If the 2010s have a single lesson for us, it is that the U.S. has entered its late-imperial phase those years when its preeminence as a global power begins to fray at its edges and its conduct abroad takes on a hue of desperation.
Look back: America has cast itself as global spoiler these past 10 years forlornly attempting to hold back an arriving era the way CÃ º Chulainn, the mythical Irish warrior, wielded his sword to battle back the incoming tide. For all the damage the U.S. has done elsewhere this past decade, notably but not only in the Middle East, it has done as much or more to itself.
There may seem little of good in prospect as we peer into the 2020s, but before succumbing to incurable pessimism and yet more of the deadly ennui that saps our energies, let us consider a few more lines from Auden's "September 1, 1939." These appear toward the poem's end:
- Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages"
At the end of our low, dishonest decade, we find that the ranks of those able to see this nation for what it is so recognizing the urgent need for remedies and redirection have swollen considerably since 2010. There are more of us, with our ironic points of light, and newcomers arrive by the day. This already matters, and it will matter ever more as the new decade proceeds.
In this connection, the collapse of corporate media's ethics and professional standards over the past decade and hence their credibility is of special importance. These media bear much of the blame for the messes just outlined. This assigns an ever-greater responsibility to what is commonly called "the alternative press." This is a phenomenon easily discerned these past 10 years. As these media grow into this responsibility, they stand to re-establish the press as an independent pole of power a station our corporate media have (with no apparent hesitation) abdicated in favor of a craven devotion to the reigning orthodoxy.
In truth, there is no such thing as alternative media: There are only media, good and bad, of greater or lesser resources, of greater or lesser loyalty to principle. If the 2020s turn out at all well, this will become ever-more evident. If we are to make more sense of the decade to come than we find in the decade now ending, these media will have much to do with it.
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