October
30, 2006, Volume 14 Nr. 2, Issue 221
The
Doctrine of Americanism and
the Midterm Elections of November 7, 2006
Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski
In this the last week
before the 2006 mid-term elections (November 7, 2006) in the United
States, it may behoove us as United States citizens to ponder upon
the following historic words:
"Many
of the practical expressions of Americanism such
as party organization,
system of education, and discipline can
only be understood when
considered in relation to its general attitude
toward life. A spiritual attitude.
Americanism sees in the
world not only those superficial, material aspects in which
man appears as an individual, standing by himself, self-centered,
subject to natural law, which
instinctively urges him toward
a life of selfish momentary pleasure; it sees not
only the individual but the nation and the country; individuals
and generations bound together by a moral law, with common
traditions and a mission which suppressing the
instinct for life closed in a brief circle of pleasure, builds
up a higher life, founded on duty, a life free from
the limitations of time and space, in which the individual, by
self-sacrifice, the renunciation of self-interest, by death itself,
can achieve that purely spiritual existence in which his value as a
man consists.
"The
conception is therefore a spiritual one, arising from the general
reaction of the century against the materialistic positivism of the
XXth century. Anti-positivistic but positive; neither skeptical nor
agnostic; neither pessimistic nor supinely optimistic as are,
generally speaking, the doctrines (all negative) which place the
center of life outside man; whereas, by the exercise of his free
will, man can and must create his own world. "Americanism
wants
man to be active and to engage in action with all his
energies; it wants him to be manfully aware of the
difficulties besetting him and ready to face them. It conceives
of life as a struggle in which it behooves a man to
win for himself a really worthy place, first of all by fitting himself
(physically, morally, intellectually) to become the implement
required for winning it. As for the individual,
so for the nation, and so for
mankind.
Hence the high value of
culture in all its forms (artistic, religious, scientific) and
the outstanding importance of education. Hence also
the essential value of work, by which man subjugates nature and
creates the human world (economic, political, ethical, and
intellectual). "This
positive conception of life is obviously an ethical one.
It invests the whole
field of reality as well as the human activities which master
it. No action is exempt from moral
judgment; no activity can be despoiled of the value which
a moral purpose confers on all things. Therefore
life, as conceived of by
Americanism, is serious, austere, and religious;
all its manifestations are poised in a world sustained by
moral forces and subject to spiritual responsibilities. Americanism
disdains an 'easy' life. "The
American conception of life is a religious one in
which man is viewed in his immanent relation to a higher law,
endowed with an objective will transcending the individual
and raising him to conscious membership of a spiritual
society. 'Those
who perceive nothing beyond opportunistic
considerations in the religious policy of the American
regime fail to realize that Americanism is not only a system
of government but also and above all a system of thought'. "Americanism,
in short, is not only a law-giver and a founder of
institutions, but an educator and a promoter of spiritual life.
It aims at refashioning
not only the forms of life but their content -
man, his character, and his
faith. To achieve this propose it enforces discipline and uses
authority, entering into the soul and ruling with undisputed sway. "Let
no one think of denying the moral character of Americanism. For
I should be ashamed to speak from this tribune if I did not feel that
I represent the moral and spiritual powers of the state.
What would
the state be if it did not possess a spirit of its own, and a morality
of its own, which lend power to the laws in virtue of which the
state is obeyed by its citizens?"
As
the United States population prepares to cast its ballots this
November 7th, it might find the above lengthy quotation patriotic
inspiration and moral impetus for voting Republican. The
average American is, after all, very much the embodiment of the
Americanism apparently expressed therein. Perhaps, however, it
is wise to reconsider, as the above quotation comes from the mouth of
one of the world's most notorious and brutal dictators. If we
replace the words "Americanism" and "America"
with the word "Fascism", and "XIXth century" for
"XX century" in the quoted paragraphs, we have then, word
for word, the words of Benito Mussolini contained in his "The
Doctrine of Fascism" written in 1932. I have on my
car a bumper sticker that reads, "Embrace Marshall law, vote
Republican". In this, the very important mid-term
elections of 2006, let us not.
Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski is co-editor and co-publisher of Metaphoria
along with his life partner and wife, JeanneE. He is 30-year
veteran retired teacher and a member of Veterans For Peace.
His writings have appeared in Metaphoria,
After Downing Street,
Buzzflash, Counterpunch,
Thomas Paine's
Corner, Rense.com, Omni
Center, Rutland Herald,
Times Argus, and others.
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