An American educator, writer, and Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect, Brian Andre Victoria has been a peace activist since the 1960s. This essay, published originally in CounterCurrents, is used with permission. Victoria lives in Kyoto, Japan.
CounterCurrents readers will no doubt find it strange to read an article that thanks US President Donald Trump and those around him for anything they have said, let alone done. Yet, that is exactly what this article does. But thanking him for what?
Thanking Trump and his subordinates for having finally removed the last vestiges of what many observers have long known, i.e., the US, often together with its Western allies and Japan, have long pursued imperial if not imperialist policies throughout the world. Until now, however, they’ve always attempted to disguise their wars, subversive regime-change operations, economic sanctions, etc. as necessary in order to restore democracy, protect human rights, or ensure a rules-based international order.
Now, however, in the wake of the invasion and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump and his advisors have finally dropped all recourse to what have always been half-truths at best as well as simply blatant lies, think weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, etc. President Trump has, for once in his life, been honest and admitted that his recent military incursion in Venezuela was taken in pursuit of securing that country’s oil, something he claimed actually belonged to the US.
Stephen Miller, Tump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, was equally if not even more honest when he recently said on CNN: “We live in a world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
While Miller’s reference to “the beginning of time” is patently ridiculous, it is certainly true that all of world’s past empires have acted on the belief they possessed the power to govern the world as they saw fit and, more importantly, in a way best suited to enhance their greed and national self-interest.
Today, each and every empire that acted accordingly has rightfully been consigned to the dustbin of history. This is not because they abandoned their greed, but because sooner or later the oppressed and exploited of the world band together to bring down empires.
In the face of the ever more destructive American empire’s overreach, the world is once again at an inflection point. Doing nothing to oppose the insatiable appetite of President Trump and his minions is not an option. At least not an option if one believes that the peoples of the world deserve to be respected, cherished, and freed from exploitation and oppression.
Yet, how can we ordinary citizens, who possess no stealth bombers or other weapons of resistance, bring the empire to its knees? Are we powerless? Is there nothing we can do but rage ineffectively as no more than onlookers?
Fortunately, there is an effective method that has already been implemented, and, even if all too slowly, is bringing another lawless country to its knees. That country is Israel, and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement is the method undertaken to oppose its ongoing policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
I propose that in light of President Trump and his administration’s ever more destructive policies, the BDS movement be expanded to include the US as well as Israel. The beauty of this movement is that it can be participated in by young and old, men and women, and people of all nationalities. That is to say, participated in by everyone in the world who believes in justice and genuine freedom.
The BDS movement as originally formulated called for boycotts of activities, events and projects which legitimized or otherwise enabled Israel’s regime of apartheid, settler colonialism and occupation. It called for proactive solidarity with oppressed communities worldwide and with all victims of racist acts and rhetoric, recognizing that racism and racial discrimination are the antithesis of freedom, justice, and equality.
In expanding this movement to include the US, the same basic principles still apply. That is to say, the goals of freedom, justice and equality for all the peoples of the world are the same. However, in addition, a firm commitment to the elimination of economic injustice and exploitation should be at the forefront of the struggle against the US empire and its allies.
Concrete actions may be as simple as participants refusing to purchase products made in the US or by US companies, urging one’s friends and neighbors to do likewise. Or participating in peaceful demonstrations to express one’s opposition to US aggression.
Participants who are not US citizens may have American friends to whom they can voice their concerns, calling on them to join with them, for this is definitely not an “anti-American” let alone an “unAmerican” movement. Instead, it is a movement in which the American people can join the people of the world in searching, in striving, for our common liberation.
As Maya Angelou so aptly said, “The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.”
Finally, let us not be so naïve as to believe that bringing an end to the US empire will solve the many serious, even existential problems facing humanity. It will not, but what it can do is allow us to address humanity’s true enemies, factors like hunger and malnutrition, inadequate housing and health care, limited educational opportunities, climate change and many more. These are humanity’s true ‘enemies’, not each other! The sooner the US empire is, like its predecessors, rightfully relegated to the dustbin of history, the sooner the true and pressing problems facing humanity can be addressed. Let’s get to work!