Article Review 01 - View 03 "The New American Century" - by Arundhati Roy - Alternate Version of Article - Go To: View 03 of Article: - Outline, plus "Text-based" Summary of Article Go To: View 01 of Article - Original Version of Article Go To: View 02 of Article - Outline, plus Text of Article Go To: View 04 of Article - Outline, plus "Bawa-based" Summary of Article View 03 of Article: Outline, plus "Text-based" Summary of Article Outline of Article: 1. The World Social Forum (WSF) Versus "Empire America" - is the new war 2. The Perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism - is now again coming out of the closet 3. The New Imperialism - is just a make-over of the old imperialism of the last century 4. Examples of Absorption by "Imperial America" - include Argentina & Iraq 5. In This New Age of "The Empire" - nothing is as it appears to be 6. The Brutal Blueprint of "Imperial America" - is being used in the 3rd world countries 7. India As An Example - of the "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", for India could easily be made to look like an "Axis of Evil" in newspapers in the run-up to war 8. The Problem of "Empire America" - to the rest of the world, is its seducing world leaders, and in this way, bringing them into the "Club" 9. The Government's Victims - include the victims of so called "development" projects 10. Other Examples - of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, includes their making going on strike, or criticizing the court, into a crime 11. The Mechanisms of The New Imperialism - includes the "New Racism", modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States 12. How "New Racism" In The Corporate Era Works - a few carefully bred turkeys are given absolution while the remaining millions are destined for the pot 13. The "New Genocide" of the New Imperialism - is like the sanctions in Iraq 14. In The New Era - apartheid has been replaced with institutionalize inequity 15. Our Waging The Battle Against The New Imperialism - has taught us the importance of globalizing resistance 16. Examples of Lost Leaders In This Battle - are President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa 17. Why Does This Happen? - because the Corporate Cartel is seducing 3rd World leaders, as they rape 3rd World resources, & capture & dominate their markets 18. The Work of The World Social Forum (WSF) - is to unite, educate, and improve ourselves locally, and then unite, educate, and improve ourselves globally 19. The Major Threat To The Work of WSF - is becoming the enemy 20. Important Victories & Major Concerns of WSF - victories include mobilizing global protest of morality against war in Iraq, & concerns include being political theater 21. Bush's Strategy - includes riding out the storms of dissent in safe harbors 22. This Movement Of Ours (WSF) - needs a major, global victory 23. The Proposal For Action by WSF - turn our gaze on Iraq, become its global resistance, target 2 American companies benefiting from war, & close them down 24. Closing Comments - we must consider ourselves at war with "Empire America". "Text -based" Summary of Article - View 03 of article 1. The World Social Forum (WSF) Versus "Empire America" - is the new war It is the new war, the war between our project, that declares that "Another World Is Possible", which is a new "Global Resistance", versus their project for the "New American Century", which is a new "Imperialism". 2. The Perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism - is now coming out of the closet The perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism is again coming to confront us, is coming out of the "closet", so to speak, in the sense that "The New Imperialism" of "Empire America" is what people are now openly talking about in Washington, D.C., which is what makes it new, because before they only wispered about it. 3. The New Imperialism - is just a make-over of the old imperialism of last century This "New Imperialism" is not really new at all, it is just a remodeled, streamlined version of what we once knew, and rejected before, in each previous century, where now again a single empire (now America) has emerged absolutely dominant, using different weapons to break open different markets. 4. Examples of Absorption by "Imperial America" - include Argentina & Iraq Examples of absorption, of assimilation, by Imperial America are many, with Argentina being the poster boy of the Neoliberal Capitalism (of America), and Iraq being the black sheep. 5. In This New Age of "The Empire" - nothing is as it appears to be In this New Age of "The Empire", nothing is as it appears to be. For example, executives of concerned companies are allowed to influence foreign policy decisions. 