The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Gore Vidal demonstrates once more that as author and political pundit he remains well ahead of his time, but that it appears as if we are starting to catch up and comprehend the importance along with the necessity of his message.When Vidal ran for U.S. Senator in the 1982 California Democratic Party primary his opponent was Jerry Brown. The California Governor had a reputation for being unconventional in many ways like Vidal. When Brown later sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in the 1992 primaries he sought out the anti-establishment ideas he had heard Vidal espouse earlier. Vidal willingly helped Brown in the idea department in 1992 and the Californian ran a strong and idea-effective anti-establishment primary campaign.Since the sixties Vidal has preached that the American political system has become increasingly beholden to entrenched corporate interests, which is further reflected in an all too often obeisant media. Now the public has demonstrated an increasing alertness of the captivity as more individuals seek fundamental changes based on Vidal's concepts.Another fundamental idea that Vidal has tackled for many years, and on which the public is finally catching up with him, is the degree of infringement upon basic freedoms, as evidenced by the Bush-Ashcroft Patriot Act. He also rails against the dangers of the military industrial compex, and how its most reactionary elements have been served by an active intelligence community through the auspices of the CIA and the FBI.Vidal preaches hard core liberty in the best tradition of Founding Fathers such as Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin. This volume shows him at his best, witty, acerbic, and driving his point home with an economy of effort.

I'd like to think that I understand how the puzzle pieces fit together but I need people like Vidal to illuminate the connections, to see the picture rather than the mass of pieces strewn on the table. To take the metaphor further, he provides the picture on the puzzle box that shows you what you will eventually have when the pieces are together.I find that with the daily blizzard of new's facts coming into my house that it's like sitting down to a twenty thousand piece jigsaw that strangely has no border.Vidal throws out bits of history and then provides the connections allowing a picture to form-seemingly from random occurrences. I found after reading this wonderful, insightful little book that all the disparate post-WWII facts came together. Yes-call me stupid for not seeing the connections earlier but my defense is this continuous blizzard of facts that shower me-this blizzard is in itself designed to do just what it is doing to me and millions of others.One little bit from this tiny read-living as I do in Australia, I could never see why what happened to Clinton happened-everybody here knew he was being undermined since he came into office. We didn't get much coverage of his attempt to rework the healthcare system-Vidal says very matter of factly that Clinton's attempt at this reworking was his undoing. The conservatives that orchestrated his downfall didn't want Americans to have what people in nearly every other government in the developed world have-what we in Australia take for granted-universal health care.I'm sorry most Americans will miss reading this book because they will see it as "devil phoolosophy"-the powers at work have done a fabulous job for themselves.

Gore Vidal has the power to drive conservatives insane, I can't say why, but the mere mention of his name seems to turn them into screaming maniacs, that alone would make this book worth owning. In addition to its value as a heart attack inducer, it is also easy reading, witty and well written. I especially enjoyed his vicious attack on the Christian Church (which he refers to as the cult of the `Sky God'). He is also right on target with his assessment of the pervasive dangerous of corporate power. This slim volume is not a scholarly tome by any means, but Vidal's strength is in the way that he says things, not in the way that he backs up his assessment. Less a stunning indictment than a readable, witty summing up of the Vidal take on several important topics. A superb little pamphlet.

The beauty of Vidal's volume is that it establishes signposts, dates, events, places marking historically important events. To say that the American empire is in decline sounds like just more left-wing doctrine. To document that assertion, Vidal places a date--September 16, 1985--during the roaring, go-go, Reagan years--when America changed from a creditor to a debtor nation, and has been there ever since.Combining dates with events and revealations of the names and identities of the men behind the men in power marks a significant departure by documenting the rise and fall. The fear of accepting the reality of failure is a heavy burden empires must accept. Like the lives of people, empires do not go on forever. Americans cannot imagine a world without American military, political and economic hegemony (this is what happens when one believes the hype). Vidal traces the history--the 1914 shift of capital from New York to London, the men of power who created American foreign policy, the establishment of the national security state in 1947 and the place of America in the world. He ends with practical solutions to the decline and fall. Vidal's style is hard-hitting, real, well-documented and informed. The volume is worth reading and re-reading. The sinking feeling, the giant sucking sound of America heading south is on every page. The "Decline and Fall" is the ultimate reality check.

It will not be easy for any of us who love our country to face the assertions Gore Vidal makes in this book, but this is exactly what we need to wake up from the current miasma of smoke-and-mirrors spin. Perhaps the proliferation of conspiracy theories is a symptom of what we all suspect, but are in denial about. Vidal confronts us with the cold hard facts: 90% of the disbursements of the federal government go to defense; our language has grown decadent and is used to disguise; the corporations control opinion through the conglomerate media; in 1991, 37% of federal revenues (taxes) came from individuals and only 8% from corporations. Reading this book will be worth the anguish it causes you. If Thomas Jefferson could see that his beloved country was being ruled by an elite through armies of lawyers, lobbyists, and paid-for-scientists, he would warn us all that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance; and this is precisely what Gore Vidal is attempting to do.