Troubled Nation




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Abstract
from talk given at the Sydney Writers' Festival on 20 May 2004.


 


Troubled
Nation


The
American people didn't know its troops abused prisoners in Iraqi jails.
Ignorance. Officials who knew pretend they didn't know. Hypocrisy. To
excuse the perpetrators, parents of soldiers say their kids were forced to
follow orders. Obedience.


 


Torture
is the problem-du-jour. Two weeks ago, the problem-du-jour was the deceptive
case for war. The American people believed the administration’s lies.
Ignorance. The President says he relied on the flawed intelligence he was fed.
Hypocrisy. Instead of rebelling, Colin Powell stuck with his team. Obedience.


 


America's
problems are structural. Even if Kerry replaces Bush in January 2005, America
will still have one child in six living in poverty; America will still have two
million people in jail; America will still have military installations in 50
countries. It's time we looked at the structure behind America's problems.


 


By
studying America’s self-image, we can collect symptoms of the ‘disease’
that ails American society. Is America truly the beacon of justice? Not when it
tortures prisoners. Is America truly the cradle of democracy? Not when its
president is elected by a minority, not when government for corporations
displaces ‘by the people for the people’.


 


Is
America the land of the free? Not when powerful corporations can silence
dissidents like Michael Moore. Is America the land of plenty? Not when one
household in thirteen lives in a trailer.


 


Does
the US have the best way of life? In a BBC poll, 96
per cent of Americans say that foreigners want to live in America. In the same
poll, one Australian in 100 says she would prefer to live in America. It’s not
hard to guess why: Australians like paid vacations, Medicare, the fair go, even
if it doesn’t always work perfectly.


 


By
America’s own standard, the standard of its self-image, the US is a sick
society. Behind torture and all the other symptoms, you can find the same
driving principles. ‘America is the best.’ ‘Might means right.’
‘Corporations have a right to maximise profit.’ ‘Government should serve
the economy.’ ‘People must look after themselves.’ ‘Status comes from
wealth.’ ‘Winning justifies anything.’


 


Behind
it all, you can find a powerful blend of ignorance, hypocrisy, and obedience. It’s
a kind of disease, something I call the ‘IHO Syndrome’: I for ignorance, H
for hypocrisy, O for Obedience. Under its influence, lies become truth, wrong
becomes right. Peace becomes war, justice becomes torture.


 


Of
course, every American is not always ignorant, hypocritical and obedient. Of
course, the US does not have a monopoly on ignorance, hypocrisy and obedience.
But when we interpret American society through these lenses, current events make
a lot more sense. And that suggests ways to fix that society.


 


We
must produce awareness to replace ignorance. Dissenters must spear hypocrisy
with truth. Instead of obeying, American people must resist.


 


On
paper, that sounds simple. But in America as around the world, many people feel
powerless to change things.


 


In
Australia, suppose you try to solve just one problem: the logging of old-growth
forests. You will butt against government. You will butt against corporations.
The press will help your fight, but only up to a point. And you will feel that
modern society’s values work against you.


 


Take
two friends and try to discuss how people can solve a problem you care about --
Australia’s presence in Iraq, refugee detention centres, anything. You will
soon find yourself entangled in the same web: government priorities, corporate
power, media focus, modern values. Some call that the ‘system’. We feel
discouraged because we see that to fix one problem, we would have to fix the
entire system.


 


Most
people would love to fix the system. This means that citizens must have the
power to decide policies. Two-thirds
of Americans think Congress should pass stricter gun control laws, such as
keeping track of who buys guns. Survey after survey confirms this, but the
surveys also show that Americans expect Congress not to pass these laws.
Government does not obey people.


 


People
cannot shape policies, much less institutions, unless they reach a critical
mass. To reach a critical mass, we need to take a stand, and we need to awaken
our neighbours, our parents, our friends.


 


It
works. That’s the way change happens every time, from Alabama blacks’ right
to ride in the front of the bus to Torres Strait islanders’ right to own their
land. And it’s enjoyable. Most people I know prefer to work with others for a
distant goal than to sit isolated in their living rooms. Apathy is an illusion.
We are isolated, so we assume that no one else has any interest in changing the
world, and we join the official game -- work harder, buy more. When we break the
isolation, when we talk to strangers, we realise that most people share the same
interests.


 


Many
people are waking up. Michael Moore’s popularity is a sign of dissent. Many
will try to change society if they see a way.


 


There's
no secret. To change the 'system', we need to take a stand and wake up people
around us: parents, friends, workmates. At some point it becomes acceptable to disagree -- it becomes the norm to
disagree. It
doesn’t work overnight, but it’s the only sure way to produce change.


 


Julian
Ninio is the author of The Empire of Ignorance, Hypocrisy and Obedience.


 http://www.ihosyndrome.com.
(c) Julian Ninio


 


The
Empire of Ignorance, Hypocrisy and Obedience


is
an immensely persuasive indictment of the most powerful
country
on earth. This comprehensive, highly original overview
of
the American ‘disease’ examines its unchecked corporations,
media
bias, urban poverty, gun violence, voter apathy, carefree
consumerism
and burgeoning empire. It discovers the
syndrome
linking all these ills, and it offers a plan of
action
that everyone (American or not) can
undertake
to cure America.
*  
*   *
Part
One compares the United States’ self-image with the
reality:
the ‘best way of life’ that offers recurring wars and
record-low
social services; the ‘cradle of democracy’ that governs
for
corporations and attacks other countries; the ‘land of plenty’
that
destroys the environment and leaves every sixth child in
poverty;
the ‘beacon of justice’ that employs biased judges and
promotes
inequality; and the ‘land of the free’ that demands
compliance
and imprisons a huge
number
of citizens.
*  
*   *
Part
Two argues that the United States’ ills stem from a single
disease:
the ‘IHO syndrome’—a unique concept that offers an
extraordinarily
powerful way to interpret American society.
Part
Three picks up where most other books about America
leave
off: it lays out a radical plan to ‘cure’ the nation. Rather
than
offering policy prescriptions for government, the plan
contains
practical actions that readers inside and outside the US
can
take to remedy America’s ills and tame the empire.
*  
*   *
America—love
it or leave it. Or learn to fix it.
 
The
Author


Julian
Ninio has at least two things in common with President Bush: an American
passport and a Harvard MBA. He has tasted various versions of the
American dream -- as a California flower child, as a derivatives trader, as a
high-tech executive, and as a start-up CEO. Julian also speaks about the US with
the perspective of an outsider: partly educated in France, where he was born, he
has traveled around the world several times and spent half his adult life in
Japan and Australia. He now lives in Sydney and has recently become an
Australian citizen.