This is my response to Observer's comment that "our cars run on blood, not oil."
Empire is the reality for U.S. citizens. It's not something that makes me happy, but it is how things are. Kind of like having a cross to bear--a source of suffering and liberation. Our young people are willing to die for the American way of life, and that way of life involves defending an economic powerhouse that depends in very large measure on unfettered access to fossil fuel reserves in Iraq.
I accept the fact that we are fighting a war to protect our economic and security interests in Middle East. I don't need the rationale that 9/11 and Sadam Hussein have a direct link to each other. It's enough to say we're defending the strategic interests of the empire. Yes, I feel a deep irony in saying this, but it's what the realist (and not the idealist) in me believes is a rational response to the way things are.
Fighting to protect the development of massive oil reserves isn't just about being able to drive big gas hogs like Hummers. It's our whole way of life. Do you realize the extent to which the agricultural technology that feeds to world (and overfeeds its citizens) depends on petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers? Take a minute and look around you. How many things can you identify that are made from polymers (plastics, a petroleum product)? Would lap-top computers be possible without plastics?
As much as I like to conserve energy, it's almost impossible not to use electricity 24/7 in this country. What am I supposed to do--throw the breaker switch when I go to sleep at night? How will my alarm clock tell me when to get up and go to work? What do you mean I have to give up such a small convenience as an electronic alarm clock? How much juice does it use, anyway?
So call me a spoiled Systemite willing to trade blood for oil. At 52 I'm extremely grateful that I can enjoy a few creature comforts--like air conditioning & electronic alarm clocks. I thank my higher power every day for the many material blessings I enjoy. At the same time, I don't kid myself about the extent to which my way of life depends on the capitalist exploitation of natural resources, particularly fossil fuel energy sources.
Poverty ain't pretty and it doesn't make you more spiritual. It mostly makes you die young. Poverty can fill you with so much despair and rage that blowing yourself up and taking out a few hundred "worldly infidels" seems like a good idea because it gives you the hope of entering into a garden filled with a thousand sensual delights. You know, the promise of pie-in-the-sky if you die for Islam wouldn't be nearly as attractive if life in the here and now wasn't such a miserable bitch.
Changing U.S. economic dependence on petroleum reserves means radically changing our most deeply held social & political values, particularly with regard to governmental regulation of trade & commerce. I don't see it happening in my lifetime. But I didn't think gay marriages would happen in my lifetime either, so you never know. Nevertheless, the international economic system is a much harder reality to change than regional attitudes about sexual mores.
Voluntarily giving up my electronic alarm clock isn't going to change the fact that there are millions of similar gadgets about there and that thousands of jobs in the developing world depend on producing consumer goods like electronic alarm clocks. There are many people in Asia who are eating well today because so many of us like the convience of our polymer-wrapped electronic gadgets that consume electric energy produced by fossil fuels.
I don't particularly like the fact that the U.S. is a global economic & military empire, but that is the meaning of the word "superpower." We might as well quit kidding ourselves about the responsibilities that come with such enormous power & wealth and beating ourselves up with guilt over the fact that we can be arrogant, exploitative gluttons. I favor trying to moderate the responsibilities of empire--which includes being policeman of the world--with relatively benevolent military operations (what an oxymoron), generous economic development programs, and liberal immigration policies.
I don't think accepting the fact that the U.S. is a global empire automatically means we're the Great Whore of Mystery Babylon and that God's judgement will come raining down on us at any moment. David Berg's view on God's judgement of U.S. was just so much sour grapes, imo. Even in the most decadent flatulence of US hedonist culture, successful religious con artists like Berg aren't widely accepted as people to emulate. We may be bad, but we aren't SO bad that Berg will ever become one of our celebrated native sons.
I don't believe the U.S. will always be top dog in the world, either, because such an expectation isn't supported by what is known about the history of world empires. So China comes along and knocks us out of first place in a generation or two. That's the nature of geopolitics and human history. For today, at least, we're a global empire. I say, deal with it and be honest about what it means to possess and hold onto such enormous power & wealth.