The Genie is out of the Bottle

Knowledge has the greatest angle of acquisitive dispersion and is irreversible.  Human beings cannot erase their memory like a tape recorder or data on a disk drive.  Sovereign nations have a right to self-defense in terms of military national defense.  The world knows the awesome power of nuclear technology since the time we exploded the atomic bomb and the Hydrogen bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  And the question is: By what authority can any nation or people-group order another nation, not to research on weapons which its people know and believe to be necessary to its national defense?   Nations that already have nuclear bombs usually rationalize their opposition to so-called "nuclear proliferation" by the observation that these weapons ought not to belong to "rogue" or "terrorist" nations whose people will not hesitate to utilize them in case of a perceived or real threat.  In the first place, we, Americans, are the only ones who have ever utilized nuclear weapons in warfare - case in point, we did, in WWII, against Japan.  And in the second place, we are not ready to relinquish or abandon possession or use of nuclear weapons ourselves.  These arguments resemble the same atrocious convolutions Malthusian population controllers engage in when they advocate that others should die - whereas, if they truly believe the world is over-populated, they should commit suicide to help alleviate the over-population "problem."  But, they cling to life themselves while pronouncing convoluted diatribes regarding the need for population control.  By what authority or by whose authority are the Malthusian population controllers deciding who is "excess population?" 

We are all created equally fallible, equally sinful, and equally mortal.  We recognize no kingly power on this earth.  We, by our given consent, vote public servants into the halls of government to exercise justly the powers constitutionally granted to each branch of government.  Though equally mortal, we know that the drive to excel and enjoyment of the equal right of access to opportunities for advancement to the fullest development of human capacities, cause differentiated results in the lawful pursuit of happiness.  For, an open society based upon equal protection of the laws for the fullest application of a merit system anchored in honest achievement, hard work, individual motivation, and professional freedom, will produce varied degrees of prosperity and various levels of wealth.  These basic principles of "the work ethic" continue to animate the foundation of success in America, the land where the individual can "dream big," and then lawfully endeavor to avail himself of opportunities that help his "big dream" come true. 

Then, given the above-reality, how can we rationalize stamping out the same drive in others to excel, and by what authority can we choose for them the areas in which they ought to excel?  We are a great power - politically, economically and militarily.  People are not stupid, and they know why we "throw our weight around" and expect results therefrom.  We desire they should emulate our system of government and our economic system - however, these are not the only areas in which we excel.  And the facticity of our leadership in the world is also due to our military prowess - the size and technological wherewithalls of our armed forces.  These nations desire to emulate us in totality - without giving us the self-serving luxury of choosing for them which areas of our success they ought to covet to achieve for themselves.  We desire to be a beacon of liberty, a light of freedom, a bulwark of economic success, a pillar of financial prosperity, a fortress of well-deserved wealth, and a respected military giant as well.  Why should they not aspire to be "all that we already are?"  Of course, the naïve amongst us would suggest that it is in our enlightened interest to keep them at a specific level of economic development or military progress because we don't intend on "giving up the helm."  Leadership in the world is a complex emergent property of many factors, many of which are not amenable to military or forceful conquest.  However, as stated above, they're not stupid; they see through the contradictions.  To what point should they emulate us?  To what level of technology should they imitate us?  Do we choose for them the ways in which we model earthly success for their adoption, imitation and emulation?   Don't they know we wished they would stop after a certain point?  Those we prevent from developing economically opt for military progress while at the same time attending to the needs of their people to the limits of their available resources.  For example, neither North Korea nor Iran is a "great economic engine."  However, their peoples' own intelligence in discerning what we value the most in "throwing our weight around," which is, our mighty military arsenal - we are engaged in two wars at this time, and we fiercely cling to ours as we are attempting to "defang" their defenses and restrict their technological advancement - is driving their deepest desires for world recognition, cultural parity and "equal station" with those who get results by "throwing their weight around."  In short, the "id" is no longer subconscious, the "ego" no longer submissive, the "superego" no longer selective.

