America is a modern Rome: an arrogant empire that does not understand the limits of power. I guess no empire really does. This is why they rise and fall. It is not an American trait; it is the nature of unchecked power. Yet in his book, Murphy tries to construct a moral ethos for American hegemony and aggressive drive to dominate the world. Unfortunately the basic premise of his argument goes against history.
Murphy’s comparison between Rome and America is void of historical perspective. It nullifies world history of social, economic and political development. Humanity has gone through many struggles to move toward democratic systems and expand universal rights. The fact the Rome was not a democracy should be seen in the context of human development and not the self-serving lens of American exceptionalism. It took centuries to abolish slavery, and America has only recently shed the shame -- if we are comparing with the Roman Empire timeline, this is an important element.
Modern technology, oil and advanced sciences have enabled our latest global empire to become the most powerful in history, the most devastating, the most dominating and domineering. Murphy's thesis, as presented in several interviews, is that the U.S. is different in its moral imperative and system. He argues that although the country could be veering towards self-destruction, it still has a chance to learn from Rome.
There is no doubt that at least in theory, democratic institutions should provide a moral if not a political check on excesses of imperial power. But the empire has been subverting those institutions, international law and its own declared values to ensure its hold on power and continue its expansion. One would like to take solace in the fact that an elected Congress could end the war in Iraq -- that is a clear difference between a democratic American empire and slave-driven Rome.
But if we read well into the dominant American discourse -- with the exception of the anti-war movement -- there is no questioning of imperial notions and goals. The talk is all about whether America can succeed or not; the main point is whether America is winning or losing. There is little discussion in the establishment about whether and why America is entitled to win and to dominate.
Empires all reach a point where aggression, plunder and subversion become an unquestioned entitlement, an inherent prerogative fed by self-declared and self-serving claims to moral superiority. The American empire is not original in embedding itself in the self-serving morality of "taming the savages;" old Rome needed no high-tech computers or laser-guided weapons to justify its conquests and its cruelties. In the end, empires share the same imperative of power.
Please e-mail PostGlobal if you'd like to receive an email notification when PostGlobal sends out a new question.
