That basically boils down to an argument that the power elites of the nations that have developed capitalism and its political superstructure -- "democratic institutions" -- earlier than others have the right and obligation to govern underdeveloped nations: the classic white man's burden. First, relegate much of the world to economic and political underdevelopment; then, using the resulting underdevelopment as a pretext, assume the right to govern them.
***** Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden, 1899
Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden-- In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain To seek another's profit, And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden-- The savage wars of peace-- Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease; And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought, Watch sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden-- No tawdry rule of kings, But toil of serf and sweeper-- The tale of common things. The ports ye shall not enter, The roads ye shall not tread, Go mark them with your living, And mark them with your dead.
Take up the White Man's burden-- And reap his old reward: The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard-- The cry of hosts ye humour (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:-- "Why brought he us from bondage, Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden-- Ye dare not stoop to less-- Nor call too loud on Freedom To cloke your weariness; By all ye cry or whisper, By all ye leave or do, The silent, sullen peoples Shall weigh your gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden-- Have done with childish days-- The lightly proferred laurel, The easy, ungrudged praise. Comes now, to search your manhood Through all the thankless years Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, The judgment of your peers! *****
At least, Kipling was cool-headed enough to know that imperialism takes "savage wars of peace," "those ye better...those ye guard" are "silent, sullen peoples" who "shall weigh your gods and you," and imperialists will reap the old reward of blame and hate.
>Should the French have stayed out of our "internal" war with
>Britain, a far more debateable issue of internal injustice?
Since the Gulf War, the US government has punished the Iraqi people with economic sanctions and given aid to the handpicked Iraqi "dissidents" (Cf. the Iraq Liberation Act) with a view to "regime change" congenial to its perceived interest. The Iraqi people have failed in the task given to them by the US government; those who did rise up during the Gulf War were not to the US government's liking, and the rest have since been unable to do so on empty stomachs, even if they have wanted to. Hence, the US power elite has decided to take the matter in their own hands, wage war, and "liberate" the Iraqi people. (The Iraqi people might ask, "Why do they hate us?") There is no comparing the coming war on Iraq with the American Revolution. Thomas Paine must be turning in his grave. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>