Letting Loose of the Past

(Two Countries That Can’t)

While we must learn from the past we must also let loose of it so we can use what we have learned to shape a better future.

There was a time in history when a form of despotism called royalty dominated global politics – kings and queens who ruled with iron hands and ruthless control.  This rule was a form of economic imperialism. It was a  resource exploitation of both a country’s own citizenry and other countries for economic benefit. In this exploitation there was no ethical concern about the result of this fleecing.  At this moment in history there are two supposedly democratic nations that seem unable to let loose of this form of despotism.

One is England.  On May 6, 2023,  it installed a new king.  The anointing that supposedly transformed Charles III from mere mortal to royalty was done behind a screen so it could not be contaminated by the viewing of commoners.  Maintaining royalty in England is an expensive nostalgic celebration of the country’s past when it was Great Britain who ruled the seas and was the master exploiter of world resources.  The so-called Commonwealth that is presently overseen by its royal family is really a cooperative of mostly small nations for mutual economic benefit.  It seems that England has no deliberate will to let loose of the past and accept itself as the small European nation that it has become.  It mimics this past to give shine to its present. 

The other nation is America.  A group of colonies organized a rebellion against the British Crown and declared their independence in 1776.  There fight was an attempt to free themselves from Britain’s suppressive economic imperialism.  They won and sought to organize themselves into a democratic governance.  However, there have always been almost as many economic imperialists as democrats in this endeavor.  The Civil War ensued from this division and all the liberation movements in the nation’s history have been extensions of the attempt to secure democratic rule over this despotic stranglehold. 

And, over the years, there has been a slow gradual pattern of success in this battle that has ensued from great diligence and mortal combat.  It appeared that democracy was winning until the Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 2012, in its Citizens United decision, that it was legitimate for wealthy imperialist corporations to purchase control of both the nation’s elections and those elected.  Since then, America’s democratic structures have been gradually recaptured by economic imperialists.  This culminated in the election of Donald Trump in 2016, the conversion of the Republican Party into the Despotic Party, and the swing of the Supreme Court to a conservative majority.

In the recent 2020 election the people barely elected a Democrat to the presidency, lost control of the House, and only eked out a majority in the US Senate.  To express its displeasure over the presidential election, the economic imperialists denied the result and organized an insurrection that would legitimize their denial.  This insurrection was defeated. However, the imperialists will not give up their attempts to convert American democracy back into economic imperialism. America does not seem to be able to let loose of the past it rebelled against in order to become its democratic dream.

Despite its expense and ceremonial pomp, in England, the continued hold on imperialism seems to be more symbolic than governmental.  In America it is reality.  However, indecision time is over.  America must make a critical choice over the next several years because the outcome of the next presidential and congressional elections and appointments to the Supreme Court will largely determine the nation’s destiny.  Let us hope the citizenry, understanding this to be a cross-road moment as decisive as the Civil War, can let loose of economic imperialism and embrace democracy.

Robert  

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