Who Won the Cold War?
Digg 
Stumble Upon 
Newsvine 
Slashdot 
Mixx 
Diigo 
Delicious 
Reddit 
Facebook
As everyone should know by now but probably does not, this is the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first breach in that wall set off a chain reaction that would eventually topple Communist governments and liberate people across half of Europe. It would also end the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Block, substantially diminishing the possibility for nuclear annihilation. However, when people say that the West–or more particularly, America–won the Cold War, I’m not exactly sure what they mean.
Of course, America still exists as a country while the Soviet Union does not, but in a war that is supposedly about ideas and ideals, victory must me something more than outlasting your opponent.
I think the more appropriate way to look at the matter is to ask: who has benefited the most from the end of the Cold War? Clearly, it is the peoples of East Germany, Poland, Estonia, etc. that have gained the most. They are far richer than they were twenty years ago, and more importantly they are able to speak and think as they please without fear of imprisonment, torture, and possibly death at the hands of their governments. Even Russia, which is still far from free, is a much freer place than it was under the Soviets. Dissident journalists do still turn up missing, but to be known as a dissident journalist in the Soviet Union was almost an impossibility. The post-Communist states all have a long way to go to complete freedom, but with few exceptions, they are all now much closer to that ideal than they were twenty years ago.
But can we say that the people of the United States also won the Cold War? Sadly, I do not believe so. After World War II, the United States’ standing army likely would have shrunk back to the small peacetime numbers that existed for most of our history if it weren’t for the Cold War. Instead, the U.S. military spread across the world, allegedly to keep the country free from the horrors of Communism. Ironically, keeping the people of America free required enslaving a large percentage of her young men through the country’s first peacetime draft. And of course, soldiers must be housed, equipped, fed, and paid, which required a higher level of taxation than Americans were used to in peacetime. Twenty years ago, the United States could have reversed this course and reaped the peace dividend, but instead the government pressed ahead and extended American influence into the former Soviet Block–taking on new powers and responsibilities along the way.
No, America lost the Cold War. We may be richer than when it started, but a larger portion of our incomes go to the government. Even worse, the United States now leads the world in imprisonment–not just by rate but in absolute terms as well, with 1 out of every 150 Americans behind bars. This is largely a consequence of the War on Drugs, which is a war the American government wages upon its own citizens. In the years of the Cold War and since, we have become substantially less free.
One right that is still largely intact is the Freedom of Religion, but most versions of American Christianity today bear little resemblance to the teachings found in the Gospels. In this country today, people tend to worship the American Jesus, more known for killing “hajis” than offering salvation. Christianity has become a state religion in this country as it was for the Roman Emperor Constantine, and it is put to the same use of justifying military power. Perhaps even worse than using the Prince of Peace for war, the president (provided he is of the right party, of course) is now viewed by most as an avatar of God on Earth if not God himself. Many American Christians have rendered everything unto Caesar and have nothing left for God.
The world is a far freer place than it was twenty years ago, but America is not. Kierkegaard once wrote “What slave in chains is as unfree as a tyrant!” As the tyrant of the world, America is enslaved to all. Truly, America has gained the world, but lost her soul.
Filed under: Uncategorized
America has gained the world, but lost her soul.
That is what we get for trying to legislate morality .
Allowing law enforcment to handle what any one can plainly see is a medical problem has cost us almost 2 trillion $ in the past 40 yrs alone and what have we got to show for it? not only easier access to all forms of illegal drugs but much purer and less expensive drug’s . corrupt cops out of control asset siezure innocent civillians murdered by police in botched drug raids and a LEO. community that now expects us to continue funding their paramilatery drug squads that have no buisness dealing with adicts most of these drug squads employ police that use anabolic steroids with out perscriptions.It is way past time to take this problem away from LEO’s and the courts and let trained medical professionals handle these addicts on a case to case basis . over 1/2 our treatment $ every year is wasted on sending people to coart order programs fo rcannabis use . this is a total waste of money and causes real addicts to suffer needlessly cause there is not enough funds to treat people for cocaine and crank and heroin problems .. we will be paying for these mistakes for many tears to come . hopefully the people who suffer the most because of it will be those who have supported this draconian unamerican tyrannical behavior..
…And yet we had plenty of (perhaps more) morality laws before the War on Drugs …
Perhaps the problem is that the government does not defend its borders (well, that and the intelligence agencies have long funded some operations with drug money…look at Afghanistan!)?
Not everything illegal has a special allure, it really depends on enforcement of the law.
And, John, a lot of Eastern Europe is NOT better off than it was 20 years ago, particularly now that their speculative bubbles have burst. The signs are shinier, there are more decent restaurants, but many other economic, social, and moral declines. And East Europeans have gained freedom in many ways, but lost it in others.
People forget that many of the anti-Communist movements like the New Forum activists in the DDR or Solidarnosc in Poland claimed they were pro-socialist (just for a more democratic, participatory regime). The original point was not joining NATO and mass privatisation, but rather civil liberties, and, sometimes, true conservative principles (pro-church, rediscovering a spiritual mission of their people). But church attendance has increased slightly while (corporal, at least) immorality has increased significantly! What gain is that? Much of the national infrastructure was stolen by oligarchs who took the money to Switzerland, much others were sold to foreigners.
Basically, (most of) East Europe has been absorbed into the control of the international financial elite (or NWO or whatever you prefer to term it).
