2. With shades of medieval conservativeness and outdated militaristic bearings in her social markup, America
was culturally one generation behind England. Despite a track record of unreasonable empire building,
British society was far more liberal with rock music, far more enlightened politically, and far less violent
militarily. After a great deal of consternation, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was greeted cordially and
knighted reluctantly by the Queen of England. Mick Jagger was understandably presented as a role model
citizen for the louts patronizing the streets of London.
Elements of poetry in British rock music began bringing philosophical enlightenment to a younger generation
of citizens. The intrusion of British youth doctrines into American society through rock music came to be
known scornfully as the British Invasion. When the social messages in rock music began nurturing critical
thinking, the counterculture movement began taking shape. The counterculture altitudes focused on frugal
living and philosophical thinking.
In the American political landscape, the White House administrations, Congress, and the Federal Reserve
had collectively managed to evolve a scheme of financing warfare activities and military adventures.
Furthermore, an ingenious censorship scheme was also put in place. The censorship machine within the
American democracy made sure that mainstream American society would never develop a healthy distaste
for warfare. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the media censorship lasted for a period of seven
years. An entire generation of the American people remained ignorant of the extent of destruction, and the
peculiar nature of nuclear destruction.
After 1975, the American news media was discouraged from taking pictures of battlefield casualties. In some
instances, the White House administration would intervene and disallow photography of coffins draped in
flags. Therefore, the tragedies of war could never be broadcast truthfully over television in an attempt to
generate intelligent public opinion. The higher purpose of modern journalism within a democracy was
destroyed through censorship.
Over a period of time, American Presidents and the White House administrations managed to build a vast
pool of desensitized flag waving citizenry who could hastily embrace the idea of military aggression. Soon
thereafter, American Presidents could use deceptively simple reasoning and take the nation to war without
consulting Congress. There were no legal consequences if the American President had made a rash decision.
This points to a major weakness in the country’s legal system.
After World War II, the American democracy has had to wrestle with a minority of citizens who exhibit a
dangerous masculine craving for warfare. These desensitized flag waving patriots have remained relatively
untroubled by battle fatalities. Incidentally, the Veteran Affairs Department estimates that nearly 6000
American war veterans commit suicide every year, while nearly 12,000 war veterans attempt suicide every
year. As corporate media in America has become a mouthpiece for Pentagon officials, it has successfully
managed to keep American citizens ignorant of the plight of war veterans.
While the death penalty was an emotional issue in America, war casualties were never an emotional issue.
By 1960, America had turned into an industrialized nation in dire need of legal, political, and social re-
engineering. By the mid sixties, the hippies discovered that America was no longer a benevolent world
power. In fact, politicians and Pentagon officials seemed to be turning America into a menacing military
power.
Over the years, simplistic Cartesian political thinking without a philosophical backdrop had become the
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3. dangerous hallmark of American and Russian politicians. Though America and Russia represented great
military powers, their political philosophies were too embryonic, vestigial, crude, and underdeveloped.
Instead of building erudite political societies capable of using intellectual insight to soften conflicts, both
nations set out to build nuclear weaponry for militaristic intimidation and confrontation.
In Russia, Vladimir Lenin insisted that imperialism was the highest form of capitalism. Fundamentally,
Soviet communists abhorred European colonists who tried to annexe wealth from weaker third world nations.
Through Soviet expansionism across Europe, communists wanted to stop European colonization However,
many American politicians involved in framing foreign policies deliberately muddled the issue by alleging
that communists abhorred the idea of political democracy. Communists did not abhor democratic values.
They abhorred the imperialism and expansionism that European capitalists were engaging in. American
politicians keen on drawing political mileage guessed that common citizens in America were not
sophisticated enough to understand the subtleties.
During the mid sixties, young Americans began to protest against the post World War II culture of military
posturing, consumerism, and materialism. The hippie culture evolved to soften the violent military culture
that threatened to grip American political society. The young hippies wanted to discard mainstream American
values that evolved after the world wars. Returning war veterans masquerading as war heros had
inadvertently brought military regimen into ordinary life. At home, they behaved like soldiers on the battle
lines, argued unreasonably with their spouses, and abused their children. In fact, after the attack on Pearl
Harbor, and after World War II, America had turned into a nation of whining war veterans.
