04mar2004: Suddenly
it all becomes clear. I have a theory - with an unusual sense
of certainty - why the USA's behaving the way it is. Here's my hypothesis...
I believe we have the first example of an entire country
suffering a collective mental illness.
It struck me while browsing a list of common symptoms used by doctors
to ascertain if someone's brain isn't quite wired right. (OK, so I was bored.)
If you apply the list to the USA's behaviour as a whole - rather than to individuals
- pretty much every item on the list checks. Some examples:
Do I feel there's been a change in my behaviour? Symptom:
feeling more disoriented, confused, or easily agitated than usual. Yes, definitely.
A concert violinist is asked to put his Strad in the hold, since he could 'use
a violin string to strangle the pilot'. Even the slightest suggestion of wrongdoing
on the US's part meets with hysterical overreactions from Washington.
An inability to make reasoned decisions. The Iraquagmire
was easy to predict, yet neither the Bush nor Blair administrations gave any
thought to what consequences might result. This inability to make rational decisions
seems particularly true of today's White House, with its 'presidential science
advisory panel' stuffed with anti-abortionists, fundamentalist christians, and
anti-stem cell 'researchers'.
Feeling strong and repeated concerns about death. More
Americans fear terrorist attack than fear guns or a car accident - and the USA
has those in abundance. And with litigation against everything from slippery
forest trails to Big Macs, there seems to be a lack of ability to appraise risk
appropriately.
Denial of the obvious. The US seeks to justify its
little concentration camp off Cuba with dismissals about it 'being beyond US
law'. Perhaps, but that's not the point, guys.
Not taking prescribed medication. The analogy here
could be with the UN; the 'calming medication' of taking decisions through an
international process can treat the USA's condition quite effectively, yet it's
refusing (despite appearances) to do so.
Overcompensating. The USA no longer gives any proportionate
response to issues involving it; all responses are disproportionate. It should
be obvious that you can't fight a terrorist organisation by by waging war on
countries where terrorists may be hiding, yet W's holy war continues.
Arguing with family and neighbors. Undoubtedly true.
I know several diplomats, and without exception they complain of how difficult
the USA's become to deal with since 911.
Finding yourself in a bad mood more than usual? I
made a snide comment about Bush on the Tube recently, and a family of Texans
- people I'd never met before - denied I had any right to express such an opinion
(in no uncertain terms.) The fact they were far louder in expressing their own
didn't cross their minds.
Do I avoid being with people and feel anxious when I talk with
people? Yes, since 911 at least. With fewer than one in seven Americans
even holding a passport - and many of those only because they were born elsewhere
- most Americans seem only able to interact with the 3% of the world who live
within US borders.
Do I feel pains and aches that don't have any medical basis? Yes.
A nation that chokes its children on endless Ritalin and whose women munch Prozac
like Smarties is definitely collectively hypochondriac.
Have I been drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or taking drugs?
Highest rates of drug addiction and alcohol abuse pretty much anywhere - yet
with correspondent paranoia: try ordering a beer at lunch while dating an American
woman and she'll instantly assume you have an 'issue'. Enough said.
Do I have more trouble functioning in the community than in the
past? Yes. All the USA can do these days, it seems, is point guns at
people who don't agree with them. I believe that if the USA comes out of this,
the subject of how Bush squandered every iota of compassion post-911 will be
a news story as pivotal as JFK or Nixon.
Do I find myself wandering around not sure of what I am doing
or where I am going? Possibly; it's acted decisively on Afghans and
Iraqis, yet seems unsure of where to go next or how to deal with it.
Am I suspicious of others including my friends and family?
Absolutely - although it doesn't look like the UK should be criticising its propensity
for bugging diplomats of other nations. (You bugged six little Carribbean islands?
Hell, we got KOFI!)
Do I find no pleasure in doing things that I used to enjoy a great
deal? I'd guess this is untrue - the US and its media seem to take immense
pleasure in killing people and breaking things, particularly when they're in
other nations. But perhaps they're just 'going through the motions', without
any real belief in them?
Do I feel hopeless or worthless? No - the opposite. Exception
that proves the rule perhaps? (NOTE 07mar2004: an American emailed me saying
he thinks this is true: ' People on the left are in despair because of how well
the Religious Reich has taken over in this country, and people on the right are
desperate to convert every last American to fundamentalist Christianity'.
Do I feel more nervous and worried than usual without any
reason? Yes, definitely - all today's American anger is rooted in fear.
So it looks like 911 made the USA mad, and not in a good way. This isn't
a Cold War; it's something far scarier - a Hot War. A war being fought on rage
and greed, not negotiation or reason. It's not down to any one individual, but
just enough people are just close enough to the edge for the USA as a whole to
have fallen into the chasm.
And with the world's largest economy, most powerful military, and
a fast-growing population, the inmates are running the asylum. Let's hope the
world makes it through this. While terrorism's a nasty set of methods perpetrated
by nasty people, all they can do is take potshots at the odd building or town;
they can scar the world but not leave lasting injuries on it. But the USA - capable
of destroying large tracts of the planet - is a far, far bigger worry. Never
thought I'd find a simple-minded Texan more dangerous than an Islamic fundie.
