So, this happened at Mar a Lago Versailles over the weekend and it got me to thinking.
This was the scene at Mar-a-Lago as news came in that North Korea had conducted a missile test. The public is all around. Classified documents are lying on the table. People are on the phone where anyone can overhear them. There is no operational security at all. This picture was taken by some random guest from a few feet away. Trump himself just looks bored by the whole thing. from Mother Jones
This is where we are right now. There is no reset button. Ain’t gonna happen. This presidency did not appear out of nowhere. The political system and the modern Republican party have created this monster. You don’t need a PolyCSI:Washington television script to explore this stuff.
“The American Century”*
In my estimation, this term should be used, if at all, to refer to roughly World War I to pretty much January 20, 2017. The rise, the reign, the fall. It’s funny how western historians start paying attention to things as they reach their centennial mark. The nation is in for a historical reckoning. And if Churchhill was right, then we need to be sure that the incredible progress that was made in civil society during those years is remembered by the victors.
*Diarist’s note: the US spent most of that century at war or conflict with multiple nations simultaneously.*
*Diarist’s note: see also, “Greatest Generation”*
The age of dying European power balances was also the age of the first generation of free born black men and women. Those men and women went on to found great institutions and movements for the liberation of all people everywhere. The time of the League of Nations was also a period that saw a racist in the White House who once threw a civil-rights leader out of the White House.
Meanwhile, this generation of Americans pursued educations by any means necessary. When traditional institutions of higher learning would not accept “negroes”, they created their own colleges and universities. They created businesses and professional opportunities and excelled in sports.
In 1936, Jesse Owens dismantled the myth of Aryan supremacy at “Hitler's Olympics”. By 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier despite the prevailing legal ethos of “separate but equal”, otherwise know as “mister Jim Crow”. (During that time period, Japanese Americans were confined to “Internment Camps”.)
The following generation became doctors and lawyers and professors and scientists and artists and philosophers and activists. Concepts like the African Diaspora led to knowledge of Patrice Lumumba and Steven Biko. This led to discussions about the “Age of Empires” and its effect on the rest of the world. This, of course, led to a deeper understanding of colonial structures which resulted in the recognition of the United States of America as a colonial power.
That may be a controversial statement, I’m not sure who I am addressing right now. I will say that I welcome conversation on the US and it’s status as a colonial power. At the very least, the US government shouldered the responsibility of maintaining the old Western European balances of power throughout the world during this period of history.
What Drove The “American Century”?
The US economy reached peak efficiency by the end of World War II. With the European Allies hobbled and facing weakened opposition across the world, the US government assumed the role of SuperPower. The Soviet Union, former ally turned adversary, cast in a similar opposite role. In my opinion, a proper accounting for blame in the Cold War has yet to be satisfactorily reckoned.
The answer is WAR
War drove the economic engine that created the Middle Class, and the suburbs, and the car culture. Factories and mines and farming operations were supplying and feeding the world.
The answer is in the concept of the Free World
The US cast itself as the leader of the free world. Who could be against that? The problem is that the government favored the Monroe Doctrine version of the free world. The short story of the Monroe Doctrine is “European hands of off South America! That’s our stuff”!
The answer is ALSO social progress
The one piece of American Exceptionalism I will allow myself is that the 20th century proved that we as a nation were willing to try to make the lofty goals of our Revolution a reality to more people than ever before. There were many disappointments and mistakes and missteps but I believe that there were strong movements working toward greater inclusion or acceptance.
I want to believe in what has been hard won through great perseverance. I want to believe that a majority of people have risen up in the name of greater inclusion at many important historical points. I want to believe that even more people can realize and exercise their rights peacefully.
I want to believe that these movements mean more than official US policy during this time period.
One thing is for certain, “The American Century” did not see a reckoning of the US government’s approach towards and treatment of the First Nations and Native Americans. And yet we wait.
Mni Wiconi
History is written by the victors but it is made by those who show up!