A Letter to America

The United States of America is an extraordinary nation. It was the first society in our modern world to defeat a then-superpower, Britain, ending colonial rule and achieving a new degree of freedom for the nation. Its constitution is an inspiration and blueprint for democracy in the modern world. After an amazing 240-year history of struggles – the Civil War, the collective bargaining movement, the women’s liberation movement, the Civil Rights movement, etc. — the United States has emerged as one of the most dynamic, resilient, and self-correcting nations in the world. As a predominantly immigrant country as well as a democracy, it became a diverse and pluralistic society long before globalization had begun. These factors contributed to the United States becoming one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world.

In the Pursuit of Reclaiming America

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Since the Cold War, America has trampled upon its core principles. The golden era has long gone when the world had looked to America as a champion of freedom and democracy. The world no longer thinks America stands in solidarity with dispossessed and disenfranchised people – even though it once used to, during the eras of President Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

America is now considered a collaborator with tyrants, puppet regimes, and foreign occupations. These regimes are sustained by American policies. The world currently views America as a hindrance to democracy and freedom.

This letter relates how a Middle Eastern country, Israel, convinced a strong democracy to ascribe to undemocratic state-sponsored terrorism. Pro-Israeli civic groups were not the only power brokers in this conflict. Military-industrial magnates, financial leaders, and corrupt politicians collaborated with pro-Israeli civic groups to create this outcome. This collusion of special interests has led to a government that is autocratic and subservient to the few, at the cost of the common interests and welfare of the entire society.

Ever since 1967, the United States government has been under a stranglehold. After the 1967 War, a large segment of American Jews who were not Zionists subsequently became Zionists. Israel’s phenomenal victory over its Arab neighbors was partially due to massive military aid provided by the Johnson administration in the United States. These newly converted Zionists became dedicated workers for the cause of Zionism and Israel, far above their loyalty as citizens of America.

But collusion has now reached new heights. Pro-Israeli groups have virtually hijacked the American government to support Israeli interests, even if it means losing credibility and trust in the world while creating costly consequences paid for by American taxpayers. Israel’s longstanding agenda has been to dominate the Middle East, even if that means it must use and abuse Washington. They wish to demonstrate that they are the real superpower by proxy – not America.

America’s unconditional support for Israel – including its occupation, apartheid system, and ‘ethnic cleansing’ as described by an Israeli historian – causes massive distrust and anger around the world. Afghan and Iraqi resistance against America’s involvement in their countries was partially due to this doubt about true intentions, due to heavy influence of pro-Israeli and neoconservative groups. This is a great fall from the height of post-World War II America, or of post-Marshall Plan America.

However, our gloomy state of affairs does not cause this writer to lose hope. If the American people are determined, a paradigm shift can take place, as it did before under extraordinary challenges. My confidence in America remains high. Costly confrontations such as the Vietnam and Cold Wars came to an end not through military change, but through collective will of Americans to save their nation. When they realized policymakers were wrong, they raised their voices loud enough to be heard in Washington.

Anti-Vietnam War and anti-militarism protests during the late 1960s and early 1970s

The collective will of the American public prevails. Engagements such as detente and the ‘new China policy’ replaced agendas of confrontation and destruction. Arch enemies were turned into global partners.

But currently, the nation and the world are under a horrendous spell of corrupt governments. These governments rob their respective societies to serve transnational alliances of elites and vested interests. America — under the influence of pro-Israeli groups and neoconservatives — feeds and sustains many of these puppet regimes. As a result, people on all sides become victims. This vicious state can change only if the American public rises up and takes charge.

Dear Fellow Americans:

The land I came from, Bangladesh, is a land where over 95 percent of the people speak the same language. About 85 percent follow the same religion, Islam. For all practical purposes, it is a monolithic society with very little diversity. I love Bangladesh. I am proud of the rich history and culture of the people, as well as its family values, close-knit social networks, and the beautiful landscape on the delta of three major rivers.

