29 March 2010By
Charles Mercieca
There has never been a country in the history of the
world that has occupied the minds of so many nations
as the United States. A person is best judged not by
the looks, outfit, wealth and power but rather by the
character and personality. These two elements are
generally viewed as sources of credibility and
predictability. This means everyone knows where one
stands with such a person in a way that would make us
feel comfortable and at ease all the time.
Positive and Constructive Aspects
If we were to read several books about the United
States we will soon discover how different they may
be. In fact, each of such books may sound to be
talking about an entirely different country that
happens to bear the same name. The reason is simple.
We may view an object from 360 angles each one of
which tends to give us a somewhat different
perspective. Churchmen, for example, may prefer to
focus on American traditional spiritual values that
may include week-end participation in religious
services, the invocation of God's name in prayer
before every major event, and families united in love
and friendship.
Several news-reporters tend to focus on a variety of
sports, football in particular. In fact, quite a few
millions do not miss watching some tournaments
especially in their final stage. Of course, the list
in this area may go on and on. Humanitarian groups,
along with philanthropists, talk often about their
favorite charities, which may serve to help the
handicapped and the homeless as well as the poor and
the hungry. In this regard, the United States donates
yearly more money for just humanitarian causes than
any other nation on earth.
In terms of virtue, Americans in general are viewed to
be good and trustworthy. Most of them have visited
several countries as tourists. In virtue of their
presence, they proved to be the best ambassadors of
good will that the United States ever had. Until a
couple of decades ago or so, Americans were not only
liked but, at times, envied as well. As a matter of
fact, many foreigners felt the desire to immigrate to
the United States and become also citizens. All of
this reveals some of the positive and constructive
aspects of the United Sates.
We need to keep in mind that viewing the United States
from the aspects that have just been presented is not
the same as when viewing this same nation from
entirely different angles. The United States is a
capitalistic nation that is ruled in practice by big
corporations, which finance the election of virtually
every senator and congressman. Hence, although in
theory people elect their government officials to
represent them; in practice such government officials
represent, first and foremost, the interests of big
corporations even when proven to be detrimental to the
American people.
Evil
of Communism and
Capitalism
When
Pope John Paul II was asked in
Mexico during the decade of the eighties as to
whether world peace was feasible he did not hesitate
to give a quick reply. He said clearly and
emphatically: "Yes, world peace is feasible but only
after two of the greatest evils of the
20th century are gone." Then he added saying:
"These two great evils are communism and capitalism
because both try to achieve their goals through the
exploitation of people." Some three years later,
communism collapsed and the world took a great sigh of
relief.
This event gave capitalism the chance to reveal its
true self. Instead of embarking on a program of
international disarmament and arms control, the
elimination of landmines and the abolition of all
nuclear weapons, the United States embarked on the
largest military build-up in history. Tens of billions
of dollars were spent to open hundreds of US military
bases around the world and to literally pollute the
major oceans of the world with warships.
Instead of cooperating with philanthropists and
humanitarian groups in the build-up of a
peaceful
world community, the United States assumed
determinedly the role of becoming literally the
policeman of the world. Instead of offering nations
across every continent with humanitarian assistance to
help eliminate hunger and provide natives with
adequate home facilities, the United States offered
governments across every continent with all kinds of
weapons and all military equipment as to enable them
to solve all problems with neighboring countries
through struggles and wars.
After the collapse of communism, the United States had
the unique opportunity to become an asset to the
entire world. Yet, it deliberately blew up this
opportunity and set on irreversible course of
struggles and wars. As a result, tens of thousands,
amounting to millions, of innocent people were
slaughtered mercilessly. The world, instead of
becoming safer, emerged to become more dangerous.
Thousands of those who managed to survive whose
properties were destroyed and relatives were killed
have now lost the will to live.
Some non-governmental organizations have asked
children, ages 9 through 11 in both Gaza and Iraq,
what it was they wished to do when they grew up. To
their full surprise, more than 80% said unanimously:
"Killing Americans!" When each one was asked as to
"why" this was their ambition, the answer was quick:
"Because Americans killed my father, they killed my
mother, they killed or maimed my brother, along with
several relatives; they destroyed our homes and all of
our belongings; in essence we lost our will to live."
