REVOLUTION 17

American Exceptionalism: further exposing the reality behind the myth

BOB AVAKIAN—REVOLUTION

Number Seventeen—further exposing the reality behind the myth of “American exceptionalism”: the ridiculous and outrageous notion that there is something exceptionally good about this country and its “great American democracy.”

In reality, this “great democracy” is actually a system of brutal exploitation and murderous oppression, the system of capitalism-imperialism, enforced by the dictatorship of the capitalist class—which, on the basis of its dominant position economically, controls the political process and the police and military that violently enforce this system. Contrary to what is constantly proclaimed by representatives of this capitalist ruling class and its media (its propaganda machinery), the people in this country don’t “govern themselves”—they are “governed,” ruled over, by a class of capitalist exploiters. What is proclaimed as the heart and essence of this so-called “great democracy”— “the right of people to choose their leaders through free and fair elections”—really just comes down to the “right” to “choose” between political parties that represent the same system of capitalism-imperialism.

The whole history of this country, down to today—not the distorted and “white-washed” history taught in textbooks and portrayed in the dominant media and culture, but the actual history and reality of this country and its role in the world—provides profound, undeniable proof of the real, truly monstrous, nature of this country and this system. In previous messages I have shined a light on some of these horrors, and I have pointed to works of mine, and others at revcom.us—in particular the “American Crime” series—which get into this more fully and deeply. As I said in my last message: No honest person could read these works at revcom.us and continue to parrot the perverse notion of the USA as exceptionally good!

And what is going on right now is providing further, living proof that this so-called “great American democracy” is in reality a dictatorship, where the power of the ruling institutions is used to viciously persecute, punish, and even eliminate people who pose a threat to the interests of the ruling class. Along with the murder by police and mass incarceration of thousands and millions of people in this country, which is continuing as you are listening to this, there is the vicious repression being brought down against people protesting the genocide in Palestine carried out by Israel, with the full backing of the U.S. government and both ruling class political parties (Democrat and Republican). Colleges, and especially “elite” universities, have been a focus of this repression—repression which has crudely violated supposed “rights of free speech” and “standards of academic freedom.” Students and faculty have been targeted, and even university presidents have been driven out of their positions for failing to fully repress these protests.

Why is this happening? Because fundamental interests of U.S. capitalism-imperialism are at stake. Because Israel plays a “special role” as a heavily armed bastion of support for U.S. imperialism in a strategically important part of the world (the “Middle East”). And Israel has been a key force in the commission of atrocities which have helped to maintain the oppressive rule of U.S. imperialism in many other parts of the world.

And this repression is happening because representatives of the ruling class in this country have a definite sense that if youth especially at “elite” universities begin to seriously question and act against what this system is doing—if the system “loses the allegiance” of large numbers of those students—that can be a big factor in creating a real crisis for the system as a whole, as happened in the 1960s: a crisis that, now more than ever, this system really cannot afford, when the whole country is already being torn apart by deep divisions, with bitter clashes right among the ruling powers. So, at the same time as they are bitterly divided, the ruling powers of this country are firmly united in their determination to punish and intimidate especially students at elite universities who have stepped forward to protest the genocidal slaughter of Palestinians. The ruling class is desperate to prevent opposition to its fundamental interests from spreading and involving masses of people, from all parts of society.

All this reveals, more “nakedly” than in “normal situations,” the actual dictatorship behind the outer shell of “democracy” of this country—and it shines a light on the strategic weakness of this system, when it does lose the allegiance of major sections of the people and this has the potential to spread to all parts of society, including among the dominant institutions of this system.

I’ll be coming back soon, with more truth you need to know—truth the powers-that-be are determined to keep from you—the truth beneath the claim that this country is continuing to “create a more perfect union.”