Against Empire
A Brilliant Exposé of the Brutal Realities of U.S. Global Domination
Parenti, Michael
Publisher: City Lights
Year Published: 1995
Pages: 217pp ISBN: 0-87286-298-4
Dewey: 327.73
Resource Type: Book
Richly informed and written in an engaging style, Against Empire exposes the ruthless agenda and hidden costs of the US empire today. Documenting the pretexts and lies used to justify violent intervention and maldevlopment abroad, Parenti shows how the conversion to a global economy is a victory of finance capital over democracy.
Abstract:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Imperialism 101
Across the Entire Globe
The Dynamic of Capital Expansion
Not Necessary, Just Compelling
Myths of Underdevelopment
Artificially Converted to Poverty
Development Theory
Neoimperialism: Skimming the Cream
2. Imperial Domination Updated
Market Inequality
Debt Domination
Foreign Aid as a Weapon
With Rational Violence
Low Intensity Imperialism
Globalization by GATT
3. Intervention: Whose Gain? Whose Pain?
A Global Military Empire
Why Intervention?
Common Confusion
Inventing Enemies
Who Pays? Who Profits?
The Myth of Popular Imperialism
Cultural Imperialism
4. Strong Empire, Weak Republic
Exporting Jobs
Empire Against Environment
American Casualties
Impoverishing the Republic
The Few Against the Many
A Moral Self-Interest
5. A Dreadful Success
Unexamined Assumptions
Macho Posturing
In the Name of Democracy
The Hunt for Red Menace
What Are "Our Interests"?
Consistent Inconsistencies
Arms for Profit
6. Drugs, Lies, and Video Wars
Driving Away Demons
Looking Left for Terrorism
Protecting Americans Abroad
Reaching for Pretexts
The Gulf War Lies
Some Real Reasons
The "War on Drugs": Cover Story
Which Side Are You On, Boys?
Drugs as a Weapon of Social Control
7. Worthy Causes
Discouraging Arms Proliferation
Chemical Warfare Hoax
Humanitarian Pretense
For Freedom -- Mujahideen Style
Famine Relief for Conoco
Elections Yes! (Depending on Who Wins)
Operation Facelift
Coming Out of the Capitalist Closet
8. Democratic Governance vs The State
The State Against Democracy
Conservative Consistencies
An Executive State
Exposé as Cover-up
Keeping the Government in Line
Constitutional Tyranny
The State in Society
Conspiracy Theory?
9. Voodoo Economics: The Third Worldization of America
Trickle Down to the Free Market
Conservative Double Standards
Welfare for the Rich
The Tax Game
A Military Feast
A People's National Debt
Toward 1893
Old Problems, No Solutions
10. The Empire in Academia
A Temple of Knowledge
A Matter of Some History
The Open and Closed University
Lefties Need Not Apply
Elastic Criteria
Presumptions of Objectivity
Quarantine the Survivors
The Myth of the Radical Campus
11. Real Alternatives
"Moderate Alternative"
Military Spending and Peacetime Conversion
The National Security State
Electoral Reform
Tax Reform and Labor Law
Agriculture and Ecology
Health Care and Safety
Fiscal Policy
Social Justice and Jobs
Class Warfare: a Two-Way Street
Subject Headings
