The Empire Has Been Good For No One

Britannia hands off the yoke of empire to Columbia.
The accursed gift.

If there is one lesson from history that does repeat itself instead of just rhyme, it is that imperialism kills civilizations.

It turns out, electing force instead of voluntary engagement is not just catastrophically expensive; it also carries with it enormous moral hazard for the perpetrators.

This has been the core message of the great Scott Horton for decades now. He recently, finally got to air it all out against one of, if not the most, adamant and prolific apologists for American empire–Bill Kristol.

What is amazing about the debate is that–given the fact that progressives and neo-conservatives like Kristol and his famous father have formed U.S. foreign policy since the Spanish-American War–how vapid and baseless the arguments are for American empire. Millions of lives lost. Trillions wasted. Bill et al.: You’ve got to have something more than just counterfactuals.

And yet, the murderous and inchoate assertions about American imperialism back in 1898 are the same today, repackaged and sold in slick verbiage like “collateral damage”, “necessary intervention”, and “your son was a hero”.

Enough already.

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The American Establishment had it’s so-called unipolar moment at the high watermark of U.S. influence, to lead the world into the brave new future at the turn of the millennium.

They blew it.

The U.S. government has spread not liberty but the tyranny of the majority. Not free markets, but corrupt crony contracting. Not peace and security, but mass sectarian violence and destabilization.”

-Scott Horton, American hero