“They are either intellectual or go after faith cure, table-turning, witchcraft, etc., etc. Nowhere have I heard so much about “love, life, and liberty” as in this country, but nowhere is it less understood. Here, God is either a terror or a healing power, vibration, and so forth. Lord bless their souls! And these parrots talk day and night of love and love and love!
Now, good dreams and good thoughts for you. You are good and noble. Instead of materialising the spirit, that is, dragging the spiritual to the material plane as these folks do, convert the matter into spirit, catch a glimpse at least, every day, of that world of infinite beauty and peace and purity — the spiritual, and try to live in it day and night”. – Swami Vivekananda, in his letter to Mary or Harriet Hale on July 31, 1894, about the American attitude
The assassination attempt on the former President of the United States of America (USA) and the current Republican nominee for the 2024 Presidential election, Donald Trump, when he was addressing a campaign rally in Pennsylvania created ripples within the American system and abroad. America, which considers itself the custodian of democratic values, and with each opportunity, keeps preaching about ‘freedom’, is going through something dire that the American establishment is not ready for. The Democratic campaign under the leadership of current President Joe Biden was already witnessing a downturn after the first open debate further derailed after this incident. There would be a debate within the US about the reasons for the security lapse and possible impact on the electoral outcome in November. For democracies worldwide, there are more significant questions to address, keeping this incident in mind. What are the real problems with Americanism? Is the assassination bid an attempt to kill the potential Republican nominee, or is something more sinister involved in it? What are the reasons for growing violence and intolerance in democracies, and how far Americanism is responsible for them? What are the options countries like Bharat can provide for this global challenge?
Americanism, a term often equated with Republicanism, freedom of speech, and equality of opportunities, or anti-Communism as emerged in the Cold War context, has a more complex history. It is important to note that the talk of civil liberties and multiculturalism emerged only after the brutal annihilation of local cultures and tribes by European colonisers. The Protestant groups, after settling on the American continent, waged the so-called War of Independence to protect themselves from the growing influence of European Catholicism. When Theodore Roosevelt rearticulated Americanism in 1894, he essentially underscored the need to evolve a common American identity above parochial regional or ethnic identities. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, manipulative capitalism and monopolies started controlling the American system. The oil and gas, pharmaceutical, agriculture and fertilisers, defence equipment, and banking and insurance lobbies started calling the shots in the decision-making process for accumulating profit and expanding their global reach. The two World Wars led to the decline of Europe and the rise of Americanism as a global brand. International organisations became the new instruments for importing and imposing policies that America wanted. In the name of opposing Communism and Fascism, all kinds of dictators and dynasts were promoted and protected. Profit motive became the sole American interest; values took the back seat. If you are not with us, you are against us, which became the narrative. The American establishment wants Bharat as a market but intends to control the Government’s foreign policy decisions to attain these dual objectives. Though the American model has created traction for the US as a land of opportunities, at the same time, it has also raised anti-American sentiments due to the interventionist policies.
Americanism conventionally stood for individual freedom and a free market economy but the American academia has been heavily dominated by the Left ideology, taking the benefits of democracy but batting for the revolutionary ideas based on Cultural-Marxism. Post 9/11, the fake narrative of Islamophobia was peddled and pushed by the same Leftists who do not have any hesitation in labelling any other religious community as fascists or terrorists. Islamophobia, a term used to describe prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam or Muslims, has been used to create faultlines and nurture hatred among communities. Individual leaders are targeted as faces of ‘fascism’ while systematically whitewashing the Left-Islamist crimes. The big tech infiltrated by the same tendencies and funded by the capitalist interests further promote excess consumerism, hollowed individualism, tormented family and community life and fractured policy. The attack on Trump is the outcome of all this. In a democracy, one can have disagreements about the policies and political positions of parties and leaders, but inciting violence and being a terror/Sharia apologist is anti-democratic. The same lobby tried the trick with the help of the American establishment in Bharat and PM Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Hindutva school of thought survived all these attempts repeatedly. That makes the BJP’s victory, along with its allies, special.
Due to the history of constant invasions and continuous resistance, Bharat has the unique religious traditions and history with a collective memory. The horrors of Partition are still fresh. Without recognising these facts, the American establishment tries to meddle in internal affairs and expects a civilisational state like Bharat to toe the American line on everything. In the process, it creates space for autocracies like China to discredit the electoral democracy.
The American establishment needs to come out of the illusion of their system being the best. The global market they want to capture with neo-colonial instincts is a failing project. Respecting diverse models is the pre-condition for protecting democracies. Bharat has been a spiritual democracy for ages – where all ways are accepted and respected – as explained by Swami Vivekananda. That makes Bharatiya democracy a potential solution provider to the global challenge of Islamo-Leftism. Instead of targeting democracies like Bharat and trying to impose the American model on others, the US establishment should introspect over the Islamo-Left infiltration in their system and collective fight against forces that promote violence and intolerance.
