Cherrypicking Though History

If you get a chance, read Greg Grandin's savage review of Niall Ferguson's book Colossus: The Price of America's Empire. If you're not familiar with this book, Ferguson argues that it is the duty of the United States to become a colonial empire more powerful than Britain. He thinks that America has the power to do this fairly easily but lacks the will because we're fat, soft, and too peace-loving. Liberalism has ruined America's imperial destiny.

And how does Ferguson suggest that America become an imperial empire? Well, first we get rid of social security and Medicare. He argues that if we end the safety net, we will become a lean and mean country read to conquer in order to survive. Then illegal immigrants, the unemployed and convicts will join the imperial army. Best of all, he sees African-Americans becoming the shock troops of this imperial army. All we have to do is get rid of social democracy, political democracy, and civil rights and we will be the greatest power ever known on Earth.

Ferguson, like many right-wing writers and thinkers, chooses to engage in "cherrypicking through the past" as Grandin puts it to make his points. For examples he discusses the different half-baked comparisons to WWII that the neo-cons used to justify the Iraq war. Ferguson tries to show the greatness of the British imperial missions and compares the current Iraqi war to British operations there in the 20s and 30s. But of course, like many neo-cons when pushed he has to admit that all of his historical analogies are wrong. The Iraqi operations were a disaster. Despite Ferguson's claims that the British empire was a wonderful thing for the colonized, if forced he will admit that things didn't go so well in Egypt, India, or sub-Saharan Africa!!! So where did it work, Jamaica?

But of course, America has been an imperial power. Where? Latin America. How has that worked out for the Latin Americans? Um, not so well. I'm sure the Mayans of Guatemala would like to thank us for our support of Rios Montt in the 80s. And I'm sure the Nicaraguans would like to thank us for the Contras. And I'm sure the Panamaians would like to thank us for splitting their country in two for almost 100 years. But hey, why use facts when you have a political point to make!!!

What really bothers me is that through being controversial while not really doing proper history, this historian has been hired by Harvard. Why would an institution like that hire someone like this? Surely, he's not training graduate students. Is it just to get the name of the institution in the news? Is it to help fundraising by arguing that they have conservatives in their departments? It's really disgusting is what it is.

As many of my readers know, I used to have something of a utopian streak in me. The idea of a world revolution that would bring social justice to all seemed possible to me. But after living through 4 years of a utopian regime and having at least 4 more to go, I've soured on utopia. Utopias, whether they be Stalinist Soviets or Neo-Con America, just don't work and they cause intense suffering to those they are inflicted upon (i.e. Iraq). To be blinded by imperial power, as Ferguson and other neo-cons are, will cause tremendous suffering on the world and eventually on Americans as well. Damn them. I'll take a pragmatic Democratic regime anyday over these crazy utopians.