United States of Amnesia

For tragic, unjust, horrible events in history not to repeat themselves, people must remember an event which has taken place, recall that what happened was bad, and recognize developing situations that are similar. In this way, our collective consciousness will ultimately avoid repeating the atrocities of the past.

A simple analogy can explain this idea well: Gina remembers placing her hand on the hot stove, recalls that it was painful, and recognizes the probability that it will be painful if she repeats this action.

Now, I know I am oversimplifying things here. But the point in this is that we must remember past atrocities to avoid future atrocities. On this I think most people would agree with me.

So now the question becomes: Why do we seem to have trouble remembering the past?

Not only do we lose sight of history's lessons with each new generation, but we seem to have trouble remembering the past even within a generation.

I submit that this 'amnesia' is largely the fault of the media. For an historical event to be recalled by our collective consciousness, it must have been part of the collective consciousness in the first place. I contend that we don't remember many events of history because, as far as the mainstream press was concerned, they didn't happen.

And that's another problem altogether- it is a fundamental failure of the media. Remember, a 'free and diverse press' is critical for democracy to function properly and we have seen continued consolidation of this country's accessible media outlets into the hands of a few conglomerates, especially since the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

By now you may be saying to yourself, 'to what forgotten historical atrocities is he referring?' Or, 'get to the point asshole.'

Ok, here it is:

Threats to the national security of the United States are a natural and inevitable result of this country's historical record of abysmal foreign policy. Terrorist attacks against the US are not 'pre-emptive' or 'unprovoked', but instead they are the result of decades, indeed centuries, of American oppression, exploitation and aggression abroad.

American Imperialism and foreign intervention is all quite well documented (here, here, here, more recently here, and many, many other places). Much has been written on the subject and many have studied it. But you won't find much about it in the mainstream press, today or in the past. Sure, if you look hard enough you are bound to come across a story or two in the mainstream that sheds some light on the reality of US foreign policy. But these instances are so rare that the true nature and extent of the matter never enters the 'collective consciousness', and that is the crucial factor.

And so it is my belief that wars of aggression-- like the current one in Iraq (which is an illegal war anyway) and the one that is looming ominously on the horizon against Iran-- do not and fundamentally can not ever achieve the supposed goal of fighting and eliminating terrorism (or the 'red menace'- communism- as was the Imperial Mantra before the wall came down). On the contrary, such wars only stoke the fires of resentment for American Imperialism and will lead to more, not less attacks against the United States and, ultimately, the demise of the American Empire.

Again, we must turn to the lessons of history. Just as every other aggressive imperial power in history has collapsed under its own weight, so too will it be with the United States if it does not re-evaluate and re-think its foreign policy.