On the other hand, the United States is a land of immigrants, a microcosm of the world. People from all corners of the world, including myself, came here to make it their home. It is indeed a beautiful country! At first the diversity shocked me, but as time progressed I became a deep admirer of that diversity, as well as the principles on which this diversity is maintained and protected. America’s pluralistic social culture and its relatively impartial rule of law helps to integrate diverse people from different cultures in a short period of time.

Our pluralistic culture enables America to draw creativity from different parts of the world, thus creating one of the most versatile and dynamic countries in the world. This is one of the major contributors to America’s success in our time.

We are all part of a greater bond of humanity, equal in dignity. What matters is that we find and appreciate the commonality in diversity. To devalue another person or society is to devalue humanity. Those who feel they are superior – via religion, race, birth, military might, or political power – ultimately belongs to the dark ages of savagery. They do not belong to a global community that has moved far ahead of it.

When I came to America, I experienced the last leg of the anti-Vietnam-War movement, as well as Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and the Nuclear Freeze movement. I saw the emergence of breathtaking diplomacy of détente with former arch enemies – China and the Soviet Union. Nixon’s trip to China in 1972 was a diplomatic breakthrough.

From war to diplomacy, from turmoil to constructive dialogue, a shift swept through across the length and breadth of the globe because the collective will of the American people wished for dialogue and peace to prevail. I realized that the American people can be a source of positive change in the world.

The collective will in America, if united and determined, can change America. This can create a profound impact on the rest of the world. As the saying goes, “The Vietnam War did not end in Vietnam; it ended on the streets of America.” If history is any reference, America has shaped the global society that we live in for over 240 years.

Centuries ago, in 1776, European colonialists subjugated millions through a ‘might is right’ philosophy. But America was able to achieve a miracle. An amazing group of thinkers, policymakers, and private citizens came to a consensus that colonial rule violates human dignity. They risked their personal lives and fellow countrymen to formulate the “Declaration of Independence,” stating that “all men are created equal……endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Ultimately, they defeated a superpower and freed their people, thus establishing the first democracy in the modern world. It was the very first time that a colony ousted a colonial power to establish self-rule. The course of history has changed since.

In the opening speech of the Bandung Conference in 1955, President Sukarno of Indonesia proudly reminded his audience about this phenomenal achievement from America. He described the American Revolution as “the first successful anti-colonial war in history.” ¹

The ideas of ‘inalienable rights’ — previously mentioned as ‘God-given’ rights of a human being – were effectively brought to consciousness by the founders of this nation. The French Revolution took place soon thereafter, in 1789.

This nation has gone through many struggles to preserve its vision and values. These include a bloody civil war in which 720,000 Americans perished to stop slavery, a lengthy collective bargaining movement to achieve workers’ rights, and a women’s’ liberation movement centuries in the making to achieve gender parity. All are extraordinary achievements, and all have shaped global culture. America’s contributions to human rights are undeniable. This spirit is part of what makes the nation great. It is one of the most self-critical and self-correcting nations in the world.

But this strong foundation has eroded since the Cold War in the early 1950s. Enormous amounts of money and efforts have now been invested to control America’s decision-making processes. Democracy has increasingly become oligarchy – the system our founders originally fought to stop.

This letter is about forces that have rendered America into a state in which people are now afraid to talk. Even if they raise their voice, it is not heard. Freedom of the press is mostly robbed. Media is owned and controlled by special interests. Government is held hostage to serve special interests. Journalists and academics are scared to freely speak without being labeled as ‘anti-Semitic’ and extremist ‘terrorist-sympathizers.’ They face the consequences, including loss of their reputations, careers, and even charitable endeavors. This state is reminiscent of the McCarthy era of fear-mongering and witch-hunting, which paralyzed the nation with prejudice and self-doubt. Many innocent people became victims of a vicious political agenda to promote militarism and confrontation. A courageous and most revered journalist, Edward R. Murrow, brought an end to that 4-year national nightmare in 1954. He reminded citizens:

“There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation, we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” ²

He reminded the nation of its moral foundation to stand against prejudice. He rescued America from that dark hour. ³

Politicians’ agendas, devoid of principles, take advantage of a vulnerable time to promote their own interests. This attitude must be completely rejected. The responsibility to act is needed now more than ever, as the nation faces a moral, political, and social crisis as never before.