Planting Seeds for Future Terrorism
What will happen when in a few years from now, these
thousands of children become late teens or in their
early twenties? They will surely find ways that would
endanger the lives of Americans and even proceed to
destroy their property wherever it may be. Of course,
when such events will take place because they were
instigated in the first place by the Americans years
earlier, the US government officials will then label
them as Al-Qaeda or Taliban, even though they might
never had connection with any of these two groups.
American
foreign policies have been viewed by many
around the world to be very belligerent. Such policies
are based on the slogan: "Do it our own way or else
face the consequences! " Such policies are also seen
as an expression of machismo revealed in a
determination to haunt people with fear, which often
leads to paranoia. Once paranoia takes over, the
elements of self-control and of solving conflicts
through healthy dialogues tend to disappear very fast.
More soldiers mean more killing of innocent people
that is bound to bring more negative and destructive
reactions toward Americans.
The US full reliance on the military to get what it
wants by hook or by crook has already put this great
nation of so many good projects and good people on the
road to financial collapse. US government officials as
a whole tend to call the countless trillions of
dollars spent on weapons and the military as "defense"
money. To this end, there is always money with no end
in sight, even to the detriment of Americans' lives.
And these same US government officials refer to any
money for the health care of Americans as "deficit"
money.
In other words, US government officials as a whole do
not even dream to do anything that is substantial for
Americans, if that were to interfere with the
financial interests of big corporations. The saintly
Pope John Paul II, who may become canonized in our
lifetime, was right when he condemned capitalism as a
great evil because, as he said, "it advances its
causes through the exploitation of people."
Ironically, these are Americans for whom their
government claims to be fighting wars all over the
world "to safeguard their democracy and freedom!"
In recent decades, more people in the United States
and around the world are beginning to believe that
this nation does not have itself the democracy it
advocates other nations to have. Also, Americans do
not have the freedom that their government claims it
wants to bring to other nations. Democracy is derived
from two Greek words, demos (people) + kratia
(government) . In the United States we only have a
façade of democracy. In theory, people elect their
government officials supposedly to represent them.
View
of Democracy and Freedom
However, for anyone to be elected one must reach the
people in their homes through the press, radio and
television. To use such media one must pay millions of
dollars. This means that to have a chance to be
elected one must be either very rich or have some rich
sources to finance the campaign. Here is where the big
corporations step in. Once the people elect their
representatives through a well prepared propaganda,
commonly known as "advertisements, " then such elected
officials proceed to thank the corporations that
financed their campaign by doing anything in their
power to boost their corporate products.
All of this modus operandi reveals that to have
genuine democracy in a capitalistic nation constitutes
a contradiction. As long as the US subscribes to
capitalism, it can never have true democracy. Since
democracy and freedom seem to be tied together, let us
examine the concept of freedom of movement, since this
is viewed as vital for people anywhere. When top US
government officials advocate to other nations to give
freedom to their people, they will have first to see
what kind of freedom they do give to Americans in the
first place.
Although many people of several countries enjoy the
freedom to travel anywhere in the world, even at their
own risk, Americans are forbidden by their US
government to travel freely in a number of countries.
That includes
Cuba their peaceful neighbor. The US news-media
hardly ever bring any good and constructive news about
Cuba, which has been viewed as "enemy" for almost half
century! In fact, the United States has put an embargo
against Cuba for well over four decades. Cuba
committed only one "crime!"
When the
Revolution freed Cuba from the tyrannical
Fulgencio Batista, the leader of the
Revolution,
Fidel
Castro, made it clear that "Cuba belongs to the
Cubans and not to US big corporations. " When such
corporations realized that he meant what he said, then
they asked US government officials who were elected by
corporate money to "punish" Cuba and the embargo,
which is still in operation, was imposed. It's an
example of how US government elected officials serve
more as puppets of big corporations than as
representatives of the people.
A few years ago, Cuba found a cure to some forms of
cancer. While people from overseas went to Cuba to be
cured of their maladies, the American news media did
not bring any news about this event. This was in line
with their US corporate policies that news about Cuba
must only be negative and destructive. Only God knows
how many Americans died that would have still be alive
if they paid a visit to Cuba to this end. If Americans
do not have freedom of movement to go wherever they
want, how can the US government give other nations
such a freedom?
