The American Soul

By S. Jovian Radheshwar for Radheshwar.com

Huntington Beach, California, February 5, 2003

The news is bombarding me with constant prognostications of war and chaos, economic decline, people I know personally are all out of work, and yet the President of the United States of America still has an approval rating above fifty percent. I am shocked, stunned by a nation of rebels suddenly succumbing to the whimsical and hateful policies of the current administration, whose only political asset lies in frightening us all into a bitter complacency. A stillness defined by a continuing division amongst people, and its continual reinforcement at the hands of Mr. Ashcroft’s propagandists. Slowly, this administration is tearing apart the American Soul; something I always hoped was a little more than mere verbiage when I was first introduced to the concept in elementary school. I knew this was Mr. Bush’s direction prior to September 11^th, 2001, and I am shocked to see how accurate my predictions have concerning the widening of the internal divisions of our society have been. The war may be touted in economic terms, strategic terms, even moral terms, however, the only real explanation is elusive if we take these public opinions of officialdom at face value. The underlying reason is racialist politics, and its method of defining inside and outside, and finding ultimately the convenient scapegoat ethnicity of the era whom the United States will persecute and annihilate to ensure its own continued economic growth. This has been our classic formula for two hundred years, due mostly to the ability of those consumed by greed to organize their forces and therefore obtain and maintain their perpetual control of our politics in this great nation. This is the primary reason I am against the impending war in Iraq.

Other reasons include calculations of strategy and politics, as this military adventure may indeed be the great peril of our great nation. By attempting to influence the politics of this region, the middle east, we will be attempting something that will overstretch our capability to defend ourselves. Very little attention is paid to the reality of this possibility, despite the meaningless lip service of major media, and a real possibility it is. Technological superiority affords us major advantages, ones that will make it appear as though the war will be won, however, the political factor remains unconsidered, and its calculation, while possible generally, is not within the realm of possibility for the pentagon’s war-makers. One may argue that the Iraqis are not so willing to die as the North Vietnamese had been in a previous war, or as the Afghans were against the Soviets in that empire’s death knell. But this ignores the residual political calculations of Islamic Fundamentalists, and if Saddam Hussein is connected to them as Mr. Powell suggests, this should be a major cause for alarm. Who can say for certain that there will not be a massive, coordinated counter-strike, especially when the enemies’ capabilities are always in question as they are in this conflict. Blurring the lines between Iraq and terrorism is not an exercise in logic, but rather is totally illogical. To make a connection where there is none, or at most a passive one, is to encourage precisely that sort of cooperation. In this way, militarily, the United States will create many enemies in the coming conflict and in its aftermath.

When considered on another level, these two regions of dissent are connected, in that racism and racialist politics often require the force of muscle and not the force of logic to support them, whereas the counterpoint requires only logic and clarity of thought. This administration is thus jeopardizing America’s status as a global beacon of competition and opportunity for all, which is inherently its primary source of strength and power. It leaves this commentator wondering if the Bush team has thought this through, and if instead of the USA they want a new Confederacy of white overlords and subjugated minorities of all groups, of all intelligence, working as they grow fat off our toil. A minority can be any dissident, and color of your skin has nothing to do with the equation. Hate is a classist phenomena in the Postmodern United States of America.

This is why, although he pretends that he is not a racist, the President cannot be anything but a racist, as his so-called cultural pretensions are never quite so far from the surface. His is not an American soul, although he may be a White-American. Thus, a form of racism and racialist politics remains following the removal of Mr. Lott from his position as Senate Majority Leader; as he was not quite so clever in allowing the subtle trends of political correctness dominate his thoughts; and the new face of those evils are Mr. Bush, Justice Thomas, and especially Mr. Frist. In being chosen as Mr. Lott's replacement, Mr. Frist fit the bill and was sought to lead the GOP based on precisely his new form of racism, the classism of the Postmodern America, still dominated by a degree of whiteness. The driving factor for the definition of inclusion is, of course, none other than the two-fold evaluation process of distance from the social norm, and overall wealth in material terms. The lesser the deviance, and the greater the wealth, the more favored a person would be, and vice versa. This is an unAmerican proposition that should offend any sensible, modern person. Anyhow, I ramble far too much, but when one considers the Soul of America, these are the thoughts they should be having, and they should understand that a war in Iraq, as racialist politics, are both affronts to our real and worthy traditions.