For years informed people (includes myself) had been pointing out a known principle of social physics in relation to the western democracies aggressions abroad; ‘force escalates violence’ also known as ‘blow-back.’ In the military application of this principle, if you are a line officer, you are well aware when increased force is committed to assaulting an enemy position, the cadence or pace of firing increases. The immediate effect will be increased destruction & casualties, and the aftermath will be either control of the enemy position or having been repulsed. In either case, the attacking force might then see a counter-attack, depending on the battlefield resources and one side’s superior ability to recover manpower and munitions (logistics) in relation to the other. In past times, this micro-cosmic battlefield phenomena reflected a larger social reality in outcomes; States and societies enforcing one’s will upon another. The evolution of the resultant laws of war is primarily based in European history and can trace its roots to Imperial Rome and beyond, to the time of Plato and Alexander.
The larger European culture had exported this social aggression to the world abroad, to feed its own intra-cultural aggressions via the wealth exploited from the so-called ‘uncivilized’ or ‘undeveloped’ world (colonialism), such as the silver mines of Peru funding the Spanish Armada. Colonies funding European cultural aggression has been their primary function despite self-justifications such as bringing ‘civilization’ to those (Europeans historically presume) less culturally developed than themselves. Such attitudes are not far beneath the surface as cultural driving forces to this day and we see it not only in the Euro-centric history our children are taught but also in the images and rhetoric. Whether in the inter-cultural aggression monument to Columbus at Barcelona:
Or the intra-cultural aggression in a monument to the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig:
Or Napoleon’s so-called ‘burial’:
Or Germany continuing celebration of historical warmongers such as Prussian King Frederick II who put Germans on the path to become the nastiest regime in modern history:
Or ‘American exceptionalism’ where Obama states: “I believe that America is exceptional. In part because we have shown a willingness, through the sacrifice of blood and treasure, to stand up not only for our own narrow self-interest, but for the interests of all.” The NAZIs believed they were exceptional as well:
All of these elements celebrate European cultural aggression, whether inter or intra-cultural aggression, in a sense portrayed with pride. What is missing from the imagery and rhetoric in the European (includes USA) cultural experience is the utter lack of any examination of repeated and compounded consequence of pursuing empire:
Whether a ‘Reichstag fire’ or an event manipulated to same effect by perpetrators of imperialism, ‘blow-back’ is real, from reactions to war-profiteering enterprises (Lockheed-Martin, General Dynamics, JP Morgan, et al) capitalizing on 9/11 to an Afghan national who only the other day put his finger in my face and stated “I have a problem with you” because I’m an American and Americans are unnecessarily blowing up women and children in Afghanistan with airstrikes and drones.
So, what is imperialism? It is a concept central to European mentality in ways they are not even aware of. I don’t agree with every motive for and proposed solution to imperialism in this following video but I do agree with the fact imperialism is the most destructive force on earth, that it is Euro-centric cultural mentality and that it must be contained, reversed and ended. I do not believe Euro-centric mentality is race based White Supremacy, I believe this is only one self-justifying rational for manifestation of a cultural mentality that employs religion, science and more, to justify an infectious, ego-based narcissism and attending aggressive, violent greed that ultimately transcends race. North Korea’s Kim, as well the Black kleptocrats who’ve hijacked South Africa, or for that matter, Obama, are little different to any European Whites in their narcissistic motives and behaviors in my view. Kim would probably join the capital club tomorrow if the USA would give up hypocritical demands of democracy & human rights and pull the war games out of North Korea’s face, and South Africa’s new Black oligarchs seem to believe they can snooker South Africans indefinitely with the USA turning a blind eye because they have become ‘players.’ Obama’s policies look like the policies of George Bush on steroids, except covered up by media allowing Obama to be a convincing liar and Obama can actually speak decent English, two things Bush could never really master. But it is easy to see how White Supremacist motive would be interpreted as the progenitor of imperialism, because imperialism as we know it in these modern times not only originated with, but has been largely sustained by Europe and consequent aligned Euro-centric cultures and mentality, particularly the USA. We know from history that White captive children raised Native American never wished to return to the White community (mentality.) It’s just White people’s (and consequently the world’s) bad luck the mentality behind imperialism took root in Europe, in my estimation.
All that said, I challenge everyone who has read this short essay to watch this video in its entirety. It is multiple voices hammering on a single theme … attempting to define imperialism. I know some of these people and respect them a LOT. Not because we always agree (we don’t always agree) but because they care immensely about pulling our world out of its downward spiral and that is a noble goal we all should share:
Note on the video: The included ‘double tap’ footage from Wikileaks is the only leak of Private Manning (as an armed forces member) I feel was legally justified, because it is a war crime of murdering people who’d arrived to evacuate the wounded, on top of it is obvious from the voice recording the attack helicopter crew had no clear knowledge of who they were firing on. For the record, I am a staunch supporter of Snowden.
Afterthought: The USA and Western Europe aggressively pushing Russia into a corner with the destabilization of Ukraine (latest in a long list of provocations) on behalf of present (Yulia Tymoshenko, example given) and future oligarchs in a push for world-wide American corporate ‘manifest destiny’, may become the case of intra-cultural European aggression that forces Russia, with a LOT to lose, to end the ‘great game’ once and for all.
Something to think about in a nuclear armed world…
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Ronald Thomas West 