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Tuesday, March 7

Life in these United States

by Mike on Tue 07 Mar 2006 11:56 PM EST

Monopolies, oligarchy, the striving for domination and not for freedom, the exploitation of an increasing number of small or weak nations by a handful of the richest or most powerful nations-all these have given birth to those distinctive characteristics of imperialism which compel us to define it as parasitic or decaying capitalism...In the epoch of imperialism, certain branches of industry, certain strata of the bourgeoisie and certain countries betray, to a greater or lesser degree, now one and now another of these tendencies. On the whole, capitalism is growing far more rapidly than before; but this growth is not only becoming more and more uneven in general, its unevenness also manifests itself, in particular, in the decay of the countries which are richest in capital.

--V.I. Lenin
Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism

Around 8:00 tonight, I was experiencing the early stages of an allergy attack. Although most of my allergy attacks usually begin with an onslaught of what I call "serial sneezing," tonight's attack started with itchy and watery eyes and the problem soon became unbearable. Since we had no eye drops in the house, I threw on a coat and headed for a nearby drug store where I was happy to find a supply of eye drops that would ease my suffering.

In addition to my need for allergy relief, I was also in the mood for some cigarillos and since the drug store didn't carry them, I stopped at a neighboring gas station where I picked up a pack of King Edward the Seventh Little Cigars. After paying, I turned away from the checkout to head toward my car. On the way to the door, I was stopped by a fellow who had a rather interesting question for me.

The guy was in his mid 20's or so, he was a bit shorter than me and he appeared to be a bit on the muscular side. He had short blond hair, a square jaw and a rather serious look on his face. As I walked towards the door, he made eye contact with me and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Now those of you who know me—I mean really know me—know that I am always willing to help. I am generally receptive to giving spare change, driving directions and battery jumps to complete strangers. So I didn't really think anything of someone asking me a question in a gas station and I said, "Yeah, sure..."

"What is 'imperialism' "? asked the guy.
bumber sticker

"Ah ha..." I thought to myself. This fellow saw me pull up to the gas station and he caught a glimpse of the rather prominent "I'D RATHER BE SMASHING IMPERIALISM" bumper sticker on the back of my car. Now...I like to think that most people are generally good-natured and that folks don't go around spoiling for fights with complete strangers, but I also know a thing or two about how the right-wingers in America think. And my first thought was not that this fellow was some kind of kindred soul but more likely a neocon who was looking for me to either back down or give some kind of non-answer or insult. So, I thought for about a half-second and then gave the best answer I could on short notice. In retrospect, I certainly could have given a better answer and at best, perhaps I gave what you might call a slight "vulgarization" of the concept. But nevertheless, it was at least a thumbnail sketch of the idea. I said to him, "Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism at which large industrialized nations fight for control of natural resources, means of production and capital." Ugh. it was the best I could throw together on short notice, given the situation. A bit off-kilter, but nowhere near as nonsensical as his answer...

"That's what NATO was created for," he replied smugly and slowly walked away. Talk about a non-sequitur. I still don't know what the hell he meant by that.

I turned my head back in his direction I walked out the door and I said, "Yeah...Good luck with that." I am sure there are better comebacks, but I was still a bit stunned at the peculiarity of this fellow's response.

No doubt this guy thinks "imperialism" is a bad word...To him, it's probably a buzzword used by hysterical left-wing "zealots" like me. In his mind, "imperialism" likely refers to a product of the collective imagination of those who hate America, despise freedom, and loathe democracy. But maybe the whole problem is that words just simply can't tell the tale to someone whose political opinion and world view are so skewed. No doubt that there are scores of people in developing nations around the world are living examples to the concept; they are the victims of imperialism. They bear witness to the true nature of imperialism as they show us where their homes once stood, where their livelihoods once flourished and where their children are now buried. Will my friend from the gas station hear their words? Will he feel their pain? Probably not. With cash in his pocket, food in his belly, a roof over his head and righteousness indignation in his heart, my friend has all he needs to live a life of cold and blissful ignorance.

Good luck to him, indeed.