October 3, 2007
Guest: Chalmers Johnson,
Author of "Nemesis: The Last Days
Of the American Republic"
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Part One (32 min. 53 sec.) | Part Two (21 min. 6 sec.)
Barry talks with the iconic professor Chalmers Johnson about the final book in his "Blowback trilogy," exposing how imperialism and militarism are endangering the economy and republic of America, after Dr. Johnson's remarks to a meeting of the Pasadena chapter of the ACLU. Please note that the start and end of the show are cut off.
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"NEMESIS: The Last Days of the American Republic"
By Chalmers Johnson
Chalmers Johnson is the bestselling author of "Blowback," a prophetic account in which he linked the CIA's clandestine activities abroad to disaster at home, and of "The Sorrows of Empire," where he explored the ways in which the growth of American militarism and the garrisoning of the planet have jeopardized our stability. In this long-awaited work, the final book in what has become known as the Blowback trilogy, "NEMESIS: The Last Days of the American Republic" (Metropolitan Books/an imprint of Henry Holt and Company; February 6, 2007), Johnson shows how imperial overstretch is undermining the republic itself, both economically and politically.
Delving into new areas -- from plans to militarize outer space to Constitution-breaking presidential activities at home and the devastating corruption of a toothless Congress -- "NEMESIS" offers a striking description of the trap into which the dreams of America's leaders have taken us. Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail just what the unintended consequences of our dependence on a permanent war economy are likely to be. What does it mean when a nation's main intelligence organization becomes the president's secret army? Or when the globe's sole "hyperpower" is no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders and becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all time?
"American veterans of World War II, Korea, or Vietnam simply would not recognize life in the modern armed services," Johnson writes. "When you include its array of privately outsourced services, our professional, permanent military costs around three-quarters of a trillion dollars a year." He goes on to warn that "we are not actually paying for these expenses. Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian investors are. We are putting them on the tab and so running the largest governmental as well as trade deficits in modern economic history. Sooner or later, our militarism will threaten the nation with bankruptcy." In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that financial bankruptcy could herald the breakdown of constitutional government in America -- a crisis that may ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.
Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute and professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego, is the author of the award-winning "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire." A frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, and The Nation, he appears in the 2005 prizewinning documentary film "Why We Fight." He lives near San Diego.