Imperial Semantics
words are tricky. they shape our thoughts, and our worldviews. language is the context within which most individuals define themselves. studies of language and its usage can be loosely called "semantics."
the EMPIRE is both one thing and many things at once. the empire that we are referring to is today's USA. when we say empire we mean this particular entity considered singular, as a thing unto itself. but this empire is simply an idea with a bunch of parts. in other words it is an aggregate of components considered as one thing.
often when a person is referring to say the US military operation in Iraq, they will use the term "we went into Iraq," or "our troops invaded Iraq," as if they had something to do with it. as if it is "our" military. this tendency is so widespread that it must indicate a kind of democratic impulse, the feeling that this is "our" government. we use the term "feeling" because that is all that it is, nothing more. the reality of the situation is that most of these citizens have no power at all to influence government. they use the term "us" to feel included in what was once "our" nation.
similarly when writing i use the term "we" to refer to myself considered as an aggregate of components. certainly i am an individual person; however i am also an agglomeration of various parts and tendencies. thus i use "we" to refer to all of my own, sometimes competing, parts taken as a whole. i use this semantic device to give the feeling that they (my internal components) are all working together.
in the life of the empire individuals are the equivalent of cells in our own body. they perform the vital functions of keeping the empire alive, but they are controlled by the messages they recieve. the cell receptors recieve the information from the surface of the cell and then translate this into cellular activity. the messages they recieve are what coordinates the entire body to perform as an individual organism. if they were not coordinated then we would fall apart, or the cells would "go their own way," which is cancer. thus with empire as long as the individuals continue to recieve the messages and execute the proper actions then the center will hold.
the medium of these messages are the educational system, the media, and our families/peer groups. the message is the very mechanism by which order is maintained. it is crucial for the EMPIRE understood as a singular entity. however the message is not so clear these days. what are we supposed to be doing for the EMPIRE? what is the purpose of the EMPIRE?
our answer is in a word cynical. the grand purpose of our so called empire is pure greed and exploitation. this is achieved through the mechanism of POWER. this is why the United States of America is not a true empire, but a parody of one. the center, Washington, is not conscious of itself as an imperial center and so is not able to offer any transcendent justification for its existence. still it plays lip service to democracy and human rights, obviously we have a contradiction.
the exercise of POWER in a true EMPIRE needs no justification from humans, because the existence of the empire must have a transcendent justification. the EMPIRE is a truly sovereign entity, it defines its own reason for existence. in the past the justifications offered were transcendent in nature. Julius Caesar was a god.
and here we come to the fundamental incompatibility of democracy and imperialism. the former will tend to give rise to the latter. we will remark again that modernity is an anomoly in history, the result of modernity is to reverse every traditional idea. in the real of politics this resulted in democracy and the idea of majority rule. this is a pervasive assumption in today's America, that legitimate government must be democratic, the "will of the people." of course this is the very opposite of traditional perspective, which held that only a small elite should hold the reins of power.
the EMPIRE is both one thing and many things at once. the empire that we are referring to is today's USA. when we say empire we mean this particular entity considered singular, as a thing unto itself. but this empire is simply an idea with a bunch of parts. in other words it is an aggregate of components considered as one thing.
often when a person is referring to say the US military operation in Iraq, they will use the term "we went into Iraq," or "our troops invaded Iraq," as if they had something to do with it. as if it is "our" military. this tendency is so widespread that it must indicate a kind of democratic impulse, the feeling that this is "our" government. we use the term "feeling" because that is all that it is, nothing more. the reality of the situation is that most of these citizens have no power at all to influence government. they use the term "us" to feel included in what was once "our" nation.
similarly when writing i use the term "we" to refer to myself considered as an aggregate of components. certainly i am an individual person; however i am also an agglomeration of various parts and tendencies. thus i use "we" to refer to all of my own, sometimes competing, parts taken as a whole. i use this semantic device to give the feeling that they (my internal components) are all working together.
in the life of the empire individuals are the equivalent of cells in our own body. they perform the vital functions of keeping the empire alive, but they are controlled by the messages they recieve. the cell receptors recieve the information from the surface of the cell and then translate this into cellular activity. the messages they recieve are what coordinates the entire body to perform as an individual organism. if they were not coordinated then we would fall apart, or the cells would "go their own way," which is cancer. thus with empire as long as the individuals continue to recieve the messages and execute the proper actions then the center will hold.
the medium of these messages are the educational system, the media, and our families/peer groups. the message is the very mechanism by which order is maintained. it is crucial for the EMPIRE understood as a singular entity. however the message is not so clear these days. what are we supposed to be doing for the EMPIRE? what is the purpose of the EMPIRE?
our answer is in a word cynical. the grand purpose of our so called empire is pure greed and exploitation. this is achieved through the mechanism of POWER. this is why the United States of America is not a true empire, but a parody of one. the center, Washington, is not conscious of itself as an imperial center and so is not able to offer any transcendent justification for its existence. still it plays lip service to democracy and human rights, obviously we have a contradiction.
the exercise of POWER in a true EMPIRE needs no justification from humans, because the existence of the empire must have a transcendent justification. the EMPIRE is a truly sovereign entity, it defines its own reason for existence. in the past the justifications offered were transcendent in nature. Julius Caesar was a god.
and here we come to the fundamental incompatibility of democracy and imperialism. the former will tend to give rise to the latter. we will remark again that modernity is an anomoly in history, the result of modernity is to reverse every traditional idea. in the real of politics this resulted in democracy and the idea of majority rule. this is a pervasive assumption in today's America, that legitimate government must be democratic, the "will of the people." of course this is the very opposite of traditional perspective, which held that only a small elite should hold the reins of power.
posted by pjack | 10:39 AM
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