Guyana and the wider world
by Dr Clive Thomas
Stabroek News
September 30, 2001

Last week I had the opportunity to make a brief work-related visit to the United States, when I visited the Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. I confess I had silently hoped that the visit would have been re-scheduled in the aftermath of September 11. As luck would have it, this did not happen. As I have since come to learn, American institutions are determined to maintain as far as it is humanly possible a 'business as usual approach.' This is an important ingredient in national efforts to strengthen public morale and to maintain steadfastness at a time of grave national crisis.

Although the visit was brief, it nevertheless exposed me to many of the 'sights and sounds' of life in the US, as it seeks to cope with, and respond to, what is still for me the mind-boggling series of events of September 11. Because of the central role that the United States plays in globalisation, I believe it would be useful to readers for me to report on certain aspects of what I observed.

Mainstream views

Mainstream America's position is clear and definite. There is an overwhelming, if not overpowering outpouring of nationalism. The display of flags, bands playing the national anthem, and people singing God Bless America are seen and heard almost everywhere. Politically, this rise in nationalistic fervour has been translated into a remarkable rallying around the elected political leadership, at both the federal and state level. President George Bush, who a few weeks ago was being accused of 'stealing' the last presidential elections with the help of the US Supreme Court, has become so popular that his support in the Gallup Polls reached 90 per cent. This is reported to be the highest level recorded by a president since the commencement of the polls in 1938.

Even the much maligned Mayor Guiliani of New York, who has completed two terms, and who under the New York Constitution is now ineligible for a third, has both Democrats and Republicans calling for a change to the constitution so as to permit him a third term. Indeed, throughout the country both elected Republicans and Democrats are saying, "there are no longer Democrats and Republicans, only Americans."

These sentiments are so strong that television shows, movies, and even books are being held back from publication and public viewing, if there is the slightest suggestion that any of these are 'out-of-sync' with the present national mood.

Nervousness

Having said all this, however, mainstream America remains nervous about two things. One is flying. For many, this is also extended to include on-the-ground forms of mass transportation, particularly the underground subway services. As an example, in my flight from Detroit to Miami, Northwest Airlines used its regular Airbus with a capacity of about 150 persons but I counted less than 20 persons in the economy class cabin of the plane.

The other fear is the future of the US economy. Already over 200,000 jobs have been lost due to lay-offs from airlines, cutbacks in aircraft construction, and reduction in hotel, conventions, and travel-related activities. The erratic behaviour of the stock market, along with its unprecedented 14% decline in stock values during the first week after its re-opening, has not helped. Indeed the Conference Board has reported that consumer confidence has shown a decline. Surprisingly, this seems to be more related to fear over job losses, than directly linked to September 11. As a result, it is taken for granted by most commentators and analysts that a US recession is now inevitable. Such a recession will certainly spread to Europe (Japan is already in recession) and threatening therefore, to precipitate a global recession.

On the fringe

While these are the main markers of views in mainstream America that I observed, there are deadly views on the fringe, which keeps surfacing from time to time. For example, I heard persons call for a "temporary" cessation of all immigration to the United States in order to keep terrorists out. Now, anyone familiar with US history and its development would know that immigration into the US has been believed in with almost religious fervour. This has been seen by many, as the main engine behind the US' awesome economic strength. That this call has surfaced now is very disconcerting. The call seems linked to the growing incidence of reported physical and verbal harassments on Muslims or persons of apparent Arab ethnicity, both by the public and in some cases law enforcement persons. This has made life extremely uncomfortable for Arab-Americans, particularly the overwhelming majority whose loyalty to the US, and for that matter, whose willingness to participate in the upsurge of nationalism, has never been in doubt. Indeed so xenophobic has this fringe become that, even turbaned Sikhs have been attacked in public, simply for looking strange.

Revenge

Echoing what are clearly hawkish tendencies within the Bush administration, I have also heard calls not only for revenge against Afghanistan, but for the US to take the opportunity "to liberate" a host of countries where it is claimed terrorism resides. The list includes Iraq, Cuba, Libya, North Yemen, Sierra Leone, Chechen and Colombia. Such calls are not to be dismissed simply because they are extreme, for I suspect they feed a real danger that the aftermath of September 11 could see a headlong rush into verbal and psychological confrontation, if not war, between Western and non-Western (Muslim!) civilisations and cultures.

Insensitive language

In this regard some insensitive language used by the US Government and other lapses in public pronouncements by the President have been most unfortunate. Three examples were frequently cited to me in the university circles, where I moved. One was the reference by President Bush to intended US military action as leading a "crusade" against terrorism. The historical connotations of the term "crusade" are, of course, particularly distasteful to Muslims. Another example was the reference the President also made to the Wild West dictum, of wanting Osama bin Laden 'dead or alive.' Those of us in Guyana who are sensitive to police abuses know only too well how abhorrent this phrase is. It is seen by law enforcement authorities as, and indeed is intended to give, a free licence to the lawless killing and execution of the wanted person.

The third example is the reference to bin Laden as a "man living in a cave" who attacks the mighty USA. Again, the historical connotation is the white supremacist reference to Third World peoples and blacks in particular as 'cavemen' or primitive, uncivilised peoples.

Wrap-up

As a wrap-up it seems to me that the combination of mainstream nationalistic fervour and extremist remarks from the fringe, has created an atmosphere in which dispassionate and analytical discourse of the September 11 events is not possible at this time in the public arena of the USA. In private discussions with my American university colleagues, this was admitted. If true, this is to be regretted, as, not only does the US need at this time, more than ever, the benefit of a real dialogue in order to arrive at a sober and rational response to September 11, but in depriving itself of this, it takes away one of the main strengths of American society. That is, the freedom of expression and freedom of thought which it embraces so uncompromisingly. If this were to happen, it would ensure for the terrorists a real victory.

As I said in my first piece after September 11, the world is at a rare turning point. As the undisputed hegemonic power in this age of globalisation, enormous responsibility is placed on the United States. The choice, as I see it, is between a genuinely global effort led by the United Nations to find political solutions to outlaw terrorism once and for all, or vengeful and disproportionate actions by the US, which will feed further terrorism, instability and violence.