6. The Brutal Blueprint of "Imperial America" - is being used in the 3rd world countries And the brutal blueprint of "Imperial America" has been used over and over again across Latin America, in Africa and in Central and Southeast Asia. 7. India As An Example - of the "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", where India could easily be made to look like another "Axis of Evil" in newspapers in the run-up to war Using India as an example of the application of this "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", we can easily see how India could be made to appear a target for a righteous war, how India could be made to look like another "Axis of Evil" in international newspapers in the run-up to war. 8. The Problem of "Empire America" - to the rest of the world, is its seducing world leaders, and in this way, bringing them into the "Club" The problem of "Empire America" to the rest of the world is the seducing of its democratically elected leaders, because of the influence and support of the "Empire America", bring them into the "Club" so to speak. Allowing the "democratically elected" leaders throughout the world to fearlessly blur the lines between Democracy, Majoritarianism and Fascism, giving it the leg room to turn into a repressive regime without compromising its legitimacy. 9. The Government's Victims - include the victims of so called "development" projects The victims of these repressive regimes are not only those it kills and imprisons but also those who are displaced and dispossessed and sentenced to a lifetime of starvation and deprivation by so called "development" projects. For example, the big dams alone in India have displaced between 33 million and 55 million. 10. Other Examples - of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, includes their making going on strike, or criticizing the court, into a crime Other examples of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, is influencing them in such a way that they begin treating poverty as criminal and slyly conflating it with terrorism. Also they begin treating protesting against further impoverishment as terrorism, and turn going on strike into a crime, and criticizing the court a crime. 11. The Mechanisms of The New Imperialism - includes the "New Racism", modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States The mechanisms of "Empire America" and of "The New Imperialism" are many, including a network of agents--corrupt local elites who service the Empire, like the sordid story of Enron in India-- and New Imperialism can be conducted virtually, like on E-mail, without the need for physical involvement, like physically going to or living in a country, with the cornerstone of New Imperialism being New Racism, modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States. 12. How "New Racism" In The Corporate Era Works - a few carefully bred turkeys are given absolution while the remaining millions are destined for the pot This is how the "New Racism" works, a few carefully bred turkeys--the local elites of various countries, a community of wealthy immigrants, investment bankers, the occasional Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice, some singers, some writers (like myself)--are given absolution and a pass to Frying Pan Park, while the remaining millions lose their jobs, are evicted from their homes, have their water and electricity connections cut, and die of AIDS. Basically they're for the pot. 13. The "New Genocide" of the New Imperialism - is like the sanctions in Iraq The "New Genocide" means creating conditions that lead to mass death without actually going out and killing people, which is a term to describe the sanctions in Iraq. For example, in Iraq the sanctions outdid Saddam Hussein's best efforts by claiming more than half a million children's lives. 14. In The New Era - apartheid has been replaced with institutionalize inequity In the "New Era", apartheid has been replaced with international instruments of trade and finance that oversee a complex system of multilateral trade laws and financial agreements that keep the poor in their bantustans anyway. Its whole purpose is to institutionalize inequity. 15. Our Waging The Battle Against The New Imperialism - has taught us the importance of globalizing resistance Our waging the battle against the "New Imperialism" has included the derailing of trade agreements at Cancún, and taught us that, in order to inflict real damage and force radical change, it is vital for local resistance movements to make international alliances. From Cancún we learned the importance of globalizing resistance. 16. Examples of Lost Leaders In This Battle - are President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa Those who were rendered powerless on the global stage include President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa, with Lula now busy implementing IMF guidelines, reducing pension benefits and purging radicals from the Workers' Party. And with Mandela, within two years of taking office in 1994, his government genuflected with hardly a caveat to the Market God. It instituted a massive program of privatization and structural adjustment that has left millions of people homeless, jobless and without water and electricity 17. Why Does This Happen? - because the Corporate Cartel is seducing 3rd World leaders, as they rape 3rd World resources, & capture & dominate their markets So why does this happen, this loss of our best leaders to the other side, because of the power of the Corporate Cartel, becaues the moment they (Lula and Mandela) cross the floor from the opposition into government they become hostage to a spectrum of threats. And the most malevolent among them is the threat of capital flight, which can destroy any government overnight, which is all about failing to understand how capitalism works, and how power works, is failing to understand that radical change cannot be negotiated by governments; it can only be enforced by people 18. The Work of The World Social Forum (WSF) - is to unite, educate, and improve ourselves locally, and then unite, educate, and improve ourselves globally The work of the World Social Forum (WSF) is to bring some of the best minds in the world together to exchange ideas about what is happening around us, allowing us to refine our vision of the kind of world we're fighting for. It is a vital process that must not be undermined. 