Dark clouds over America - the Supreme Court rules detainees are not persons

One of the blogs I read for insight into the economy is Humble Student of the Markets by Cam Hui. Here I read of an alarming development in his post Two more steps toward Argentina. The original story is this, as told by Chris Floyd at Empire burlesque:

While we were all out doing our Christmas shopping, the highest court in the land quietly put the kibosh on a few more of the remaining shards of human liberty.

It happened earlier this week, in a discreet ruling that attracted almost no notice and took little time. In fact, our most august defenders of the Constitution did not have to exert themselves in the slightest to eviscerate not merely 220 years of Constitutional jurisprudence but also centuries of agonizing effort to lift civilization a few inches out of the blood-soaked mire that is our common human legacy. They just had to write a single sentence.

Here's how the bad deal went down. After hearing passionate arguments from the Obama Administration, the Supreme Court acquiesced to the president's fervent request and, in a one-line ruling, let stand a lower court decision that declared torture an ordinary, expected consequence of military detention, while introducing a shocking new precedent for all future courts to follow: anyone who is arbitrarily declared a "suspected enemy combatant" by the president or his designated minions is no longer a "person." They will simply cease to exist as a legal entity. They will have no inherent rights, no human rights, no legal standing whatsoever -- save whatever modicum of process the government arbitrarily deigns to grant them from time to time, with its ever-shifting tribunals and show trials.

Cam Hui asks what happened to ‘inalienable rights’ and compares the road that the US is now taking to that taken by Argentina:

This Supreme Court ruling sets up the preconditions for a Dirty War that Argentina saw in the late 1970s and early 1980s, where government forces made suspected left-wing guerrillas and their sympathizers “disappear”. Just as the repeal of the Glass-Steagall did not result in immediate consequences, I don’t believe that we will see the effects of this ruling overnight but the long term effects are potentially disastrous.

What about ‘Land of the free, home of the brave’? What about the Constitution?

This ruling tramples on the Constitution and one of the most powerful symbols of America. Just understand this - that Constitution was paid for by blood, not only of the Founding Fathers, but by every American soldier. Every G.I. that ever enlisted swore an oath, not to the president of the day, but to the Constitution of the United States.

When the Supreme Court of the nation that champions freedom and justice in the world comes out with a ruling like this, at the fervent request of the President of the nation, one has to take note and wonder where this is all going to lead.
Some may say that in war there are no rules. Certainly Churchill made it clear to Hitler that if he invaded Britain, the British would use all means available to them to defend themselves, the implication being biological weapons would be used. But where is the threat to the US today that faced Britain in her darkest hour?
I would say this: war can be waged without rules but the nations that wage war without rules always lose in the end. War can be waged without rules but philosophy teaches that life cannot. Such victors sow the seeds of their own ultimate destruction. Remember: sincerity is the treasure of a land and by sincerity we also understand integrity and the moral life. The US has a proud record of going to war to defend those values, now it must look in the mirror. The US does not need such a ruling, it is an act of weakness, an act of fear, and it is a shame and a disgrace to all the American men and women who have given their lives so we can enjoy freedom and justice, not just Americans but the whole world.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism points out that Romans of 2,000 years ago now enjoyed more rights than Americans today:

Roman citizens enjoyed a right to a trial, a right of appeal, and could not be tortured, whipped, or executed except if found guilty of treason, and anyone charged with treason could demand a trial in Rome. We have regressed more than 2000 years with this appalling ruling.

I am reminded of my recent reading of ‘The Peloponnesian War’ by Donald Kagan. The Athenians were blessed with a noble and capable leader in the form of Pericles of whom Plutarch says:

For whereas all sorts of distempers, as was to be expected, were rife in a rabble which possessed such a vast empire, he alone was so endowed by nature that he could manage each one of these cases suitably, and more than anything else he used the people's hopes and fears, like rudders, so to speak, giving timely check to their arrogance, and allaying and comforting their despair. Plutarch

While Pericles lived the Athenians kept to the noble path and could hope for victory. When he died, the war became more desperate, more brutal and hope receded. I can’t help but think that the US is in need of a Pericles today.

