We can do better than imperialism.
Nearly 100 years since his death, Vladimir Lenin’s theories of imperialism still hold weight. President Biden continues to bomb Syria, following in the footsteps of both former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
Lenin, simply put, asserted richer, capitalist nations would scour the world looking for resources to devour. Syria asserts the U.S. is stealing its oil. It claims Trump admitted to doing so.
Imperialist wars have the worst effects on humanity. We in the U.S. have become too accustomed to war and death. This leads to regular people wishing death upon their fellow man. A MotherJones report found one-third of Americans would support nuking North Korea. Essentially, they endorse the mass slaughter of millions upon millions of innocent people.
Whenever we turn on the news, we find new justifications for our own atrocities: human rights abuses, authoritarian leaders, lack of democracy, etc.
This means largely nothing. The U.S. did not support a coup of democratically elected socialist Salvador Allende because they love democracy. The U.S. did not support his tyrannical and brutal replacement, Captain General Augusto Pinochet, because we despise
authoritarian rulers.
The U.S. justifies its actions by claiming to combat terrorism. If you question this, you are anti-American or do not support the troops’ sacrifices. It is important to recall that over 90% of casualties associated with Obama-era drone strikes were civilians.
Perhaps, to our victims, we are the terrorists?
Instead of any moral belief system, the U.S. interests are both hegemonic and capitalist. Those interests typically involve power, enforcing subservience and most importantly: markets.
The American people deserve much more than to let our 1% dictate who lives and dies and for what resources. Lenin is still right and will remain so. We are the wealthiest nation in history.
Perhaps, instead of using those tools to control other nations, instead of using our resources to enrich very few with great human cost to the many, we could take care of our own?
We can do better than imperialism. We can live up to the moral code we claim to live by.
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