THE FOREVER WAR - A REVIEW

There is a time during childhood when we lose belief in the fantasy of the Santa Claus myth. Reality bites. We confront the truth that the jolly old man in red is none other than our parents who have endeavoured to fulfil our dreams from their hard-earned money.

Nick Bryant in 'The Forever War' invites readers to move on from the great American myth - 'The Land of the Free' perpetuated by stories of heroes, polished by actors in Hollywood. The roots of the chaos we witness today in America goes back to its conception. What we see in Trump is a fuller expression of what has been an unhealed wound in the US psyche. The door was always ajar - with Trump, it's fully open.

Bryant argues that underneath the veneer, the nation is white-anted with countless disputes and problems, including attacks on democracy, violence, demagoguery, racism, guns, culture wars, book banning and decline in civilities.

Bryant's demythologising reaches back to the days of the Founding Fathers in his comprehensive examination of the structure of American society. The world's greatest democracy is not what it seems. 'We the people', the words that open the preamble to the US Constitution "were not conceived as a catch call for mass democracy. The focus was on how that body politic should be restrained in an intricately designed straight jacket. The founding fathers did not care for the word, and ever since, defining 'the right to vote' has been a ploy in the hands of politicians, intent on their pursuit of power.

Bryant unpacks a long list of American political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.

He writes, "From 2015 onwards Trump tapped into precisely the same anxieties as his demagogic forbearers. A deep-rooted suspicion of central government; a collective sense of victimhood; an ugly racism and hostility towards the other; and anti-intellectualism; an anti-elitism: a populist anti-capitalism; a nostalgic nationalism; and the drawing of battlelines which portrayed him as a David up against the Goliath." (p.108)

"Throughout history, Americans have always been susceptible to demagogues promising to make their country great again, whatever their qualifications for the job."

Bryant reminds us, the old saying is true - "Victors get to write the history." This is not only true of the outcome of war but also political victory. Authoritarian Trump's entry to the White House, according to Nick Bryant, commissioned a 'rewrite of American history' - a glorification of the past or 'papering over the cracks'. Trump, in his second term continues his assault on the past.

In 1979 I stood amazed in the circular structure in Disneyland and experienced the spotless story of America unfold, projected onto multiple screens covering the 360º expanse. Pulsating with surround sound, the patriotic anthems of 'America the Beautiful' and 'The Star-Spangled Banner' drawing enthusiastic applause from the audience.

The Circle-Vision 360º initially was used as propaganda at the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959 under President Nixon's watch. This pristine view of American history, reflected in George Bancroft's publication ' A Primary History of the United States for Schools and Families' in 1857 was built on the premise, 'Everyone born in this free and beautiful country, should be proud of it, thankful for God for it, and willing to do everything that is right to keep it free and good.' This required sanitisation - the dark side didn't get a look in. The cracks were papered over.

Bryant also highlights the confusion around the interpretation of the Second Amendment relating to gun control, protesting it is far removed from the intended meaning of America's Founding Fathers. It states;

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  (December 15, 1791)

He writes, 'No passage of mangled syntax and dodgy grammar has become so ferociously contested in contemporary America as the second amendment, the 27 words decided upon by the Senate as the Bill of Rights went through its clunky ratification process.' (p. 221)

 We are to note the words, 'well regulated militia'. The concept is communal, a collective, a group.

 In the modern era the gun lobby have tried to rewrite the words and enshrine a right to personal gun ownership. Yet individual gun rights are not part of America's constitutional DNA. Rather, the thinking behind the second amendment was to offer states the surety that they could keep their militias and thus preserve their autonomy. First and foremost, it was a safeguard against a federal standing army, which in post revolution America was seen as an instrument of monarchical power and thus a tyrannical throwback to the days of British rule. Armed militias, a term used to describe the informal armies of the 13 colonies made up of citizen soldiers, would become the watchmen of America's newly won freedoms and guard against an overbearing federal government.

 The behaviour of the gun lobby is reminiscent of the 'revisions' in George Orwell's 'Animal Farm. Since the official recording of mass shootings (4 or more deaths) in the US since 2013, the highest number of deaths, 682 occurred in 2022. So far this year 83 mass shootings have resulted in 75 deaths and 350 injured.

What else has driven this fanatical pursuit? Nick Bryant summarises, 'The pursuit of profits relied on the proliferation of deadly weapons and the propagation of gun related myths.' (p. 227)

The Forever War is an engaging, comprehensive, readable analysis of American political history, well documented, an essential resource for understanding the 'American Way.'