Published on Monday, April 30, 2012 by The New York Times
Unexceptionalism: A Primer
To achieve unexceptionalism, the political
ideal that would render the United States indistinguishable from the
impoverished, traditionally undemocratic, brutal or catatonic countries
of the world, do the following:
PHASE ONE
If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court,
ignore the first sacrament of a democracy and suspend the counting of
ballots in a presidential election. Appoint the candidate of your choice
as president.
If you’re the newly anointed president, react
to a terrorist attack by invading a nonterrorist country. Despite the
loss or disablement of untold numbers of lives, manage your war so that
its results will be indeterminate.
Using the state of war as justification, order
secret surveillance of American citizens, data mine their phone calls
and e-mail, make business, medical and public library records available
to government agencies, perform illegal warrantless searches of homes
and offices.
Take to torturing terrorism suspects, here or
abroad, in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which
prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. Unilaterally
abrogate the Convention Against Torture as well as the Geneva
Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. Commit to
indeterminate detention without trial those you decide are enemies. For
good measure, trust that legislative supporters will eventually apply
this policy as well to American citizens.
Suspend progressive taxation so that the
wealthiest pay less proportionately than the middle class. See to it
that the wealth of the country accumulates to a small fraction of the
population so that the gap between rich and poor widens exponentially.
By cutting taxes and raising wartime
expenditures, deplete the national treasury so that Congress and state
and municipal legislatures cut back on domestic services, ensuring that
there will be less money for the education of the young, for government
health programs, for the care of veterans, for the maintenance of roads
and bridges, for free public libraries, and so forth.
Deregulate the banking industry so as to
create a severe recession in which enormous numbers of people lose their
homes and jobs.
Before you leave office add to the Supreme Court justices like the ones who awarded you the presidency.
PHASE TWO
If you’re one of the conservative majority of a
refurbished Supreme Court, rule that corporations, no less than human
beings, have the right under the First Amendment to express their
political point of view. To come to this judgment, do not acknowledge
that corporations lack the range of feelings or values that define what
it is to be human. That humans can act against their own interest,
whereas corporations cannot act otherwise than in their own interest.
That the corporation’s only purpose is to produce wealth, regardless of
social consequences.
This decision of the court will ensure
tremendous infusions of corporate money into the political process and
lead to the election in national and state legislatures of majorities of
de facto corporate lobbyists.
PHASE THREE
Given corporate control of legislative bodies,
enact laws to the benefit of corporate interests. For example, those
laws sponsored by weapons manufacturers wherein people may carry
concealed weapons and shoot and kill anyone by whom they feel
threatened.
Give the running of state prisons over to
private corporations whose profits increase with the increase in inmate
populations. See to it that a majority of prisoners are
African-American.
When possible, treat immigrants as criminals.
Deplete and underfinance a viable system of
free public schools and give the education of children over to private
for-profit corporations.
Make college education unaffordable.
Inject religious precepts into public policy so as to control women’s bodies.
Enact laws prohibiting collective bargaining. Portray trade unions as un-American.
Enact laws restricting the voting rights of possibly unruly constituencies.
Propagandize against scientific facts that would affect corporate profits. Portray global warming as a conspiracy of scientists.
Having subverted the Constitution and
enervated the nation with these measures, portray the federal
government as unwieldy, bumbling and shot through with elitist
liberals. Create mental states of maladaptive populism among the
citizenry to support this view.
PHASE FOUR
If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court,
decide that the police of any and all cities and towns and villages have
the absolute authority to strip-search any person whom they, for
whatever reason, put under arrest.
With this ruling, the reduction of America to unexceptionalism is complete.
© 2012 E.L. Doctorow
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