Today, Murrow’s message is most relevant. Most politicians on Capitol Hill are McCarthy-incarnates, in the sense that in order to fulfill political ambition they sacrifice values of their nation. Only few are struggling to keep their commitment to the American people. Most are betraying the American public by serving elites – namely that of the military-industrial complex, Wall Street interests, and with regards to our current article, Israeli interests.

Leaders are promoting a concocted narrative of confrontation and militarism inevitable from a “clash of civilizations,” vilifying a whole segment of humanity with one brush. They take this already contentious premise, and they subsequently create policies to serve their own interests. It is no different today than it was then.

Murrow’s wisdom ultimately prevailed, and four years of McCarthyism were brought to an end in 1954. The question today is who can stop the corrosive agenda that is rending our democratic institutions dysfunctional.

A critical factor behind this state of disgrace is the manipulation of the media, blocking a vital conduit of public awareness. Many scholars and activists are worried that in a free democratic society there could still be an information blackout These are posing threats to democracy and justice. Journalists and media personalities lose their tenure and good name while victimized by alliances of elites and vested interests. With regards to our current subject, one can consider the documentary film ‘The Occupation of the American Mind’ ‘The Occupation of the American Mind, Israel’s Public Relation War in the United States’, by Sut Jhally and Roger Waters, [see the movie free, please visit https://www.occupationmovie.org/ The documentary in the beginning lays down a quote from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu – “ It does not matter if justice is on your side or not, you must depict that it is.”

Some courageous American congressmen, former and present, openly acknowledge that Israel has a ‘stranglehold’ on both houses of Congress. When they oppose Israel’s policies of atrocities against non-Jewish people, they suffer.

The power and responsibility to change this intransigent state of national degradation rests on the people themselves. They are the only ones who can bring about a paradigm shift. The past is a reference that if the public is determined enough. change can take place like a tidal wave, sweeping and cleaning Washington. Whenever America’s leadership promotes freedom and democracy, the world transforms into a better state, as we saw after the Second World War. As American democracy becomes dysfunctional, it appears that undemocratic forces and authoritarian governments remain on the rise.

Peace cannot be achieved or sustained without justice. Justice cannot be upheld by hiding the truth. Arrogance and greed obstructs justice. This relationship between peace, justice, and truth is timeless and universal.

Great American leaders understood this timeless principle and acted upon it. They fought a Revolutionary War to establish justice and fairness in a society denied under tyranny. In 1860, President Abraham Lincoln persevered to establish justice for blacks, and he and his nation endured the Civil War to achieve it. President Woodrow Wilson fought against big business and financial centers to establish equity. In foreign affairs, after victory in World War I [WWI], Wilson went against his European allies and sent the King-Crane Commission to the Middle East to offer freedom and self-rule to the region. He set up the League of Nations, consisting of many countries big and small, to handle world affairs in an inclusive and democratic fashion. ⁴

In his footsteps, President Franklin D. Roosevelt [FDR] established the New Deal, going against corporate America and financial institutions to pull the nation out of a horrible economic crisis. Like Wilson, he established the United Nations to bring justice and peace to the world. Both of these leaders rejected “might is right” practices of European colonial powers. Wilson and FDR instead willingly sought cooperation with the global community, to manage global affairs so that justice and fairness can prevail. They were instead guided by the principles of ‘equality, liberty, and dignity,’ the ‘inalienable rights’ of all human beings that America was founded upon. ⁵

American leaders left behind a legacy of justice. They urged America to be leaders of peace in the world, remaining committed to the founding principles of the nation. They urged their country to stay in solidarity with dispossessed, disenfranchised suffering people in the world in their struggles for freedom and dignity. They realized that without economic freedom a person is not free. Democracy becomes a meaningless system and fails to deliver social justice. These leaders repeatedly pointed out that root causes of conflicts and war are due to injustice perpetrated by powerful individuals against weak and vulnerable people.

