UNCERTAIN TIMES...
For the second time in 18 months, catastrophic world events or the apparent imminence of one has left me wondering just how to proceed with the next issue. Of course the two events---September 11 and now, the threat of war with Iraq---are very different, mostly because the first was completely shocking and unexpected, while the second hangs ominously over all of us like a black mist, seemingly inevitable and unescapable.
At least part of this issue, including stories by Lance Christie and Dan Rosen, and the editorial that follows this, were written in late February and early March. If war comes before press day (March 20), some of you might find the comments in these articles irrelevant and out-of-date. A moot point.
But you shouldn't. Whether the war comes or not, whether it's over quickly or whether it's prolonged, whether casualties are "acceptable" or not (and what a hideous term that is), the opinions expressed in these pages will deserve serious consideration for a very long time. This country is moving in directions that even the most cynical of us never dreamed possible just a few years ago. The consequences will be long-term. The Iraq Issue is just one component of that new direction.
I am nothing if not sentimental and nowadays I look back fondly and wistfully on those golden times when the dumbest thing our president did was accept the offer of oral sex in the Oval Office toilet.
"The sunny slopes of long ago."
So more than anything, at least a part of this issue of The Zephyr expresses the mood, the concerns, and the emotions of what, according to the polls, is a minority of Americans, at a critical point in the history of this country.
'MANIFEST DESTINY' GOES GLOBAL
George W. Bush believes he is on a mission from God---that because of the extraordinary events that have rattled the world since 9/11, the president has become an instrument of the Almighty to bring world-wide peace. And prosperity.
But President Bush, more than any other man to hold the office in modern times, seems to have a very narrow and restricted view of the world. He casts his gaze on the entire planet with an American Eye. He believes that, not just our system of government, but also our culture, our society, and our economic system stand head-and-shoulders above all others. Having never taken the time to even give cursory notice to other cultures and other societies, President Bush seems incapable of understanding why the rest of the world wouldn't stand in line to be just like us.
For Americans and our leaders, the idea of expansionism "for their own good" is hardly a new idea. The United States has been expanding, with varying degrees of benevolence and cruelty for two centuries. In fact, what's happening now bears a close resemblance to American growth in the 19th Century, as white America moved West.
In the 1840s, many politicians believed it was not just our country's right, but its obligation to extend American influence across the North American continent, encompassing new lands and indigenous people, as "the course of empire made its way." John Sullivan, editor of the New York Morning News would find the right words to rally expansionist sentiment:
"Away, away with all these cobweb tissues of rights of discovery, exploration, settlement, contiguity, etc...The American claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federative self-government entrusted to us. It is a right such as that of the tree to the space of air and earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth...It is in our future far more than in our past...that our True Title is found."
That same year, James K. Polk, a humorless and dull politician from the South, was elected President by the narrowest of margins, failing to even win a majority of the votes cast. And yet, as one historian described it, Polk "insisted on seeing his election as a mandate for expansion." In short order Polk annexed Texas into the Union, and bullied the British into relinquishing their interests in the Northwest territories that would become Oregon and Washington. Finally, in order to gain control of California, Polk declared war on Mexico. Within a year, the entire Pacific coast was property of the United States.
Two years later, James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill and nothing in the American West would ever be the same again.
The quest for gold in the mid-19th Century provides interesting parallels to this nation's unquenchable thirst and search for oil in the 21st Century. But while finding gold was the driving force behind the transformation of the West, as is oil on the world stage today, the impacts of that "fever" were far-reaching and Sullivan's proclamation of "manifest destiny" meant so much more than a lump of gold.
White Americans in 1849 saw an entire continent between themselves and the Pacific coast and saw an opportunity to re-shape it in their image. Scarcely anyone could see any value in that vast physical and social landscape as it existed--Native American cultures that thrived and flourished across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains to the Pacific were to be pushed aside, driven to extinction if necessary. The vast untapped mineral wealth of the West would be exploited. The fertile prairies of the nation's midwest would be plowed. The West would be "tamed."
By 1890, less than half a century after the California Gold Rush began, the dreams and visions of Entrepreneurial America were fulfilled. Thomas Jefferson had predicted it would take a thousand years to subdue and inhabit the continent; we did it in a tenth of that time. The vast buffalo herds were reduced to a handful as the prairies were cleared for cattle and corn. Precious metals were discovered and mined in thousands of places, from Montana to Nevada. The forests cut and the mountains left barren.
As for the Native Americans, according to the historian Robert Utley, "For the United States, these cultures had nothing to contribute to American Life and their only salvation lay in extinguishing them altogether." The United States Congress declared, "...the heathen idols shall give way to the Christian alter. The tribal organizations shall be broken up and the individuality of the Indian encouraged. The lands unnecessarily reserved for them shall be opened to the pioneer." Native Americans were required to abandon their religion, their customs and culture, their dress, even their language.
But always--always--for "their own good."
