"I Love the US Republic, and I Hate the US Empire"(DemNow)

[katty]

more: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/15/i_love_the_us_republic_and

"I Love the US Republic, and I Hate the US Empire": Johan Galtung on the War in Afghanistan and How to Get Out

We turn now to the second part of my interview with Johan Galtung. Known as a founder of the field of peace and conflict studies, he’s spent the past half-century pursuing nonviolent conflict resolution in international relations. His latest book is The Fall of the US Empire – And Then What?: Successors, Regionalization or Globalization? US Fascism or US Blossoming?
I spoke to him last week about his prediction of the collapse of US empire in ten years, by 2020. In this second part of our interview, Galtung discusses his assessment of President Obama, the US corporate media and more. But we began with the war in Afghanistan, where he has worked extensively in attempts at conflict resolution.

[mix]

1. I sympathize with the sentiment, but the American Republic has ALWAYS been imperial.

This is a false distinction.

[dgibby]

2. But it hasn't always been an Empire. n/t

[mix]

3. Strongly disagree. The USA was born of empire and has remained imperial.

Empire is a "way of life" for Americans, to paraphrase William Appleman Williams

"Westward the course of Empire takes its way," (1861, Leutze, House of Representatives)

Manifest Destiny, territory via conquest against Native Americans and other states


And that's just the 19th century.

[Demeter]

5. Excellent Map!

Link?

[Demeter]

4. Yeah, but it used to be confined to one continent.

and they called it Manifest Destiny.

Haven't got any such dandy excuse now. "Defending our interests" just doesn't cut it, since the only interests being defended are Goldman et al, BP et al, and Israel, none of whom give a fig about the United States and its citizens except for how much dough they can be coerced or bamboozled into turning over to the Corporate Criminals.

[mix]

6. Yes, the good old days when we were just continental empire builders.

What an innocent time that was.

Mass grave, Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890-91

[NihiloZero]

7. The republic is far from ideal.

The drug war and the prison-industrial complex are not particularly great or dependent upon the imperial aspecta of the USA. And there is plenty of environmental degradation that occurs within its borders which is only incidentally related to the empire.