Freedom and Empire

The ideology of capitalism so closely followed by the US fosters a culture of mass consumption and production. As the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the US was positioned as the sole global superpower. However, as a result of the Cold War, the US developed a dependence on imported goods and on credit. Meanwhile, the position of the US as a global enforcer meant that military spending only increased. The added factor of consumerist American society, which demanded more goods, meant the US had to find resources to fulfill its problems.  As Andrew Bacevich puts it, “The pursuit of freedom, as defined in an age of consumerism, has induced a condition of dependence—on imported oil, on imported goods, on credit, and on the U.S. military to keep the global order humming,”

According to Bacevich, American freedom at home cannot be maintained with a sizeable global presence. American dominance abroad means that no nation can hope to challenge the US’s superpower monopoly. Wars abroad secure key resources such as oil in the middle east and trading rights which allow the affluence of American lifestyle and the ideal of the American dream to be maintain. For Bacevich, “Freedom at home, requires Empire abroad”, as without the resources, the increases in demand for goods due to a consumerist society cannot be met. Due to the finite number of resources present on the globe, the US is forced to maintain an empire to fuel the freedom it enjoys. The reason why society demands more goods and services is built into the capitalist ideology. The main goal for businesses is to seek profit, and the goal for consumers is to spend the salary they make as a result of profit for businesses. This creates a cycle of spending that spirals further as time progresses, as in the search for more profit, more resources are being used.

The wars which are started to gain more resources or to affirm dominance in a region, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, seem to stretch on forever, earning them the name “forever wars.” The only way to escape the endless conflict America faces is to reexamine the American lifestyle to make it more sustainable (Bacevich). The current system needs limits on material demands and a more realistic approach to foreign policy in comparison to the current policy of global enforcement. According to Bacevich, a reevaluation of the American way of life and foreign policy is the only way out of forever wars.