There are several protests happening around the world, and as someone who was 20 when 9/11 hit, I cannot help but sense a feeling of deja vu. Rather than feeling outraged at the violence, I feel an inevitable sense of fatigue at people who are still justifying their lifestyles and the empire, while refusing to understand that these kinds of actions are what the empire means. After all, the Black Lives Matter protests led to murals and attention-seeking bigots who drowned out any meaningful dialogue or action. My question is whether those who are protesting are mad because of the violence or because they finally see how the empire works, and they can no longer ignore the pattern.
On that fateful morning in September, I remember thinking that I had offended my teaching assistant when I went home and saw the news. Classes were basically cancelled because half the campus came from New York and Washington, D.C. We were all glued to the screen because we thought that they would tell us who enacted the attack, but for some reason, people started talking about Saddam Hussein. Being 45 means that I was alive when Bush I enacted Operation Desert Storm, and as an adult, I realize that we were being fed a steady stream of lies about Iraq at that time, too. Oil was the reason, and the Bush dynasty–set up on oil wealth, among other things– felt entitled to attack another country to make themselves rich. I could say that this is Republican behavior, but Obama was misled into attacking Middle Eastern countries as well. People who feel entitled to others’ resources will not stop until they secure their ill-gotten gains, no matter who they harm.
For all the flailing and wailing about the Ukraine, Uyghur violence, and Israeli aggression, I notice that nothing has changed about how life continues to exist without much change within the empire. People drive from their gated communities to parade around town, yelling and dancing, and then they load their child-killing trucks and SUVs back in time for brunch. Nothing substantial has changed, but they feel like their performance has done something other than garner them attention. Again, we have already been through waves of protest after which nothing happened, so a lot of people are starting to avoid those efforts based on a lack of commitment after trending. Yelling into phones and crying on camera did nothing to stop the propaganda party about Venezuela, which could have ended with, “That oil belongs to them, and we need to get out of their business.” A former friend said that Nigeria was violating human rights, and I pointed out that Nigeria had oil–then Nigeria was attacked last year. Shallow, comfortable people walking around is not doing anything, and we have already seen that protesting and voting are the extent of their motivation.
My main frustration is that people keep talking about business expansion while stupidly ignoring the environmental costs of growth, as well as the damage to the socioecosytem. Scientists told everyone that degrowth was the answer, but none of these idiots appear to be able to connect the dots. I see people whining about how everyone needs to own a business, but those same people have no idea was keeps the lights on while they spend their time anxiously burning the midnight oil in hopes of a breakthrough. AI is a proven scam, but I am confident that the violence being enacted is related to people refusing to let go of this stupid idea that drains water, destroys the planet, and solves fewer problems than it creates. This thoughtless war? Everyone can thank car culture, planned device obsolescence, and materialism for a world that constantly needs more resources to consume. The empire has already been through South America causing devastation, but when enough is never enough, greedy people make a mess and it becomes someone else’s job to mitigate the damage.
This time, I hope that the rest of the world stops falling for the status quo, and that some countries legitimately change to stop coming up with reasons to take what belongs to others. Racism has already made the United States a violent, struggling hellscape, and those who remain have a long road ahead to consider how to build a functioning socioecosystem. No one has any excuses for imperial behavior, and ironically, social media is now making it clear that none of this action was ever warranted. Time to end all this obnoxious behavior that has been out of fashion for more than twenty years.
Chasing A Dying Empire 