Finally got to reading this. No one can include everything in one essay and
you captured a great swath of our history and also made your point about the choices along the way and into the future. Sometimes seems like a curse to be able to see the possibility of a great world, but if you can describe it and appeal to others' better angels you've done a service to your community. Thanks Patrick, Erika is lucky to have a father working for her future.
I will never escape the reality that the USA built its empire on stolen land, by way if genocide and slavery. The only eventual outcome is for the empire to fall, greatness can not be achieved by plunder, oppression and military might. There will be no revolution because there will be no ownership to the misdeeds enacted.
That is a reality that cannot be evaded. Certainly the US colonized a continent and built much of its wealth off whipped Black backs. It is hardly unique in that regard. The Americas were founded on genocide and slavery, and every European empire shares in these crimes. As I write in this piece, there have been struggles to complete the unfinished work of the Civil War, and native rights struggles have also continued. So is the US national experience irredeemable? If you have read Zinn’s “People’s History of the U.S.,” you will find that redemptive struggles have gone on throughout its history. They are largely responsible for what is decent in this country. That is the real greatness, and the only way to pull out of the depths to which we are sunk.
There really are two empires in question here, the original continental empire and the global empire that came into being after WWII. The latter is currently disintegrating, slowly but surely, as nations that suffered under western imperialism are recovering their national heritage. China and India especially, but really all over the global south. As for the continental empire, it may indeed fall of our national divisions and the self-serving of our ruling classes. I have written a lot about this at The Raven, as well as about ways to move beyond empire here and around the world. It is no sure bet that the US holds together, and if it does it will only be because of the grassroots greatness that Zinn so well documented, to create just relations among us in the U.S. and with peoples around the world. We could fall apart. It’s all contingent on whether we as people rise to the occasion.
I will read more on your thoughts about how those of us who were born here, and live here, can play a part in moving beyond a militarized nation to one which truly seeks peace among all nations. I would like to join in such an effort, as my means to deal with it all has been to escape into the worlds of music and nature. As I read and discover more, I likely will be moved to become a paid subscriber and assist you in your efforts. Thank you.
Yes, the other sculpture, the one of he and the other “Great Fathers” lording over and desecrating their sacred Black Hills is particularly offensive to the Dakota/Lakota people I know.
Yes. I know. Lincoln was no saint, and part of the fundamental crime of Indian genocide. I considered adding this to the piece. Probably should have. Lincoln had many dark aspects, as does this country.
Finally got to reading this. No one can include everything in one essay and
you captured a great swath of our history and also made your point about the choices along the way and into the future. Sometimes seems like a curse to be able to see the possibility of a great world, but if you can describe it and appeal to others' better angels you've done a service to your community. Thanks Patrick, Erika is lucky to have a father working for her future.
I will never escape the reality that the USA built its empire on stolen land, by way if genocide and slavery. The only eventual outcome is for the empire to fall, greatness can not be achieved by plunder, oppression and military might. There will be no revolution because there will be no ownership to the misdeeds enacted.
That is a reality that cannot be evaded. Certainly the US colonized a continent and built much of its wealth off whipped Black backs. It is hardly unique in that regard. The Americas were founded on genocide and slavery, and every European empire shares in these crimes. As I write in this piece, there have been struggles to complete the unfinished work of the Civil War, and native rights struggles have also continued. So is the US national experience irredeemable? If you have read Zinn’s “People’s History of the U.S.,” you will find that redemptive struggles have gone on throughout its history. They are largely responsible for what is decent in this country. That is the real greatness, and the only way to pull out of the depths to which we are sunk.
There really are two empires in question here, the original continental empire and the global empire that came into being after WWII. The latter is currently disintegrating, slowly but surely, as nations that suffered under western imperialism are recovering their national heritage. China and India especially, but really all over the global south. As for the continental empire, it may indeed fall of our national divisions and the self-serving of our ruling classes. I have written a lot about this at The Raven, as well as about ways to move beyond empire here and around the world. It is no sure bet that the US holds together, and if it does it will only be because of the grassroots greatness that Zinn so well documented, to create just relations among us in the U.S. and with peoples around the world. We could fall apart. It’s all contingent on whether we as people rise to the occasion.
I will read more on your thoughts about how those of us who were born here, and live here, can play a part in moving beyond a militarized nation to one which truly seeks peace among all nations. I would like to join in such an effort, as my means to deal with it all has been to escape into the worlds of music and nature. As I read and discover more, I likely will be moved to become a paid subscriber and assist you in your efforts. Thank you.
Appreciated. I deal with militarism often. Here is one example. https://theraven.substack.com/p/how-working-for-place-based-solutions. I think we really need to rebuild from the ground up. Scrolling back, you will find any number of pieces with the word empire in the title.
Yes, the other sculpture, the one of he and the other “Great Fathers” lording over and desecrating their sacred Black Hills is particularly offensive to the Dakota/Lakota people I know.
I’ve seen any number of pictures of native people raising the middle finger to the defaced Six Grandfathers.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/the-largest-mass-execution-in-us-history
Yes. I know. Lincoln was no saint, and part of the fundamental crime of Indian genocide. I considered adding this to the piece. Probably should have. Lincoln had many dark aspects, as does this country.