April 29—We are in a time of dramatic change, when humanity faces decisions in the near future whose consequences will be felt for generations.
Will Anglo-American NATO propel its showdown with Russia to the brink, sending us teetering on the edge of the thermonuclear abyss? Will Israeli misleader Benjamin Netanyahu propel his ongoing military barbarisms, engulfing the region in conflict, with Iran as a potential justification? Will the United States cease to content itself with stern lectures and trade sanctions against China, the world’s leading economy—turning instead to forcing the military confrontation over Taiwan they claim China is planning?
Conflict is not inevitable, and colonialism is not eternal. The future is made by the actions taken every day, by leaders and citizens alike. Mental inertia need not overpower reason; it is not yet too late to shift!
There are signs of a transformation of official policy, and of nations’ and people’s self-perceived roles in deliberating upon it. Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to demand that the U.S. support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The nation’s youth overwhelmingly oppose the Biden policy towards Israel. College protests continue and expand, perhaps most notably in Columbia University in New York City, where an administration-imposed deadline to disperse came and went Monday afternoon. Reports from Israel indicate that Netanyahu is trying to figure out how to stop what seem to be upcoming arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
How has China acted following the visit of the uncomfortable Secretary of State Blinken over April 26-29, who went there to deliver a sound scolding? China has called for an independent, UN-led investigation of the Nord Stream bombing. China has forcefully identified the hypocrisy of the U.S. On the destruction of Gaza, the nation’s foreign policy spokesman said “That fact that this is even happening in the 21st century is an outrage to the moral conscience of humanity, and tramples on the most fundamental aspect of international justice.” The U.S., he said, “must no longer turn a deaf ear to the call for justice from people with conscience across the world. It must no longer talk about the need of a ceasefire while pouring weapons into the conflict, and talk about aid while creating obstacles for humanitarian access. It must immediately implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions, realize unconditional and durable ceasefire, and take concrete action to end this biggest humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century once and for all.”
Indeed, nothing would be more reasonable, from the standpoint of the true self-interest of the United States and of its people, than to return to the revolutionary concepts that led to its founding. Rather than building a new fleet of doomsday planes, the U.S. can adopt, again, the American System that drove its stunning successes in the past two centuries—a system whose echoes are, ironically, best seen today, in China.
A revival of the American System, taking on new forms appropriate to the present, would set the U.S. on course to having a beautiful future. It will free the nations of NATO to rid themselves of the myopic and puerile attitude of maintaining relevance, by preventing others from growing.
Abundance is ours, if we choose it.
