... that the first Europeans to come to this continent (well, from Columbus on), came looking for resources to exploit; or “cites of gold” (El Dorado), or even magical fulfillment (the Fountain of Youth). And gaining wealth was predicated on exploiting labor (just read Moby Dick), or the brutality of slavery. The Cain and Abel of American history.interesting how many people have cited wealth and military power as the reasons why the US is the "best country in the world." i would think that the best country in the world, if such a thing exists at all, should be about whether citizens are happy and fulfilled.
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) June 30, 2026
And the “American Dream” is still an amalgam of possession, exploitation (AI is the latest in a long line of efforts to exploit resources at the expense of many for the benefit of a few. Even Andrew Carnegie built libraries across the country. What has Elon Musk done for anyone besides Elon Musk?), and the pursuit of money as the only real “pursuit of happiness.”
We convinced ourselves (very recently) that we are the “land of the free because of the brave” so we could just justify the standing military and the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us against. What he was warning about was the siren song of all that money. $80 billion worth Trump managed to burn up in a month, to what end? So we could be free? Or so we could be brave? Or so defense contractors could get a lot of money?
🎶 “It’s money that matters/in the U.S.A. 🎶
That die was cast over 500 years ago.
Trump burned up that $80 bil in a desperate bid to feel good about himself, that he's smart and strong and successful. I wouldn't try to guess whether that's a worse reason than "he wanted to make the defense contractors even richer"
ReplyDeleteEither way (and it’s probably both/and), we look more and more like Russia: a paper tiger. Sure, we can annihilate the world, but extreme nihilism is not the same thing as being a “superpower” which can control countries with lesser military power.
DeleteOf course, we showed that in Vietnam. When will we ever learn?
Yeah, both/and. Eitherwhichway another thing the founders turned out to be right about: large standing armies just waiting to be used by a "strong" leader.
DeleteThere must be a ton of pyschological analysis of why, for certain kinds of (male) people, being seen to be dominant (even if the effort fails) turns out to be more important than actually being dominant through indirect means
psychological. Bifocals don't solve anything on their own
Delete