The surrender of Japan and the defeat of Germany in World War II had made the American infantrymen very
proud. Thereafter, a new set of American social values seemed to endorse military maneuvers, warfare, and
consumerism. On the other hand, the hippies wanted to revive an interest in good literature, theater, art,
music, spirituality, and Eastern philosophy. They desired a world of peaceful coexistence without warfare,
aggression, and political argument. In the sixties, war protestors were seen as being unpatriotic by the
patriarch society of orthodox war veterans with bullet holes.
Cartesian historians failed to notice that the counterculture movement had all the markings of an interesting
civil war. It was a small civil war between young Americans with serious ambitions, and their poor blue
collar working class parental generation. In the sixties, young Americans wanted to be liberated from their
blue collar working class roots. They resented the practice of laboring hard in the trenches for the ruling
classes. Therefore, young Americans had expressed a serious desire to study philosophy, literature, history,
poetry, art, and music to move up the cultural ladder. However, at that time in history, most working class
citizenry wanted their progenies to learn a mechanical trade and get a job in a factory. In the sixties, young
Americans were tactlessly told to return to their working class roots. Therefore, the counterculture
movement in America began as a rebellious movement to vigorously challenge the intellectually repressive
blue collar ideologies of the parental generation.
The counterculture movement never got an opportunity to improve the intellectual viscosity of American
society. In the new epoch, to become a middle class American was to give up political debate, intellectual
discovery, history, philosophy, art, and literature to pick up a wrench and a screw driver. In America, any
man or woman with the talent for using hand tools or operating machinery was guaranteed a reasonably well
paying job in a factory. After the great economic depression, the American endeavor was never about
acquiring a sharper philosophical intellect or social manners to climb the ladder of cultural aristocracy.
Instead, the new American aspiration was to pick up a useful skill in the mechanical trade and become a
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4. machinist or a technician.
The Vietnam War and the Watergate Hotel burglary were important milestones in American history. When
the American forces dropped bombs on women and children in Vietnam, young Americans from middle class
households began to lose faith in the government. With the Watergate scandal, some young people lost faith
in the politicians in the White House. Some others lost faith in their parents, who had voted into power
politicians controlled by big businesses and Pentagon officials. Gradually, young people in America began
to discover that American capitalism was a brand of libertine capitalism that factored in treacherous warfare,
military spending, corporate imperialism, weapons research, and spirited consumerism as fundamental
activities. In fact, building deadly weapons, missiles, and spy satellites had turned into a paranoiac obsession
in America. At that time in history, the counterculture movement of the sixties actually symbolized what was
morally, ethically, and philosophically right for society. It was mainstream American society that was
corrupt, dishonest, and overly materialistic. When examined from a higher vantage point, issues of marijuana
use, sexual attitudes, and the anti-establishment posturing associated with the hippie movement seemed
trivial and inconsequential.
Many American leaders including Henry Kissinger preferred to operate behind a veil of secrecy even on
trivial political issues. In 1971, Kissinger made a secret visit to China. Such behavior precipitated suspicion.
The Vietnam War was never explained clearly to the vast majority of middle aged Americans. Often, the
American corporate media tried to display unwavering allegiance to the political administration in power.
In America’s capitalistic society, journalists and reporters were expected to show deference towards those
holding power. Therefore, most American reporters and journalists did not have the courage to confront
politicians with tough questions. Incidentally, it is said that a bad press can destroy democracy.
For many intelligent Americans absorbed in the counterculture movement, it was disheartening to see a
misinformed class of middle aged American citizens support the Vietnam War. As long as the American
military seemed to be in a position to win the Vietnam War, the popular American sentient was pro-war. At
a later time, when losing the war was imminent, the popular sentiment was anti-war. For a philosophically
unsophisticated middle aged American society, the moral propriety of fighting the Vietnam war had become
secondary. Instead, the chances of winning or losing was a pivotal factor in guiding public sentient. To the
counterculture fanatics, the cognitive ability of the middle aged American voter seemed to be strikingly
similar to that of young children witnessing a street fight.
