Daily Times

Certain movies leave an indelible mark on one’s memory. ‘Come September’ was one of those classics. Even today transcending the temporal barriers,its soft music continues to vibrate and cherish the viewer’s memory. What a soothing impact it has. Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida have eclipsed in the mist of time yet a reflection on their prodigious acting quickens our mind and the love story they have left behind refuses to slumber or die.It was 1962.

Fast forward to 2002, human history was introduced to another epic yet gory repertoire, notorious to the world as 9/11. Unlike the above-mentioned innocuous artists who through the subtle touch of Eros, were playing to bring a smile on viewers’ faces, this time the characters were not altogether benign. The Bush and “Condi” Rice had some lethal plans. The objective was to translate a tragedy into an opportunity and henceforth into a commodity.

The death and destruction, which followed, 9/11 was unprecedented. The manufactured enemy was invisible hence could be hunted all around the world. In this process millions of innocent people became victim of newly devised strategy of “collateral damage” which meant losing life to operational necessities. A death without having any condolence or an associated guilt, as if those massacred were not human beings but unintended inanimate targets.

Whereas lot of blood has been drawn and shed, a plenty of ink is consumed to describe or mystify the mayhem that followed. Many phrases of “neutrality” are implied to justify this act of violence, yet nothing has helped to alter its gravity. The vengeance continues to play havoc on the people – lately a theoretic concept than a concrete reality — of Middle East, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The arrival of Bush at the world stage and the tempest of 2008, which rocked the boat of capitalism, were no coincidences. By that, time the capitalistic contradiction of overproduction and loss of profit had actually stormed the shores of the US. The process of mechanization had enlarged the base of hapless army of unemployed workers. The housing bubble had reached to its unsustainable limits. The spectre of recession was staring in the face. The objective conditions for an apocalypse were ripe. For the first time after the cold war, America had ceased to be great.

The death and destruction which has followed 9/11 attacks is unprecedented. The manufactured enemy remains invisible hence can be hunted all around the world

Much before Trump’s arrival the gap between the US and fascism was fast abridging. The elevation of Bush, a man handpicked by the court to be the president was a leap in this direction. Despite losing the majority vote, apparently his both terms were guaranteed in advance. Was he chosen for a mission is anyone’s guess but he went on to accomplish one.

Historically, the party, the army, and the big capital were the three pillars, which provided the Nazis’ with their superstructure. The Bolsheviks and freedom, the two lethal enemies of big business were annihilated much before the Jews and gypsies. A devastated middle class provided its shoulder to carry forth the hegemonic design of National Socialism. For a rigorous and uninterrupted production, democracy was an obstacle hence cast aside. Behind the slogan of blood and soil, the big business reigned supreme. Fuhrer’s face was a mere mask meant to terrorize the people into submission.

In the US, the fulcrum of power has long shifted in favour of military – industrial – complex. The democracy devoid of its social content has lost its utility. The ever-increasing gulf between individual’s interest and that of society is vivid. A big chunk of middle class is wallowing in the quagmire of poverty. In a society like this invention becomes the mother of necessity hence one’s imagination is stretched to the delusional limits. Small wonder if people are attracted to the fantasy of making America great again.

It would be unfair to compare the US of today with the Nazi Germany of 1930s. Yet in either case, capitalism failing to realise, found itself in a blind alley. It was in those moments of collusive madness it declared the gypsies, the Jews and the Red, ‘them’. “The fact is that monopolistic imperialism validates the racist thesis: it subjects ever more non -white populations to the brutal power of its bombs, poisons, and moneys; thus making even the exploited white population in the metropolis partners and beneficiaries of the global crime” (Marcuse).

The economic uncertainty has cultivated the pathology of white supremacy in its womb. For unleashing this outrage, the responsibility rests with the structure of society and not with the human nature. However, as Horkheimer states, once “the repressed primitive urges of superficially civilised people” are exhumed the rational persuasion ceases to be effective.

The incidence of Charlottesville provides one example of “racial distribution of guilt” while Trump’s partiality is the other. He stood for ‘white’ biases and colourless prejudices, a calculated move, which paid dividends. A mini 9/11 was erupted, which divided the people on colour lines turning the latter into a crude expression of political and economic realities. This brings a new seething question into fore; totalitarianism may control the external terror but what if the simmering cauldron of internal threat reaches to a point of explosion? The contradictions of the system are reaching to a toxic level. The Nietzschean abyss is staring at American state.

For many the authenticity of 9/11 remains a debatable topic. Did this madness have a method about it? Was it a state inflicted trauma or a real act of terror? These queries are as unanswerable as they are irrelevant. As long as the system based on social inequalities exists these mayhems can scarcely be avoided. Every incidence akin to this continues to remind the infernal society in which humanity under capitalism is forced to dwell. It is time to decide if the radicals want to obey or are willing to command. The latter requires a conscious class struggle, the former, status quo and unconditional subjugation. The ball remains in people’s court.

The writer has authored books on socialism and history. He blogs at saulatnagi.wordpress.com and can be reached atsaulatnagi@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, September 8^th 2017.