Here is what I consider to be an outstanding essay from an American expat
journalist in Japan (who agreed to let this go public, although anonymized).
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From A Concerned American Journalist in Japan
"Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after.
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand.
He knew human folly like he knew the back of his hand.
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
when he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter.
And when he cried, the little children died in the streets.''
W.H. Auden "Epitaph on a Tyrant''
First, many, many thanks to all of you who have written to me over the
past
24 hours, or have commiserated prior to this election. I want to share
with
you some thoughts that I've had of late. Perhaps some of you will find
them
overly pessimistic, but this is how I feel.
In the coming days, many people, ourselves included, will be asking
what the
Bush election means for America and for the world. It will only be
natural
for some to ask how to best contain the certain damage to come over the
next
four years, so that when 2008 rolls around the final epitaph of the
tyrant
Bush can be written and a new president can be elected who will,
finally,
put America and the world back on the right track.
They're dreaming. America is too far off the rails to return to Utopia
station. There is only the way forward, and the darkest days of America
are
ahead. Today, many Americans, myself included, are asking, "Are we
really a
`United' States any more?'' The answer, I believe, is no. The country
is
coming apart and the next four years will do nothing to slow that
trend.
Let's be clear. This election was not stolen. It was not taken away by
either an out-of-date electoral college or the whims of the Buckeye
state.
Bush won very clearly and convincingly, capturing nearly 3.6 million
more
votes than Kerry.
It has been a very long time, indeed, since the two choices for U.S.
president were so stark. Furthermore, the facts of the past four years
were
never in dispute. It was clear to anybody with a three digit IQ that
the
Bush administration was neo--fascist, one of the most corrupt, immoral,
and
frightening group of thugs to ever take charge of a supposedly free
nation.
But they did, because, underneath, too many ordinary Americans are just
like
the Bush administration -- corrupt, immoral, and willfully ignorant. In
a
word, evil. Like the "Good Germans'' of the Third Reich, they cannot
conceive that they are accomplices in genocide, and the mountain of
evidence
showing that they are doesn't interest them. In that sense, Bush is
truly
the majority leader of America. The dark and ugly side of America, to
be
sure. But that side is now the side Americans proudly show each other
and
the rest of the world be damned. Never have those of us who remember a
very
different America felt so disillusioned and so alone.
No matter what you thought of his policies, any American who was a
morally
responsible adult really only had one choice this time: Senator John
Kerry.
But this election clearly showed that group of Americans is now in the
minority, a minority that now has to now deal, like the rest of the
world,
with the majority -- a bellicose mob drunk on childish myths and
obvious
lies ranging from Christianity to the origins of the war in Iraq.
That Kerry lost speaks to a sad truth that not only America but also
the
world is going to have to deal with. Namely, that America and its
citizens
can no longer to be trusted to provide the kind of enlightened
leadership
the world needs. Clearly, it has become a rotting empire. Whether you
want
to date the beginning of that end from 1846, 1898, 1990 or 2000, the
smell
emanating from across the Pacific is the stench of decay. That it
smells
like lavender fields to the majority of its inhabitants means nothing
more
than human beings are adaptable, and controllable, and quick and eager
to
become slaves if they can be convinced they are actually free and
living in
paradise. Thus, every decision, every move, every action over the next
four
years will be based on what its leaders feel must be done to prop up
what
will become an increasingly wobbly empire in an increasingly violent,
and
hostile, world, all in the name of making sure that the illusion among
the
slaves is kept.
Over the next four years, America will continue to lose friends and
alienate
people from Iraq to Indonesia, from Canada to China, and from Saudi
Arabia
to South Korea because it simply has forgotten how to wage diplomacy,
how to
negotiate peacefully, and how to keep small crises from turning into
major
ones. It has forgotten how to be humble, to seek consensus and to
achieve
what Sun Tzu regarded as supreme victory and the test of whether or not
a
leader was truly wise: to win without having to draw the sword.
In the process of disintegration, two things will happen. First, the
rest of
the world, especially the political leaders of the EU and Asia, will
realize
that the days of American leadership have ended. Their leaders will
have to
work hard --indeed, some have already begun working -- to figure out
new
ways to solve the world's social, human rights, and environmental
problems
without America at the helm.
The second event will be far more tragic. Another terrorist attack, and
another, and another. Whether mounted in America by fanatics loyal to
Osama
bin Laden or mounted in the some far corner of the world by fanatics
loyal
to George W. Bush, we will see more terror, more war,more tension, more
distrust, more hatred, and more division between America and the world.
Make
no mistake. The worst is yet to come.
Since we don't have a two-party system in America, at least
philosophically,
there is no room for those like myself, who were proudly called
anti-Imperialists in an earlier age. Those of us who support a reduced
American military presence and an increased diplomatic presence abroad,
tougher sanctions against U.S. corporations who exploit foreign
governments
and people for nothing more than obscene profit margins and the greedy
appetite of the American consumer, or simply disdain the arrogance of
fundamental Christians who are now, far more successfully than we once
thought possible, turning the U.S. into a barbaric religious swamp, are
going to find ourselves even more isolated.
And not just isolated in the political realm. For the Bush
administration
and its supporters reject not only enlightenment but also the
Enlightenment.
