“Chickens coming home to roost.” Words heard all over America in 1963.
This statement was centered on a charismatic figure of the time — Minster El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz — better known to us as Malcolm X. Love him or hate him, the message was clear.
America has become a global superpower at the expense of many nations. The countries in the second tier (Russia, Japan, China, France, Germany, India and Great Britain) aren’t even close. This disparity in political, economic and military positions equates to the runaway season the Seattle Mariners are having this year. That has not gone without resentful notice.
We are seeing the repercussions of what happens when you step all over lesser nations and disregard human dignity and the rights of others to reach the top.
The political and economic game of Stratego, played by the global power elite, has the world at its mercy.
The ideology of war to settle disputes has no logical rationale. The destroying of life to satisfy a country’s angry mob does not solve anything. Neither does it advance a positive political agenda. Many Americans are familiar with Machiavelli’s political work “The Prince.” He explains to the aristocracy that how you gain power will be how you must sustain it.
America is now in this position. America has gained its position by force, so it must use force to maintain it.
When more of the world adheres to oppressive, exploitative and capitalistic ideology, you breed a disengaged underclass. This segment of America and the world has become larger as the need for more marginalized citizens becomes necessary.
Karl Marx said a progressive society would naturally ascend to prosperity, moving through capitalism to a more egalitarian existence. Some will interpret that as Marxist socialism, but the logic is compelling. In retrospect of the recent devastation, global powers may want to rethink their approach.
South Africa was on the verge of imploding if political adjustments were not made. America and other nations are headed down this suicidal highway if this elitist ideology is maintained.
To use pejorative words like terrorist and hijackers only buys into the rhetoric spewed by our mass media influenced by the power elite. Whatever organization is responsible for America’s devastation should be dealt with harshly, as President Bush has stated. But, before America starts casting stones, remember this nation has its own transgressions.
“We have an insurance policy that allows us to take risk. It goes by the name of the Armed Forces of the United States,” Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said at his confirmation hearing on Jan. 17 in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C.
Those “risks” have nothing to do with Powell, Bush or anyone deemed a part of America’s elite fraternity.
In the old days, generals led their battalions into battle. Now, we have commanding officers sending in people they have chosen as more worthy of an early death to fight for them, while at the same time telling America they’re fighting for everyone.
When asked why he felt he should not go to fight in the war in Vietnam, Muhammad Ali said, “No Viet Cong ever called me a Nigger.”
The point was clear: America has to clean up more than just the rubble of the World Trade Center; it has to clear up the malfunctions in its ideology as well.
If America continues to force the economic wedge between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in America and abroad, strong-arm other nations in foreign relations and marginalize its own and other nations for exploitation, this American devastation will only be a prelude to what is to come.
Americans mourn the loss of life today, but the world has been mourning the loss of lives because of America since its independence.
Carlton Hamilton is an African-American studies and sociology senior. Reach him at chicago14@prodigy.net.