The invasion of Cambodia by the Richard Nixon administration infuriated the student community. When
young American students protested on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen
opened fire to control an unruly crowd. Unwittingly, the guardsmen killed a few protestors and restored
order. In recent years, students and faculty at Rutgers University in New Jersey have been protesting the Iraq
War.
For many years, an eminent American researcher named Richard Hofstadter had been perplexed by
America’s anti-intellectual slant. Hofstadter was a professor of American history at Columbia University in
New York. He had won Pulitzer Prizes for his works, and attained celebrity status. Intense curiosity drove
Richard Hofstadter to take a closer look at America’s cultural evolution. Richard Hofstadter’s analysis
revealed that America had been nurturing dysfunctional fraternities throughout history.
According to Hofstadter’s hypothesis, America had been a nation where business tycoons and poor farmers
competed ruthlessly for economic gain. While doing so, they had also inadvertently laid the foundation for
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5. the American Civil War. Another eminent American historian named Charles Beard held the view that many
popular American ideologies were based on economic interests of the rich. In fact, in some intellectual
circles, it was believed that the American constitution was framed while keeping in view the financial
interests of the wealthy founding fathers.
George Washington was himself a wealthy landowner. Washington volunteered to fund the Revolutionary
War in America, with the contractual understanding that his war expenses would be reimbursed to the last
penny. Incidentally, gaining independence from the colonists would open up a mind-boggling array of money
making opportunities for George Washington and his cronies. A French political thinker named Alexis de
Tocqueville had once observed that hard work and money making had become critical to the American
democracy. Tocqueville also reported that the American civilization did not have any philosophers worthy
of public attention. While the vast majority of French people strongly desired a President who was a
distinguished intellectual, American people preferred a President with an anti-intellectual demeanor.
The counterculture movement was actually a vibrant intellectual movement that was reawakening young
Americans. Like a bright comet in the sky, it was a movement of resurrection that could have subdued and
enlightened American society. Like the Renaissance in Europe, it could have liberated America from her
working class heritage, materialism, consumerism, and military affliction. Incidentally, a few American
economists insisted that debt was good for the economy. Consumerism drove Americans into credit card
debt. In turn, credit debt motivated people to work hard and earn more money. It created a society of
overworked citizens. It also created a society of sleep deprived citizens who could not think clearly.
While the American counterculture revolution began to establish itself in the Haight-Ashbury section of San
Francisco, the hippies began experimenting with Indian spirituality, rock music, and narcotic drugs. At that
point in time, smoking marijuana was a common diversion on American college campuses. Those who had
experimented with psychedelic drugs and marijuana began steadily distancing themselves from the harsh
working class ideas embedded in mainstream American culture.
Student protestors in America cried out that acquiring wealth should not be the fundamental goal in
American life. A few student protestors even tried to spread the message of peace through violent
demonstrations. On American college campuses, the Vietnam War ignited an intense interest in world
history, political theory, and politics. At Harvard University in Massachusetts, students congregated and
ridiculed American foreign policies.
In some dark intellectual quarters, the Vietnam War was seen as a delayed extension of World War II.
Incidentally, World War II was not just a war that resolved European conflicts and drove Adolf Hitler to
suicide. It was a war that weakened European global power. World War II demolished the European economy
and allowed America to emerge as the most dominant economic power. While nations in Europe were
recuperating from the wave of destruction, America utilized the available window of opportunity to gain
political and economic prominence.
After World War II, the famished European nations turned into scavenger economies feeding on the
American economy. Thereafter, the subdued political leadership in Europe was willing to be guided by the
iron hand of the White House. By 1960 European nations had lost their political clout in the global arena.
Later, the Vietnam War removed the last traces of French colonization in South East Asia. The Vietnam War
helped drive out European economic domination in Asia and lay the foundation for American domination.
