A Mendacious Triangular Trade (Part II)
After the second of the great world wars, and saddled with new and grave responsibilities, the new ruler of the universe -- the United States of America (rather, its people) -- proceeded to develop the same sorts of inflated appetites that had led to the downfall of the previous rulers. Starting out, the American people -- immigrants all -- had sought to make a good life for themselves. Using the sweat of their brows and the cleverness of their minds, and guided by the moral mirages of a more-or-less Christian ethic, they were soon able to achieve their goal. Any man (if he were not of freed slave or Native American blood) could find honest labor, earn a living wage, and raise his 2.4 children in the relative safety of fortress America. The best of all possible worlds had become a reality for a large number of people.
Unfortunately, inside the protective walls two forces (and one grand illusion) were also at work. The two forces -- Christian charity and capitalist theory -- tugged in opposite directions on the hearts and minds of the fortunates. Told (and believing) that the secret formula producing their wealth could be traced to an invisible hand moving over the face of the water, a hand attached to the bodies of a people motivated and justified by personal greed, they nevertheless continued to believe that an even greater part of their success grew from their adoption of, and mouthing of, Christian morals. The contradiction led to the grand illusion. The unseeable activities of the invisible hand and the equally invisible workings of Christian love, were transcended by the absolute and unshakable belief that their actions had been guided by the workings of a "higher power," and that their nation had been chosen by God to show to the world the path that leads to wealth and happiness.
Forget it that, apart from an elite few, the people did not understand that their wealth had been earned by a complete disregard of their moral persuasions. Nor did they understand that those very morals, if practiced letter and verse, would have led to their utter destruction. How else then explain their great good fortune than by the hand of an all-seeing and loving God? How else come to terms with the conflicting virtues that lurked just beyond their ability to see, much less their power to grasp? The Lord works in mysterious ways.
But as I say, there were elites who did understand. The so-called "progressives," focused on the immorality of the system, took to the streets and the tabloids (thankfully, in insufficient and unconvincing numbers) proclaiming the "right of man" to the wealth of others. On "the right" the minions of "the hand" sought to draw its fingers as holders of the puppet strings of the Almighty, carefully and purposefully manipulating the flows of poverty and wealth in the service of ultimate Justice, rewarding the "strong," punishing the "weak" to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. And in a democracy, the greatest number was bound to rule. "The right" catered to reality, "the left" to imagination.
All the while, the mish mosh of the misunderstood world continued to produce gold and silver, the fact going largely unnoticed that both the left and the right, with their claims to "knowing," were problems rather than solutions. As first one then the other ascended to temporary power, the minds of the people vibrated between the poles of foolish economics and foolhardy religion. Unsure of the ground upon which they stood, the people seemed to themselves to be going through the motions of living, seeking purpose, identity, meaning . . . wanting the world to make sense . . . but despite it all, living "the good life" without knowing why.
If the world to the east had not lost its own identity this would have worked out fairly well (for all but the freed slaves and Native Americans). Blessed and cursed by new technologies, words and pictures of other worlds began to spread among alien minds. While the world's less fortunates had remained blind, the appetites of the ruling (i.e., the consuming) nations could be more easily abided. So long as the devils had no face they did not exist as other than the mysterious deeds of an evil fate. Even the freed slaves and Native Americans began to complain, their dissatisfactions fanned into anger -- now-and-then -- by the elite of the left. But that was a minor irritation. Neither of those bands owned anything needed to keep the mills running. But the foreigners, the ones living over the oil, the ones constituting the hoards of cheap and exploitable labor -- that was a different story. They had to be made to conform.
And thus was born the "new triangle trade."
To be continued.
Unfortunately, inside the protective walls two forces (and one grand illusion) were also at work. The two forces -- Christian charity and capitalist theory -- tugged in opposite directions on the hearts and minds of the fortunates. Told (and believing) that the secret formula producing their wealth could be traced to an invisible hand moving over the face of the water, a hand attached to the bodies of a people motivated and justified by personal greed, they nevertheless continued to believe that an even greater part of their success grew from their adoption of, and mouthing of, Christian morals. The contradiction led to the grand illusion. The unseeable activities of the invisible hand and the equally invisible workings of Christian love, were transcended by the absolute and unshakable belief that their actions had been guided by the workings of a "higher power," and that their nation had been chosen by God to show to the world the path that leads to wealth and happiness.
Forget it that, apart from an elite few, the people did not understand that their wealth had been earned by a complete disregard of their moral persuasions. Nor did they understand that those very morals, if practiced letter and verse, would have led to their utter destruction. How else then explain their great good fortune than by the hand of an all-seeing and loving God? How else come to terms with the conflicting virtues that lurked just beyond their ability to see, much less their power to grasp? The Lord works in mysterious ways.
But as I say, there were elites who did understand. The so-called "progressives," focused on the immorality of the system, took to the streets and the tabloids (thankfully, in insufficient and unconvincing numbers) proclaiming the "right of man" to the wealth of others. On "the right" the minions of "the hand" sought to draw its fingers as holders of the puppet strings of the Almighty, carefully and purposefully manipulating the flows of poverty and wealth in the service of ultimate Justice, rewarding the "strong," punishing the "weak" to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. And in a democracy, the greatest number was bound to rule. "The right" catered to reality, "the left" to imagination.
All the while, the mish mosh of the misunderstood world continued to produce gold and silver, the fact going largely unnoticed that both the left and the right, with their claims to "knowing," were problems rather than solutions. As first one then the other ascended to temporary power, the minds of the people vibrated between the poles of foolish economics and foolhardy religion. Unsure of the ground upon which they stood, the people seemed to themselves to be going through the motions of living, seeking purpose, identity, meaning . . . wanting the world to make sense . . . but despite it all, living "the good life" without knowing why.
If the world to the east had not lost its own identity this would have worked out fairly well (for all but the freed slaves and Native Americans). Blessed and cursed by new technologies, words and pictures of other worlds began to spread among alien minds. While the world's less fortunates had remained blind, the appetites of the ruling (i.e., the consuming) nations could be more easily abided. So long as the devils had no face they did not exist as other than the mysterious deeds of an evil fate. Even the freed slaves and Native Americans began to complain, their dissatisfactions fanned into anger -- now-and-then -- by the elite of the left. But that was a minor irritation. Neither of those bands owned anything needed to keep the mills running. But the foreigners, the ones living over the oil, the ones constituting the hoards of cheap and exploitable labor -- that was a different story. They had to be made to conform.
And thus was born the "new triangle trade."
To be continued.
posted by Benedict S. at 10:43 AM
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