A few days ago some rather violent weather hit Lancaster County, PA. At our house, we were lucky to escape the more violent storms. However, there was a slight hiccup in the electric service. Our lights flickered, and my computer cut off. I didn't think much about it. I restarted my computer, but soon discovered that my wireless network went down. This can usually be fixed by pulling the plug on the router for a few seconds and restarting it. That didn't work. I spent all evening working on it, assuming the worst, namely that the router was blown. However, by returning the router to the manufactured defaults, I was able to reprogram it and bring up my wireless network. The point I am trying to make is that a seemingly insignificant event like a momentary electric surge can wreak major catastrophe on a network. Sometimes these things affect entire power grids.
The same thing can happen to civilizations and empires. As we look back across the centuries, we have seen a succession of empires rise and fall. Let's just run through a list of empires: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Holy Roman, Spanish, French, British, the Soviet Union, and now the American empire. In each case there was a rise in power through violent overthrow, pacification via a domination system, greed and corruption, overreach, and finally a fall to the next empire. Why should the American empire be any different? In fact, we appear to be very close to that final stage.
Who would have thought in 1980 that the Soviet Union was close to collapse? Yet within a decade it disappeared with barely a whimper, as the Berlin Wall fell. America is now the only remaining super power. New revelations of corruption appear in the news almost daily. We have certainly overreached our capabilities for pacification. Our military might is no match against guerilla warfare. Look at Vietnam. Look at Afghanistan. Look at Iraq. Small bands of insurgents and freedom fighters make our mighty armies look impotent. My question is, "What will trigger the fall of the great American Empire? More importantly, will that be the end of civilization as we know it? I am seventy-four years old, but the end could easily come within my lifetime.
America is very much like a drunken alcoholic. We keep tipping the bottle of warfare and death again and again. We can't stop. It is now obvious that we cannot win the war against terrorism by military victory. Perhaps like an alcoholic, we must hit rock bottom before we can sober up. The uppermost question in my mind is the following one: "Is there hope for the future?" Can we turn things around? The great prophets of Israel spoke of a God who desired only justice and peace among his children. Jesus of Nazareth preached the Kingdom of God where the citizens became servants to each other rather than lording it over one another. In our own time, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Bishop Tutu, and Nelson Mandela demonstrated that the ways of non-violence work to bring about justice in an unjust world. A tiny woman, Sister Teresa, showed the world what can be done through the role of servanthood.
Yes, there is hope. If there were not, the work of all of the afore-mentioned would have been in vain. However, there is little time left. It is time to embark on the path set by these great souls. Let us abandon the road set by the Neocons and abandon the dream of a world dominated by the American empire. Let us begin to build a new world based on justice where each of us learns to play a servant role in a world community based on love and peace. That is the hope of the great prophets. That is the path set by Jesus. That is the dream of Martin Luther King. The path has been laid out. We have only to step out and begin the journey. Unless we take a new direction, the boulder is about to tip over and America is directly in its path. I will have more to say about this in the coming weeks.