Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace

"Representative government of, by and for the people is now a faded memory. Only corporate America enjoys representation by the Congresses and presidents that it pays for in an arrangement where no one is entirely accountable because those who own the government own the media. Although we regularly stigmatize other societies as rogue states, we ourselves have become the largest rogue state of all. We honor no treaties. We spurn international courts. We strike unilaterally wherever we choose. We give orders to the United Nations but do not pay our dues. We complain of terrorism, yet our empire is now the greatest terrorist of all. We bomb, invade, subvert other states. Although We the People of the United States are the sole source of legitimate authority in this land, we are no longer represented in Congress Assembled. Our Congress has been hijacked by corporate America and its enforcer, the imperial military machine."

-Gore Vidal, 2000.

A collection of essays on government control
19 June 2012

tI have written about the concept of the perpetual war previously but I feel that this particular book does warrant a further exploration of the concept. Now I have not read many of Gore Vidal's books, and in fact I had never really heard of him until I found this book on the shelf in my local bookshelf. It is a very easy read and one can see that Vidal's style is quite good and easy to understand. He has actually written quite a lot of books (though the only one that I actually read other than this is 'Creation'). He has been credited also with writing the first modern book that openly endorses homosexuality (which was very brave for his time since when that book was released homosexuality was still a crime in many of the developed nations). It is actually quite surprising that Vidal himself has not been the target of hate crimes.

tOne of the main things that I remember from this book is his analysis of the Oklahoma City bombing (which I remember clearly). His argument is that the media portrayed the bombing as the lunatic act of a lone madman, however Vidal disagrees. I have seen other commentaries on this particular event that suggests that McVeigh was an agent of the US government who surreptitiously arranged this act (after clearing out the ATF offices beforehand) as a means to tighten control over the American people. It has also been compared to Nero's burning of Rome, an excuse, they say, for Nero to start killing Christians. Vidal does not hold this view (and neither do I, considering that that interpretation of the burning of Rome, in my opinion, is incorrect) but rather explores the context of why McVeigh did what he did.

tTo be honest, the population generally do not care about historical contexts, and neither does the media. All the average punter cares about is that McVeigh did it, it was bad, and that he should be punished for his crimes. I don't necessarily hold that viewpoint because as an historian I am more concerned and interested in context. However, in the long run, what he did was wrong, and deserves to be punished, and whatever the context is, while interesting, does not condone McVeigh's actions.

tThe context, as Vidal explains, was that it was payback for what happened at Waco, Texas. In that particular event a group of fundamentalist Christians had set up a community in Texas where they proposed to isolate themselves from the rest of the world (as fundamentalists tend to want to do, in clear breach of the teachings of Christ) and a part of that isolation involved not paying taxes. That act in and of itself is going to upset a government to no end, and that is another odd thing about not so much Christians, but rather people on the right. The idea of a Christian refusing to pay taxes once again is in breach (and a clear one at that) of the teaching of Jesus Christ ('Give to Ceaser what is Ceaser's and give to God what is God's'). However, as can be expected, the response to Branch Davidian ended up in a massacre which resulted in the deaths of many of the cultists who in many cases were innocent (such as children). So McVeigh decided that payback was warranted and did what he knew best: blow stuff up (he had been in the army).

tAs I said, there is no condoning what McVeigh did, it was wrong, but was it a part of a government wide conspiracy? Possibly, possibly not. I personally am not all that clear on the evidence supporting the argument that the ATF had been cleared out their offices the night before, just in the same way that I am not convinced of any evidence that the CIA were behind the World Trade Centre attacks. Some have indicated that the planes were being followed by US Airforce Jets, but once again I have not seen any real clear evidence, just like the claim that the World Trade Centre had been lined with explosives beforehand, and detonated about an hour after the planes had crashed. I have seen the explanations as to why the towers collapsed (the steel girders had become so hot due to the fire that started when a plane, fully laden with fuel, crashed into the upper stories, that they melted and thus severely weakened the structure of the building, causing the upper floors to collapsed onto the lower floors, and that the extra weight resulted in severe structural damaged which brought the buildings crashing down – to me is a plausible explanation).

