open Democracy News Analysis - America against itself, Godfrey Hodgson - Comments

Flandersd on "America against itself"

Flandersd — Wed, 02 May 2007 03:38:16 +0100

I think you should read some history books... from many places... try Churchill's history of the English speaking people...

joe_11 on "America against itself"

joe_11 — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:33:25 +0000

The level of commitment to democracy and freedom in the US (combined with intense, mind twisting propaganda and low educational standards) makes it possible to justify all manner of violence against anyone who can be pinned with labels like "terrorist" or "communist".

r_b_russell_1 on "America against itself"

r_b_russell_1 — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:58:51 +0000

What is most disturbing about this article - and, indeed, about so many articles about post-war America - is the implication that US militarisation, McCarthyism, etc., all took place in a global vacuum; that they are evidence of some warping of the American dream, or of some perverted reality behind it.

This is nonsense. Consider what happened by the late 1950s:

The USSR had used its military might to take over most of eastern Europe, and half of Germany.

They had blockaded Berlin.

The Soviets had built an atomic bomb, largely thanks to the efforts of spies and traitors in the west.

There had been civil war in Greece to resist a communist rebellion.

Countries like Albania and Yugoslavia were under communist control - different in style, but reliant on the same police-state apparatus.

The communists had seized power in China.

There had been all-out war in Korea following a communist invasion of South Korea.

Communist rebels of one sort or another were active throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

In 1953, Soviet troops crushed the workers' uprising in east Germany. In 1956, they invaded Hungary.

And despite the overwhelming evidence of the brutality and corruption of every communist regime on the planet, huge numbers of people in the free countries of Europe were willing to vote communist.

Half the world was being turned into a giant labour camp; and millions in the other half appeared to want their countries to go the same way.

Given all this, the USA seems to have been restrained to the point of wimpishness.

joe_11 on "America against itself"

joe_11 — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:20:49 +0000

Why should the US be different than any other empire? It's elites will take what they can using their available influence to manipulate the fear, greed, and lazyness of its citizens to minimize domestic opposition.

Certainly we (who are citizens of the US) have an obligation to overcome our own fear, greed, and laziness, and our efforts might make some difference. Certainly, there is some ability to learn from history and to take the long view.

But only power checks power.

Developing international checks and balances to constrain US power towards legitimate ends may very well be part of the same process as the development of checks and balances against the abuses of multinational capital.

America against itself, Godfrey Hodgson

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The United States's predicament is that one side of its dualist face has come to predominate. But bullying will not forever eclipse idealism, says Godfrey Hodgson. Read the rest of this post...