David Samuels, has published an article about America, inspired by a recent visit to American Samoa. There, at the country’s extreme periphery, he sits in a tiki bar, drinks piña coladas and has thoughts such as this:
A new type of consciousness has emerged, in which we neither believe nor not-believe – an approach to reality that consists in its essence of cowardice, of failing to commit, of willfully not understanding, while making public obeisance to the Gods.
About the peripheries of empires, in this case American Samoa, but applicable to other times and places as well:
A mindset that was established in people’s minds. They were ashamed of their hearts, they were ashamed of not having a refrigerator, of not having a car. It was built around shame. And so that’s why most of us went to chase the American dream … The concept that matters is shame, imposed by empires, and the mental barriers that were erected between indigenous people and their own culture and beliefs
And about America itself. It’s a question I have asked myself in a less eloquent way:
What I can’t see yet is whether the American Empire has given up its ghost, or is merely contemplating its next rebirth from the ashes.
Samuels’ article, The Bar at the End of the World, was published in the most recent edition of the magazine he edits.
Nehaveigur 