The United States defines itself in zero-sum terms. Its national myth – let’s indulge the preposterous arrogance for a moment – is that it is an exceptional nation in the history of the world. It is supposedly the indispensable leader of the “free world”, a paragon of democratic virtue and it possesses the most powerful and benevolent military force the world has ever seen.
Thankfully, many decent American citizens know that this is propaganda hogwash. Still, its political class and complacent mass media view the United States as the world’s supreme uni-power. All other nations must pay homage to this consummate hegemon.
Therein lies a fatal contradiction. This untenable definition is essential for justifying its presumed privileges. And yet, by doing so, the U.S. cannot brook any genuine equality or mutual respect essential for peaceful multilateral relations. It must be the top dog – at all costs. That is a definition of imperialism. The concomitants are aggression, belligerence, lawlessness, and duplicity – of course, all concealed with impossibly virtuous rhetoric, or in short, propaganda. So-called allies are merely servile functionaries to augment American global ambitions.
Hence, when the real world does not match the mythical notions of the U.S., there is consequently an ineluctable existential crisis. The zero-sum, all-dominant demands of the would-be hegemony are not achievable. In this situation, the hegemonic power behaves like a drunk in a bar who is refused another drink. Mayhem and violence are almost inevitable.
American narcissism denies there that the U.S. is an empire. It is preferred to pretend that its power is benign and ever-so-magnanimous. Let’s leave such vanity aside. The U.S. is an empire with military garrisons dotted around the world to ensure its economic and political interests are enforced down the barrel of a gun. No nation has conducted as many wars as the United States in its 248-year history.
The exploitation of its allies and the rest of the world with financial leverage through the arbitrarily appointed dollar as the primary global reserve currency is another mechanism of coercion and neocolonial predation of other nations’ resources.
However, all this American pretense and delusion of absolute power is coming to a shuddering, calamitous end. The empire is fragmenting and failing. And that presents a dangerous existential crisis.
Hellbound and Down 