Back to the future

We all know how very strong the ties America and Americans, broadly speaking, have with all things related to their military. May I suggest that maybe the Saxon origin of the American society (through its English heritage) could help understand the relation Americans in general have vis-à-vis their leaders. The concept of the clan gathered around one chief may not be entirely dead in contemporary America. 

I was watching the State of the Union address last January (2008) and something really struck me: When President Bush entered the hall, all the people present stood up and broke into loud applause, then interrupted many times the speech he was giving with as many standing ovations as they could.

Another thing I noticed was the incredible number of generals and top brass members of the military that were present. And I couldn’t help thinking: Am I witnessing a meeting of the Politburo in the former USSR? Weren’t the assistants cheering the commander in chief who, through lies and deception, had led their country into what many in the US now consider the most serious blunder in the history of American foreign policy? The second longest war the US had ever been engaged into? The man who can arguably be held responsible for the death of thousands of fellow Americans and innumerable other peoples in Iraq? And let’s forget the unfathomable disaster in terms of PR on the world stage. Such a scene would be imaginable in Europe, old or new. 

Now, was that a living example of that famous English saying: “My country, right or wrong!”?

All the same, more than 4 years ago now, during the run up to the war, it was rather frightening to observe how the possibility of a war seemed to be quite natural to a huge majority of Americans (even if many objected) who had been conditioned by their media into thinking war is the best and shortest way to solve problems and potential crisis. Not even 30 years after the country had met its most humiliating defeat in its history. What is real anathema to a great majority among European peoples seemed not to raise much objection in the U.S. Going to war? Yes, why not? Sounds like a good idea…

Eventually, the conclusion had to be drawn: this country seems to keep alive a defining trait of the ancient Saxons, which were waging wars as a national pastime under the guidance of the warrior in chief. You may think this is going too far but just consider the zillions of films and TV serials that have been shot since the end of WWII in order to glorify the American army and its members. After 1945 Hollywood has produced war films on an industrial scale which have led the majority of Americans to think their country had saved the world single-handedly. And now it remains the one and only Superpower. The feeling may be dizzying…

America likes to portray itself as a nation of unbeatable warriors and it is this image of America that the whole world is given to see, by America itself. Please, consider also the quasi religious status of the American flag. Is it any wonder then that the whole world considers the US to be one of the most dangerous countries on earth? 

And you could think that Americans who have personally experienced the horrors of war would have eventually understood the madness of the very concept. Well, not all of them. John McCain, who should know better than anybody else, still hasn’t had enough of it. Another important figure among the politicians, John Murtha, a former member of the army, just thinks enough is enough. But he isn’t paid much attention to in the White House.

As all French interested in the French-American relations know, the obsessional theme of French bashers is that the French are a nation of sissies who surrender as soon as they can. They didn’t capitulate in 1940, like Japan and Germany did 5 years later; no, they surrendered which is far worse since it implies cowardice, which is definitively a notion that is totally incompatible with manhood and virility. How to enhance one’s own self esteem other than to belittle the others and define them as inferiors (Untermensch anyone?)? Isn’t it the way the ancient Vikings used to proceed in order to get their entry into the Valhalla?

The rather sad thing is that after this defamation campaign has been propagated for years through films, newspapers, TV talk shows, radio programs etc. it is probably just natural to a majority of Americans to think of the French as “cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys“, even if they don’t know anything else about the French. Even people with some education or artists you would believe above the fray aren’t immune from this prejudice. I remember a Woody Allen film in which there was a line associating France and surrendering just as a run of the mill joke.

Now, never mind what many Americans may think of the French, the point I want to make clear is that such derisive and insulting clichés wouldn’t be possible in a society that wouldn’t be as obsessed with all things military-related and warlike values as the American one is.

Another point worth mentioning: when they indulge in their fits of French-bashing, the perpetrators always seem to eventually admire the Germans, their strength and stamina, their ability to fight and behave like real warriors. It looks like they completely forget their country was twice at war with Germany. Is it really difficult to read between the lines and conclude there is some sort of Saxon affinity with their former enemy?

We’ll leave apart the fascination many Americans have with firearms and the devastating consequences this national trait leads to. In which other country in the world is there an association as powerful as the NRA? Why are video war games so popular among American teens?

It is often said in Europe that America is 10 years ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to sciences and techniques. Sure, but after Europe has known countless wars and massacres for thousands years and now, eventually, has come to its sense and totally rejects the very notion of war, it is sometimes difficult not to think America lags 10 centuries behind regarding its relations with the other countries and peoples of the world.

Note: The painting is The Paumgartner Altarpiece, (right side) Saint Georges, c. 1498-1504; Oil on panel; Alte Pinakothek, Munich