American Theocracy
Jun. 6th, 2007 09:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
levertovfanI'm in the middle of American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips. I was expecting something a bit more.. rant-like. Instead, it's a well-argued piece of writing that looks back on the factors that have contributed to the fall of various empires throughout history and argues that those same factors are present today in America and its relationship with the rest of the world. The author is a conservative unblinkered by nationalism or American exceptionalism. I find this quite refreshing since it's hard to find anyone, conservatives especially, outside very marginalized progressive journalism in our internal political discourse today who does not profess some form of it.
The first section addresses the role that the pursuit of oil has played in US foreign policy. It makes clear in no uncertain terms that the reason that we are in Iraq is because of oil. It's quite remarkable to me that the Republicans, in conjunction with the Dems and big business, have managed to control the media to the point that very few members of the American public regularly see the connection between our presence in Iraq and the oil politics necessary to sustain American fuel consumption.
(Sidenote: I've read a few exposes in the New York Times and other forums by journalists who have been systemically denied the opportunity to attend press briefings by the Bush administration after they have published something contrary to what the administration wanted published, or even simply asked difficult questions. Under those conditions, news becomes increasingly a report on what politicians said rather than a thorough investigation into the issues. The Bush administration denies that the reason we are in Iraq is because of oil. It's remarkable the things that politicians get away with denying, and that the public will just believe them because that's the patriotic--or easy--thing to do.)
The second section starts with a case about the importance of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians to the current Republican regime-duh. But then it goes on to examine what it calls the Southernization of America. Very interesting analysis of the immigration patterns of various religious groups.
The first section addresses the role that the pursuit of oil has played in US foreign policy. It makes clear in no uncertain terms that the reason that we are in Iraq is because of oil. It's quite remarkable to me that the Republicans, in conjunction with the Dems and big business, have managed to control the media to the point that very few members of the American public regularly see the connection between our presence in Iraq and the oil politics necessary to sustain American fuel consumption.
(Sidenote: I've read a few exposes in the New York Times and other forums by journalists who have been systemically denied the opportunity to attend press briefings by the Bush administration after they have published something contrary to what the administration wanted published, or even simply asked difficult questions. Under those conditions, news becomes increasingly a report on what politicians said rather than a thorough investigation into the issues. The Bush administration denies that the reason we are in Iraq is because of oil. It's remarkable the things that politicians get away with denying, and that the public will just believe them because that's the patriotic--or easy--thing to do.)
The second section starts with a case about the importance of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians to the current Republican regime-duh. But then it goes on to examine what it calls the Southernization of America. Very interesting analysis of the immigration patterns of various religious groups.
