Harry Targ
Continued
study and research into the origins of the folk music of various peoples in
many parts of the world revealed that there is a world body-a universal body-of
folk music based upon a universal pentatonic (five tone) scale. Interested as I
am in the universality of (hu)mankind-in the fundamental relationship of all
peoples to one another-this idea of a universal body of music intrigued me, and
I pursed it along many fascinating paths. Paul Robeson,
Here I Stand, 1959.
America’s
destiny required the U.S. “…to set the world its example of right and honor…We
cannot retreat from any soil where providence has unfurled our banner. It is
ours to save that soil, for liberty, and civilization….It is elemental...it is
racial. God has not been preparing the English-speaking and teutonic peoples
for a thousand years for nothing but vain and idle self-contemplation and
self-admiration. No! He has made us the master organizers of the world to
establish system where chaos reigns. He has given us the spirit of progress to
overwhelm the forces of reaction throughout the earth.” Senator
Albert Beveridge, Indiana, Congressional Record, 56 Congress, I Session,
pp.704-712, 1898).
President Vladimir Putin wrote in the New York
Times, September 12, 2013 that “it is extremely dangerous to encourage people
to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.” This statement
embedded in a generally reasonable statement about the instability of Syria
brought an outcry from the liberal media elite and often-quoted academics. For
example a Bloomberg editorial refers to Putin’s “bizarre” “out-of date”
analysis. Professor Fouad Ajami wrote that “Arab regimes of plunder and tyranny
were both physically close to Russia” and the “lawless Kremlin model.”
Liberal commentators dwelled on the silly pictures
of muscular Putin riding a horse without a shirt. Or they reminded viewers of
Russia’s recent (and vile) homophobia. Or they referred to Putin’s pedigree as
a KGB operative or as the ruler behind the throne manipulating the Russian
electoral system in order to return to office after being replaced.
Although critics were probably correct to challenge
his claim that the recent gassing of Syrian citizens was done only by rebels,
he did admit that the Assad regime in fact does have such weapons. But both
Democrats and Republicans expressed outrage that anyone could challenge the idea
that the United States is the “exceptional” nation.
Let’s be clear. United States foreign policy over the last 150 years has been a reflection of many forces including economics, politics, militarism and the desire to control territory. The most important idea used by each presidential administration to gain support from the citizenry for the pursuit of empire is the claim that America is “exceptional”.
Think about the view of “the city on the hill”
articulated by Puritan ancestors who claimed that they were creating a social
experiment that would inspire the world. Over three hundred years later President
Reagan again spoke of “the city on the hill.” Or one can recall public
addresses of turn of the twentieth century luminaries such as former President Theodore
Roosevelt who claimed that the white race from Europe and North America was
civilizing the peoples of what we would now call the Global South. Or Indiana Senator Beveridge’s clear
statement: “It is elemental….It is racial.” From the proclamation of the new
nation’s special purpose in Puritan America, to Ronald Reagan’s reiteration of
the claim, to similar claims by virtually all politicians of all political
affiliations, Americans hear over and over that we are different, special, and
a shining example of public virtue that all other peoples should use as their
guide to building a better society and polity.
However, looking at data on the United States role
in the world, the United States was at war for 201 years from 1776 to 2011. Ten
million indigenous people were exterminated as the “new” nation moved westward
between the 17th and the 20th centuries and at least 10
million people were killed, mostly from developing countries between 1945 and
2010 in wars in which the United States had some role. In addition, world
affairs was transformed by the singular use of two atomic bombs; one dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945
instantly killing 80,000 people and the other on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945
killing another 70,000.
Comparing the image of exceptionalism with the
domestic reality of American life suggests stark contrasts as well: continuous
and growing gaps between rich and poor, inadequate nutrition and health care
for significant portions of the population, massive domestic gun violence, and
inadequate access to the best education that the society has the capacity to
provide to all. Of course, the United States was a slave society for over 200
years formally racially segregated for another 100, and now incarcerates 15
percent of African American men in their twenties.
The United States is not the only country that has a
history of imperialism, exploitation, violence, and racism but we must understand
that our foreign policy and economic and political system are not exceptional
and must be changed.
Finally, a better future and the survival of the
human race require us to realize, as Paul Robeson suggested, what is precious
about humanity is not our differences but our commonalities. Exceptionalist
thinking separates us. Sharing what we have in common as human beings, both our
troubles and our talents, is the only basis for creating a peaceful and just
world.