5
6. In 1969, those experiencing Vietnam battle fatigue after 10 years of war looked forward to three days of
peace, drugs, sex, music, and philosophy. At the Woodstock rock music festival held in New York, about
300,000 counterculture devotees assembled on Max Yasgur’s hog farm. When President Richard Nixon
learned of the Woodstock festival, he was enraged. Richard Nixon saw the counterculture movement as a
threat to America’s capitalistic society.
In many globalizing cultures of the world, ordinary mankind was not able to cope with the pace of
industrialization. In the twentieth century, rapid industrialization was also disrupting mainstream British
society. The clash of ideologies began with the industrial revolution. Along with the industrial revolution
in Great Britain came a musical revolution. One facet of rock music rebelled against industrialization, while
the other facet tried to offer comfort and solace to the helpless victims of industrialization. A genre of rock
music known as punk rock had themes that were critical of the political, social, and economic agendas of the
ruling classes. From a sociological angle, discouraging rock music or political poetry would tantamount to
shutting off a safety valve. In England, rock music provided a sensible form of non-violent diversion.
It is important to understand that rock music was not just about music, melody, and romantic ballads. For
instance, the British rock band known as Pink Floyd became known for philosophical lyrics. American folk
rock singer Bod Dylan wrote captivating songs with political, philosophical, and sociological overtones.
Rock music was often music to vent one’s feeling against the stress inducing industrial culture.
Perhaps, rock music helped avert the possibility of a violent youth revolution in England. As the English
society was extremely class conscious, the wealthy aristocrats had been tyrannically cruel to the youth of the
poor classes. The stressful situation could have reached a flash point. Fortunately, rock music provided an
outlet for pent up feelings. Had it not been for youth music legends like Sir Mick Jagger, the British youth
would have violently taken to the streets to express their frustration.
Until 1967, large quantities of LSD were made available to scientists, intellectuals, and the American CIA
for use in research projects. These research projects were in mind control and social engineering. Some
veteran drug users of LSD had reported long term side effects that included changes in perspective,
perception, and personality. Famous authors such as Aldous Huxley and Timothy Leary expressed the
opinion that drugs like LSD could alter the way people think. In fact, it was often seen as a wonder drug that
could help extend human brainpower. In medieval India, ancient scholars had claimed that narcotic drugs
could provided a rare spiritual experience. They said that narcotic drugs helped users gain inner insight into
the way their mind worked.
Professor Benny Shanon at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has expressed the opinion that Moses was
probably under the influence of psycho tropic substances. Professor Shahon also pointed out that the Bible
contained references to the bark of the acacia tree. In medieval times, narcotic drugs were used at most
religious events and ceremonies in Israel. Most supernatural events reported by prophets might have been
hallucinations under the influence of naturally occurring narcotic plants.
Systematic use of narcotics had helped the great Indian civilization produce prophets with extraordinary
insight and perceptive intelligence. Ancient Indians claimed that the use of narcotics lead to spiritual
advancement. With the use of narcotic weeds for gaining insight, the Indian civilization was able to produce
many major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Incidentally, weeds of marijuana
grow in the wild in several parts of northern India. In fact, marijuana weed grows by the truckloads. Though
these regions in India could be a great tourist destination for junkies, the local natives show no interest in
6
7. smoking the weed.
Back in the sixties, working class households in America were unable to financially support children who
were aimlessly drifting into Eastern philosophy, pop art, yoga, meditation, and organic farming. Therefore,
young Americans were told to learn a useful mechanical trade and get a job in a factory. As Richard Nixon
was not as culturally refined as John Fitzgerald Kennedy, he might have seen the counterculture movement
as a greater threat to social values than the burglary at the Watergate Hotel. Sadly, the counterculture moment
was deflated by Richard Nixon. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was roped in to help flatten the
Renaissance movement.
The crushing of the counterculture movement in America continued to shackle the nation to her Cartesian
blue collar heritage. Several decades later, it created an uninformed society of voters within the American
democracy. In recent times, a politician running for President complained of small town voters clinging to
their faith and their handguns. Though an industrialized nation for over a century, America was never able
to build an erudite society that could grasp the nuances of international politics and vote intelligently.
