July 4 marked the 250th year of American independence, with the US administration holding a number of events to commemorate the day. Special exhibitions were organised in different parts of the state.
The UK, which once ruled over America, also expressed solidarity with Washington by participating in different events, with the British monarch sending a congratulatory message to the American president. Amidst the clamouring of celebration is buried the dark side of American history, which needs to be revealed.
Hidden from the vast majority of Americans is the bloody history of their country and the sheer hypocrisy of the ruling elite, which does not want to show the other side of the picture that is very ugly and extremely upsetting. They may only remember their fight for freedom and the excesses of the British Empire that ruled the US as a colonial power. They may also remember the people who fought against supporters of slavery, but very little mention is made of the colonial settler state’s nature as a mighty country.
America is a settler colonial state like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel, where indigenous people were decimated in order to pave the way for the settlements of immigrants who were mainly flooding the new land from parts of Europe. More than fifty million indigenous people were annihilated. Some estimates go to the extent of claiming that over 100 million local people were killed through diseases, massacres, and outright oppression: their lands were confiscated, their kids snatched away and they were relegated to the status of second-class citizens. It is ironic that the people who owned that land were only given citizenship of that country in the 20th century.
America’s emergence also proved catastrophic for global peace. According to the Naval Historical College of the US, the mighty country militarily intervened around 223 times since its creation until 9/11, besides being involved in more than 280 conflicts directly or indirectly since 1945. Washington fought terrible wars in the 20th century. It is accused of being responsible for three million deaths in the Korean Peninsula, 3-7 million killings in Vietnam, over two million in Laos and Cambodia, over 4.0 million in Afghanistan, 2.5 million in Iraq, while hundreds of thousands of killings in other parts of the world are also blamed on the US.
The US not only waged wars itself, but it also backed other belligerent states like Israel that killed over 70,000 people in the recent Gaza conflict alone. It is the top defence spender, with American President Donald Trump recently demanding $1.5 trillion for defence. The US has used nuclear bombs besides threatening to use them on multiple occasions since 1945. Washington has been operating over 700 military posts across the globe to control not only enemies but allies as well.
Despite making tall claims about promoting democracy, the US has been the biggest patron of dictators and brutal regimes. According to William Blum, an author and a former State Department official, the US toppled or backed more than 100 non-democratic governments, overthrowing the elected government of Allende in Chile and paving the way for military dictator General Pinochet, who unleashed a reign of terror, forcibly disappearing more than 10,000 people. The American government was also instrumental in removing the government of Iranian prime minister Mosaddeq in collusion with British intelligence.
Washington also orchestrated a military coup in Guatemala in 1954, besides ensuring a humiliating exit from power of Patrice Lumumba, who was not only dethroned in a disgraceful way, but also physically eliminated in the name of democracy. The US destroyed Iraq, Syria and Libya, besides destabilising those countries that did have elected representatives but whose policies did not go down well with Washington.
America’s founding fathers raised the slogans of equality, but in reality, the country remained a prison-like place for non-white people for a long time. During World War Two, the US persecuted Japanese and other ethnic minorities while black people, whose toil and sweat ensured American prosperity, remained second-class citizens for over 200 years. It was only after a relentless struggle that they got a modicum of equality during the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. However, institutional racism is still there. The far-right forces under Trump are rearing their monstrous head again. Black communities still feel threatened, while Latinos and other non-white races are also the victims of these hate-mongers, who have been demanding the remigration of non-white people. This clearly indicates that the germs of racism that were sown by American politicians are still prevalent.
The American economy has been exploitative from day one. Its initial economic development depended on the ruthless exploitation of black and indentured labourers and later its own working classes. The two tremendous periods of American economic development were witnessed during World War I and II, when Europe was devastated, with the European economy shrinking more than 18 per cent, providing an opportunity for American capitalists to seize the opportunity and flood European markets with American goods. These were also the periods when American GDP witnessed a phenomenal surge.
Post-World War II prosperity also thrived on European destruction. At times during the 1940s and 50s, the US was contributing more than 30 per cent to global GDP. It clearly indicates that in the past its prosperity was closely linked to ruthless exploitation of black and white working classes, while in the 20th century its economic prosperity was heavily dependent on the destruction of the economies in Europe, South Korea, Japan and other parts of the world.
Like the UK, the US is a big champion of a free market economy. But the bitter truth is: it has been the most protectionist economy in the world. In the past, it employed protectionist tactics to deter other economic powers from effectively operating inside the US market and now it is using the same strategy to deter China and other countries from accessing the US market fully. The US asked developing countries to abolish a number of subsidies while continuing to extend the same to its farmers and certain sections of its economy. Today, it is unable to compete with China, which is now urging the world to follow the principles of a free market economy and let market forces decide the course of economic direction. The US, along with Europe, has slapped China with many sanctions. Despite being a champion of the free market economy, the US is doing everything that flies in the face of the spirit of the free market economy. This clearly indicates that there is a dichotomy between what the American ruling elites say and what they do.
The US is also one of the biggest threats to the environment. Trump and his tedious acolytes have been seeking to destroy the environment in an effective way. They have been projecting those who deny the very phenomenon of climate change, asserting it is just a fiction. Under the Trump administration, the business of fossil fuel companies has witnessed a tremendous surge. The Pentagon is the biggest spender on fossil fuels, and the American military is one of the biggest polluters in the world. This policy of the American ruling elite not only threatens the American people but also the health and lives of millions across the Global South.
The writer is a freelance journalist who can be reached at: [email protected]