Had Wilson been well enough to shape the 1919 Versailles Treaty, he could have implemented his ‘14 Points’ and the recommendations of his King-Crane Commission on the Middle East. He was the most powerful party to lay down a future agenda. European powers could not ruin an endeavor to achieve enduring peace. Wilson could have helped the world to avoid the Second World War and its devastating carnage. He could have helped to create a democratic, and prosperous Middle East where Jews, Christians, and Muslims would live in peaceful coexistence – as they had done for centuries before Israel was created in 1948. The King-Crane Commission appointed by President Wilson provided these recommendations in a 1919 report. Unfortunately, the findings of this report were kept hidden from the world for half a century, under pressure from Zionist leaders after Wilson became sick and incapacitated. Perhaps we could have avoided the “Manhattan Project” and nuclear self-destruction.

Had FDR lived after World War II to shape the world, the British empire would have come to an end sooner, France would have let go of its colonial rule in Indochina, and Vietnam would have become independent in 1945. The Vietnam war that took the lives of over 60,000 Americans and 3 million people in Southeast Asia would not have been a possibility. Both the Soviet Union and China would have been allies, as FDR was planning to make them so in order to compel European powers to let go of their colonial grip on the world. The Cold War perhaps would have not taken place. And even if it did, it would have had a shorter and subdued lifespan. A new world order would have emerged, avoiding bloodshed and turmoil, making the planet a much better place for countless people. The state of Israel’s actions – exclusively privileging Jews and expelling indigenous people – would not have been permitted, as FDR was vehemently opposed to it. The Middle East would be a democratic and peaceful region, supported and sustained by a pluralistic global culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

Visionary American leaders were committed to the cause of America and humanity. They were understood and supported by the vast majority of American people. As leaders of a superpower, they bent over backward to make the world a better place.

It is my understanding that had America retained the legacy of its visionary leaders and the trust and confidence it earned from the global community under their leadership, it could have achieved its global objectives at a fraction of the price it paid, saving the world from horrendous death and destruction and saving tens of trillions of dollars of American taxpayer money. America has paid an extremely high price for deviating from that path of wisdom.

American founders were dedicated to a set of universal principles, which are the foundation of this nation. They left behind a good system of governance, and a directive for succeeding generations that if a government fails to serve the people, the latter should remove the former and replace it with one that would function effectively.

That threshold is long crossed. A change is long overdue. The system they left behind has been hijacked by powerful groups, like a vicious virus that captures a human body. The government no longer serves the people, it serves other masters. In that process, the government itself – an institution that is supposed to preserve, protect, and defend – has instead trampled the founding values of a once-great nation.

Today, the world is regressing on human rights and democracy. Authoritarian governments are on the rise. A rising discontent exists among the vast majority of the global population. The beacon of liberty, America, is no longer there.

I have repeatedly asked myself the question of how exploitative groups in society could be managed so that they became useful servants rather than masters. Founding American leaders provided some answers, but the system framework they left behind is still not sufficient to handle the complexities of the global society we live in today. Facing powerful transnational networks of elites and vested interests that collude with each other to enhance their respective domains of power and influence, we need to come up with more effective ways to confront these vicious forces. These forces are creeping up underneath the radar of manipulated and distorted media, and ultimately destroying everything good and vital that this nation is meant to stand for.

The only people that can bring about this change are the American people. As Edward R Murrow reminded the nation seven decades ago, we are facing a crisis that citizens of a republic cannot avoid if they want the republic to succeed.

There is a high correlation between attitudes of the American leadership and the democratic state of the world. The Freedom in the World 2018 Report by Freedom House stated that in 2006, there was a hike in democratic improvements around the world when the Bush administration pushed for freedom and democracy in global society. It started to decline as President Bush withdrew from his freedom doctrine in the Middle East, mostly under pressure from Israel. It appears that since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the democratic state of the world has continued to decline substantially. ⁶

This letter, therefore, is addressed to the American public, especially to the younger generation that carries the torch for tomorrow. Their leadership, if they are conversant with past struggles of their great nation, should be able to find inspiration to generate momentum.