Looking back in history, America had failed to recognize a social reawakening movement that had once
appeared on her horizon. After a series of military adventures which included the Korean War, Vietnam War,
Cold War, and the Gulf Wars, the American flag became a piece of cloth that represented savage military
power and an insatiable craving for economic gain. By 2005, the world at large began to identify the 50 stars
on the American flag as trophies that represented the 50 military missions the nation had undertaken while
policing the world.
Legalizing LSD and marijuana could have greatly altered the fabric of American society. Incidentally, many
experts claimed that these substances were less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. However, Richard Nixon
defused the possibility of an American Reawakening that could have rivaled the European Renaissance and
greatly improved the course of American history.
American intellectualism was not intellectualism that took birth naturally out of a great reawakening
movement within a philosophically rich social culture. It was also not born out of natural human curiosity
of the American race. Intellectualism in America was born out of persuasive university education. Like
everything else in America, intellectualism was also mass produced. Universities picked up young Americans
from working class households and put them on a diet of advanced text book theory. Like factories, the
universities supplied American society with assembly line manufactured scholars whose ideas, ideologies,
and sense of inquiry were nearly identical.
It is said that university manufactured American intellectuals found it extremely difficult to distance
themselves from the social values of the environment they were born into. Local customs, inbred social
values, religious beliefs, and native prejudices prevailing in their immediate social environment seemed to
influence their thinking. Therefore, there was very little scholarly diversity, originality, and philosophical
rigor in American intellectualism. When measured against seasoned European standards, American
intellectualism was bland and insipid. Another point to note is that American society did not allow
intellectuals and scientists to speak their mind freely. Unlike European society, mainstream society in
America insisted on socially desirable responses from intellectuals. In sharp contrast, European society
expected intellectuals to behave like upstarts.
By 1925, it was time for America to become self reliant and make a quick progression from a faltering
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8. agrarian economy to a stumbling industrial economy. While the best scientific brains in America were told
to drive weapons research programs, the best philosophical brains were told to drive shuttle buses from JFK
International Airport to Grand Central Station in New York City. Interestingly, the social culture of
Greenwich Village in New York City savored the views of writers, poets, musicians, artists, drug addicts,
and homeless tramps.
Legend has it that the founding fathers of the American nation had not understood how poetry, art, and
literature could benefit society positively. Their primary agenda was to establish agricultural colleges to teach
farming to citizens. At that time in history, farming was a serious business endeavor. Unlike Europeans, the
American founding fathers had failed to grasp the idea that poetry, art, and literature were communication
mediums for conveying philosophical concepts to common citizens. For instance, European artists conveyed
philosophical ideas on canvas. In many cultures, folk songs and poetry conveyed philosophical ideas.
The founding fathers had played a decisive role in suppressing artistic intellectualism. Perhaps, the founding
fathers inadvertency laid the foundation for an anti-intellectual agrarian culture. However, this mutated and
progressed insidiously into an anti-intellectual industrial culture. One century later, this very culture made
America the home to paranoid multinational industrial corporations and war mongers. In America, Ivy
League graduates flock to Wall Street in search of high paying corporate jobs. Incidentally, Professor
Howard Gardner at Harvard University wishes to see more Ivy League graduates choose careers in public
service.
In America, New York City and Los Angeles were the only cities where intellectualism and industrialization
could coexist peacefully. In New York, intellectuals were encouraged to trim their beards and write poetry.
Elsewhere, intellectualism was piously considered un-American and blasphemous. In the southern states,
intellectuals were ambushed and restrained with an iron hand. In small town societies that were deeply
religious, intellectuals were persecuted by clergymen, councilmen, snooty sheriffs, and the Ku Klux Klan.
In New York City, prolific intellectuals began enjoying the same status as stand-up comedians. Woody Allen,
Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, and George Carlin were New York intellectuals who cashed in on the comical
side of intellectualism. It is said that intellectuals in New York were ready to argue with each other until they
collapsed due to exhaustion. Incidentally, even the Sicilian Mafia in New York was made up of intellectuals
who could philosophically justify their criminal acts in a court of law and escape lengthy prison sentences.
