As I write this, I haven't seen the latest Steven Spielberg incarnation of H.G. Wells' classic. I don't know, therefore, whether Spielberg chose to ignore Wells' point, or all the critics (and audience members too) failed to understand it.Wells wrote a "ripping good" science fiction novel. But he also wrote a satire, one perhaps too subtle for most people to notice, but one that merits a serious look even today. For we are engaged in yet another mess created by the very thing that Wells was railing against in his novel.
Imperialism.
Back in the late 19th century, European powers had established colonial rule over most of what is still called the "third world". They established this rule by invading the land and using superior weapons to kill indiscriminately the "native savages" who had the audacity to fight back. Wells wrote of Martians who invaded Earth and used superior weapons to kill indiscriminately the "native savages" who had the audacity to fight back. By the middle of the 20th century, the tide had turned on the Europeans. Colonial states, from India to Zimbabwe, were gaining independence, and that trend continued for the rest of the century.
Today, however, the tide is turning again. We are now mired in Iraq, a country we invaded and used superior weapons to kill indiscriminately the "native savages" who had the audacity to fight back. Almost 2,000 Americans have been killed, and over 12,000 wounded. But the cost to Iraqis, numbering tens of thousands of innocent civilians dead, is immeasurable. The so-called "government" is hardly more than a combination of handpicked puppets and enough token "locals" to give the veneer of independence.
And while we are bogged down in Iraq, our military forces are being stretched almost beyond their ability, trillions of dollars of debt is piling up, Bush administration lies are being exposed, terrorists are getting bolder, and no exit strategy is in sight, many in the right-wing are calling for us to establish what amounts to similar colonial rule in Iran and North Korea, the other countries in George W. Bush's "axis of evil".
Alcoholics Anonymous defines insanity as doing the same thing again and again, and expecting different results. Perhaps the neocons running this country, from Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz to Karl Rove and Condoleezza Rice, should attend some meetings.
As if the situation overseas weren't bad enough, right here in the former land of the free American citizens are being held in dungeons, simply because the occupant of the Oval Office doesn't like them. More people are being forcibly removed from town hall meetings just for having a bumper sticker on their cars. Still more people are being disenfranchised because the people in power don't want them to be able to vote.
If we don't change course, and do so quickly, we face the certainty of having the very fabric of our society being ripped apart.
Meanwhile, I'm seeing the movie tomorrow night.
Copyright 2005, Dan Jacoby
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