Arthur Silber on the Fall of the American Empire

"The sum of the catastrophic policies [torture, rendition, preemptive war, etc.] endorsed by the Bush administration, together with the still-unfolding consequences of those policies around the world, may have placed us at the most critical juncture in our nation's history in more than a century. At this point, and because of the widespread acceptance of our government's actions (even if only passive in nature, which is perhaps the worst kind of acceptance) and the underlying corruption such acceptance reveals, it is impossible to know if we will begin to alter our course, and regain the decency and respect for elementary concepts of human dignity we have set aside with such unforgivable carelessness. The fact that we don't know if we will begin to save our honor, and our souls, may be the worst judgment of all. Many Americans still prefer to believe otherwise, but we are not immune to the forces, the fears and the hatreds that have destroyed other countries. All great civilizations of the past have had their time of glory and have faded into dust. Some have faded quickly, vanishing almost overnight, while others disappeared very slowly and imperceptibly. But they are all gone now. It is only our belief that we are somehow special, that we are unique, that prevents us from recognizing this starkly obvious historical reality. Even if it were true that we are unique, and even if we are unique in critical ways, none of that alters the course of history -- and it does not change the ultimate outcome once barbarism is embraced and set loose. But we acknowledge none of this, and insist that the rules that apply to all others do not apply to us, for some reason which is neither convincing nor, more importantly, true. Our self-imposed blindness may well destroy us, and we will not finally see the truth until it is too late. If we should fade into dust much sooner than we might have, history will note that we could have chosen otherwise -- but that we resolutely refused to do so. History will judge us accordingly, as it judges all those who have gone before. But the shame will be ours, now and always."