tp46.xml
Title
tp46.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-02-24
TomPaine Story: Story
HEAVILY THICKENING TO EMPIRE
I used to think he was too pessimistic.
When I first read Robinson Jeffers poetry, I thought he gave up on the
idea of America too quickly.
In Shine, Perishing Republic Jeffers spoke of America heavily
thickening to empire.
In Be Angry at the Sun he wrote: America must accept like the
historical republics corruption and empireÖ
I rejected that. Fired by Dr. Kings nonviolence and the civil rights
movement, I believed America was getting more democratic, free, equal.
Vietnam War resistance fueled my hope that America could reverse the
transition to empire.
Those hopes are dimmer.
Once, Americans believed in leading by example. And our ideals of
liberty and justice for all, though penned by slaveowners, did inspire
freedom fighters from Selma to Soweto, from Gettysburg to Gdansk.
Now the sun never sets on the American Empire. US military bases circle
the globe. American culture, language, commerce, music, media, movies,
athletes rule.
International organizations bend to American willóor else we
ignore/defund them, or force their leaders to resign. We view allies as
assistantsóor we just go it alone.
The UN, which America largely created, is now denigrated. US-inspired
treaties are honored only if convenient. International banks are
pressured to force smaller nations to cut health/education budgets, and
vote for leaders we prefer.
America bestrides the globe, like Rome, like Britain.
Example has become Empire.
After 9/11, we need to askóis an empire what we wanted? It has, after
all, been tried previously, with poor results.
In Shine, Perishing Republic Jeffers was pessimistic about our ability
to change course: And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops
and sighs out, and the mass hardensÖ
Was he right?
I used to think he was too pessimistic.
When I first read Robinson Jeffers poetry, I thought he gave up on the
idea of America too quickly.
In Shine, Perishing Republic Jeffers spoke of America heavily
thickening to empire.
In Be Angry at the Sun he wrote: America must accept like the
historical republics corruption and empireÖ
I rejected that. Fired by Dr. Kings nonviolence and the civil rights
movement, I believed America was getting more democratic, free, equal.
Vietnam War resistance fueled my hope that America could reverse the
transition to empire.
Those hopes are dimmer.
Once, Americans believed in leading by example. And our ideals of
liberty and justice for all, though penned by slaveowners, did inspire
freedom fighters from Selma to Soweto, from Gettysburg to Gdansk.
Now the sun never sets on the American Empire. US military bases circle
the globe. American culture, language, commerce, music, media, movies,
athletes rule.
International organizations bend to American willóor else we
ignore/defund them, or force their leaders to resign. We view allies as
assistantsóor we just go it alone.
The UN, which America largely created, is now denigrated. US-inspired
treaties are honored only if convenient. International banks are
pressured to force smaller nations to cut health/education budgets, and
vote for leaders we prefer.
America bestrides the globe, like Rome, like Britain.
Example has become Empire.
After 9/11, we need to askóis an empire what we wanted? It has, after
all, been tried previously, with poor results.
In Shine, Perishing Republic Jeffers was pessimistic about our ability
to change course: And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops
and sighs out, and the mass hardensÖ
Was he right?
Collection
Citation
“tp46.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed May 3, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/788.