At the end of World War II, allied armies liberated the concentration camps where 12 million Europeans, including 6 million Jews, had been executed or worked to death. The extremely horrifying circumstances of this crime convinced most Americans that their wartime propaganda was right. The fascists really were the embodiment of satanic evil, and they had attacked Great Britain, France and the United States because they hated freedom and democracy.
Americans like the image of themselves as the “good guys” who fight against the “evil dictators” and assorted “bad guys” of the world. From now on, they would fight for freedom and democracy, or at least for peace and stability. They would fight against dictators and the forces of evil. They would be the world’s policeman.
In the decades after World War II, colonial empires were disintegrating all over the world, and new nation-states were coming into existence. Most of them were actually tribal or aristocratic societies with a very thin veneer of modern institutions. All of these new countries would essentially begin as early-stage oligarchic societies. They would have to pass through the oligarchic stage of development in order to become democratic market societies. Most of the older nations in Latin America, Europe, and Asia were also oligarchic societies.
Go back and review the first 5 questions in this explanation of history. They explain that the passage through oligarchic society has always been accompanied by a high degree of violence. Anarchy, revolution, dictators, weak governments, border wars, civil wars, imperial wars, ethnic cleansing, and religious cleansing are the hallmarks of oligarchic society. The only item on that list that has gone out of fashion is imperial war. All the other kinds of violence and mayhem are just as common in oligarchic society today as when the Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States and France went through oligarchic development starting over four hundred years ago. It has always been a long and violent process, and there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.
We now have a situation where a hundred and fifty plus nations are squarely in the middle of a massive and very violent revolutionary process, and the United States has decided to appoint itself “world policeman” and enforce peace and stability. There is no possible way for this to happen successfully. If the United States understood the revolutionary process that is occurring in the world, it might be able to help mitigate some of the worst violence. Unfortunately, it seems to be CLUELESS as to what is going on.
The American government does not understand the difference between oligarchic society and democratic market society. When appraising other countries, it looks to see whether or not they are capitalist and democratic. Oligarchic societies that hold elections pass this test. It does not matter to the United States that the oligarchs oppress and exploit their own population. It does not matter that most of the people are poorly educated, impoverished, lack police protection, and have little hope for improving their lives. As long as the oligarchs hold elections, no matter how meaningless, the United States is satisfied. It is when the people rebel against oppressive oligarchic governments that the United States becomes concerned.
Electoral politics in an oligarchic society will always result in an oligarchic government. If the people are thoroughly disgusted with weak, corrupt oligarchic rule, they have a real problem. Their only other choice is some kind of dictator or revolutionary regime. Communism, fascism, and Islamic fundamentalism have all evolved to provide an alternative to oligarchic society, but the United States does not like any of these alternatives. It thinks that they are evil. In its role as world policeman, it has tried to destroy these kinds of revolutionary societies and the dictators who run them. This has led to a great deal of American intervention in other people’s affairs as it tries to support unpopular oligarchic governments and destabilize dictators and revolutionary regimes.
This misunderstanding has led to the Cold War, where the United States tried to destroy communism. It has also led to the present problems in the Middle East where the United States is trying to prevent Islamic fundamentalism from gaining power. The Americans believe that they are fighting on the side of righteousness. The people in the countries where America intervenes believe that it is trying to dominate the world and impose governments of wealthy oligarchs, which are friendly to the United States.
This fundamental misunderstanding has gone on for much too long. It is past time to achieve a resolution to this problem. When developing countries overthrow an oppressive oligarchic government and install some form of dictatorial revolutionary regime, it is not a challenge to the United States. It is part of the world-wide-revolution from traditional societies to democratic market society that most of the world is still undergoing. Oligarchic society is not the end point of this revolution. Democratic market society is the final form that all nations are moving towards.
The United States should not be surprised when people who find themselves trapped in oligarchic society go looking for some kind of revolution. Communism and Islamic fundamentalism will never become permanent methods of organizing modern nations. They have no way to create wealth. They can not run a successful economy. They are mechanisms for continuing the revolution, which will only end when the country develops real democracy and becomes a democratic market society.
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