In fact, their intellectual influence in the East Coast created the right aura for the Ivy League business
schools.
Most graduates from Ivy League business schools were brainwashed in the sophomore year and later sucked
up by Wall Street firms. Many of these firms were intent on orchestrating multi-billion dollar financial
rackets. Wall Street executives who could mastermind financial wrongdoing and hoodwink the SEC were
looked up to as smart people. As this was the value system inculcated at the business schools, it was every
graduate’s dream to land a job with the smart people in Wall Street. By 1990, white collar crime was
becoming a respectable profession in Wall Street.
Until 1900, America was an unprogressive nation with cattle ranches and a faltering agricultural economy.
At that time, science education in America was in conflict with religious teachings. In fact, in the state of
Tennessee, it was illegal to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution at colleges and universities meant for the
deeply religious working classes. The wealthier class of American citizens who wished to study science with
a serious commitment fled to Britain. Americans who wished to pursue careers in nuclear physics patiently
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9. stood in line, and sought meaningful research opportunities at the Cavendish Laboratory in England.
People who are reasonably curious can learn a few lessons from European history. When Florence became
an economically flourishing financial capital in Italy, opulence began bringing about alarming levels of social
decline. The treacherous philosophies of Niccolo Machiavelli began glorifying unprincipled political conduct
and public deception. While lowly thugs and loan sharks in the banking business had put Florence on the
world map, the Mafia had put Sicily on the world map.
As some distinguished scholars had observed, Florence was steadily evolving into a society of corrupt
politicians and swindlers. As degenerate value systems began threatening civil society, the Renaissance
movement was launched on a war footing. The great Italian Renaissance movement began taking shape in
Florence. The Renaissance began moving attention away from mindless swindling, trade, commerce, science,
and technology. Instead, the Renaissance movement aggressively revived an interest in classic literature,
philosophy, poetry, art, architecture, and sculpture.
Until the Renaissance, artists had enjoyed the same social status as laboring craftsmen, carpenters, plumbers,
and butchers. After the Renaissance however, artists began enjoying the same status as philosophers. Artists
began to be looked upon admiringly as the intelligent interpreters of native European culture. Within a brief
period of 200 years, the odious business culture of Europe had received a complete make over. Intellectual
decline was arrested, and the path of social progress was corrected with the assistance of art, literature, and
philosophy. Florence also became the home to Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
In a revitalizing change, the Renaissance had helped create two distinct social classes within European
society. One was the intellectually privileged class that sat behind wooden desks and evolved the working
doctrines of democracy. The other was the economically privileged class that wished to engage in
colonization and imperialism. As the Renaissance movement was unable to cleanse the political system in
Europe, many European nations became colonists. European colonists began benefitting economically by
maintaining Asian and African economies at subsistence levels. However, European society had a politically
active intellectual class that condemned imperialism and colonization.
Systematically orchestrated intellectual repression within working class American societies started breeding
resentful idealists. In most societies, the idealists tend to be citizens who lack the intellectual finesse to
understand real world impracticalities or an opposing viewpoint. Graduate schools began breeding text book
trained intellectuals who were moralistic and idealistic. Excessive moralization not only restrained
intellectual thought, but also retarded philosophical progress. It also made intellectuals and academicians the
arch enemies of capitalists, politicians, bureaucrats, and Pentagon officials.
By 1925, the great American democracy was harboring idealists and intellectuals who were incorrigibly
unrealistic and impractical. Idealists of the lowest intellectual denominator began working as newspaper
columnists. The ranting and raving of idealists became a source of annoyance to most American Presidents.
In fact, it became difficult for American Presidents to be forthright and honest. Fearing unpredictable
outbursts from pigheaded idealists, most Presidents in the White House began to refrain from truthfully
discussing political issues and foreign policies with the American people. White House officials began
classifying documents to conceal vital deliberations from idealists and bullheaded intellectuals.
