“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, 20th 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 21st
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.
.jpg)