More than a century later, has anything changed? In 2003, isn't that what this global conflict is really all about? The strategy may be more sophisticated, and in some ways more deceptive, but it's still the same arrogant world view that America cast upon this continent so many years ago. Our leaders aren't evil men and women. Caught in their own tunnel vision, they just want to "share their joy." George Bush can't imagine a soul on Earth who wouldn't want the same wealth of material benefits that Americans appreciate each day. Bush sees another society without the huge infrastructure of America and he sees "squalor." He observes a nation without interstate freeways and he sees "poverty." And he may be right, but it's not his choice, or his government's, to impose American affluence on the rest of the world population.
As we've noted before on these pages, a global growth economy requires an ever-expanding access to the earth's natural resources (including but not limited to oil), an expanding affluent population to buy the products made from those resources, and a docile and easily manipulated Third World population to produce those products at a price the rest of us can afford.
Beyond the rhetoric, beyond the 21st Century fears of terrorism and instability, beyond the heroic calls to "free" the oppressed peoples of the world, the United States' unstated desire to fulfill its manifest destiny on a global level cannot be ignored. This, more than any other motive, is the power and the inspiration behind our government's world strategy. Whether they think it's "for their own good," only makes that strategy more disturbing.
THE VORTEX of CIVILITY
With most of the peoples of the world angry at each other, and as we sit on the brink of yet another war, is it any wonder that a sense of hopelessness and despair permeates the battered spirit of any human who takes the time to actually think about our dilemma? Nothing ever seems to get better. We just run the cycle, over and over. Recently I picked up a copy of LIFE magazine and turned to its table of contents. The editorial for that issue was titled: "Palestine--Will we ever find a solution?" The story recounted recent acts of senseless violence and wondered if political manueverings on both sides could ever result in a peaceful outcome. A few pages later, a reviewer criticized the inane and violent aspects of recent media fare. Have we reached rock-bottom when it comes to bad taste and displays of physical horror, the writer asked.
The answer to both questions was--NO. I was reading a LIFE magazine from 1948. A half century later, resolving the "Palestine Problem" is just as elusive, the violence more intense than ever. In the media, beautiful young women are eating horses' rectums on national television ("Fear Factor," NBC) and depictions of violent behavior have never been more graphic or disgusting.
So is there any place on this planet that offers hope? Is there any tiny corner of our Earth where resolution comes easy, where our differences are set aside? Where we are all equal in each other's eyes? My friends...there is such a place and it was right under our noses...
The four-way stop.
It is truly a vortex of civility in a world-gone-mad. Total strangers, who could be savage adversaries in another venue, come together at a four-way stop and resolve what could otherwise be chaotic confusion. It doesn't matter if the other three participants in this Great Experiment are of a different race, or political persuasion, or sexual orientation. It doesn't matter what kind of car they're driving or what their economic background is. We are not only all equal at a four-way, we are incredibly and consistently respectful of each other. We know how the four-way stop works and we live by that creed of civility.
So even Al Gore would yield to Ralph Nader at a four-way in Tallahassee. Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken can find resolution there. Al Sharpton and Trent Lott. Dr. Laura and Madonna. George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein...
Perhaps that's stretching it a bit.
Of course there is that occasional deviant, who fails to abide by the rule, who takes someone else's turn in the rotation, but even that aberrant behavior has a bonding effect on the others. When that rare event occurs and a violation of the code is observed, note the all-knowing glances that the other drivers give to each other. "That poor fool," their eyes say to each other in quiet nods and gestures. "He is not a member of the House of Civility." But even then, they forgive him and go on.
We humans may quarrel endlessly and kill each other and lay waste to the planet and show utter disregard for everything worthy of respect. But if you ever despair to the point of giving up hope, get in your car and find the nearest four-way stop and rejuvenate your spirit. It's the place where we all can just get along.
SHORT NOTES:
The "Massive Ordinance Air Burst" Bomb (aka MOAB): There's nothing funny here. I predicted to a County Councilperson we'd see a small but potent cluster of local entrpreneurs try to create an "opportunity" out of "MOAB" and I was right. If used, the MOAB will be the first "weapon of mass destruction" exploded over humans since Nagasaki. Trying to profit from, or make a joke out of, this Death Weapon is obscene. The Mayor's letter was commendable--good job Dave.
Another BASE jumping death: A BASE jumper died here in February and another was seriously injured. It's time for the county to consider restrictions on this ridiculous sport, make these recreationists pay for their own rescue, and take steps to protect the safety of the Grand County Search & Rescue Team itself. Maybe these BASE jumpers might be willing to sign a waiver, refusing assistance if injured or stuck.
Speaking of Xtreme Sports: Have you seen the TV ads of young Mountain Dew addict/Xtreme sport idiots being lured into the US Marine Corps? The commercials suggest that being a Marine is just one big exciting jump from a cliff, down a waterfall, in a kayak. "Like...dude...like we get paid to do this? Cool."
Once again...it's the End of the World...as we know it.