19. The Major Threat To The Work of WSF - is becoming the enemy The major threat to the work of WSF is becoming an asset to our enemies, and we can only prevent this if we take on a truly "top-down and bottom-up" approach, that is, if we both refine our vision and at the same time, in parallel with this, implement specific actions, and then feed the results of these actions, real time, back into the process of vision refinement. In this way, we must balance this vital process, this process of refining our vision of the kind of world we're fighting for, with the process of political action, and to do this we need to discuss urgently our strategies of resistance, and then carry them out, not just talk about them, and then refine them some more, and then talk about them some more, never putting them into action, never truly learning about what we are about, and from this morally growing by doing. In this way, in addition to vision refinement, we need to aim at real targets, wage real battles and inflict real damage, like Gandhi's salt march, which was a direct strike at the economic underpinning of the British Empire. It was real. 20. Important Victories & Major Concerns of WSF - victories include mobilizing global protest of morality against war in Iraq, & concerns include being political theater Our important victories include the 10 million people march on five continents on February 15th, of 2003, a protest of public morality, a protest against the war on Iraq, the derailing of trade agreements at Cancún, and the meeting in January 2003 in Brazil, when thousands of us from across the world gathered in Porto Alegre in Brazil and declared--reiterated--that "Another World Is Possible. And our major concerns include the possibility that our nonviolent resistance will atrophy into ineffectual, feel-good, political theater. 21. Bush's Strategy - includes riding out the storms of dissent in safe harbors Bush's strategy is to disregarded overwhelming public opinion, and to confidently continue to pursue his policy of "New Imperialism", which is to occupy and colonize valuable and weak or vulnerable parts of the world and market their resources, as Afghanistan and Tibet have been, as Chechnya is being, as East Timor was, and as Palestine still is. And he believes that he can successfully do this in Iraq, if he hunkers down and out waits the world's initial reaction to his open aggression, until a crisis-driven media loses interest and moves onto the next crisis. 22. This Movement Of Ours (WSF) - needs a major, global victory This movement of ours (WSF) definitely needs a major, global victory. It's not good enough to be right. Sometimes, if only in order to test our resolve, it's important to win something. In order to win something, we need to agree on something, but it does not need to be an overarching preordained ideology or unquestioning allegiance to one or another form of resistance. It could be a minimum agenda. 23. The Proposal For Action by WSF - turn our gaze on Iraq, become its global resistance, target 2 American companies benefiting from war, & close them down We propose the following action for WSF. Let's turn our gaze on Iraq since Iraq is the inevitable culmination of both our "against's"; our against imperialism, and our against the project of neoliberalism, and realize that "Empire America" and "Dictator Saddam Hussein" were business partners who fell out over a dirty deal. And "Empire America" is the CEO of that business partnership. And we do this, we do this by turning our gaze on Iraq, by becoming the resistance to the occupation of Iraq, we do this by refusing to accept the legitimacy of the US occupation of Iraq, and we do this by acting to make it materially impossible for "Empire America" to achieve its aims. And we do this by going after two of the major corporations that are profiting from the destruction of Iraq and shutting them down, always keeping in mind that our success is only a question of bringing our collective wisdom and experience of past struggles to bear on a single target, and of our desire to win. 24. Closing Comments - we must consider ourselves at war with "Empire America" The project for the "New American Century" seeks to perpetuate inequity and establish American hegemony at any price, even if it's apocalyptic, and the World Social Forum (WSF) demands justice and survival, and to get it. For these reasons, we must consider ourselves at war with the "Empire America". End of Article Review 01 - View 03 "The New American Century" - by Arundhati Roy - ......................... or or Go To Other Views of Article: View 01: Original Version of Article View 02: Outline, plus Text of Article |
Article Review 01 - View 03 "The New American Century" - by Arundhati Roy - Alternate Version of Article - Go To: View 03 of Article: - Outline, plus "Text-based" Summary of Article Go To: View 01 of Article - Original Version of Article Go To: View 02 of Article - Outline, plus Text of Article Go To: View 04 of Article - Outline, plus "Bawa-based" Summary of Article View 03 of Article: Outline, plus "Text-based" Summary of Article Outline of Article: 1. The World Social Forum (WSF) Versus "Empire America" - is the new war 2. The Perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism - is now again coming out of the closet 3. The New Imperialism - is just a make-over of the old imperialism of the last century 4. Examples of Absorption by "Imperial America" - include Argentina & Iraq 5. In This New Age of "The Empire" - nothing is as it appears to be 6. The Brutal Blueprint of "Imperial America" - is being used in the 3rd world countries 7. India As An Example - of the "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", for India could easily be made to look like an "Axis of Evil" in newspapers in the run-up to war 8. The Problem of "Empire America" - to the rest of the world, is its seducing world leaders, and in this way, bringing them into the "Club" 9. The Government's Victims - include the victims of so called "development" projects 10. Other Examples - of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, includes their making going on strike, or criticizing the court, into a crime 11. The Mechanisms of The New Imperialism - includes the "New Racism", modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States 12. How "New Racism" In The Corporate Era Works - a few carefully bred turkeys are given absolution while the remaining millions are destined for the pot 13. The "New Genocide" of the New Imperialism - is like the sanctions in Iraq 14. In The New Era - apartheid has been replaced with institutionalize inequity 15. Our Waging The Battle Against The New Imperialism - has taught us the importance of globalizing resistance 16. Examples of Lost Leaders In This Battle - are President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa 17. Why Does This Happen? - because the Corporate Cartel is seducing 3rd World leaders, as they rape 3rd World resources, & capture & dominate their markets 18. The Work of The World Social Forum (WSF) - is to unite, educate, and improve ourselves locally, and then unite, educate, and improve ourselves globally 19. The Major Threat To The Work of WSF - is becoming the enemy 20. Important Victories & Major Concerns of WSF - victories include mobilizing global protest of morality against war in Iraq, & concerns include being political theater 21. Bush's Strategy - includes riding out the storms of dissent in safe harbors 22. This Movement Of Ours (WSF) - needs a major, global victory 23. The Proposal For Action by WSF - turn our gaze on Iraq, become its global resistance, target 2 American companies benefiting from war, & close them down 24. Closing Comments - we must consider ourselves at war with "Empire America". "Text -based" Summary of Article - View 03 of article 1. The World Social Forum (WSF) Versus "Empire America" - is the new war It is the new war, the war between our project, that declares that "Another World Is Possible", which is a new "Global Resistance", versus their project for the "New American Century", which is a new "Imperialism". 2. The Perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism - is now coming out of the closet The perceived "Good Side" of Imperialism is again coming to confront us, is coming out of the "closet", so to speak, in the sense that "The New Imperialism" of "Empire America" is what people are now openly talking about in Washington, D.C., which is what makes it new, because before they only wispered about it. 3. The New Imperialism - is just a make-over of the old imperialism of last century This "New Imperialism" is not really new at all, it is just a remodeled, streamlined version of what we once knew, and rejected before, in each previous century, where now again a single empire (now America) has emerged absolutely dominant, using different weapons to break open different markets. 4. Examples of Absorption by "Imperial America" - include Argentina & Iraq Examples of absorption, of assimilation, by Imperial America are many, with Argentina being the poster boy of the Neoliberal Capitalism (of America), and Iraq being the black sheep. 5. In This New Age of "The Empire" - nothing is as it appears to be In this New Age of "The Empire", nothing is as it appears to be. For example, executives of concerned companies are allowed to influence foreign policy decisions. 6. The Brutal Blueprint of "Imperial America" - is being used in the 3rd world countries And the brutal blueprint of "Imperial America" has been used over and over again across Latin America, in Africa and in Central and Southeast Asia. 7. India As An Example - of the "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", where India could easily be made to look like another "Axis of Evil" in newspapers in the run-up to war Using India as an example of the application of this "Brutal Blueprint of Imperial America", we can easily see how India could be made to appear a target for a righteous war, how India could be made to look like another "Axis of Evil" in international newspapers in the run-up to war. 8. The Problem of "Empire America" - to the rest of the world, is its seducing world leaders, and in this way, bringing them into the "Club" The problem of "Empire America" to the rest of the world is the seducing of its democratically elected leaders, because of the influence and support of the "Empire America", bring them into the "Club" so to speak. Allowing the "democratically elected" leaders throughout the world to fearlessly blur the lines between Democracy, Majoritarianism and Fascism, giving it the leg room to turn into a repressive regime without compromising its legitimacy. 9. The Government's Victims - include the victims of so called "development" projects The victims of these repressive regimes are not only those it kills and imprisons but also those who are displaced and dispossessed and sentenced to a lifetime of starvation and deprivation by so called "development" projects. For example, the big dams alone in India have displaced between 33 million and 55 million. 10. Other Examples - of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, includes their making going on strike, or criticizing the court, into a crime Other examples of the influence of "Empire America" on other governments, is influencing them in such a way that they begin treating poverty as criminal and slyly conflating it with terrorism. Also they begin treating protesting against further impoverishment as terrorism, and turn going on strike into a crime, and criticizing the court a crime. 11. The Mechanisms of The New Imperialism - includes the "New Racism", modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States The mechanisms of "Empire America" and of "The New Imperialism" are many, including a network of agents--corrupt local elites who service the Empire, like the sordid story of Enron in India-- and New Imperialism can be conducted virtually, like on E-mail, without the need for physical involvement, like physically going to or living in a country, with the cornerstone of New Imperialism being New Racism, modeled after the tradition of "turkey pardoning" in the United States. 12. How "New Racism" In The Corporate Era Works - a few carefully bred turkeys are given absolution while the remaining millions are destined for the pot This is how the "New Racism" works, a few carefully bred turkeys--the local elites of various countries, a community of wealthy immigrants, investment bankers, the occasional Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice, some singers, some writers (like myself)--are given absolution and a pass to Frying Pan Park, while the remaining millions lose their jobs, are evicted from their homes, have their water and electricity connections cut, and die of AIDS. Basically they're for the pot. 13. The "New Genocide" of the New Imperialism - is like the sanctions in Iraq The "New Genocide" means creating conditions that lead to mass death without actually going out and killing people, which is a term to describe the sanctions in Iraq. For example, in Iraq the sanctions outdid Saddam Hussein's best efforts by claiming more than half a million children's lives. 14. In The New Era - apartheid has been replaced with institutionalize inequity In the "New Era", apartheid has been replaced with international instruments of trade and finance that oversee a complex system of multilateral trade laws and financial agreements that keep the poor in their bantustans anyway. Its whole purpose is to institutionalize inequity. 15. Our Waging The Battle Against The New Imperialism - has taught us the importance of globalizing resistance Our waging the battle against the "New Imperialism" has included the derailing of trade agreements at Cancún, and taught us that, in order to inflict real damage and force radical change, it is vital for local resistance movements to make international alliances. From Cancún we learned the importance of globalizing resistance. 16. Examples of Lost Leaders In This Battle - are President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa Those who were rendered powerless on the global stage include President Lula of Brazil, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa, with Lula now busy implementing IMF guidelines, reducing pension benefits and purging radicals from the Workers' Party. And with Mandela, within two years of taking office in 1994, his government genuflected with hardly a caveat to the Market God. It instituted a massive program of privatization and structural adjustment that has left millions of people homeless, jobless and without water and electricity 17. Why Does This Happen? - because the Corporate Cartel is seducing 3rd World leaders, as they rape 3rd World resources, & capture & dominate their markets So why does this happen, this loss of our best leaders to the other side, because of the power of the Corporate Cartel, becaues the moment they (Lula and Mandela) cross the floor from the opposition into government they become hostage to a spectrum of threats. And the most malevolent among them is the threat of capital flight, which can destroy any government overnight, which is all about failing to understand how capitalism works, and how power works, is failing to understand that radical change cannot be negotiated by governments; it can only be enforced by people 18. The Work of The World Social Forum (WSF) - is to unite, educate, and improve ourselves locally, and then unite, educate, and improve ourselves globally The work of the World Social Forum (WSF) is to bring some of the best minds in the world together to exchange ideas about what is happening around us, allowing us to refine our vision of the kind of world we're fighting for. It is a vital process that must not be undermined. 19. The Major Threat To The Work of WSF - is becoming the enemy The major threat to the work of WSF is becoming an asset to our enemies, and we can only prevent this if we take on a truly "top-down and bottom-up" approach, that is, if we both refine our vision and at the same time, in parallel with this, implement specific actions, and then feed the results of these actions, real time, back into the process of vision refinement. In this way, we must balance this vital process, this process of refining our vision of the kind of world we're fighting for, with the process of political action, and to do this we need to discuss urgently our strategies of resistance, and then carry them out, not just talk about them, and then refine them some more, and then talk about them some more, never putting them into action, never truly learning about what we are about, and from this morally growing by doing. In this way, in addition to vision refinement, we need to aim at real targets, wage real battles and inflict real damage, like Gandhi's salt march, which was a direct strike at the economic underpinning of the British Empire. It was real. 20. Important Victories & Major Concerns of WSF - victories include mobilizing global protest of morality against war in Iraq, & concerns include being political theater Our important victories include the 10 million people march on five continents on February 15th, of 2003, a protest of public morality, a protest against the war on Iraq, the derailing of trade agreements at Cancún, and the meeting in January 2003 in Brazil, when thousands of us from across the world gathered in Porto Alegre in Brazil and declared--reiterated--that "Another World Is Possible. And our major concerns include the possibility that our nonviolent resistance will atrophy into ineffectual, feel-good, political theater. 21. Bush's Strategy - includes riding out the storms of dissent in safe harbors Bush's strategy is to disregarded overwhelming public opinion, and to confidently continue to pursue his policy of "New Imperialism", which is to occupy and colonize valuable and weak or vulnerable parts of the world and market their resources, as Afghanistan and Tibet have been, as Chechnya is being, as East Timor was, and as Palestine still is. And he believes that he can successfully do this in Iraq, if he hunkers down and out waits the world's initial reaction to his open aggression, until a crisis-driven media loses interest and moves onto the next crisis. 22. This Movement Of Ours (WSF) - needs a major, global victory This movement of ours (WSF) definitely needs a major, global victory. It's not good enough to be right. Sometimes, if only in order to test our resolve, it's important to win something. In order to win something, we need to agree on something, but it does not need to be an overarching preordained ideology or unquestioning allegiance to one or another form of resistance. It could be a minimum agenda. 23. The Proposal For Action by WSF - turn our gaze on Iraq, become its global resistance, target 2 American companies benefiting from war, & close them down We propose the following action for WSF. Let's turn our gaze on Iraq since Iraq is the inevitable culmination of both our "against's"; our against imperialism, and our against the project of neoliberalism, and realize that "Empire America" and "Dictator Saddam Hussein" were business partners who fell out over a dirty deal. And "Empire America" is the CEO of that business partnership. And we do this, we do this by turning our gaze on Iraq, by becoming the resistance to the occupation of Iraq, we do this by refusing to accept the legitimacy of the US occupation of Iraq, and we do this by acting to make it materially impossible for "Empire America" to achieve its aims. And we do this by going after two of the major corporations that are profiting from the destruction of Iraq and shutting them down, always keeping in mind that our success is only a question of bringing our collective wisdom and experience of past struggles to bear on a single target, and of our desire to win. 24. Closing Comments - we must consider ourselves at war with "Empire America" The project for the "New American Century" seeks to perpetuate inequity and establish American hegemony at any price, even if it's apocalyptic, and the World Social Forum (WSF) demands justice and survival, and to get it. For these reasons, we must consider ourselves at war with the "Empire America". End of Article Review 01 - View 03 "The New American Century" - by Arundhati Roy - ......................... or or Go To Other Views of Article: View 01: Original Version of Article View 02: Outline, plus Text of Article |
This page was last updated on: February 21, 2004