Logic, rational thought, and every single step of scientific progress
that
the world has taken since the days of Galileo is now under suspicion of
aiding and abetting the enemies of God by the citizens of America. It
will
become harder to find copies of Darwin's "The Origins of the Species''
in
more and more American libraries. Books, films, and thoughts deemed
"immoral'' will be purged. It may have been possible, during the past
four
years, for those of us in the media to speak about the rise of a
religious
oligarchy in a way that was, at the end of the day, a form of hyperbole
we
couldn't quite believe was really true. But not now. We now face the
cold,
sober horror that Osama bin Laden and his ilk have a better
understanding of
the present American psychology and motivations than those Americans
who
can't understand why Bush won.
Over the next couple of years, as order breaks down in America and as
chaos
begins to take over, it is likely that many intelligent Americans will
simply flee the country, probably to Canada and Europe, or parts of
Central
and South America. Those Americans currently in this part of the world
may
look more closely at Australia and New Zealand when they make their
decision
to leave Japan for good.
And why not? There would be nothing unusual, historically, in such a
mass
emigration from a rotting empire to more enlightened lands. Of course,
since
Americans believe themselves to be the keepers of the New Jerusalem,
the
Promised Land, not one in 10,000 could conceive of anybody other than
traitors or devil-worshippers wanting to leave the Garden. Nor will
they
care if Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, and The Dixie Chicks move to
Canada,
France or England. And to remind the true believers that their own land
was
once settled by people who were fleeing rotting European or Asian
empires is
to invite scorn and wrath, since history is not something any true
American
takes seriously.
But the emigration of funds will eventually, at some point, follow the
emigration of souls and that will quickly be noticed by Wall Street if
not
by Main Street, which will panic. This could happen as early as next
year,
just when the first of the Baby Boom generation turns 60, retires and
then
demands tax money be spent on everything from government-subsidized
heart
surgery to liposuction to prescription drugs -- only to discover there
is no
money to pay for any of these things because it has all been spent to
prop
up the 750 military bases around the world, including the 14 that are
built,
or being built, in Iraq.
At that point, whatever happens, it is going to be ugly and it will be
those
Americans who are outside the country who will be the most fortunate.
And the future of this One Nation Under God? Our most serious and
thoughtful
Americans from Ben Franklin to George Kennan to Gore Vidal have
variously
wondered just how long, or even if, America can remain unified. They
have
dared to suggest that perhaps a future America should be a collection
of
Swiss-style cantons, each with its own government, budget, set of laws
and
court systems, but with each canton allowed to decide how much it wants
to
contribute to national defense. Obviously, this is unthinkable in
America in
the moment, and I have no doubt I would likely be arrested, or shot,
for
attempting to discuss this in any of the Red states and probably a few
Blue
ones as well. But I believe it is time to give this idea very serious
consideration.
Americans, and I would say much of the world, want to believe that
there
will be a Hollywood ending to this horror story, that good always does
conquer evil, and that wisdom, intelligence and humility can always
defeat
the forces of ignorance and superstition. This belief is arguably the
most
powerful force that has united the country for the past century, ever
since
the days of "Manifest Destiny''. Such rhetoric keeps Americans going
while
their leaders plot mischief abroad. But this election shows how
important it
is to resist the temptation to become true believers of that
philosophy, and
to think realistically, practically, and, I believe, creatively, about
the
future of America. This requires thinking past the next election cycle
and
taking into account America's role, good and bad, in the world today,
as
well as thinking about what might be best for ordinary Americans.
Many of you are exhausted mentally, and perhaps physically, from the
past
four years and are crushed and disillusioned, wondering what kind of
world
you are going to have to live in. I, too, am exhausted. But life goes
on,
and we Americans who live abroad or escape the lunatic asylum often
enough
to know that there are rational and enlightened lands beyond freedom's
land
and bravery's home can take heart only if we realize that we are part
of the
larger world and have something to contribute to it. Life is too short,
and
too exciting, to worry about what might happen to one country in four
years.
Even if it was the country you were born and raised in. Yes, we must be
vigilant, and that will take energy, and tough times, and tough battles
are
ahead. But we must learn new tactics and take heart that this election
showed how weak, how truly weak, America has become as an international
power.
So make your life choices, and be happy with them. Feel sad and
nostalgic
for the America you, or your American friends, knew and loved. But come
to
the realization that much of the world is marching forward and that
America
is marching backward. No single Democrat or Republican president is
going to
change that. Study your history and know that, while it never repeats,
it
often rhymes. Deal with your anger and disappointment by seeking
solitary
inspiration but also the company of good friends of all nations. And
remain
vigilant, ready to do do battle when needed by keeping the pressure on
America, in whatever small way you can -- whether it's through
journalism,
activism, or simply letting as many of your friends as possible know
what
the truth is.
History shows that dying empires lash out and are at their most
dangerous
when they are falling, and that is the situation we know find ourselves
in.
The tide of history, I firmly believe, has already turned against the
United
States and it is our job to make sure that the collapse, when it comes,
is
as peaceful, and as bloodless, as possible. If we are lucky, it will be
a
quick collapse that does not lead to a world conflagration. If we are
really
lucky, it can happen without a stray nuclear weapon being set off. But
to
those who say that we'll have to wait four more years until the next
election, I close as I opened, with a poem by W.H. Auden:
"O let not Time deceive you, you cannot conquer Time.
In the burrows of the Nightmare, where Justice naked is
Time watches from the shadow, and coughs when you would kiss.
In headaches and in worry, vaguely, life leaks away.
And Time will have his fancy, tomorrow and today.''
We cannot conquer Time. But we can do our parts to ensure that we
respect it
as we should, and that we use every precious moment from today, not in
four
years time, that is given to us.
ENDS