Conclusion: Given "human nature," given equal mortality, and equal protection of all civilized laws that edify human societies, we do not expect other nations to abandon nor will they themselves abandon their desire to emulate America, the greatest nation the world has ever known.  They will also aspire to be respected for their military technological achievements, including nuclear power.  Let the naïve amongst us entertain that only culturally similar peoples like us should have the nuclear capacity - like Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the like.  We wish them luck.  Let us not forget that Mr. Obama is President of the United States and China, India and Pakistan, also have nuclear bombs.  "The genie is already out of the bottle."  The "id" is open for all to examine and understand.  The "id" does not have to be the enemy, when it is the super-ego inspired ego that has self-control over irrational, destructive impulses.   Do we not seek protection for the legitimate government of Pakistan as its military forces respond to the assaults of "El Qaeda" and the "Taliban" because of our concern that their nuclear technology might fall into the hands of "terrorists?"  This is the trend of the future - That legitimate national governments ought to pursue their goals as their sovereignty entitle them, that they are no more a "threat" to us than we are a "threat" to them.  And we assist in protecting them against lawless and destructive forces that may compromise the security of their nuclear arsenals.  And then, when all will have obtained equal capability to effect equal standing in international relations due their common military prowess, then, we will all have collectively determined that we ought to talk to each other first, before we fire the first shot.  Was not our conflict with the former Soviet Union as real as our common fear of a nuclear exchange with them at the time?  Yet, not one shot was fired; and the "Cold War" is over. 

We cannot "have it" in all these multi-contradictory ways.  We are the "superpower" on the earth.  But we cannot dictate to others how they ought to emulate us nor should we expect that they ought to accept us selecting the ways in which they model our system.  Because of our equality in the face of the reality of mortal death, human beings have always exercised sovereign liberty in legitimizing an authority external to their own autonomous functioning; hence, our Founding Fathers' great wisdom in relying on divine Providence and on our Creator, Almighty God, for the security of our inalienable rights and individual freedoms, "the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."  In addition, it reads "In God we Trust," on our monetary system.  And the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America states we are a republic, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.   President Lincoln declared in the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - that we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, which shall not perish from the earth.  

China is the burgeoning, yet-to-bloom "superpower."  Our "offensive" vis-à-vis China concerns economic-financial and commercial trading, rather than military competition, at least at the superficial level.  We don't have to "play pretend" with the Chinese.  They already have the nuclear bomb.  We both have the capacity for mutual extinction - so we talk to each other!   And this is not naivety but rather a reality-based commitment to civilized relations.  When a full-fledged war between the United States and China - as with the former Soviet Union  - will have resulted in "MAD" or "mutually assured destruction," then, all parties concerned realize it is more constructive to talk rather than waste time in "saber-rattling" or "id posturing."  In the same vein, when there is equal capacity to exercise military devastation on both parties contemplating an aggressive conflict, common sense and logical soberness prevail and they engage in finding a peaceful resolution to the alleged grievance.  That state of human affairs on the Earth is the coveted ideal - not necessarily the end of conflict but rather the end of self-serving "id rationalizations" for military attacks upon others with the pretense of self-defense, in advance of actual hostilities that the others will supposedly perpetrate were they to develop certain weapons, the results of which thwart their national advancement, cripple their progress towards elected government, and stifle their economic development, the complex of which feeds into their desire to acquire such weapons in the first place.  

Yes, "the genie is out of the bottle;" the "id" is no longer subconscious, the "ego" is no longer submissive, and the "superego" is no longer selective.  Equal liberty is God's gift to human beings.  It is not an abstract concept dissociated from real life, but a constructive embodiment of self-consciously experienced living reality, in all areas of life, in society - Humans in equality of standing, kindred individual competence and national strength living in peaceful relationships, based not upon fear of attack but rather on constructive, mutually edifying social and productive activities that make for maturity and self-fulfillment.