A Rap on Sanity in Empire

As our imperfect experiment in republican government corrodes under the stresses of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism, it may be helpful to think about what your definition of sanity is while listening to the news and political discourse. It is important because while you may personally feel more comfortable with the rhetoric of one party over the other, almost zero of our federal leaders are attempting to halt our government's descent to desperate empire.

The first thing to go in imperial societies is the precision of language. When there are no logical defenses of despicable actions (war, torture, deception), empty patriotic slogans become the rather sparse lexicon that all politicians must work with. "Support the troops", "God bless America", "Mission accomplished", "Axis of evil" are all meaningless phrases meant to stop people from thinking too much. These phrases tap into a - perhaps - natural group psychology that makes violence quite palatable.

Slogans get repeated ad naseum, politicians acquiesce to war and corporate interests, and political philosophies - not to mention facts - must be fixed around the policy.

Now you find yourself in a society whose definition of insanity is peace over war, humanity before flag, and wisdom instead of fear. If your philosophy fits this definition of insanity, you just might actually go insane listening to the news and pundit media.

You may go insane because you realize you have 23 choices of ice cream at Baskin Robbins, but only two serious choices for imperial president. You may go insane because there is more ink spilled on Tiger Woods' 9th mistress than on war profiteers. You may go insane because the flag you are supposed to worship, has come to represent Madison Avenue and Blackwater.

The truth is, empires only last so long. Our economic hegemony is on the decline, and as many bases and weapons as the USA has, we cannot occupy the whole world. As our nation's leaders try to grip the world tighter, they will get more insane and desperate. With a fundamentally unsustainable economy, it is only a matter of time before our nation as we know it collapses. It will be slow, but for all the might and chest beating, we will either change the way we treat ourselves and the rest of the world or face collapse.

In an era of glossy materialistic empire, real sanity turns out to be a desire for our nation's leaders to fail in their imperial endeavors.

Peace