Mr. Payne states that freedom of religion is still largely intact in the United States. That is only true for religions which use placebos for sacraments. Religion using bonafide sacraments remains outlawed by the CSA (COntrolled Substances Act of 1970) The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.
Mr. Harris, you should have a little more courage to be honest in your opposition to drug prohibition. I happen to agree that the government should not regulate what you put into your body, but hiding behind the First Amendment to do so is both timid and self-defeating.
Your good points are lost in your overwrought conclusion. The War on Drugs, War on Terror etc. are indeed eroding our freedoms. But the process of becoming a secular welfare state began well before WWII. The War on drugs as ill-conceived as it is, does respond to drug laws enacted by Congress.
As to our “leading the world in imprisonment,” the link you provide to buttress this statement is clearly a very flawed instrument. According to it, Cuba, Sudan and Zimbabwe have no prisoners at all. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything.
T.O.M.-
There are some very secular, more generous welfare states with considerably more civil liberties. Of course they have their own problems, but that is not the source of our War of Terror, War on Drugs, USA Patriot Act, etc. Paleoconservatives are too often naifs in suggesting, essentially, that some lead us on the road to Hell with good intentions. It is actually direct corruption in our govt that is the source of all our greatest national catastrophes.
I found a figure for Cuba. The 2005 official statistics put it at about 490 per 100K, so about 70% the US rate – still high, but no cigar. Oh I see a more recent (2008?) rate of 531, but still keeping pace with the US at about 70% its rate. That is a British univeristy study – they estimate the Sudanese rate about 1/20 the US rate (so they had a civil war, but they aren’t totalitarian, what did you think?). Zimbabwe is given as about 1/5 the US rate. The link, if it works to post it here-
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/downloads/wppl-8th_41.pdf
Thomas, were you referring to England and the continental welfare states with their anti free speech laws, confiscatory taxation and intrusive regulation of every stage of life? Welfare states must be coercive in order to function. That’s why conservatives off all types abhor them.
The percentage of population in incarceration can be a deceptive statistic. States lie about these things for a start. Totalitarian states like Cuba and China have the option of simply killing offenders and of course many people just flee state control.
The US has a large degree of incarceration due to the popularity of “Get tough on drug offender” legislation. We have a large criminal underclass in this country and after decades of revolving door justice, the public just got fed up. It may not be humane, but it works. That’s democracy for you.
By the way, there is no system more involved in the criminal justice system than our welfare bureaucracy. Most criminals are born into to welfare, graduate to truancy and addiction and then crime, all under the watchful eye of social workers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, court appointed counselors and probation officers, etc. etc. But this shouldn’t take any of the luster off welfare states, right?
Actually, China records their executions, they do not just shoot criminals on sight. Neither does Cuba. And neither of those countries would qualify as the top 10 or 20 draconian, authoritarian states (i.e., where citizens shake in fear of the police) at the moment.
England is widely known to be the most surveillance over its population, but it also has the weakest welfare state in Western Europe!!!! Scandinavia has much more freedom in general and much stronger welfare. Your attempt to make some sort of correlation is ridiculous. None of these countries has a PATRIOT ACT, where you can be deemed an enemy and held indefinitely. Britain has tried several times to enact something similar, but the Lords always block it. It would be absurd in Germany even.
The United States is simply no longer a beacon of civil liberties even compared with true welfare states. Sorry.
And if you are worried about the existence of a criminal underclass, you can probably blame the extreme inequalities of wealth, the co-existence of hyper-First World and quasi-Third World elements. All of Latin America has the same, though their welfare states are rarely very advanced. I think you would find the same trend in Africa.
Mind you, I don’t want to be like Sweden. I would prefer America to return to the 50s (not entirely, but overall it would be an improvement). In the 50s there was a more even redistribution of wealth and less nanny statism because there was more direct dirigisme. The State was more involved in industrial planning and regulated trade and financial institutions. Individuals paid less tax because corporations paid more. If the economy is planned such that productive employment is a priority, then you can maintain a stable working class. If you take that away, like the US and UK have done, then you get a permanent underclass with no prospects of a stable life.
The problem with the 1950’s is that they inevitably evolve into the 1960’s. And soon we’re where we are now. That’s the way of welfare states, they introduce such dependency, indolence and corruption that they just grow. But hey they always have their defenders. As for the lack of a Patriot Act in Europe, you must be kidding. The least you could do is read the British press. British subjects can be criminally charged for suggesting that heterosexual couples make better adoptive parents than homosexuals. The French police do as they please, and always have. The British do have preventative detention.
Nobody said that the Chinese and or Cubans shot people out of hand. But they do shoot people rather than feed them for long periods, as we do. You can believe their statistics if you want to.
Our underclass remains a dangerous nuisance despite public education, taxpayer supported charity care, a multitude of Federal and State programs and affirmative action. Of course we are importing more every day, adding to the income disparity you speak of. Perhaps we should deport people to level out the disparity a bit. What do you think?
I like your idea of our no longer being a beacon. It’s attracting the wrong sort.
Yes, of course we should deport people. Illegal immigration is not the source of the US socioeconomic problems, but it compounds them by a serious factor.
Being a former resident of Houston, where parts of the city (probably the most red-voting major city in the US) were literally crawling with illegals who undercut everyone else’s wages (that’s why they are here), I can attest a bit to the corrupting effect this has on everyone involved.
At last we agree on something. Good.