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The U.S. Empire or Greater United States has numerous client/vassal states, 1000+ military bases & an extensive ability to project influence around the world.
There is something of a taboo quality to using the word empire to refer to the U.S.
Yet, that is precisely what it is.
Countless foreign nations, victims of U.S. aggression and invasion, have denounced the U.S. for its imperialism, a word with the same etymological root as empire.
So,
What began as an attempt to set up one of the most limited, constrained and decentralized governments ever has transmogrified into a sprawling empire whose breadth, power and influence is unprecedented in world history.
Those who believe humanity should run society without government (anarchists) based only on voluntary cooperation (voluntaryists) point to the results of the American experiment as proof that government by its very nature grows out of control...
The results, they say, show that no matter what limits you attempt to put on government, they can always be undone, because politicians can simply change laws and find way to bypass constitutions once they are in power.
For one example of many, look at how the U.S. bypassed many privacy and surveillance laws in the Bill of Rights by,
Suddenly, the usual rules don't apply when terrorism and the fake war on terror are invoked.
All of this is gives credence to the idea that no government is better than small government in the anarchy vs. minarchy debate...
The actual Greater United States. Image credit: Daniel Immerwahr
The original 13 colonies soon expanded.
Just to name a few highlights, the U.S. Republic,
The U.S. then expanded further, such that it then had a mainland of 48 contiguous states and territory beyond that:
A watershed moment in the history of the U.S. Empire, and its land and territory acquisition, came in 1898.
Thus, by end of the 19th century, the U.S. had already transformed itself into the U.S. Empire.
In this video and in his book, Daniel Immerwahr makes the point that around this time, Americans began to redraw their maps and take pride in their new status.
However later on, they sought more to play down and hide their power, figuring it would serve them better to keep it concealed.
At one point in the video clip, Immerwahr tells the story of an American GI soldier in the Philippines during WW2, who was told by a Filipino that the U.S. had colonized the Philippines, but didn't realize it.
The U.S. emerged as the sole world superpower after WW2, but unlike the British Empire, it decided not to outright conquer or annex territory, but rather to build military installations on virtually every continent.
The U.S. hides the official number of its military bases so as to conceal the true extent of its imperial reach, however based on the research of people like Chalmers Johnson and Nick Turse, we know that it is at least 1000 bases, and quite probably more...
Johnson died in 2010, but in a talk now removed from YouTube claims that in 2004, the Pentagon's official number was 725 (as published in the Base Structure Report).
However, he acknowledged that the Pentagon disguised many of its bases and had 300+ unacknowledged ones.
Turse has written many articles and books on the topic of U.S. military bases including this 2019 one Bases, Bases, Everwhere… Except in the Pentagon's Report:
To put this number in perspective, the emerging rivals to the U.S. Empire have barely any foreign military bases:
Hallmark of the U.S.
Empire - The Projection of Power without Annexation of Territory
Through domestic propaganda, they have obscured the reality of the empire such that not many Americans make the connection. They have also avoided colonizing too many weaker nations, instead preferring to project power without actually annexing land.
This is achieved through 'economic warfare' such as,
Then there is also the method described by former economic hit-man John Perkins.
Yes, the U.S. is a republic in the sense that it has (highly controlled) elections where (s)elected individuals ascend to power, however, despite this form of governance, the U.S. still behaves as an imperial bully, aggressor and invader to nations outside of it...
That behavior is what defines it as an 'empire'...
In this context, the word "republic" means nothing. Have you noticed the irony with which nations around the world use the word republic in their official country titles?
Republic means,
Do you really think the people hold the supreme power in,
This is why you "spell" words, since uttered words are like a (magic) spell. The power of the U.S. Empire lies in its narrative control and perception control.
It's a simple formula.
Orwell's great work 1984 showed what can come from word control.
The question we must ask ourselves here is this:
Surely this uncomfortability itself is evidence of the magic of word control and propaganda.
If so, then it is more crucial than ever that people begin to use terms like U.S. Empire and 'Greater' United States to take a small yet bold step of breaking the conditioning that holds them in chains...
American Empire Map
Click here for Interactive Map
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