Sincerity and the Fate of Nations - 2

In Sincerity and the Fate of Nations we saw an example of the role of sincerity in the fate of Germany. In Invocation for a Nation we saw Carol Osborn’s powerful I Ching inspired invocation for a nation (or individual) in crisis. If we look at our historical example, does the invocation pan out?
After Germany invaded Poland, Britain declared war on Germany thus respecting their recent pledge of alliance to Poland. It was a noble decision and very bold in that a successful outcome to the war was far from certain. Britain’s lead brought similar declarations of war from Australia, New Zealand and later France, South Africa and Canada. Britain was no longer alone against the greatest military machine the world had yet seen. But things got worse quite soon. After the fall of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, there was no reason to suppose that the fall of Britain was not a question of weeks away. But the British, utterly alone in their struggle, did not give up. They found their strength in sincerity. Faith in a positive outcome never left them. Through the courage of their armed forces the threat was met. And in time help from unexpected quarters came – the New World came to the aid of the Old.
And what about Germany at the end of the war? Their industry was in ruins, the flower of their youth had fallen in a war on two fronts, and worst of all, their country was divided in two, the eastern half disappearing behind an Iron Curtain. There was virtually nothing from which the Germans could now draw strength – except in sincerity. But in their darkest hour of the soul, help came from an unexpected quarter also. A conquering enemy that had every reason to feel bitterness, was made of finer stuff: a generous United States offered economic and technical assistance to all European nations, including Germany, in the form of the Marshall Plan. The Germans, always a steadfast and hard-working people, asked for no more in order to accomplish their Economic Miracle. And many who saw those dark days lived even to see the reunification of their nation.

All that is truly meant to be mine will be returned to me in time…
I can begin anew the moment I envision the best rather than the worst possible outcome…
I can make myself receptive to new possibilities…
I see only a small patch of darkness surrounding me…but even here I can have faith…

The wisdom contained in Carol’s invocation is the truth of ages and has its roots in human nature and the forces of the universe. Let us take strength in it today.

.

.Photo by Cheryl Empey

Invocation for a Nation

As we saw in my last post Sincerity and the Fate of Nations, nations have their karma as do individuals. Nations feel collective guilt, anger, indignation, fear, and hatred: also pride, generosity, resolve, courage and steadfastness. Nations go through their crises of the soul as do men. At this time of national crisis, I think it would be a good time to post an invocation that helped me through my own personal crisis many years ago.
It comes from the book How would Confucius ask for a raise? by Carol Osborn. It is a beautiful invocation, poetic, sincere and powerful. It contains the wisdom of the ages, expertly condensed by Carol from the I Ching. It is a suitable invocation for any individual and any nation in a time of crisis. Read it and feel its power working on you even before you reach the end.

Invocation for New Beginnings

All that is truly meant to be mine will be returned to me in time.
Even if I fear I do not deserve it.
Even if I fear I have thrown it away.

May I remember that any moment can be a turning point.
I can begin anew the moment I envision the best rather than the worst potential outcome.

Although I find this difficult right now, I can make myself receptive to new possibilities that arise from outside my existing expectations and experiences, trusting that everything that happens to me has a purpose.

From my limited perspective, I see only the small patch of darkness surrounding me. But even here, I can have faith. For my willingness to invoke my higher self shines like a beacon of light showing the way through the darkness quenching my regret with the comforting thought:

Where else but in the dark could light shine?

Sincerity and the Fate of Nations

With the power of sincerity and the weakness of insincerity in mind, it is revealing to look at history and the fate of nations. Where truth is suppressed and trampled upon by dictatorship, where there is injustice and error, there is no inherent strength and the nation suffers the consequences.
At the 1919 Treaty of Versailles at end of the First World War, Germany was ‘punished’ with the imposition by the victors of excessive war reparations. The sum – 269 billion marks - was later reduced to 132 billion, which was still an astronomical amount and Germany would have been required to pay until 1984. The German people felt betrayed, and I am sure that Marshal Foch of France was speaking the minds of many in France, England and Germany when he said of the Treaty: ‘This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty-one years.’

The Germans found their strength in the sincerity of their grievances, expressed forcefully by Adolf Hitler, who galvanized them into a unity of purpose to right the wrongs of Versailles. The moral superiority of sincerity was on Germany’s side and the allied nations, in their heart of hearts, must have felt this and feared it. Then, as Hitler’s lust for and abuse of power increased, the moral advantage slipped away from him, and the German people in their turn must have felt their loss of strength as the justness and sincerity of their cause faded away.

Such is the strength and significance of sincerity for nations as well as for individuals. We had best beware we are sincere.
.

Image from Wikimedia: decorative Hindu swastika. The swastika is a recurring ancient and often holy symbol going back 5,000 years to the Neolithic period. It symbolises peace and harmony and can be found in many Eastern traditions, notably Buddhism.