As Senator Bernie Sanders and former President Jimmy Carter expounded. changes are not going to come from Washington DC. It is rotted to the core. Changes are going to come from people at the grassroots level. If the American people are determined and united, they can bring about a paradigm shift in American policies. They can bring about a peaceful revolution in domestic and foreign affairs, which can reinstate their values and reclaim their nation. ⁷

An American Success Story the World Noticed

During the Watergate period in the early 1970s, I was new to the country. I was an undergraduate student in America, frequently visiting my parents at their Chevy Chase home in Maryland. My father was among the first batch of diplomats sent to Washington to represent Bangladesh, a newly liberated country previously known as East Pakistan. Until President Nixon resigned in 1974, our routine was to watch Watergate events with my father, a keen observer of world politics. We were glued to the television set, and we devoured the newspapers as soon as they dropped at our front door early morning to find out what was happening. It was an exciting time, as we were witnessing an extraordinary event as well as a glimpse of how Washington worked. We were extremely hopeful about America. Despite his failings, President Nixon had just made a visionary visit to China in 1972 — a breathtaking diplomatic move that later helped change the world. Yet he could not avoid facing a due process of law. I was not an American then, but I became one emotionally. I was elated with the whole episode, a victory of truth and justice over might and human manipulative power. This was possible because Americans decided to stand up to the bully of the President, exposing the leader. That is the America, leaders like Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, and Martin Luther King toiled to build. They wanted a nation of rule of law based on sound values and universal principles. No one, not even the President of the country, is above the law. The Cold War eroded the spirit of the nation, but it appeared from Watergate that the core was still intact.

America in the Modern Era: ‘Looking the Other Way’

Today is a different reality. The nation is divided and polarized. There is no such movement against Washington. The government openly supports and funds repressive governments abroad, including Israel as well as many others. The government has sanctioned enormous funds for militarism, provoking confrontation in the world instead of promoting diplomacy and development. On the domestic front, there exists extreme income inequality, as well as unsustainable national debt and reckless spending by Congress that will be passed on to the shoulders of future generations. The nation’s healthcare system is inadequate and a reflection of the dysfunctional state of governance: corrupt, mismanaged, wasteful, overpriced drugs and services, and shamefully under performing. The present Coronavirus pandemic has further exposed the deficiencies of the sector in which America spends more than any other nation and get much less. These are all alarming signs of dysfunction.

In 1956 when the Cold War intensified, the American sociologist C. Wright Mills identified predatory forces in society that render the American government captive and the American public helpless. He termed them the “power elite.” ⁸

According to Mills, the power elite include key top people in economic, government, and military branches of society. Taking full advantage of the Cold War and its threats, the influence of the power elite has grown exponentially in our modern era.

This group keeps the common people deprived and preoccupied with the struggles of life, thus distracting from activism or participation in the processes of democracy that would compel their government to remain accountable.

Facing the enormous threats of possible nuclear confrontation as well as the complexities of the Cold War, the American public for decades remained totally dependent on the ‘power elite,’ submissive to their decisions. There was a dangerous lack of public scrutiny. Elites and vested groups subsequently took full advantage and promoted their own interests. President Truman was urged to “scare the hell out of the country” to increase the military budget. The military-industrial-complex and its complementary forces in corporate America and Washington DC all worked together to increase their individual and collective gain. ⁹

Since the 1967 Middle East War, pro-Israeli groups have emerged as a powerful elite force. Taking full advantage of phenomenal Israeli success in defeating its Arab neighbors, special interest groups mobilized Jewish Americans to influence Capitol Hill and the White House. Israel’s victory ignited Jewish spirit in America as never before. As a result, Jewish support in elections often became a deciding factor in their outcomes. Pro-Israeli lobbies would often manipulate, threaten, and even bribe members of the United States Congress to vote in favor of bills, even if they went against the interest and welfare of the American public. With firm grip on Congress, Israel offered their support and services to the military-industrial complex and big business, with a demand that they provide unconditional support to Israeli interests. Israel caters its services to overseas rogue and undemocratic countries, with a similar demand for unconditional support for the Zionist cause. Israel now pulls a lot of strings in many directions. It has become almost invincible.

