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20. Summation

I started writing this explanation of history in April 2001. At the time I had three primary goals. First and foremost was simply to explain to people what is going on in the world. The massive transition from traditional societies to modern society is effecting everyone on Earth and it seems important that everyone should know about it.

Second, three quarters of the world are in the middle of this transition, and many countries are having a difficult time with it. A quarter of the world has already completed the extraordinary reorganization of society that is required. Their experience of this transition is now a matter of recorded history. I believe that an explanation of the process that these countries have already gone through will be helpful to the countries that are still in the middle of this revolutionary transformation.

Third, the United States seems to have a profound misunderstanding of what is happening in the world. The American people have been indoctrinated by their World War II experience to believe that dictators are inherently evil. This belief has been causing a problem for more than fifty years. This is because dictators are actually a standard and normal part of the revolutionary transition that leads to modern democratic market society. I want to explain to Americans that dictators are not inherently a threat to them, and it is not necessary to oppose dictators as a matter of principle.

Since I began this work the American government has started a new crusade against what it considers to be an evil dictator. It is now the beginning of 2003 and the United States is mobilizing its military to remove Saddam Hussein as leader of Iraq and replace him with a new government. It expects that this plan will be easy to carry out. This might be a correct assessment, but then again it may be wrong.

Almost the entire rest of the world is wondering what the Americans are doing. Many people think that they want to control the oil resources of the Middle East. Others believe that the United States wants to control the world. Neither of these speculations is correct, and certainly neither of them will be the result of the coming war.

The motive for this war is fairly simple. The American people have been indoctrinated to believe that from time to time evil dictators take over countries and use their resources to engage in violence, war, and conquest. Americans believe that as the world’s most powerful country, it is their duty to step in to oppose these dictators and prevent them from carrying out their evil schemes.

The majority of Americans are so convinced that this is necessary that they often vote for strong leaders who campaign on a platform that they will protect the world from evil dictators. Because of this American politicians often vie with each other to talk tough and promote their credentials as strong leaders who know how to deal forcefully with evil dictators. These politicians are often elected to the presidency and congress.

This situation has been creating problems for more than fifty years. The historical evidence is clear. The revolutionary transition from traditional societies to modern society includes dictators, civil war, border war, ethnic and religious cleansing, anarchy, and in some cases efforts to find alternative economic systems. Since dictators are often in control as the wars and ethnic cleansing are going on, it is easy to get the idea that all this violence is happening solely because an evil dictator is in charge.

This was the reason for the Cold War. Americans and many other people believed that communist dictators were aggressive warmongers who liked the totalitarian political and economic aspects of communism because it gave them more power to do evil. America and its allies wanted to contain or destroy communism to defend the world from this evil. The communists, of course, wanted to defend themselves and promote their cause. The result was the production of more than one hundred thousand nuclear bombs and warheads, and many wars. There is no way to know how close the planet came to being destroyed by this unnecessary conflict.

Today the Cold War is over. Communism finally collapsed because it was incapable of creating wealth or feeding its people. The world survived and most of the anti-communist allies are going about their normal business. The United States is an exception. It fought fascist dictators and won, and it fought communist dictators and thinks that it won. But there are still more dictators out there. Americans still believe that many of them are evil, and that they must be stopped. Voters are still electing politicians who promise to defend them against evil dictators.

So, here we are at the beginning of the 21st century. The world is still going through the transformation from traditional societies to modern society. This process still includes border wars, civil wars, ethnic cleansing, anarchy, political violence, and dictators.

Iraq is in the middle of this revolutionary transition. It has a dictator, Saddam Hussein. He has engaged in borders wars, civil wars, ethnic conflict, and political violence. Americans still do not understand the modern revolution. They think that Saddam Hussein is responsible for all the violence and conflict that surrounds Iraq. President Bush is preparing to send an army to remove him from power.

However this conflict turns out, for the next half century there will be plenty more dictators. They will become involved in war, ethnic conflict, and political violence. Unless something changes, the United States will continue to elect leaders that promise to defend the world from evil dictators. There will be more wars. These days most dictators are well aware of this American attitude. They have the same natural desire to defend themselves as anyone else. Considering the strength of the American military this is not easy to do.

Some dictators have started to produce weapons of mass destruction. They want these for reasons of prestige, to use in their local wars, and to deter attack from the United States. This situation is a recipe for disaster. It is imperative that the world understands the revolutionary transformation that is taking place. Dictators in Iraq, North Korea, and elsewhere are not there to attack freedom and democracy. They exist to bridge the gap between traditional leaders and modern democratic leaders. It is necessary to keep an eye on them. Occasionally it may be necessary to discipline or remove one of them. First and foremost, the world needs to understand what is going on.