When the newspaper idealists were denied access to juicy information, they had very little to write about.
Some were forced to sit back and twiddle their thumbs. Meanwhile, a few idealists decided to make a
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10. complete U-turn and start supporting the agendas of politicians in power. At least, this would assure them
a weekly paycheck. When this happened, American citizens were lead down through a dimly lit path of
ignorance.
The Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra issue, the Middle East policies, and the two Gulf Wars were never
clearly and truthfully explained to mainstream society. Perhaps, there were intelligent reasons to fight wars
in Vietnam and Iraq. However, American politicians seemed to be reluctant to discuss the real reasons openly
on a public platform. Sometimes, they tried to spin yarns about Soviet communism in South East Asia, drug
trafficking by Manuel Noriega, and weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Soon, the White
House press secretaries had the newspaper journalists guessing wildly, and running around like a bunch of
headless chickens.
Many American economists held the view that impoverishing a third world nation’s economy by wealth
annexation was justifiable, if American companies were investing in research, and developing new products
useful to humanity. This meant that Asian, African, and South American nations rich in natural resources
could end up becoming victims of legitimate imperialism. It was evident that annexing wealth from Latin
America could help raise living standards of working class citizens in America. Therefore, the draft of the
Monroe Doctrine of a previous political generation was conveniently reinterpreted to strengthen America’s
financial influence over South America.
At the present time, the economies of many South American nations are directly tied to the American
economy. Nations that have tried to practice capitalism without imperialism have created extremely harsh
economic divides between the rich and poor. This has eventually lead to social unrest and political instability.
This explains why the White House administrations install brutal dictators in small nations where capitalism
is practiced. A democratically elected government in a third world capitalistic nation is a sure recipe for
disaster. Incidentally, small Asian nations that practice capitalism without imperialism have their economies
tied by steel chains to the American economy. In a strict sense, their capitalistic economies are not self
sustainable without the American economic alliance.
In the post colonial era, instead of governments taking part directly in wealth acquisitions, powerful business
corporations try to exploit weaker nations through clever business contracts. In the global economic
landscape, multinational corporations are more influential than third world nations. Moreover, the United
Nations cannot ordinarily exercise control over the actions of private business corporations.
In the civilized world, industrialized nations with powerful military battalions see themselves as societies
on the top of the food chain. When the laws of the industrial jungle demand the survival of the fittest
civilizations, the United Nations is not going to bend over backwards to rescue small nations from
imperialists. Moreover, the United Nations is an organization whose top level bureaucrats are closely
controlled by the politics of the great industrial powers. In a strict sense, the UN is not an independent
organization.
If capitalism is the way to go, corporate imperialism should no longer carry a negative connotation. Rather
than coyly denying the existence of imperialism, political leaders, policy makers, and economists should
discusses imperialism openly. Citizens in third world nations must be told to wake up and get their act
together. In the battle for economic survival, citizens in third world nations should start taking extraordinary
protective measures. Third world civilizations must try to use their political ingenuity and their ill-trained
militias to the best of their ability to protect themselves from corporate imperialists. Small nations might have
10
11. to fight it out in the boxing ring. They should elect political leaders who have the intelligence, genius, and
determination to hold off imperialistic forces.
We notice that Fidel Castro in Cuba successfully fought off American expansionism for several decades.
Incidentally, the Soviets had pointed out that Fidel Castro had as much a right to promote socialism in South
America, as the American President had the right to promote capitalism. In recent years, the corporate news
media, with allegiance to Western capitalists, has tried to misinform citizens and present North Korea as a
belligerent nation. Looking back, history shows that the Koreans had been colonized by the Japanese.
Justly and philosophically, the North Koreans ought to have the right to defend themselves with nuclear
warheads and missiles. Fundamentally, the international nuclear treaties are instruments of imperialism and
expansionism. The treaties disallow smaller civilizations the right to defend themselves against civilizations
that are higher up in the food chain. While these treaties are undeniably discriminatory, intellectuals,
scholars, political scientists, and Nobel Laureates have not voiced protests. This unquestionably points to
the absolute inability of modern college education to produce citizens with the philosophical and moral fiber
to stand up and challenge policies that are unjust to certain sections of society.
