Domination Corrupts
Pornography is, almost inevitably, part of what empire looks like. It does not always look like that, and does not only look like that. But empire is always about domination. Domination for self-defense, perhaps. Domination for the good of the dominated, arguably. But domination. And some people will be corrupted by dominating. —George F. Will
Leave it to a lifelong defender of the dominators to get to the crux of the matter: Any nation (organization or individual) that chooses domination as the best way to resolve conflicts, pursue goals, and allocate resources has set itself on a sure course to corruption. The degree of corruption can be mitigated in genuine cases of self-defense and, less so, when we dominate "for the good of the dominated," but even with the most benevolent intentions, domination corrupts.
As the dominator's intentions toward the dominated become less benevolent, the corruption invariably worsens. The effects of American domination over the past century have thus been a mixed bag — sometimes world savior, the shining beacon on the hill; sometimes world colonizer, the big stick and the biggest killing machine — as American intentions toward other nations have shifted between selfless service and craven self-interest.
With the rise to power of Bush and the neocons, American intentions toward the rest of the world veered sharply toward so-called "America's best interests." America's withdrawal from international treaties and agreements, combined with a sneering contempt for the United Nations, made clear that the dominators had cast aside all benevolence and concern for others: Bush America would pursue domination of the world for the benefit of Bush America, first and only.
Then came 9/11. The dominators worked all of the nation's fear and loathing and craving for vengeance to sell the case for even greater powers of domination. The Congress and the American people — terror-shocked and denial-dumb — ceded near absolute power to the suddenly magisterial Bush.
The invasion of Afghanistan represented an arguably justifiable, "for their own good" response, so for the first few months of Bush's War on Terror, America appeared more benevolent than corrupt.
But then came Iraq — the unwarranted invasion and imperialistic occupation of a sovereign nation — followed by a dark parade of scandals and atrocities. For four years now, we've endured a power-mad emperor-wanna-be whose single reaction to all conflicts is to aggressively assert his/America's dominance.
Predictably, he and his administration have become utterly corrupt. The single solution to ALL of their problems is to give up unilateral domination in pursuit of peaceful partnership, to shift from invariably-corrupting war-think to genuinely-liberating peace-think.
Never going to happen. More imperial porno to come.