tLook, while I do not trust certain elements of the American government, and also will argue about the short-sightedness of many of the leaders within the United States, I do not see why they would go out and actively enslave the population. To me that is counter-productive when it comes to a consumer-driven capitalist culture. The driving force behind the system is the ability to make profit, and lots off it. Granted, they will force people into debt slavery to increase their profits, as well as creating fanciful mathematical calculations to create more profit making opportunities, and also strip pension funds and leave them with a bunch of IOUs, but I do not see any benefit into actually enslaving the middle class. If anything they will work to impose a moral order onto society (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but not turn in them into slaves in the true sense of slavery.

tWhat we are seeing though is a struggle that is being played about between liberals and conservatives, and this struggle is not necessarily against each other, but against the government. Both sides want the same thing, freedom, it is just the form of freedom that differs. One side wants economic freedom, the other side wants political freedom. The conservatives want to abolish taxes and only pay for things that they want themselves rather than contributing to a social fund that helps everybody in society. The idea is that if they don't want something (such as social security) then why should they have to pay for it. The otherside wants political freedom, that is the freedom to be who they want to be and to do what they want to do. They also want equal rights regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. The conservatives expect everybody to pay their own way, while the liberals want the same opportunities for everybody. t

Gore always knew how to throw together a sentence in a way that could make the dullest of topics intriguing and the military industrial complex is far from a snooze. Alas, Gore always adored the sound of his own voice beyond ask else and never said once that which could be said thrice. He's not at his best here, burying cogent points beneath mountains of filigree and seeming even more impressed with his own acumen than ever before.

July 4th was an appropriate day to finish this book. According to Vidal the other important day to remember is February 27, 1947. This is the day "Harry Truman replaced the old republic with a national-security state whose sole purpose is to wage perpetual wars, hot, cold and tepid."
In essays which verge on a rant filled with excellent vocabulary, Vidal argues the U.S. has become more and more of a police state as the government conducts wars against other countries, while fighting wars against drugs,and terrorism. Like sheep, most of us willingly accept the infringements on our rights and freedoms.
The subtitle of the book is "How We Got To Be So Hated." Vidal looks briefly at Osama bin Laden and more extensively at Timothy McVeigh. Vidal argues it is too easy to write them off as madmen and that we would be better served to try to understand their motives. Vidal shares some of his correspondence with McVeigh and implies there is more to the Oklahoma City bombing than what the public has been told. Vidal seems conflicted when it comes to McVeigh, on the one hand he is a sane man with a strong sense of justice who is striking a blow against a tyrannical government. On the other, he implies McVeigh was part of a secret government conspiracy to get Clinton to sign the Anti-Terrorism Act and that McVeigh chose to be the fall guy once he was arrested.
Through it all Vidal asks important questions. Do we value security and safety more than liberty and freedom? What freedoms are we willing to give up in order to feel safe. Can we trust our government leaders (no), the corporate media (no). Above all, Vidal argues the U.S.'s constant military interventions, our huge military budget, and the militarization of domestic police forces has damaged our democracy and done great harm to the nation.
media

I never knew much about the OKC bombing before this. I'll definitely look into more. This book was pretty anti-military and anti-government in general. Vidal trashes just about every aspect of the federal government that he thinks infringes upon the rights of American. I love it.

But then for Americans morality has nothing at all to do with ethics or right action or who is stealing what money- and liberties- from whom. Morality is sex. sex. sex. (139)

There is no sense of cause/effect when these geese start honking. (142)

Although we regularly stigmatize other societies and rogue states, we ourselves have become the largest rogue state of all. We honor no treaties. We spurn international courts. We strike unilaterally wherever we choose. We give orders to the United Nations but do not pay our dues. We complain of terrorism, yet our empire is now the greatest terrorist of all. (159)

I love Vidal's erudition and his intellectual fearlessness is inspiring. This book was ahead of its time, questioning the American government's tendency to trample constitutional liberties before the War on Terror even began.

The book is titled Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, with its subtitle being "How we got to be so hated." Gore Vidal hits the issue perfectly on the head. The essays deal with things like 9/11, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the slow but sure demise of the Bill of Rights, and mainly focuses on why the first two happened and how they have affected the latter. Highlighting the importance of understanding why things happen is the focus of Vidal's writing. He wants the American people to realize that these horrific acts of terrorism are not just because people are insane, but because the American government has continuously destroyed people's right to choose in their own country, or even in ours.
I can't even really explain what he is trying to say without writing an essay of my own, (which I have done.) Definitely check it out.