Written by John Turner   

A note I read this morning about whether the Chinese military is under civilian control set off a train of thought which may be worth sharing.

I know little about internal conditions in China, so I have scant basis for an opinion about the status of the military in that society. Presumably, as a citizen of the United States, I should feel more sure about the status of the military here. The truth is, though, I don’t know whether the president and his advisors can really control the military. We tend to presume that in this country civilian control of the military is complete. But is it?

I think it’s fairly clear that civilian leaders are often intimidated by high-ranking military officers. It’s also clear the latter do what they can to promote that intimidation. I’m not sure if the kind of fearfulness the military inspire constitutes independence. But it doubtless does promote a kind of influence that’s unknown to the constitution, and rarely discussed in our political discourse.

That’s my introduction. From it you would be justified in thinking this essay is to be mainly about the danger of military dominance. But actually I have something else in mind, a something else which touches on the sovereignty of the military but which stretches out far beyond it.

My question here is whether my function as a citizen has anything to do -- however minor -- with how the military, or any other part of the American power structure, behaves. I once thought that citizenship involved participation. I no longer have that feeling. The tiny portion of participating I might have exercised by voting is overwhelmed by propaganda and bought votes. Almost no officials with any sort of power, whether generals, or members of the House, or senators, or people in the White House give a damn what persons like me think. Why not? Because they know I’m in such a tiny minority -- that is the minority of people who try keep up with what’s going on in government -- that I’m completely insignificant. And I guess they’re right.

I have been transformed -- in my own mind -- from a participant in American performance to an observer of it. I’m not going to claim that sends me into despair. Watching the clownish behavior of politicians is fun. Writing to my friends about it is slightly satisfying. Knowing more than most people and being able to predict what’s going to happen gratifies the ego. Being out of action and on the sidelines is relaxing to some degree. But none of this is citizenship in the traditional notion of that term. Citizenship, as far as I can tell, has gone away in America. Maybe that was inevitable.

The government of the United States regularly does things that nauseate me. I’m not talking about things that just cause me to disagree. I expect to disagree with much of what any government does and I’ve accepted that as the way of the world. No, I am talking about things that strike me as insanely filthy.

The government of the United States recently induced a foreign country to seize an American citizen and torture him. And why? Because he had traveled to places that aroused the suspicion of some official or other.

The government of the United States throws people into cages, keeps them there for years, giving them no opportunity to plead their case in any way.

The government of the United States spies on citizens without obtaining warrants and claims the right to arrest and hold them without bringing any charges against them.

The government of the United States regularly bows down to a lobby of gun freaks.

The government of the United States spends billions of dollars every year to conduct wars that can’t be shown to accomplish anything other than destroying property, killing people, and making many more people miserable.

The government of the United States favors persons of vast wealth more than it does anyone else and regularly provides them with subsidies, seized from people of modest means, which make the rich even richer and more powerful.

This is just a beginning list. I could make a whole book of them. There are already whole books of them, which are read by very few.

I am not arguing that in doing these things the U.S. government is worse than all other governments. Truth is, probably, that it’s worse than some and not as bad as others. My point here is that my relationship with the vile behavior of the United States is exactly the same as it with nasty behavior of any other government. I have no more influence over the abusive acts of the United States government than I do over the transgressions of China, or Iran, or North Korea, or Russia. That condition is not consistent with any functional definition of citizenship.

I would be pleased if some American official were to step forward and prove me wrong. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. So, here I am, on the sidelines, which is doubtless where I’ll stay, watching something to which I feel less and less connected. I suppose you could say it’s like joining the history of the human race.