Submitted by Marvin Miller

The ethics of imperialism is similar to that of racism: one part of the human species is deemed to be superior to another part and to possess the right to dominate that other part, even, in some circumstances, to the extent of genocide.
Americans, collectively, have been ambivalent toward imperialism. Our country, as an independent country, was born in a revolution against the British empire, which made anti-imperialism an inherent part of American culture. But Americans have not been averse to American imperialism. The nickname of New York is the Empire State. The Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that “all men are created equal”, also contains a harsh insult against the entire Native American population. Such an attitude accompanied and justified the armed seizure of control over the lands inhabited by the Native Americans.

Lenin called imperialism the highest stage of capitalism. But imperialism is much older than capitalism. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, etc. had empires.

Historically, empires were extended by marching an army into a country and seizing control over it. This still happens, but since the two world wars it has become, to some extent, culturally disreputable. Other means have been used to effect similar results.

American imperialism beyond the borders of the U.S.A. goes back as far as the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which asserted that extension of European imperialism on the Americas was a danger to the United States, implicitly claiming the entire western hemisphere as the sphere of influence of the U.S. Since then the U.S. has intervened often in Latin America and the West Indies. We still hold a piece of Cuba and use it as a prison.

In the middle of the 19th century the U.S. took a big chunk of Mexico by armed force .At the end of the century it took Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain.
Since the second world war the scope of American imperialism has been global. It intervened in Greece and South Korea to prevent Communist takeovers. Among government leaders removed by U.S. intervention were Allende in Chile, Lumumba in the Congo, Arbenz in Guatemala, Aristide in Haiti, Sukarno in Indonesia, Mossadegh in Iran, and Diem in South Vietnam. Some of these removals involved assassination, the installation of tyrannical regimes, and large-scale civilian deaths.

Other countries also seek to exert power beyond their borders. The British maintained control over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. The Russians tried to control Afghanistan. But in our era the cross-border power of other countries is tiny compared with that of the U.S.

In a humanistic view, we should side with the anti-imperialistic side of American culture. Populations should have the right to govern the places where they live and use their resources in their own interest, rather than being governed by the governments of other countries.