On Fri, 21 Sep 2001, Alexandre Fenelon wrote:
> is profoundly wrong. WE have not done that. The ruling class and its
> minions have done that. Accepting this, and incorporating that
> acceptance in our language (i.e., getting rid of that fucking we that
> combines ruling class and working class) is the first (and essential)
> step in changing the tradition.
>
> Carrol
>
>
> -But the majority of US working class usually supports US imperialism.
> -Am I wrong?
>
> Alexandre
Perhaps others will disagree, but the U.S. working class (called here "common people") is deeply ignorant regarding U.S. imperialism. I'm not sure where that leads us, but I think that it's got to mean something when the citizenry of the New Rome still think of themselves as part of a Jeffersonian Republic. (Oh shit, I'm sounding like Justin Raimondo ...)
We have a staff listserv where I work (University of Georgia). Someone posted something recently facetiously arguing that maybe if 'those foreigner' hate 'us' so much, then maybe we should cut off foreign aid, envisioned as money, doctors, trained professionals, etc. That would serve 'em right for hating us. To that I responded that the U.S. in fact gives less in aid as a percentage of GDP of any other western industrialized state, and that of what we give more than half is constituted of military and "security" aid, and that of every $1.25 we send in aid we sell $2.00 in weaponry.
The response was incredulity, though I was careful to back up my assertions. In fact 'we' think of the U.S. as being generous, even overly generous, while 'they' - those people that hate us - are ingrates. As for being an empire, I think that doesn't even register. Ours is an insular empire.
On the bright side, the posts to our staff list, though peppered with flag waving and "God bless", do not leave the impression that people are eager to bomb anything. I think that the laptop bombadiers are way ahead of the rest of us in bloodlust.
- David