Nemo
dat quod non habet – No one can give anything
that one does not have.
Self-Proclaimed Christian Nation
The United States is considered to be mostly a
Christian nation. US government officials who feel
proud of their
traditional Christian heritage speak proudly of
the country's traditional belief in God. In fact, the
American motto on money and on quite a few monuments
reads: "In
God We Trust." Almost all of these US
government officials attend church religious services
on week-ends. The majority of them view the Master
Teacher of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, as their Redeemer
and Lord. All of this is perfectly fine and all of us
should feel edified.
However, we are faced with something ironic here. A
good number of these self-proclaimed Christians in the
US government do not seem to hesitate to censure the
teachings of their proclaimed Master Teacher when they
feel disagreeable. Whereas the mindset of Jesus was
deeply trenched in the
culture
of peace, the mindset of most of our US
government officials is deeply ingrained in the
culture of war. We all recall the
words
of the Master Teacher to the Pharisees:
"The God you preach is not the God I know. You preach
a God that advocates the eye for an eye and the tooth
for a tooth; the God I know is one who when stricken
on the cheek he would not only refrain from
retaliating but He would rather be stricken on the
other cheek as well." And when His disciple Peter
tried to defend Him by taking out the sword, Jesus was
quick to tell him: "Put the sword away for he who
kills by the sword will die by the sword." The mindset
of this Master Teacher was truly ingrained in the
culture of peace.
This mainly Christian nation, whose mindset is deeply
trenched in the culture of war, has defied the
instructions of the Master Teacher, through its
weapons, struggles and wars. Its troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan need to be replaced with
humanitarian agencies. The US can still provide world
leadership to bring world peace. This would need first
of all a shift from the mindset of the culture of war
to the mindset of the culture of peace. US military
bases could become humanitarian quarters. Besides, US
war ships floating over the oceans need to be changed
into floating hospitals to help save the lives of
many.
If what has been stated sounds clear and obvious, how
come nothing is being done to change the role of the
US military from one of destruction to one of
construction? It is more noble and humane to preserve
human life from every aspect than to destroy it
brutally! The traditional US governmental philosophy
of the culture of war needs to be replaced with the
virtual unanimous people's urge toward the eventual
implementation the culture of peace.
Questioned United States Leadership
Is there any hope for the United States to emerge as
an instrument of harmony and peace instead of
struggles and wars? The answer is yes if all those who
are concerned with the creation of a harmonious and
peaceful world were to become involved. We
cannot leave our constructive actions for tomorrow for
as
Frank Sinatra said in one of his songs: "Let's
forget about tomorrow for tomorrow never comes." Here
are steps to help replace the culture of war with that
of peace.
Periodical demonstrations against war policies are
needed to demonstrate to our politicians our outrage
and condemnation of their actions.
Legal actions against those politicians who became
millionaires through weapons and wars should be taken
and have all of their money confiscated.
Constant pressure should be put on government
officials to close 50% of the hundreds of US military
bases overseas. This would allow the
American people to have all the money they need
for their health care and education.
Clergymen and physicians, who are responsible for the
people's spiritual and physical needs, should condemn
openly the "abuse of power" involved when the US
military destroys cities and kills thousands of
innocent people.
Big Corporations must be made fully aware of their
moral obligation to change their destructive products
into constructive ones; instead of making tanks for
soldiers they could make tractors for farmers.
Courage and determination should be revealed by those
working in the manufacture of weapons to quit
immediately their job and to seek for a kind of work
that is constructive and beneficial to our earthly
community.
Nations everywhere should stop cooperating with the
United States when it comes to the manufacture and
sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and
wars. They should say loud and clear: Satis est satis
- Enough is enough!
A nation cannot be the seat of capitalism and the seat
of democracy and freedom at the same time. As stated
earlier, this constitutes a contradiction. In
capitalism the power lies with big corporations where
government officials are merely puppets of such
elements, which financed their election. The real hope
of the United States lies with the American people.
Their courage and perseverance to move forward is
bound to bring about constructive results in due time.
Charles Mercieca is the President of
International Association of Educators for
World Peace Dedicated to
United Nations Goals of
Peace Education, Environmental Protection,
Human Rights & Disarmament Professor
Emeritus, Alabama A&M
University
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments