Too harsh a judgment?

Without a doubt, there are some who might think that describing American economic and political activity as a "disease" is being too harsh. I can understand their feelings, even if I don't agree with their judgment. After all, just what is a "disease"?

The Free Dictionary (online) provides us with three definitions, all of which are fairly standard:

1. A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.
2. A condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.
3. Obsolete Lack of ease; trouble.

While the first is generally directed to physical organisms, there is nothing that restricts us from applying it to any organism or system of an organism, such as the "body politic", or "the economy" or "society", or whatever. This is, in essence, acknowledged in the second definition, as it can describe any condition or tendency regarded as abnormal or harmful.

I suppose we could argue all day whether our culture or our society can be considered an organism, but the analogy has been used for centuries without anyone complaining. I don't see why this has to be an issue now. Moreover, we could also spend all our time arguing about what is "normal", thereby attempting to determine what does not fit into that scheme (i.e. that which is "abnormal"). This does vary from society to society and from culture to culture, but the other word used does provide us with a sound starting point, leaving us with "a condition or tendency regarded as harmful". There is little question that the US form of capitalism is harmful, in many ways.

When we consider the amount of pollution it produces, the amount of environmental damage it inflicts, the wealth inequality and poverty that it generates, the "stress" (on individuals and whole peoples), I think we can start identifying the "group of signs or symptoms" required by the first definition above.

Don't get me wrong, the Americans aren't the only ones, but they are the cheerleaders for more, not less, capitalism; the US is home to the idea of unfettered free-market capitalism; in the US there is simply no discussion that is not ultimately, if not solely, about money/capital (most often expressed in the can-we-afford-it argument). When the Americans start propagating this outside their own borders (which is precisely what the corporate takeover of the world is about), well, that's when it starts looking infectious, dangerous, most disease-like.

The good news is, it can't go on for ever. Like any faulty system of thought, any destructive ideology, it carries within itself its own seeds of destruction. Capitalism lives from the notion of unlimited growth; the earth, however, is limited: there is only so much space and so many resources, so when either (or both) of these hit their limits, there is simply no more growth. Capitalism, if left to itself, will consume itself. The bad news is that if the environmental catastrophe that wipes out (perhaps only most of) the human race before that time, the destruction may be more than we all can handle. Of course, at that point, none of us will have to worry about anything anymore.

Capitalists like all-or-nothing arguments, but they avoid this one. No, when seen from a broader perspective, it's just a disease, and the disease peddlers aren't even thinking about a cure.

The American disease

There is no doubt that the USA has been something of a powerhouse for a good deal of its very short history. It has benefitted from accidents of time and nature, of geography and sometimes blind determination. Not everything it has ever done, of course, like any other modern (or ancient) nation-state, is worth praising. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone gets some things wrong, but it is the sign of a healthy mind that we learn from these and not do them anymore. Unfortunately, this is precisely the virus that is infecting the country right now: it refuses to learn.

America talks a good game when it comes to ideals: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness; freedom, democratic processes, and equality of opportunity. Unfortunately, the reality is anything but this. It is actively seeking to restrict democratic processes, through legislation and precedent; it is raping the environment in the name of economic growth, it supports corruption and lawlessness, as the recent refusal to prosecute the criminals involved in the recent economic crash has shown; it has gone after whistleblowers with a vengeance; it has suppressed its minorities (again); it refuses to admit to, or even acknowledge, its genocidal past; it knows no solution to international problems other than war and violence; it has no hesitation committing war crimes (drones, torture) in pursuit of its interests; and it is doing all it can to suppress the last remnants of opposition at home.

Now, I don't know if this is what the majority of Americans want, nor whether this is the America that the majority of Americans see. It really doesn't matter. This is their country and the simple fact that there is no visible resistance to this reign of power and terror -- political, social, and economic -- makes those of us outside believe that Americans are, well, OK with all of this. This is really a situation of silence being assent, of not-acting-against being support-for.

Unfortunately, part of America's current power is perceived to be expressed in economic terms. The American capitalist system, the great delusion of trickle-down, the rape of resources, the blatant disregard for human feelings or rights, is one of the two vehicles the country has chosen to spread to the rest of the world (the other being outright war, including drone attacks and clandestine operations). What Americans apparently don't realize and what too many non-Americans don't recognize is that we not only don't need this, we don't want it either.

The US is ill, in so many ways, and it is simply bad manners and inconsiderate to go out and deal with others when you should be at home recuperating. My suggestion, therefore, is that the US simply go home. Go back to your own four walls and sort yourself out before you insist on sorting the rest of us out.

Yes, America has traditionally liked to think that it knows what is best for all us. It doesn't. It is in such a state of delirium that it can't even see what it is doing to itself. It's time to stop spreading this American disease. "Physician, heal thyself."