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Unexceptionalism: A Primer
By E. L. DOCTOROW
TO achieve unexceptionalism, the political ideal that would render the United States indistinguishable from the impoverished, traditionally undemocratic, brutal or catatonic countries of the world, do the following:
PHASE ONE
If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court, ignore the first sacrament of a
democracy and suspend the counting of ballots in a presidential
election. Appoint the candidate of your choice as president.
If you’re the newly anointed president, react to a terrorist attack by
invading a nonterrorist country. Despite the loss or disablement of
untold numbers of lives, manage your war so that its results will be
indeterminate.
Using the state of war as justification, order secret surveillance of
American citizens, data mine their phone calls and e-mail, make
business, medical and public library records available to government
agencies, perform illegal warrantless searches of homes and offices.
Take to torturing terrorism suspects, here or abroad, in violation of
the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the infliction
of cruel and unusual punishment. Unilaterally abrogate the Convention
Against Torture as well as the Geneva Conventions regarding the
treatment of prisoners of war. Commit to indeterminate detention without
trial those you decide are enemies. For good measure, trust that
legislative supporters will eventually apply this policy as well to
American citizens.
Suspend progressive taxation so that the wealthiest pay less
proportionately than the middle class. See to it that the wealth of the
country accumulates to a small fraction of the population so that the
gap between rich and poor widens exponentially.
By cutting taxes and raising wartime expenditures, deplete the national
treasury so that Congress and state and municipal legislatures cut back
on domestic services, ensuring that there will be less money for the
education of the young, for government health programs, for the care of
veterans, for the maintenance of roads and bridges, for free public
libraries, and so forth.
Deregulate the banking industry so as to create a severe recession in
which enormous numbers of people lose their homes and jobs.
Before you leave office add to the Supreme Court justices like the ones who awarded you the presidency.
PHASE TWO
If you’re one of the conservative majority of a refurbished Supreme
Court, rule that corporations, no less than human beings, have the right
under the First Amendment to express their political point of view. To
come to this judgment, do not acknowledge that corporations lack the
range of feelings or values that define what it is to be human. That
humans can act against their own interest, whereas corporations cannot
act otherwise than in their own interest. That the corporation’s only
purpose is to produce wealth, regardless of social consequences.
This decision of the court will ensure tremendous infusions of corporate
money into the political process and lead to the election in national
and state legislatures of majorities of de facto corporate lobbyists.
PHASE THREE
Given corporate control of legislative bodies, enact laws to the benefit
of corporate interests. For example, those laws sponsored by weapons
manufacturers wherein people may carry concealed weapons and shoot and
kill anyone by whom they feel threatened.
Give the running of state prisons over to private corporations whose
profits increase with the increase in inmate populations. See to it that
a majority of prisoners are African-American.
When possible, treat immigrants as criminals.
Deplete and underfinance a viable system of free public schools and give
the education of children over to private for-profit corporations.
Make college education unaffordable.
Inject religious precepts into public policy so as to control women’s bodies.
Enact laws prohibiting collective bargaining. Portray trade unions as un-American.
Enact laws restricting the voting rights of possibly unruly constituencies.
Propagandize against scientific facts that would affect corporate
profits. Portray global warming as a conspiracy of scientists.
Having subverted the Constitution and enervated the nation with these
measures, portray the federal government as unwieldy, bumbling and shot
through with elitist liberals. Create mental states of maladaptive
populism among the citizenry to support this view.
PHASE FOUR
If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court, decide that the police of any
and all cities and towns and villages have the absolute authority to
strip-search any person whom they, for whatever reason, put under
arrest.
With this ruling, the reduction of America to unexceptionalism is complete
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