The wealth gap between rich Americans and ordinary Americans is the highest ever recorded in human history. Per economic Thomas Piketty, “Wealth is so concentrated that a large segment of society is virtually unaware of its existence.” ¹⁰ At the same time, 27 million Americans do not have health insurance, while a huge segment – 43 million Americans – live below the poverty line. However, the super-rich group recently received a 100-billion-dollar tax cut by the Trump administration, and they have long enjoyed similar tax policies in favor of them. The top 1% receives 52% of national income every year. The top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 99%. Only three persons currently hold more wealth than the bottom half of America, and 20% own absolutely nothing. ¹¹

Chronic budget deficits led to a national debt of 24 trillion in 2018, even though the GDP was about 20 trillion. The US Congress increased the national debt by 1.9 trillion dollars in 2018 alone, a reckless and careless move by a body of representatives that are supposed to look after the nation. There are five trillion dollars of student loans that the young generation will never pay back. This backbreaking national debt now is being transferred to the shoulder of future generations. Their future looks bleak.

In addition, the military-industrial complex has long drained America’s treasury, as was warned by Eisenhower in 1956. Today, despite the absence of a Cold War, Congress still provides an enormous budget for the military. Bernie Sanders exposed in 2018 that the government would give 700 billion dollars to defense – more than the combined defense spending of the next ten countries – with half of that money going directly to large defense contractors. In a recent Senate hearing, Senator Bernie Sanders exposed the preposterous military spending in America, in which corruption and mind-boggling cost overruns are common occurrences. It is very alarming that Congress has failed to conduct an audit of the discrepancies of the defense industry for the last 28 years. This is possible because the pro-Israel lobby has long colluded with military vested interests to get bills passed through both houses of Congress. These policies are costly and detrimental to the true interests of the nation.

These are all alarming signs of mismanagement, corruption, and lack of leadership. Democracy is not all about elections. These are means to achieve greater ends. The goals of democracy are to uphold rights and achieve common welfare. We must create a conducive environment in which people can feel good about government.

Every poll or survey indicates this is currently not the case. When people’s rights are protected and when people are informed, these discrepancies simply cannot take place. So people are bluffed and misled. The Government, media, and think tanks all participate in betraying the public, as they are mostly controlled by rich and powerful elites. Great American leaders proclaimed that true freedom cannot be achieved in the absence of economic freedom or social justice. So America is not free. Instead, the government has become a plutocracy, a government run by a tiny community of rich and powerful interests instead of the people.

For a long time, the government’s irresponsible and unfair policies favoring big business have brought the economy to this level. A vast segment of society is struggling to make ends meet, while the rich are getting super-rich. Their power hunger to control the government is alarming. Corporate lobbies stationed in Washington subvert the government in their favor. It is no wonder that an ever-increasing rate of mergers and buyouts have been taking place for some time. During every merger or buyout, there are job cuts and cost-cutting measures that place more profits at the hands of top people while a substantial segment takes paycuts and longer hours. Mergers consolidate businesses and stifle competition in the marketplace, creating an unfair distribution of wealth in society. Big businesses now control more of the economy than ever before.

