Back in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson got our nation involved in the Great War. Of course, we call it World War I nowadays thanks the ambitions of one Adolf Hitler, but I like the Great War better. Mostly because it wasn’t the world that was at war then. It was mostly Europe and Western Asia. Most other areas had little to nothing to do with a war between the greater superpowers of the time.
Back to Woodrow Wilson. He was a big time progressive in his day. He bought the whole progressive dream of some future Utopia and he sought to implement as much of it as he could. Under his watch, the four Progressive amendments were passed and the Federal Reserve was established. You could say he was a precursor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but I don’t think he ever used his power in office to force things on the American people. He did, however, facilitate many changes that have lasted to this day.
His biggest contribution that was later picked up by his successors was the call for spreading democracy across the globe. It was Woodrow Wilson who started this notion of the United States spreading our democracy to the rest of the world and it was used as an excuse to send young overseas to fight in a war we had no business being in. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
This is the pattern that the United States has played out in one form or another for the better part of the 20th century. We have spent countless trillions of dollars in foreign wars that yield little to no benefit for our nation and furthermore empower a military-industry complex that Eisenhower warned us about. When a retired general and excellent statesman tells us, after serving eight years as a successful President, that our country is getting too militant for its own good, you’d think people would listen to him.
Maybe he was a little too late for the Red Scare had gripped our nation by that point with communists seeking to actively conquer our nation (yes, that was their goal, despite what Tom Brokaw may tell you). But the communists were never our worst enemy. They thrived only as long as we had a large government in some form or another. It’s really hard to spy on a nation that has little to no real government to spy on. Then again, it’s much easier to spy when everyone and their mama can get top secret clearance.
So we’ve spent almost a century engaging in wars and skirmishes designed specifically to bring about democracy in every country we can. But the problem is that we do so with the arrogance in believing that democracy brings wisdom and enlightenment. In truth, our freedom was an effect, not a cause, of a deep and fundamental understanding of human nature and the rule of law. It stemmed from the idea that man was not the sharpest tool in the shed at times and that a few cannot lead the many in the manner that we’d all like. This is a standard that has only been brought about in Western civilization, as most of the world has lived in some form of barbarism or another. Sure the buildings may get fancy but that never did stop the human sacrifices.
And so we continue on, always certain that bringing about democracy somehow makes men bring about freedom in their own lives. And yet people continue to vote for the tyrants. In Palestine, they voted for Hamas and we’re all surprised by this outcome? Democracy has hardly made the world safe, in fact I would dare say that it has made things much worse for everyone because now every conflict, every petty fight has come to the forefront in the political arena and the exchange is not always civil.
Even now, our own interpretations of democracy have landed us with more trouble than it’s worth. With too many people focused on social issues, issues that used to be private family matters that were dealt with internally, they now spill out into the public arena. It’s like the family has been disemboweled for everyone to see the dirty shit they’re trying to pass out.
To me, all democracy seems to have done is allow the stupid to have a voice. You know that person you hate talking to? Well now they vote as well and I’m pretty sure they won’t be voting for freedom and liberty. Perhaps it’s time we find a new way, a way that respects the individual and recognizes that the individual is sovereign, not the government.