What is it about the American character that prevents our imagining any solution to a problem like terrorism except better weapons? Steve Mozena’s loony fantasy of a terror-free Scanner Society [Re: Letters, Dec. 1] points up how we got into this mess in the first place, and why we aren’t likely to get out of it soon.
Stronger police, tighter surveillance, higher walls, easier torture, deadlier armies, smarter bombs — we eagerly jettison liberty, integrity, and morality in the name of safety and peace of mind. Yet what peace of mind we derive is a delusion. It only takes one person with an angle the preventers didn’t think of to bring down the whole house of cards.
Warriors against terror offer explanations that all boil down to the same empty formula: Terrorists attack us because they hate us. They hate us because they’re terrorists.
Underneath the explanations lies the core belief that They are different from Us. We are rational, freedom-loving, and inspired by Good. They are irrational, freedom-hating, and inspired by Evil. Basically, terrorists attack us because we’re the Good Guys and they’re the Bad Guys.
We can’t seem to grasp the fact that the overwhelming majority of human beings think alike. Most of us happily go with the flow as long as we have a few basic things, like a full stomach, a decent place to live, the feeling that we have choices, the assurance that our kids will do at least as well as we did — above all, feeling safe. Most people become terrorists because they believe they have no other choice.
Today, hardly anyone denies that a staggering percentage of the world’s resources are devoted to supporting our lifestyle. Supporters argue that corporatism spreads better living. There’s plenty to go around, and following the corporatist agenda will eventually bring us all health, happiness, and lots of cool clothes.
The reality, of course, is the contrary. Corporatism is founded not on the production and sale of goods, but the generation of investment revenue for non-producers. Maximum return comes from getting an item as cheaply as possible and selling it for the highest possible price. There must be a divide between the higher and the lower classes, and it must be as wide as possible to keep up the rate of return. Such a system can’t possibly create equality. In an egalitarian world it couldn’t even exist. American folklore brims with stories of noble little guys who get fed up with living under the giant’s heel and strike back. The story is central to the myth of our nation’s founding. Yet somehow we think only Americans are entitled to think this way. After all, we represent Good. How could anyone think of us as the Evil giant?
All over the world millions of people watch the Hummers and Rolexes go by while their countries and their cultures are dismantled, their resources are privatized and exported, their livelihoods are eliminated, and their children are lucky to find jobs in sweatshops. Should Americans challenge these policies, corporatist boosters invariably accuse them of supporting terrorism. This is self-serving obfuscation. As long as outbreaks of terrorism can be attributed to irrational acts by zealots and lunatics, no one needs to question the status quo. It’s sufficient to remember that They are different from Us.
It would help immeasurably if we learned that democracy, Christianity, capitalism, and corporatism are not one and the same thing. Otherwise, a smug few of us will ascend to the gleaming high-rise condos while the rest of us join the downward slide. Then one day someone will approach your child or grandchild and tell them how they can fix everything just by strapping on a bomb.
Los Angeles CityBeat | February 23, 2006
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