These trends are not new. These issues caused the 1929 stock market crash as well as the economic depression of the 1930s. However, dedicated leaders like Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the twentieth century broke up Standard Oil into nine different companies to bring about competition and to stop subversive practices. President Woodrow Wilson also put up a fight against subversion of big business. Franklin D. Roosevelt brought about the New Deal – socialistic capitalism – that pulled the nation out of a horrible economic depression. Big business did not like that at all. He made a lot of enemies, but he held firm to serve the common cause. President Kennedy also fought vigorously against the steel industry. Good leaders and good governments look after people’s interests. These are the people America needs to bring to power. This is what thinkers like C. Wright Mills warned the nation about long ago. ¹²

In the absence of this leadership, we have a man like Donald Trump who just gave a $100 billion tax cut to the super-rich, including big business as well as the military industry.

A Fortune Magazine article states that the top 1% in big business take far more than the bottom 50% of employees. ¹³ From 1978 to 2011, CEO compensation increased more than 725 percent (a rise substantially greater than stock market increase) with a painfully slow 5.7 percent growth in worker compensation over the same period.” ¹⁴ These are alarming signs of decay and dysfunction in American democracy.

Top economists with a sense of greater social responsibility – Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffry Sachs, and others – suggest that concentration of wealth has terrifying consequences for democracy. I believe that ‘terrifying consequences’ have already taken place. The American government is now an oligarchy that serves the few, abandoning the common people.

We must ponder the consequences of America’s extreme emphasis on individualism and individual rights. This philosophy creates an extreme imbalance between individual rights and collective rights in a society. Chris Hedges, a scholar and thinker, recently said, “As long as we fold inward and embrace a hyper-individualism that is defined by selfishness and narcissism, we will never overcome this estrangement.” ¹⁵

When a nation is born naturally, there is a focus on individual freedom and rights. However, the pendulum has now swung to the other extreme. A few individuals, using the extreme advantage at their disposal, can manipulate the government and economy. Consequently, the vast majority suffers. This is unfair and undemocratic.

America has been robbed, while the American people have been sleeping. Democratic and undemocratic forces exist side by side in society. Undemocratic forces such as the ‘power elite’ always take advantage of the people’s lack of vigilance. If anybody checked Obama’s voting record as a senator who obsessively favored big business during his two-year tenure, ¹⁶ people would not vote for him. When people do not find out whom they are voting for, they get the deal they deserve. The elite deliberately create stressful situations in which the public remains preoccupied, failing to pay adequate attention to governance.

When a man like Mr. Donald Trump becomes the president of America, this is indeed a disgrace. A man that devoid of a moral compass, devoid of any vision or leadership quality. A man that chased money, ego, and lust all his life, A man that does everything to stay in power, and who supports anything and any group that would help him to get what he wants, irrespective of the disservice they do to others. It is a downfall and disgrace of this great nation.

According to the American Constitution, the American people hold the ultimate social power to change their government. The ‘Occupy Movement’ neither failed nor disappeared. It created splinter groups across the country, working relentlessly at the grassroots level to fight powerful groups. ¹⁷ I am hopeful and confident that the American people have acquired a capacity to change and correct themselves.

Whenever America uses tools of constructive dialogue such as détente and the Marshall Plan, its true victories are achieved. Its leadership is globally accepted.

But today, diplomacy is marginalized. Confrontation and militarism has become a formidable force. A close alliance between pro-Israel groups and the military-industrial-complex has emerged during the last few decades to drain America’s treasury. Two powerful vested interests are colluding with each other, victimizing the American public. The public is not aware of it. Powerful smokescreens bluff the American people. Policymakers allocate huge budgets for the military, cutting down on diplomacy and conflict resolution projects of the State Department. When diplomacy and development are marginalized, conflicts and confrontation lead to increased military spending. This may be good for the military-industrial-complex. But it is bad for the common people of the country. ¹⁸

The State Department used to be an indispensable instrument of American power when America promoted peace. But now, the Defense Department is given paramount importance. Since the 1990s after the Cold War ended, the United States international affairs budget tumbled by 30 percent. The State Department pulled the plug on 26 consulates and fifty missions of the US Agency for International Development [USAID]. ¹⁹ America’s military spending and muscle-flexing contributed to the confrontational state of the Cold War, just as in our current era. America’s 100 military bases pose threats to China and Russia, provoking more militarism and confrontation.