By the time Elvis Presley put his distinctive pelvis shaking pop culture on the world map, it became fairly
apparent that the anti-imperialistic sermons of the founding fathers had to be muffled. However, the
American Constitution was never officially amended to reflect this change. In the Elviserian period, while
many American politicians and foreign policy makers publicly claimed to have a distaste for imperialism,
corporate America began stealthily embracing expansionism. Corporate tycoons began gaining entry into the
White House through the back door. Thereafter, American corporate executives and banking cartels wished
to help the President shape foreign policy. Within the American democracy, this created a mild disconnect
between business tycoons and the ruling political class. By 1970 however, American corporate imperialism
was becoming a respectable economic component of American capitalism.
To counteract the Soviet communist threat, many American politicians insisted on forcing capitalistic
dictatorships and sweat shops on third world economies. Industrial workers in many third world nations in
Asia were willing to work for pitifully low wages. The only capitalism poor nations in Asia, Africa, and
South America could practice was sweat shop capitalism. Therefore, Western capitalists helped set up Asian
sweat shops that could supply multinational corporations with merchandise at competitive prices. The
clothing sold at many department stores in New York City and London are actually produced by starving
citizens working under inhumane conditions in sweat shops in Asia. Many Asian capitalists flout local laws.
They employ starving child laborers at miserably low wages. Incidentally, corrupt law enforcement
authorities have been allowing such exploitative practices to continue.
While Soviet and Chinese communists opposed imperialism with military invasion, they were willing to
tolerate sweat shop capitalism. Therefore, it became possible to set up sweat shops even in communist
controlled Chinese territories. In the new millennium, the more pragmatic breed of Chinese communists are
discovering the benefits of imperialism. Chinese policy makers, driven by unbridled ambition, are now trying
to gain access to mineral and oil resources in Africa.
In the new millennium, emerging economies of India, China, Brazil, and Mexico might start a new wave of
imperialism and try to plunder nations in Africa. At present, Indian companies with overly ambitious
expansion plans are looking for new sources of oil in Cuba, Libya, Venezuela, and Sudan.
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12. In recent years, the extraordinarily strong blue collar heritage has become America’s greatest political
handicap. As societies with blue collar value systems operate from a mind set of self survival, they narrowly
focus on economic self interest. They also tend to be less generous. Political and business societies shackled
to blue collar value systems are not spontaneously open to the idea of philanthropy and social responsibility.
For instance, American drug companies with a Cartesian blue collar corporate culture have declined to make
life saving drugs available at lower prices to poor nations in Africa. Their blue collar corporate value systems
restrain them from thinking beyond the idea of manufacturing, merchandising, and profiteering. In
comparison, many European drug companies flaunt a Pascalian white collar corporate demeanor. European
drug companies seem to be more open to the idea of making available low cost generic drugs to fight the
AIDS epidemic in poor countries.
In recent decades, less than 0.5 percent of American GNP was allotted to foreign aid to help impoverished
nations. This percentage symbolized a pathetically low figure that made European nations look insanely
generous. This directly points to the fact that American politicians and businesses were not willing to carry
the financial burden of development aid that was consistent with the global stature of the American economy.
This is typical of a Cartesian blue collar political culture. This attitude is also perfectly consistent with the
general agenda of legitimate corporate expansionism. The Cartesian capitalist’s objective is to cleverly
exploit the weaknesses of a third world economy. The objective is not to aid a third world economy through
a spirit of magnanimity and strengthen it.
Most American politicians tended to be extremely tight and frigid in matters pertaining to foreign aid.
Incidentally, the USAID was fundamentally an institution that could be safely entrusted with the principal
agenda of getting a foothold in a foreign territory. Disguised as a benevolent organization, USAID could seek
entry into a third world country threatened by socialist militias. It is conceivable that USAID could covertly
enter a foreign territory to lay the cultural foundation for American capitalism and corporate imperialism.
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