The new imperialism

During the Spanish-American War of 1898 (and subsequently thereafter), the Republican party was known as the party of imperialists. It was, after all, President Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, who went on to seize the territories of Spain: Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands.

Indeed, throughout American history, conservative Republicans have traditionally been regarded as the insensitive brutes–as the passionate imperialists. This characterization continued even during the Cold War, as America intervened to discourage the spread of communism around the world.

Although the climax of Cold War “Republican imperialism” was probably the Vietnam War, American liberals also faulted the Republican Reagan administration for its attempts to stifle Danny Ortega’s Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Even George Bush, Reagan’s Republican successor, was faulted for his “Just Cause” Panamanian operation against Manuel Noriega in 1989.

Now the roles have reversed. The Republican party is no longer the party of aggressive imperialism. It is now the American Democrats who belong to the party of imperialism. President Bill Clinton, the U.N. and N.A.T.O.-leading “mad bomber,” leads this new imperialist charge, recently accusing Republicans of “isolationism.” It is the Democrats who want to expand the powers of the United Nations, diminish the importance of state sovereignty, and move alarmingly toward one-world government–not the Republicans.

Nowhere do we see this type of U.S. Democratic imperialism than here in the Northern Marianas. When it comes to dealing with U.S.-CNMI relations, it is the US Democrats–and not the US Republicans–who want to curtail freedom, eradicate local self-government, and impose their imperialistic will.

The US House Republicans–Dana Rohrabacher, Tom Delay, Dick Armey and others–have consistently supported freedom in the Northern Marianas. It was House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (a Republican from the state of Alaska) who exposed the sinister schemes of the Democrat-dominated US Interior Department.

The US Interior Department is practicing a new and twisted form of imperialism. Whereas traditional imperialism is strongly associated with “ruthless capitalistic exploitation” of indigenous peoples and pristine resources, this type of Interior Department imperialism seeks the exact opposite: It wishes to deny us the economic opportunities for maximum growth and development, progress and prosperity. It aims to accomplish this by eliminating our foreign labor force and by forcing destructive regulations upon us.

The Interior Department apparently considers the Chamorro people an endangered species; and it wishes to protect us for our own good. Regardless of our political and economic aspirations, the Office of Insular Affairs wants to wrap a chain around our garment and tourism businesses, and secure it with a padlock.

Imperialism does not only include forcing change upon a people; it also includes denying them that opportunity for change, should they wish to pursue it. And we wish to pursue it.