L‘article “The disunited States of America haunted by civil war”, by Valentine Faure, published in the Ideas section of your October 31 weekend newspaper, is excellent. I will nevertheless allow myself the following comments: the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 between the southern slave states, whose economy was based on cotton plantations, and the northern states, engaged in a policy of industrialization fast, was terrible. It is the war that has claimed the most victims in American history: 600,000 dead, compared with 400,000 for World War II on both fronts against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.
The North needed a large free labor force that would be used in factories, railroads, dams, etc., while the comfortable and privileged way of life of whites in the South depended on slavery. . The war ended with the victory of the northern states, because their cause was in the direction of history. Slavery, a brake on industrial development, had been, or was in the process of being, abolished in Europe. This victory for the North, which made it possible to preserve the Union, was not easy and its painful consequences – including racism, discrimination against blacks, still exist today.
But this is not, at the present time, the essential point. The real reason for America’s unease today is painful loss. That of the loss of a position, of a status that was his throughout the twentieth century: that of the total domination of the American empire over the economy and world politics, which disappeared at the beginning of the twenty-first century . It is, in other words, the end of the American empire that we are witnessing: the United States is forced to share world domination with China and Russia.
It is this loss which today is the main cause of the crisis shaking the United States. Americans in general, and in particular the white popular classes who, in addition, are losing their demographic majority, have a hard time digesting this situation and they accuse the elites – economic, political and intellectual – of being responsible: they have failed in their role / responsibility / mission of defending America’s greatness.
This is the message of Donald Trump who came to power by promising to restore America to its greatness. It is a message that has, and will continue to have, a great resonance in America, regardless of his defeat at the polls to Joe Biden, the representative of these elites guilty of treason.
In conclusion, then, I think we are living the end of the era of elites in America. By what and by whom will it be replaced? It is too early to tell. What is certain is that, probably, this search for a new system will be difficult and dangerous, not only for the United States, but also for the rest of the world. Because the search for revolutionary systemic change is necessarily accompanied by violence.
Let us not forget, in the United States, in recent months, arms sales have broken all records. This is an indication which is not trivial. Two tendencies will clash: that of the attempt to restore a dominant America in the world, doomed to failure, and that of a systemic change favorable to a more equal distribution of resources and wealth. We can only hope that the second wins.
Zeki Ergas, Bagnes (Switzerland)