The War on Terror is a military-focused agenda that failed after almost two decades, after trillions of dollars spent by Western powers. The only beneficiaries are the military, big business, and Israel.

Had root causes of radicalism been addressed after 9/11 — especially the epic injustice done to Palestinians – perhaps trillions of dollars could have been saved.

The Cold War ended in 1989 but the legacy of the Dulles brothers remains in full force. The ruthless agendas they propagated are picked up by new generations of pro-Israeli neocons, who have taken their agenda to a new level of subversion.

In 2003, Iran offered a comprehensive peace and cooperation proposal to America. Neocons in the Bush administration ignored the proposal, hiding it from the American public. Instead, a vehemently confrontational strategy was undertaken against Iran. If the path of diplomacy was taken, tens of trillions of dollars could have been saved in multiple countries. Many scholars have condemned neoconservative policies that victimized both the American and Iranian peoples. Shareholders and top executives of many defense contractors made enormous profits from these violent conflicts. These issues could have been avoided.

America needs to cut down on military spending, setting diplomacy and constructive dialogue as indispensable instruments of their power and leadership. ²⁰

The Middle East – The Tinderbox of the World

Footnotes

Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers, John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War, New York, Times Books: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2013, p. 216 (Sukarno at Bandung conference praising America’s Revolutionary War, the first successful anti-colonial war in history.)
Jack Mirkinson, ’60 years Ago, Edward R. Murrow Took Down Joseph McCarthy,’ Huffington Post, 3/10/2014, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/edward-murrow-joseph-mccarthy-60-years-later_n_4936308.html
Edward R. Murrow: A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy See it Now (CBS-TV, March 9, 1954), Berkley Library, University of California, http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/murrowmccarthy.html
Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, BBC, History, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/fourteen_points.shtml
“Roosevelt’s ‘Grand Strategy,’” The American Almanac, July 14, 1997. http://american_almanac.tripod.com/lkffdr.htm His vision for national and world affairs was the same – social justice, economic freedom, and a free world without colonial rule. The Atlantic Treaty and the New Bill of Rights lay down that vision.
Freedom in the World 2018, Freedom House https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2018
The Carter Center discussion between Senator Bernie Sanders and the former President Jimmy Carter, May 8, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVW7QtRaIhw)
Frank W. Elwell, C. Wright Mills on the Power Elite, http://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Mills2.htm
“Power Elite”, Economist’s Review, July 23, 2009, http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/07/the-power-elite.html (In 1956 the term was used to imply the military-industrial-complex, big business, Wall Street, and corrupt politicians.
Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014, p. 294-96 (The book is discussed in detail by Paul Krugman in Bill Moyer’s show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0
CHUCK COLLINS AND JOSH HOXIE, THREE PEOPLE OWN HALF THE US, WHILE ONE IN FIVE HAS NOTHING, ON 11/20/17, Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/three-people-own-half-us-while-one-five-has-nothing-716802
Paul Krugman, The Conscience of a Liberal, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY, USA, 2009, p.59-60 (FDR’s speech about big business trying to the government their servan
GRACE DONNELLY, ‘Top CEOs Make More in Two Days Than An Average Employee Does in One Year’, Fortune magazine, July 20, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/07/20/ceo-pay-ratio-2016/
Hamilton Nolan, What’s an Acceptable Ratio of CEO Pay to Worker Pay?, 9/18/13, http://gawker.com/whats-an-acceptable-ratio-of-ceo-pay-to-worker-pay-134276103
Chris Hedges, “America: The Farewell Tour,” New York, Simon & Schuster, 2018, p. 310
Hedges, Chris. Unspeakable. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 2016, p. 55-56
Michael Levitin, The Triumph of Occupy Wall Street, June 10, 2015, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-triumph-of-occupy-wall-street/395408/
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hard Choices, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2014, p. 24
Farrow, Ronan. War on Peace, The End of Diplomacy and The Decline of American Influence. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2018, p. xxi-xxiii
Ibid. p. 307