Chapter 7: The Future of the Past: Reflections on the Present State of Empire and Pedagogy

In the 21st century, leaders of the dominant capitalist states have declared a permanent war on terror. Antidemocratic laws that grant extrajudicial powers to hold citizens and immigrants without trial are moving modern democracies towards capitalist sovereignty congealed in the shape of totalitarianism. The Patriot Act was extended in the United States, eviscerating basic Constitutional rights. Civil society is becoming militarized in the direction of a permanent security state, while political leaders on the right betray an unvarnished contempt for any kind of criticism of U.S. foreign or domestic policy. Where comity among nations was once lauded as a virtue, it is now seen as a weakness. The world’s only superpower seeks to rule by intimidation and brutality.