Foreign and Domestic

Bacevich’s latest ( The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (American Empire Project) compellingly examines the links between American foreign policy and the “domestic dysfunction” that he finds in the United States itself. To preserve our profligate way of life, we embark on ever more ambitious foreign adventures. We operate with a conception of liberty as equivalent to abundance, and Washington has determined “that nothing interfere with the individual American’s pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness” – defined as “more.”

Thus, paradoxically, a war for global freedom is simultaneously an expansion of American empire: “the Long War genuinely qualifies as a war to preserve the American way of life (centered on a specific conception of liberty) and simultaneously as a war to extend the American imperium (centered on dreams of a world remade in America’s image).”

Yet, this combination is unsustainable:

“Here is the central paradox of our time: While the defense of American freedom seems to demand that U.S. troops fight in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, the exercise of that freedom at home undermines the nation’s capacity to fight. A grand bazaar provides an inadequate basis upon which to erect a vast empire.”

Bacevich points out that within weeks of 9/11, Bush was exhorting Americans to contribute to the war effort not by cutting back, joining the army, tightening belts, but by jumping on airplanes and taking trips to Disney World. He notes wryly, “Bush noted with satisfaction that the nation’s annual holiday season spending binge [ in 2006] was off to a ‘strong beginning.’ Yet the president summoned Americans to make even greater exertions: ‘I encourge you all to go shopping more.’” There’s a bizarre alchemy workin here: Shopping turned into sacrifice.