A Revolution That Changed The Politics Of The World- Part 3 (By Natalie Fazeli)

“When Henry Luce penned ‘the American Century’ in February 1941, there was much to be worried about, both in the United States and in the world.”(1) David Mason is speaking of the Second World War and US economy of the early to mid-century. However, as Henry Luce foresaw, 20^th century turned out to be an American Century, and what he might not have predicted that the same century ended to be as such, at least for the second half of the century. In his book, David Mason details the reasons he believes that American century had completed its course in the final years of the century and the 21^st century would definitely be the demise of the US imperialism. Government after government, since the beginning of this nation, had worked hard in order for the US leadership to become a reality. “Why does a strong nation strike against a weaker one? Usually because it seeks to impose its ideology, increase its power, or gain control of valuable resources. Shifting combination of these three factors motivated the United States as it extended its global reach over the past century and more.”(2) After beginning with such introduction, Kinzer accounts for the overthrow of the governments in Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and CIA sponsored or encouraged overthrow of the governments of Nicaragua, Honduras, Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnam, Chile, Granada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq, through coups d'état and other means. Of course Libya and Syria are missing from this list, as the book predates those operations. When Tom Paine distributed his revolutionary “Common Sense” in early 1776, he advocated a separate and self-governing state for the territories with the acknowledgement of the role of the government: “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.”(3) Whether it is the government that becomes corrupted, due to its enormous power and wealth, or those who represent a government, can be interpreted variedly in each society. “The problem of democracy in the post-Revolutionary society was not, however, the Constitutional limitation on voting. It lay deeper, beyond the Constitution, in the division of society into rich and poor.”(4) When the rich is running the government, a class society based on wealth is the outcome. “The United States was the richest country in the world, with 5 percent of the earth’s population yet consuming 30 percent of what was produced worldwide. But only a tiny portion of the American population benefited; this richest 1 percent of the population saw its wealth increase enormously starting in the late 1970s. As a result of changes in the tax structure, by 1995 that richest 1 percent had gained over $1 trillion and now owned over 40 percent of the nation’s wealth.”(5) In order for those who are wealthy in this country to consume 25 percent more of the share of global production, a massive army and a tested tactic are needed. Every elected official in the high office, Democrat or Republican, has maintained these two important factors.