What it is
Something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time now after being immersed in this year’s Academic Decathlon material is that the United States is still in a Cold War mindset. With the podcast my friends and myself are recording to discuss the material, we also had a conversation on how the United States is in a continuation of a Cold War. Let me explain.
There are general distinctions in periods of history (i.e. trends, themes, and theories) and the 20th century has been no different. A reason to why we see so many trends is because it has been one of the better recorded periods due to the advent of technology throughout and better methods of recording/collection. During the latter half of the century, the USSR and the United States were involved in a series of proxy wars, threats backed by nuclear weapons, and an ideological battle.
The political mindset within the United States was so ingrained within the average American that we have terms like the Red Scare or McCarthyism (where Senator Joseph McCarthy tried to fear monger on the basis of there being communist spies infiltrating the country and government) as well as several agencies to battle the communist threat.
Our Space Program was funded largely due to the Sovjets developing spacecraft effectively first and sent the first man, among other achievements, to space. This is only one example of a driver in our national policies due to the perceived Soviet threat.
Our military engaged in several proxy wars where we would send ammunition and supplies, even our soldiers (called advisors in the Vietnam War) to help defend Democracy across the globe.
Our Pledge was even amended in 1954 with the words “Under God” as well as the changing of our national motto from E, Pluribus Unum (Latin for out of many, one) to In God We Trust. These phrases were created to promote a patriotic unity as a God-fearing nation and solidified a piece of religion into the state as a counter to the secular threat of the USSR (Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. is still secular, it just has this religious characteristic to it. In fact the addition of a religious motto and insertion of religion into the pledge should be an indicator of how big a deal the U.S. took the USSR) [1]
Even today after nearly 30 years since the end of the Cold War, a lot of our culture revolves around our past. Take for example, meme culture with the majority of historical memes having to do with the failure in Vietnam, or the antagonization of Soviet Russia. Even in our media such as Television, we have episodes in the Simpsons that have to do with Communist spies. We even like to highlight our military prowess and our global dominance whenever we have the chance.
An event that is extremely crucial to understanding why we still have many aspects of this mindset is something often regarded as the point that ended the 90s – the September 11th attacks. I wasn’t born when they happened but for the best of my abilities I understand the weight it carries in this country and worldwide. The tragedy is significant not only for the countless lives lost on that day and the following weeks (and unfortunately to this day), but also for the age it ushered in. The continuation of wars throughout foreign countries, mainly in the middle east is a direct effect of the attack on our nation. Our frustration was directed at Iraq and WMDs. We passed acts that would ultimately limit our personal freedoms and justifiably support it because of the fear instilled by terrorism. Unfortunately, this war on terror and terrorism itself has added fuel to the fire of the Cold War mindset. An unthinkable act led to our reaction which now many of us are realizing was not the right way to solve the problem.
What I’m trying to say is that our Cold War mindset never left us. Now it is up to you to decide if this can be beneficial or harmful.
My opinion
For me, I think it can harm us more than benefit because of a consistent sky-high military budget allocation and a low amount of government funding going to education or domestic development. Now while it is more complex than just cutting our exorbant military budget, we should put the spotlight on how we can solve the problem of spending so much on soldiers in foreign lands.
It is no mystery that recent wars have not been fueled for the common defense or protection of our citizens, but for oil-hungry capitalists. The United States has quite a history of messing with smaller sovereign states, even before the Cold War (see Banana Republics), but it could be argued that we increased intervening in foreign affairs during the Cold War and still do with the millennium wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Finally, the last point I will make is on how our country’s increased polarization in recent decades has been an accelerator of negligence towards more “left” leaning ideology. It doesn’t matter what your political stance is because it is easy to notice that a significant portion of our population will froth to the mouth at any mention of socialism/welfare/communism. I’d like to be clear: this is not not an endorsement of Communism, I have different ideological stances, but in my opinion it is not healthy to actively shun discourse on other ideologies than what each of us hold.
That should just be a basic principle in discussing politics. When we say slavery is wrong we need to understand why. If we don’t than there will certainly be groups of people denying the cruelty of enslavement. That is even present in today’s society with malicious suppression of education on slavery by Southern states – there exists people who believe it was states rights and heritage that led to secession.
Another point I want to bring that has been apparent in the new millennium is how many Americans see themselves as patriotic and in a harmful manner. This is not a form of patriotism borne out of unity, rather a grotesque form of individualism. We are patriotic about our own love for the country and we say it is for the ideals that it stands for, that is great and all yet we are not patriotic for our fellow Americans. We need to be patriotic to uphold those liberties we treasure, no matter if we disagree with how they are used by the various people within our nation. There are causes to it, a significant one being the individualistic mindset that is proudly labeled as American. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but it can lead to a damaging concept where we do not look out for others. An obvious example would be the selling of the idea of being anti-mask. Let me clarify, I am not saying that people who believe the talking heads are intrinsically harmful; I am saying that the acceptance of figures that spew out an idea that actively harms others is what needs to be addressed. We need to ensure that there is more funding towards education and that we have a populous than can criticize and evaluate what they hear.
(Fact) check the mouth, and teach the ears.
Excite The Mind 