In response to Ian's note on Facebook: (http://hs.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=6233849491&ref=mf) (Read it, it's good.)
I don't think this generation is inherently more destrustive than any other generation. The scope of wars, genocides and the like has been much greater now than ever before, but that's the result of techology. It's a lot easier to exterminate six million Jews now than it was before the Industrial Revolution. We don't have more insane psychopaths now; they just have more deadly tools in their hands to realize their intentions. And while that's not a good thing, it does mean that we as a species haven't gotten any worse.
I am inclined to agree that the environment is completely fucked, but I don't think that matters. Either it is or it isn't, and that shouldn't change anything about the way we live. We should all do whatever we can to reduce our impact on the earth. If we're fucked, we might gain some more time, and if not, we'll keep ourselves that way. If we all die out, it won't matter. 99% of the species that have ever existed on the earth are extinct, and when dramatic climate changes occur, new species evolve to take their places. So if we all die, assuming we all picked the right get-out-of-hell-free card, we'll be ok.
Given that I'm an optimist and given that it doesn't really matter, I live my life assuming we're not fucked. I'm hoping technology will catch up and find some way to get our carbon footprints down, since it's too late to just reduce from using less. And I hope that if scientists come up with a way to, economics and politics will take a back seat to the environment for once. I'm living my life trying to make the world a better place, because if global warming doesn't kill us all, I want my children (proverbial, since I'd rather not contribute to overpopulation) to live in a better, more equal world. So as long as there's a bone left in my body, I'm going to work for social and environmental justice, because I believe in the power of people to change their world when given the chance.
With regard to the US's role in this--the Founding Fathers never intended to create a society with "liberty and justice for all". It wasn't a concept people could even imagine at the time, and history has shown time and again that rich white guys really don't like to give up power. I'm sure if you were to bring Jefferson and Washington and Madison and everyone else back from the dead, they would look at this country and be shocked--by the number of immigrants, by the legally (if not socially) almost-equal status of minorities and women, by the sheer size of the country.
The Founding Father never envisioned this world, but we made it anyway. And the Founding Fathers, in spite of the rhetoric about democracy and the rights of man, never really believed in that for everyone. But that doesn't mean we can't. The beauty of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is that what was written two hundred years ago as an idealistic vision is becoming closer and closer to reality as time goes on. Will we ever reach a world where everyone is truly equal? I doubt it. And some days, I feel like we've made such little progress. But when you look back, we have come a decent way. Birth control was illegal in this country fifty years ago. Segregation was legal at the same time. Yes, we still have institutionalized rascism, and we're miles and miles away from any kind of equality. But that doesn't mean we aren't getting better.
I believe that the American Dream is real, not because it's ever been a reality in this country, but because of what it's inspired in others. We had a sucessful revolution that sparked others around the world. Maybe our revolution wasn't truly revolutionary, but some of the other ones were. And to me, that's the real accomplishment of the US. Maybe all that talk about human rights, democracy and equality was just rhetorical bullshit. But the rest of the world believed it, even if we didn't.
And I still haven't lost all hope for the world. I'm almost out of hope for this country, but fuck this country. We're only one country. I believe in the world, because the more I look, the more I see people in "third world" countries trying to make positive change in their communities. I see people with vision, passion and a clear idea for a better world. And when I talk to them, I hear their hope. They know that the US is full of shit, but they're still working to institute the ideals our country was founded on. They're working to become the country and the people we never were. And even though we don't want to admit it, our age is over. Look at history--no one gets to rule the world for more than a few hundred years. Our time is over, and I'm still holding out hope for whoever comes next.
3 comments:
I'm not sure what you mean by the American Dream. The American Dream I know about involves climbing the socioeconomic ladder, preferably through one's own labor, and acchieving comfort and stability. 2.4 kids, a minivan in the garage, and a nice house in suburbia... that's the American Dream I'm familiar with.
And what successful revolutions have we inspired? Other countries have taken our lead in declaring independence from their colonizers, sure, but how many of them have stable democracies now? (This isn't a rhetorical question; I'm actually curious. I can't think of any, but my knowledge of international politics is woefully lacking).
When the end of American domination has fully arrived, those people you've talked to in the 3rd world countries aren't going to be the ones in control. It'll be their leaders, and those leaders will probably have no more intention of giving up power than the current set do. Power corrupts, y'know?
That being said, you're still right on when it comes to living with optimism. If we're all doomed anyway, it doesn't matter what we waste our remaining time at, and if there's a chance that we could make things better, we should seize it.
I see the American Dream as more of an idealogical and intellectual thing, I guess--freedom in the abstract, the ability to improve your own life through hard work.
We haven't directly inspired a lot of them (French and probably some in Latin America), but I'm willing to bet that the US being the first country to defeat the Great and Almighty British Empire showed everyone else who did it later that it was at least possible. You're right about stability. Most Latin American countries aren't especially stable, but they've been getting better. Mexico is doing fairly well, Costa Rica doesn't have any major problems, Guatemala does have democratic elections that as far as I'm aware aren't corrupt enough to make them meaningless. South Africa. India. None of them are perfect, but they're also not ruled by opressive colonial powers anymore.
I disagree about 3rd world leaders. Many or most of the worst ones in power were put there by the US, and when we fall, they will too. Not overnight, but eventually, the people in those countries will demand change. When a government becomes too oppressive, people do something about it. Example: people in Bolivia got sick of corporate influence and fought back against international corporations that were coming in and trying to privatize their water supply. And they won. Not every country will be perfect, but I really do believe in the power of the individuals in those countries. Even Mugabe won't last forever.
The enviroment is clearly a tough issue, because there's no easy solution. Taking only carbon emissions, the problem is still huge. Since we've only been around a few hundred thousand years, we can't know how stable the climate is, but while we've been around, it hasn't changed that much. That means the carbon released by animals has been balanced by the carbon drawn down by plants. Then came the industrial revolution, now in addition to breathing, fossil fuels are pouring more carbon into the enviroment, with less plants to draw it down. Reducing our emissions can't solve the problem, since any is too much. So, we have to stop using fossil fuels. That means back to hunting for food and wearing loincloths, or science finds clean energy. That should be the main focus of our government. Cut funding to the millitary, fund science. Islamo-facism or whatever they're calling it can kill humans, but it can't destroy humanity. Only we can do that.
Individual tyrannts might not last forever, but the need for domination in human nature just might. I don't think that people will ever become less violent to each other. Some people will always want to crush others.
I can think of only one thing that can stop this: Guns. Hear me out. A gun is a marvelous tool for social equality. With it, anyone, for a relativly low cost, with minimal training, can kill another. Ultimate equality. Same thing as the crossbow in the dark ages. Design a gun that's easily constructable from common parts, and distribute the plan on the internet somehow. Tyranny comes from a person, or group of people, which denies power to another group. So the solution is to give power to everyone.
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