July 29, 2010

I just finished reading another book by Noam Chomsky, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy . It is a provocative and deeply troubling analysis of U. S. state power, foreign policy, and the work to undermine democracy at home. But, it is also extremely well researched and documented. He sees the current state of internal U. S. politics and the American hegemony the way I do, and he makes a great case. The first half of the book covers much the same ground as Hegemony or Survival, but the second half really gets at what is going on to undermine democracy around the world, as well as here at home. A very, very valuable book. Here is a brief suggestion he makes for what could change things for the better:

“The persistence of the strong line of continuity to the present again reveals that the United States is very much like other powerful states. It pursues the strategic and economic interests of dominant sectors of the domestic population, to the accompaniment of rhetorical flourishes about its dedication to the highest values. That is practically a historical universal, and the reason why sensible people pay scant attention to declarations of noble intent by leaders, or accolades by their followers. In addition to the proposals that should be familiar about dealing with the crises that reach to the level of survival, a few simple suggestions for the United States have already been mentioned: (1) accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the World Court; (2) sign and carry forward the Kyoto protocols; (3) let the UN take the lead in international crises; (4) rely on diplomatic and economic measures rather than military ones in confronting terror; (5) keep to the traditional interpretation of the UN Charter; (6) give up the Security Council veto and have "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind," as the Declaration of Independence advises, even if power centers disagree; (7) cut back sharply on military spending and sharply increase social spending. For people who believe in democracy, these are very conservative suggestions: they appear to be the opinions of the majority of the US population, in most cases the overwhelming majority. They are in radical opposition to public policy. To be sure, we cannot be very confident about the state of public opinion on such matters because of another feature of the democratic deficit: the topics scarcely enter into public discussion and the basic facts are little known. In a highly atomized society, the public is therefore largely deprived of the opportunity to form considered opinions. Another conservative suggestion is that facts, logic, and elementary moral principles should matter.” I couldn’t agree more.