Autumn for Empire

Autumn, my favorite time of the year. A time for change as the world slows down for a time, in preparation for the new beginning that inevitably arrives in the spring. Unfortunately, for the neocons dream of empire, there is not going to be a new beginning. America’s century is now coming to a close and the world is not going to be the same from this moment on. Thanks to the incredible incompetence of the Bush/Cheney administration and the lemming-like behavior of our citizens, it is going to be impossible for America to dominate the world as we have for so long. Russia and China have already made it clear that we will no longer be able to control the world economy. We are, to put it bluntly, broke, a serious debtor nation, lacking the means to maintain our position at the top of the world. Our much vaunted military superiority has proven to be not very successful and our troops are weary and exhausted. No matter who becomes President we will have to bring them home, pare down our obscene military budget, and try to pay our debts. We will not be able to rebuild our broken superstruckture for a very long time and there will be little money available for any domestic programs. We are, in short, at the end of our moment in the sun. Our standard of living which has been losing its luster for some time now will decrease even further. We will become simply one nation along with many others, lacking any material or moral superiority, and struggling to survive in a world increasingly leaving us behind. This is the inevitable price for the systematic dumbing down of our citizens. Our sadly neglected educational system, with its disvaluing of learning, knowledge, both scientific and humanitarian, coupled with the devastating effects of our absurd television programming, have turned us into a nation of sheep, following the Judas goat of unfettered capitalism to our demise, a situation of our own making, a fouling of our nest, an act of such irresponsible sloth that would have been inconceivable to our ancestors. Like our current President we are a nation of losers, however much we like to pretend otherwise. We have stood by idly while allowing those in power to emphasize greed and short term profits rather than the national inerest. There seemingly is no national interest anymore, just corporate interests that take precedence over all else. In this system greed has actually become good, “he with the most toys wins,” “shop until you drop,” “just win baby,” and so on. Certainly it must be some kind of cosmic joke that we have been given the ability to reason but not the desire to use it. Thus we are, at this moment in history, beginning to run on empty, and our filling stations are rapidly disappearning. It is, indeed, the American autumn.

The selection of Sarah Palin for VP, and the apparent widespread acceptance of her candidacy is, I believe, a measure of our political degeneration and lack of genuine interest in our affairs of state. Her choice and candidacy are, speaking plainly, pathetic. She is not only totally unqualified for such an office but is, in fact, an embarrassment.This is a woman who doesn’t believe in evolution, believes the earth and everything in it was created only some 6000 years ago, that people existed contemporaneously with dinosaurs, apparently also believes in witches, thinks banning books in libraries is acceptable, abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest, believes she has Foreign Policy credentials because she can see Russia from her house and who knows what all else. This is nothing short of laughable, and yet a substantial portion of the voting public seems to think she is wonderful. To me (and to at least some others) this is not only laughable, it is unbelievable. Yet it is happening. Now, in the 21st century. In a country that pretends to be the leader of the free world it is insane. It is also a lesson in the contempt for the voting public that exists in the corridors of power. If we have any sense of national pride left (which I doubt) her candidacy should not be allowed (curious, in and of itself, that there are no standards for the highest offices in the land). Ironic, isn’t it, that you have to take a test for a driver’s license, or to enter college, or to apply for most jobs, but all you apparently have to do to run for VP is breathe.

The Dylan Thomas lines written for his dying father are just as appropriate for our nation at this moment in time:

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.