The Old and the New

Sticking once again to the theme that I have touched upon the last few days, I just wanted to clarify, or perhaps a better term for it would be to elaborate, on some of the things that I meant in those last couple of days - particularly about my point in yesterday's posting, and how the experience and subsequent perceptions of war in Europe are radically different than those here in the United States, and how that plays a factor on current attitudes in regard to war in both.

Allow me to be clearer, then. Europe was devastated and obviously weakened by both World Wars, but particularly the last one. Everything had to go towards rebuilding, and many European countries only really started to truly bounce back a decade after the end of the war. Not only had millions been killed, and many more suffered the inevitable consequences  and excesses of war, including millions of civilians, but also, the reputation of a few European nations had been tainted. Germany, France, and Italy had played a role that cast a suspicious and dark cloud over them, as well as other nations where collaboration had been prominent. the stupid rivalries that had lasted ages had now cost these European nations greatly, and they were all the worse for it. Many of the people in these nations had nothing left but to pick up the rubble of this recent past failure, and rebuild, literally and figuratively. They had suffered greatly, and had been humbled, and just wanted to move on with life. Indeed, this suffering was the consequence of an "old" mindset that Europe could ill afford. So, it was forced to scrap it.

By comparison, the United States reaped a rich harvest off of both wars. It had become known as the "Arsenal of Democracy", after all. Following World War II, the United States became known as the world's leading "superpower". It had been on it's knees, like much of the rest of the world, during the Great Depression. Formerly rich farmland was now the "Dust Bowl", and the formerly thriving economy had been under severe pressure, to say the least.

The war changed that. While Europe suffered, going from the economic depression to the horrors of the most extreme war in history, the United States absolutely thrived. Roosevelt came into office with his "New Deal", and with the geographical separation between itself and the warring European states, the US once again profited greatly, restoring it's economy. When joining the war became inevitable, the United States once again played the role of liberating heroes, although the history behind that is a bit more complex than many people - particularly Americans - recognize. So profitable was it, that the United States stood as the richest country on Earth following the war, as well as the most powerful, and they just kept it going after that. War is profitable, that is the consensus thinking. The mantle seemed to have passed at that point from a traditionally war mongering Europe to a United States that had been more peace-loving than it would soon become. 

Kurt Vonnegut, who was a prisoner of war in Dresden during the fire bombing of that city in early 1945, once said that World War II was perhaps the last really necessary war. that it may have been, but wars were really only just beginning for the United States. Unfortunately, so were the shady ties in the unholy marriage between mainstream corporations and the war machine. Lyndon Johnson had corporate ties that benefited and profited from Johnson's decision to wage a war in Vietnam. Decades later, the Bush Administration fell under similar scrutiny and suspicion for the corporate ties that Administration had to companies that made a killing, literally and figuratively, in Iraq, with "no bid" contracts (see the article link below). 

War profiteering was in, peace and isolationism were out. American arrogance and the sense of superiority (formerly the domain of "Old Europe", if you will) that came with it were in, and wisdom and restraint were out. the United States had become a de facto empire, and now, the focus was on pursuing and maintaining it's economic interests, whether outright in the open, or through covert operations. 

Perhaps, given that, it was only a matter of time before we witnessed the things that have come to pass, because that arrogance begins to spiral downward, it snowballs, gets bigger. The stakes get higher. And we reach the point where we are at now.

The Old World and the New World. Old mindsets and new mindsets, right?

But here is the thing: the old mindset has consistently pervaded on the American side since World War II. When many pro-Bush war advocates defended the militant actions of that Administration by claiming that this is how things had always been, that spending vast sums of the country's wealth on the military, a growing percentage despite the absence of a clear enemy like the former Soviet Union, was wise. Sound. Yet, it fosters the spirit of war, as the drumbeats grow louder and louder at times. they are growing steadily louder again, as the latest "crisis" in Iran begins to grow. But the United States has largely discredited itself by lying about the reasons for that war in Iraq. Now, people the world over are more skeptical, automatically - and with good reason! 

War is reflective of an old mindset - a mindset that Europe, through painful experience, learned to be skeptical of. It is not "Old Europe" that was opposed to war. it was a new Europe, trying to be a unified community, warning the "New World" United States of the dangers and potential pitfalls of an old mindset. Perhaps it is that old mindset that also sees the United States now lagging behind all other industrialized nation in terms of health care, where it stands as the only nation where it's citizens truly worry about the size of their medical bills, or why guaranteed vacation here was a fraction of what it is in other industrialized nations, or why people are losing their benefits left and right. Old battles that had seemed won are now being waged again, and unions are in trouble again. workers rights are viewed with skepticism, while the rich are getting richer, always getting more tax cuts and breaks. The loopholes are growing in a system that was designed for greater fairness, and people wonder what is going wrong in the United States. it seems obvious to me: a by-product of an age old arrogance. After all, Americans did not know their limitations, but there was nobody in the world strong enough to keep them in check after 1991. So it only seems fitting that the implosion is from the inside, with the same arrogance: the arrogance of the rich and of a corporate culture that is too arrogant to understand or appreciate any sense of limitations. It is all about getting what you want, and getting...it....right...NOW! 

Yet, I think it is important to make the distinction, and understand that there is nothing "new" in this, it is an age old story. The old mindset does not respect life. It is time to move beyond the dangers of thinking in the past, and start living in the present, always with an eye towards the future.

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1569483