remain small and are a direct response to
unjust U.S. foreign policy, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
It is important to understand that the interest of the people and the
government are always in conflict. The will of the people has never mattered to
the ruling clique, as evidenced by the ongoing occupation of Iraq, despite
overwhelming public opposition. What matters to America’s rulers is the
acquisition of private wealth through war and expansionism. The ruling elite
have never hesitated to sacrifice the lives of our soldiers and workers for
imperial ambitions, or to sanction the deliberate killing of innocent civilians
in unknowable numbers.
It is equally important to understand that
imperial wars are a product of capitalism. A core element of capitalism is the
unequal distribution of wealth and political power in which a small cadre of
owners can literally purchase political power. The very wealthy are never
satiated. They never have enough. They have ambition. They are driven. They want
more. They want it all. Their dream is to rule the world and privatize its
wealth. To aid them in their quest the language of patriotism and religion are
evoked to stir the public emotions and to inspire hatred and contempt. The
people will be told that we are under siege by the forces of evil, even as
terror emanates from the nation’s capital like spokes radiating from the center
of a wheel.
America’s imperial wars will continue until capitalism is
abolished and replaced by a more just and equitable system—a for use, rather
than for profit economy.
The architects of the invasion of Iraq would
have us believe that U.S. Middle East policy is a complex matter that is best
left to high minded experts. In fact, it is a fantastically simple matter that
can easily be understood by anyone having a conscience, a sense of justice; a
moral compass. What it boils down to is simple right and wrong. A five year old
child can understand that but imperial presidents and their cohorts in congress
and industry cannot.
A thing is wrong when its purpose is anything other
than a desire for justice. We need not make things more complicated than that. A
nation founded upon injustice will have a history of ethnic cleansing, genocide,
chattel slavery, racism, inequality, class divisions, sexism, a suppressed work
force, murder, and war—a history very much like our own. Indeed, our history.
Injustice breeds fierce resistance that can never lead to peace, as we
are witnessing throughout the Middle East. The United States will fail in Iraq
because the government’s policies are not driven by a desire for justice. Its
purpose is not honorable or principled; therefore, it will ultimately fail. It
is wrong to impose our will on other people. It is wrong to murder innocent
civilians. It is wrong to steal their wealth. It is wrong to subjugate people
and to exploit them as cheap labor.
Eventually Israel will be expelled
from Palestine for the same reasons—its cause (ethnic cleansing) is not only
unjust—it is immoral and criminal.
Will governments ever learn that it
is not the physically strongest who prevail, but the just? Were these not the
teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Henry Thoreau, and Gandhi?
Justice
and morality do not enter into the economic equation of capitalism. Neither does
compassion, the rights of other people to exist unmolested in their own belief
systems, or equality. There can be no peace without justice; no reckoning
without a high regard for truth. Our past speaks volumes about the probable
future.
We need not look very far into the past to realize what the
future holds. A better future demands that we act justly in the present.
Otherwise, the patterns of history will continue to repeat themselves in endless
cycles of death and violence, disparity and suffering. We must stop putting our
faith in politicians who serve the plutocracy by exploiting the people, and a
system that from its inception was created to serve the wealthy and privileged.
Our policies are a continuous negative feedback loop that has always
produced consistent results. We cannot continue doing the same thing over and
over and expect to get different outcomes. The fatal flaw is not in the
administration of policy, it is in the policy itself and the corrupt system that
created them; a system that is at its core unequal and unjust; and therefore,
immoral.
A sound moral imperative should inform all that we do, and it
must have at its core a burning desire to see justice done and to help others
fulfill their promise. A strong moral imperative should be the basis of
cooperation between individuals and nations. Without ethical moorings there can
be no trust, no justice, and no peace. It is as simple as cause and effect. We
truly do reap what we sow.
Charles Sullivan is an architectural
millwright, photographer, and free-lance writer living in the Eastern Panhandle
of West Virginia. He welcomes your comments at:
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