A non-conventional perspective

Over the last one year or so the amount of coverage of the topic, the US Presidential Race, 2016, in newspapers and television channels have been so vast, it is really mind-boggling. I personally have no great particular interest in the fanfare preceding the election given that it really does not matter who is the president of the USA, it will be business as usual. One may recall what Roger Daltrey chants: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Rather I always consider US presidential primaries as what we call in our part of the world as "tamasha" or like the Imperial Rome used to have circuses for public amusement. That is the way imperial powers always work. Having said that I am not interested to know who the new Caesar is, is also not true; I am very much interested to know who the new Caesar is. Someone who grew up and living his life in the outer reaches of the empire, such a curiosity is unavoidable. Most of the coverage (not all) both in the print and the visual media are so puerile that this has become a challenge to the intelligence of many.

Now, I am so much bloated with expert commentaries on the issue, whenever reading newspapers, anything covering this topic, I skip the topic. On the television, I change the channel; if I cannot find anything interesting channel to watch (I watch free on-air channels only, that limit the number of channels I can watch), I always have a fall-back position, to switch on to my free on-air cooking channel (I love my food). This channel, of course, uses cooking lessons to sell and advertise cooking utensils and all sorts of kitchen gadgets also. This is obviously quite understandable; you cannot cook without having appropriate cooking utensils and accompanying gadgets, very sensible idea. This also tells you the culture we live in.

The USA's imperial intentions are quite vividly displayed through its public space as was case with the Imperial Rome. When one arrives in the imperial capital, Washington D.C., and looks at all public buildings with Greco-Roman architecture, quite massive in size with their grand appearances including the memorials built to commemorate its national heroes, the scenario can be awe-inspiring. Even in its proclamation of imperial intentions, it draws inspirations from further back in history to the Pharaonic Egypt, the huge soaring obelisk erected to commemorate the founding father of the nation, George Washington. These public buildings are interspersed along wide boulevards giving an aura of imperial splendour. It is truly magnificent display of imperial prowess.

Its size and the nature of imperial aspirations and the degree to which the new kind of imperial militarism is taking shape are reflected in its complete global military reach. There are now about 800 military bases around the world and they come in different shapes and sizes. It has military presence in about 160 countries deploying about 260,000 military personnel around the world. Display of such massive awe-inspiring military presence around the world creates a "state of permanent war". There is no parallel in history of such an awesome military machine that ever existed since the demise of the Roman Empire. Indeed, whoever is the President of the USA, war abroad will remain the centrepiece of its foreign policy. O'Sullivan's manifest destiny and corresponding militarism that it entails is still alive and inspires US politicians. This would also be true about a presidency of Mr Sanders if it eventuates. He is no anti-war Jihadist, he is very much for it if necessary and then the necessity of war is a matter of interpretation. He also supports targeted assassinations. Mr Sanders has been a supporter of Israeli colonisation and occupation including its worst elements of military occupation in Palestine. He knows very well kowtowing to Israel has long been an essential prerequisite for the presidency. He has been just following the right track to the White House - who can blame him?

To pursue its manifest destiny, the US economy now has almost turned into a war industry-based economy. The two predominant sectors of the economy, the services and the manufacturing sectors, have become intertwined based on the nexus between armaments manufacture, transportations and banking and finance that are directly geared towards its war efforts and the supply of arms to its allies. Above all, the massive state-supported research and development or R&D (the US officially does not have an industry policy, therefore it does not pick winners or losers, but oddly enough it provides massive R&D supports which by their nature are subsidies) expenditures is geared towards the development of new technologies to enhance its war capabilities. The recipients of these subsidies are mostly very large war industry-related firms such as the aerospace, armament, information technology and other related industries. Then there is the outsourcing of war-related activities including the conduct of wars themselves and war-support activities. These include war contractors such as Blackwater and Halliburton and other similar companies. Firms such as Blackwater's revenue is wholly based on pursuing wars on behalf the US government - no war no income for firms like this one.

The reason I have chosen the topic is that, to my reckoning, something very interesting is happening as the primaries are heading towards finally choosing from the contending candidates from the two major parties.

 "Jeffersonian Democracy" which the US propagates as the model democracy for the rest of the world, also constitutes one of the cornerstones of American Exceptionalism. To the ruling elite in the USA it has become a messianic belief so much so that, they even do not hesitate to invoke it to wage wars to transplant it in other parts of the world. At least that is the line of argument they put forward quite often in preparation to invade and occupy a country. Of course, people like Mrs Bush (George W's spouse) also go a step further wanting to emancipate the Arab women as a collateral war action plan. This is something akin to the French colonial aggressions and occupations, where these were done in the guise of "mission civilisatrice" to undertake colonial aggression and occupation in the name of spreading French culture to civilise the colonial population. The USA went to Afghanistan, Iraq and now Syria (with the help of their friend and ally Saudis and other Gulf family dictators) to install democracy. The consequences of which are all very clear to us.

The "Jeffersonian Democracy" has been deeply flawed right from the beginning. It was designed and drafted by slave owners (both Jefferson and Washington were big slave owners) causing a very wide divergence between the letters (and also the spirit) of the Declaration and the practice of democracy itself. This has remained more than true even today where democracy has been bought and paid by the mega rich. So much so that the greatest living public intellectual of our time, Noam Chomsky describes it as "Plutocracy" in the guise of democracy.

I am both fascinated and intrigued, in particular, by Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist in the land of free enterprise. In the American (my South American friends, please pardon me for using the word America to denote the USA) political culture the words like 'Socialist' and 'Socialism' carry heavy negative connotations. Even the very poor in the USA have an antipathy to these words which are considered pretty off putting to them and also in the wider community in that country such words are considered quite repulsive. Thanks to the indoctrination provided by the education system (along with other ideological institutions) in the USA, it is carrying out its mission to instil the American values so efficiently and also reinforcing the idea and the spirit of American Exceptionalism and its unique place under the sun. Then you also have the corporate media to perpetuate those values and ideas to believe in the American Exceptionalism. The country also has a number of finest institutions of higher learning. These elite universities not only produced its finest minds but also the empire's ideologues and its fiercest defenders. Then it is also equally true that these universities also produced most articulate and vocal critics of the Empire - they are all Americans.

One would have thought that someone to proclaim himself or herself as a socialist in the USA is like committing a political hara-kiri. But not so this time, it seems. Why? Mr Sanders is clever enough to gauge the deep resentment felt by the people resulting from the slowly disappearing middle class, growing income inequality between the very rich and rest of the community. On top of it, issues such as the environment, health care, employment which provides a living wage, the rise of billionaire oligarchs who call the shots in the national capital are also contributing to their deep resentment. These are becoming growing concerns among the people within the wider community, in particular, among the very young generation who looks to the future with trepidations.

 The writer is an independent economic and political analyst.

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