Obama and the new era of responsibility

The karma of the United States of America has given it at the same time an extraordinary crisis and an extraordinary new president to meet that crisis. Times of hardship have reached the land and it is time to face the truth and draw strength from that sincerity.
After President Obama’s address, I am sure no one can be in any doubt about the challenges now facing the nation. I was struck by his strong appeal to spiritual values, wherein lies the real treasure of the land:

They (previous generations) understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. They knew that our power grows from its prudent use, our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

The Clinton administration failed in that it allowed the bubble of the credit markets to develop, the Bush administration failed in not detecting the problem and fixing it in time. To paraphrase Sun Tzu, the general who does not see problems when they are far off, will soon find problems close by. General Obama now has to lead us through problems on every side. And I find it significant that the first spiritual lieutenant he names is none other than Honesty:

Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends – honesty and hard-work, courage and fair-play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old, these things are true… What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility.

What is demanded is a return to these truths… Compare this with this passage from the I Ching, 41st hexagram Decrease:

If a time of scanty resources brings out an inner truth, one must not feel ashamed of simplicity. For simplicity is then the very thing needed to provide inner strength for further undertakings.

Inner truths and inner strengths are now needed. Shortcuts and narrow-minded self interest – the mentality of the swamp plant – got us here. Far-sighted, enlightened leadership – the mentality of the tree on the mountain – must get us out. Fortunately, the I Ching leaves us with hope:

Decrease does not under all circumstances mean something bad. Increase and decrease come in their own time. What matters here is to understand the time and not to try to cover up poverty with empty pretence.

That would surely be the precursor to and the guiding principle of a new era of responsibility.

.

For an interesting parallel insight, head over to The Useless Tree and Obama’s Mencian Themes.

Moral hazard

It is a sad day when recklessness is rewarded and prudence punished. The US government bailout of reckless financial institutions is a hard decision to take. The aim is to protect ordinary people from worse consequences if no action is taken. But it goes against the grain.

Perhaps the most pernicious part of this bailout, however, is the way it punishes the innocent to reward the guilty for taking on excess risks they couldn't handle. The moral hazard involved is outrageous. Successful financial institutions like Wells Fargo and US Bancorp, which didn't make all those bad loans, should've been able to start cleaning up by now. Instead, their reward for following prudent financial practices is to see new life breathed into their competition by governmental mandate.
On the flip side, failures like Washington Mutual now get what may amount to a "get out of bankruptcy free" card. As the credit-and-housing bubble formed, Washington Mutual and its excessive risks outperformed the more conservatively managed Wells Fargo in the 2001-2005 housing cycle.
Chuck Saletta, at Motley Fool

But there is no escaping karma. The people and hence the government will demand a reckoning. The bailed-out institutions will suffer in their reputation and hence in their business. The prudent institutions will stand out like the tree on the mountain, even more dignified and virtuous by contrast. And we shall all remember these dark days as a dawning of a new age, an age of heightened awareness of the importance of integrity.

Karma does not crush

'It's my karma’, ‘it’s the way I am’, ‘it’s the story of my life’ and ‘you can’t escape your destiny’. We have all heard or even said these things, as if we were in the grip of some inevitable outside force. But karma is not inevitable and it is not an outside force. It is more like a law and its effect is dependent on us. Our karma is therefore always changing according to what we think, what we say and what we do. If we uplift our thoughts, our words and our acts we will inevitably uplift our karma. Here is a simple and clear exposition of karma from a book on my ‘rare book’ shelf, ‘A Study in Karma’ by Annie Besant (first published in 1912).

Karma does not crush

Now karma is the great law of nature, with all that that implies. As we are able to move in the physical universe with security, knowing its laws, so may we move in the mental and moral universes with security also, as we learn their laws. The majority of people, with regard to their mental and moral defects, are much in the position of a man who would decline to walk upstairs because of the law of gravity. They sit down helplessly and say: ‘That is my nature. I cannot help it’. True, it is the man’s nature, as he has made it in the past, and it is ‘his karma’. But by a knowledge of karma he can change his nature, making it other tomorrow than it is today. He is not in the grip of an inevitable destiny imposed upon him from outside; he is in a world of law, full of natural forces which he can utilize to bring about the state of things which he desires. Knowledge and will – that is what he needs. He must realize that karma is not a power which crushes but a statement of conditions out of which invariable results accrue. So long as he lives carelessly, in a happy-go-lucky way, so long will he be like a man floating on a stream, struck by any passing log, blown aside by any casual breeze, caught in any chance eddy. This spells failure, misfortune, unhappiness. The law enables him to compass his ends successfully and places within his reach forces which he can utilize. He can modify, change, remake on other lines the nature which is the inevitable outcome of his previous desires, thoughts and actions; that future nature is as inevitable as the present, the result of the conditions which he now deliberately makes. ‘Habit is second nature’, says the proverb, and thought creates habits. Where there is law, no achievement is impossible, and karma is the guarantee of man’s evolution into mental and moral perfection. .

Photo by Dimitar Janevski