Six Issues for the U.S. to Ponder

Mohan R. Limaye

Introduction

I’ll present some issues in the form of questions that, in my opinion, WE AMERICANS need to ponder seriously. I hope that the question-form will create an atmosphere of openness, encourage participation, and invite acceptance of diverse views. The audience will debate the pros and the cons and also the consequences of our nation’s actions and inactions regarding these issues. My perspectives are likely to differ from those of quite a few of my audience because I was born and nurtured (until I came to the United States as a graduate student) in a different country – in India, of all places -- where a policy of neutrality was assiduously pursued in its international relations, particularly during the Cold War. In addition, may I mention that my family was generally left-leaning on economic, political and social issues? My second-oldest brother was a socialist member of India’s parliament. My goal for this “debate” is to make Americans aware of worldviews different from their own, different from the American main-stream thinking on these matters. That way, they may gain a deeper understanding of alternative views, reducing the friction that often arises out of anger and dismay at opposing opinions.

Questions/Issues

     1-A. Does intervention in the civil strife of other nations serve or undermine U.S. interests?

     1B: Does maintaining an extensive network of military bases across the world help or hurt the U.S.?

     2A: Which is more beneficial for the U.S. in the long run: soft power (power of the culture) or hard power (military power)? Some people argue that soft power creates less resistance and resentment than politico-military hegemony? On the other hand, some critics protest that the exercise of soft power is a form of cultural genocide and backdoor imperialism.

2-B. Would you recommend using our soft power rather than our hard power because we have been relatively more successful and effective with soft power than hard power during, say, the last seventy years?

3-A. What is your estimate of some of our Founding Fathers, for instance, of Thomas Jefferson? Do you think that he is overrated or underrated? Do you think that his prestige lent great power and currency to the idea and the practice of the “commodification” of human beings?

3-B. Do you think that we should review and amend some articles of our Constitution: for instance, those regarding the states’ representation in the U.S. Senate and presidential veto power?

4-A. What do you think are the major functions of the U.S. Federal Government? Would you include maintaining the defensive capabilities of the country?

4-B. How do you feel about also including the implementation of policies that will encourage an equitable distribution of incomes?

5-A. In your estimate, does an empire (by definition) lack empathy and sensitivity toward the nationhood of other communities?

5-B. Are modern empires, such as the British and the American empires, more intrusive and hence bigger offenders in this regard than the older ones like the Mauryan empire (in India) and Roman, Austro-Hungarian through the Turkish, all of which (of necessity) left the local affairs pretty much alone in the hands of the ruled?

6-A. Do you think those people have a point who say that the belief in one (True) God has killed many people in this world?

6-B. What is your reaction to the following statement?

Besides the common, age-old reasons for war such as covetousness for others’ assets or resources, protection of trade routes and commercial interests, and a desire for territorial expansion, the Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam – added to warmongering another more destructive layer of self-righteous intolerance and zealous extremism.

P.S. Do you think a more nuanced, more refined, approach will do justice to the complexity involved in these issues than a simple binary take on them?