Deja Vu History or a New Society?
Contemporary times have a feeling of deja vu, especially for a history teacher. Our new administration has its inspiration in an incompletely understood past. We can begin with an economic system built on protectionist tariffs which harkens back to the 16th - 18th centuries in Europe. It was called “mercantilism.” The system was simple, a country’s rulers wanted to produce wealth. What better way was there to do that than by having a trade surplus with every kingdom the country traded with. That resulted in countries trying to produce items, at higher cost and effort, than what other kingdoms could do. In effect, tariffs are a domestic tax on consumers. Geography, climate, and technological differences make some countries able to produce some items more efficiently and less expensive than others.
The world economic system works more efficiently when each country can, for the most part, concentrate on what their natural endowment gave them an advantage to produce. One can have trade deficits with some countries and a surplus with others. The main idea is to find the most efficient producers and trade with them. The world trade organizations were created that set up an American dominated trade system. It is the US navy and airfare that allows for the free transport of goods and people throughout the globe, and has given the US a powerful position in determining the kind of world system that exists.
Our present leaders seem to be fixated on the post-World War II era, when most of the industrial world lay in ruins. The US, secure behind its oceanic walls, was largely untouched. There was no economic power left to challenge the growth of American dominance. The US used that economic dominance to build an unmatched military power that would enforce a world order in which the US was the dominant power. The Soviet Union was the only nation that could challenge the US with its powerful military and nuclear force. Those days have ended. While the Soviet Union no longer exists, much of the rest of the world has caught up. America alone is a fantasy.
Our present administration also has a fixation on the threat of military power to coerce other countries to follow US foreign policy objectives. The days of imperialism and conquest across sovereign borders are techniques of the past. Since World War II, until the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, our 2nd invasion of Iraq, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the sanctity of sovereign borders has kept us out of general war. Now, the face of war is changing rapidly. Inexpensive drones can destroy tanks, ships, and airplanes. Our nation’s monopoly on hugely expensive military platforms has become vulnerable to smaller nations with inexpensive guided weaponry. Russia is finding that out as masses of their troops have been decimated by inexpensive high tech weaponry in Ukraine.
The same can be said for fossil fuels. As an industry of the past it still possesses excess wealth to earn its privileged position in an oligarchic society. So, while China, moves boldly into the era of alternative energy, US leaders, influenced by fossil fuel dollars, attempt to recreate a past. The rest of the world, led by the Chinese are moving on into more sophisticated solar, wind and nuclear power. We are deeply vested in a past that our oligarchic society is built on. It is the base of wealth of our oligarchic leaders who have frozen our society by making this a land of inherited wealth and inherited leadership. The US is near last on the list of modern societies in social mobility. That means that new talent, new businesses, and new technologies get bought out and frozen in history by the oligarchs who do not want to upset their status quo applecart.
That means science, learning, and inclusive religion are a danger to our current leadership. New ideas and technologies threaten the base upon which the oligarchs base their dominance over our society. Their dominance depends on our being, not a conservative society, but a reactionary one, accepting only those new elements that guarantee their power. As with oligarchic feudal nobility of the distant past, they feel the defense of their position is worth fighting and killing for. Inequality is an ideal if you are a member of the governing elite. That is why they attack being woke and accepting diversity. Control of mass media, degrading public schools, attacking verifiable knowledge (science), and glorifying myths of the past are the social means of oligarchs control. Democracy must be mocked, because democracy is a danger…to them.
Now is the time for new and bold ideas. This is not the time to fear the future but to use our common humanity, intelligence, and talents to rebuild our democratic institutions and to limit the manipulation of wealth to control the rest of us. This is not the time to glorify the wealth that elites use to manage society, but for a revolution in how we govern ourselves. The beginning of this movement must be the overturning of Citizen’s United ruling by the Supreme Court that decided that corporations have the same legal status as people, and granting money as having the same rights as speech. Reestablishing a vigorous, free, non-mega corporate media is another huge step. Our oligarchs will not give way easily, but the way to a more equitable society is an exciting future to look forward to for woke, MAGA, and the diverse elements of society alike.
Rick Lohr, formerly of Marathon City, is a retired history teacher and former owner and manager of Pine Valley Golf Course. He has been retired for over 20 years but has given about 650 talks to schools, service groups and senior centers related to the 45 counties he has traveled to.
