Domino Theory comes of age

Those of us old enough to remember the excuse, oops sorry, theory of why we were fighting in Vietnam — Eisenhower’s, Nixon’s and Cap Weinberger’s pet phrase, the Domino Theory — also remember that the reasoning was flawed, that if Vietnam fell to the Communists, then the rest of Southeast Asia would fall as well. The problem there was that, except for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, the largest portion (land and population) of Southeast Asia was already Communist: China, North Korea and the USSR (remembering that the USSR stretches all the way to the Pacific). OK, perhaps our “involvement” (the euphemistic term used by Cap and President Johnson) in Vietnam did slow the spread, if only because huge resources were used on all sides: vast losses of men and women, supplies and national economies’ output.And many have made the argument that the domino collapse of all Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma and Bangladesh, was averted because we had exhausted the desire for war during those terrible years in Vietnam. That is perhaps the truth, as well as the truth that our anti-domino activities in Burma gave us the Junta tyranny, in Thailand the Golden Triangle of drug trafficking, in Indonesia perhaps the most corrupt government of the 20th century (General Suharto), and in Indonesia the ex-CIA-endorsed criminals and religious zealots running riot and fueling al-Qaeda-like operations. Just like our support of the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, you have got to be careful what you ask for.What the past pundits failed to predict was that the information age, more than the jet age, would expose vast swathes of the world’s population to the other side of the globe politically and culturally. And with the information age you can choose what you want to read, absorb, learn from or merely switch off. So while the American media broadcasting into old USSR countries bred a desire for cars, supermarkets actually having something on the shelves and decadent consumerism — all of which pushed the population to criticize and then topple communist regimes — with the information age populations around the world are learning about what they do not have, what they could have and, most importantly, what they, as individuals, may really want or not want any more.Governments are slowly learning that you cannot hide in the information age. You cannot suppress effectively. Freedom is palpable on the Internet. It is not just Facebook and Twitter; there are thousands of websites, news sources and personal blogs speaking freely. Government media cannot fool all the people all the time anymore. The truth always comes out, now with more speed and access than ever before. The Domino Theory has come of age, only this is no longer merely about regime toppling, it is about individuals, like a giant game of telephone, each whispering in another’s ear their true fears, hopes, facts and plans.Individual freedom to choose, the knowledge that it is possible to be a free individual, is replacing capitalism, communism, tyranny and socialism everywhere. In Tunisia, the revolt did not start because of political ideals, it started because one man, an educated man of 26, was trying to earn a living selling fruit and vegetables but did not have the proper license. The license needed to be bought from corrupt officials. The officials, exercising their authority, confiscated his produce. His protest? It wasn’t capitalist, it wasn’t pro-American, it wasn’t anti-government, it was simple: “I am an educated person who knows humans have personal freedom outside of Tunisia. I protest and want you to change, to allow me freedom to exist as I see fit. If you won’t, I will die.” When they refused to give into his demands, he died, taking his own life by fire and lighting the spark in the population’s bonfire of desire to retake personal human freedom for all.This bonfire is now blazing in Syria (where 15 percent Shiite control 85 percent Sunni), Bahrain (where 30 percent Sunni control 70 percent Shiite), Libya, Jordan (where 60 percent of the population are refugees from Palestine, Iraq or Lebanon). It blazed in Egypt, raises alarming smoke in Algeria, has glowing embers in Saudi Arabia and is heating up in the Sudan, Niger, Mali, Western Sahara, Morocco, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Chad. All these countries’ peoples are experiencing their own Domino effect. “If my neighbor can protest and make a difference, so can I.”Freedom does not mean lawlessness, nor is this struggle about democracy as a platform for capitalism. It is about collective personal freedom, the will of the people. In that sense, it is about the very founding of this democratic nation before we became corrupted by rampant capitalism. As Teddy Roosevelt, that great trust-busting Republican president, said: “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.” This could be the slogan of all the people involved in the search for personal freedom around the world.Peter Riva, formerly of Amenia Union, lives in New Mexico.