a very good read. making the connection between the ideologies of the revolutionaries of imperialistic enlightenment. in this perspective, the revolution of 1776 finds its fruition in the events of the modern day and the driving ideology of the current day revolutionaries of the new world order comes to light. what is occurring is what the Rosicrucians called the "'The General Reformation of the World" and it has its ideological roots from before the time of the official founding of the United States. as Immortal Technique stated: "A Revolution I told you before is not always a positive thing, it is sometimes a blood war, a cycle with no purpose but to enrich people and distract the masses from a larger power struggle. In this instance we find a Revolution, by that definition, the coming full circle of and the continuation of a corrupted movement. . . " http://fpri.org/pubs/orbis.4703.ryn.ideologyamericanempire.pdf"Though heavily slanted in the direction of international affairs, the
ideology of American empire constitutes an entire world view. It includes
perspectives on human nature, society, and politics, and it sets forth distinctive
conceptions of its central ideas, notably what it calls ‘‘democracy,’’ ‘‘freedom,’’
‘‘equality,’’ and ‘‘capitalism.’’ It regards America as founded on universal
principles and assigns to the United States the role of supervising the remaking
of the world. Its adherents have the intense dogmatic commitment of true
believers and are highly prone to moralistic rhetoric. They demand, among
other things, ‘‘moral clarity’’ in dealing with regimes that stand in the way of
America’s universal purpose. They see themselves as champions of ‘‘virtue.’’ In
some form, this ideology has been present for a long time.
There are similarities between the advocates of the ideology of
American empire and the ideologues who inspired and led the French
Revolution of 1789. The Jacobins, too, claimed to represent universal
principles, which they summed up in the slogan ‘‘liberte´, e´galite´, et fraternite´.’’
The dominant Jacobins also wanted greater economic freedom. They thought
of themselves as fighting on the side of good against evil and called themselves
‘‘the virtuous.’’ They wanted a world much different from the one they had
inherited. The result was protracted war and turbulence in Europe and
elsewhere. Those who embody the Jacobin spirit today in America have
explicitly global ambitions. It is crucial to understand what they believe, for
potentially they have the military might of the United States at their complete
disposal.
The philosopher who most influenced the old Jacobins was Jean-
Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), who asserted in The Social Contract (1762) that
‘‘man was born free, but he is everywhere in chains.’’3 The Jacobins set out to
liberate man. The notion that America’s military might is the greatest force for
freedom in human history recalls Rousseau’s famous statement that those
who are not on the side of political right may have to be ‘‘forced to be free.’’
The new Jacobins have taken full advantage of the nation’s outrage
over 9/11 to advance their already fully formed drive for empire. They have
helped rekindle America’s long-standing propensity for global involvement.
Knowingly or unknowingly, President Bush has become the new Jacobins’
leading spokesman, and he is receiving their very strong support. Reflexes
developed by American politicians and commentators during the Cold War
have boosted the imperialistic impulse. Many cold warriors, now lacking the
old enemy of communism, see in the goal of a better world for mankind
another justification for continued extensive use of American power. President
Bush’s moralistic interventionism gains additional support and credibility from
a number of antecedents in modern American politics. Woodrow Wilson
comes immediately to mind. But the current ideology of empire goes well
beyond an earlier, more tentative and hesitant pursuit of world hegemony,
and it has acquired great power at a new, formative juncture in history.
The most conspicuous and salient feature of the neo-Jacobin
approach to international affairs is its universalistic and monopolistic claims.
The University of Chicago’s Allan Bloom (1930–92) argued in his best-selling
The Closing of the American Mind that what he called ‘‘the American project’’
was not just for Americans. ‘‘When we Americans speak seriously about
politics, we mean that our principles of freedom and equality and the rights
based on them are rational and everywhere applicable.’’ World War II was for
Bloom not simply a struggle to defeat a dangerous enemy. It was ‘‘really an
educational project undertaken to force those who did not accept these
principles to do so.’’4 If America is the instrument of universal right, the cause
of all humanity, it is only proper that it should be diligent and insistent in
imposing its will.
The new Jacobins typically use ‘‘democracy’’ as an umbrella term for
the kind of political regime that they would like to see installed all over the
world. In their view, only democracy, as they define it, answers to a universal
moral imperative and is legitimate. Bringing democracy to countries that do
not yet have it ought to be the defining purpose of U.S. foreign policy. One
may call this part of neo-Jacobin ideology ‘‘democratism.’’ It has been
espoused by many academics, Duke University political scientist James David
Barber prominent among them. ‘‘The United States should stand up and lead
the world democracy movement,’’ he wrote in 1990. ‘‘We have made
democracy work here; now we ought to make it work everywhere we can,
with whatever tough and expensive action that takes.’’5"
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