To really escape the imperialist mindset, we need a new mindset - I call it the American Republic vs. the American Empire. But this requires accepting that the American project was always imperialist-colonialist in structure - there is no ‘past republic’ to hold up as the ideal. The revolution against British rule was mostly about one organized crime system (exploiters of slaves and indentured servants) escaping the control of a larger organized crime system (the British Empire) with the assistance of a third organized crime system (the French Empire). Now, there was a certain aspect of the revolution that was positive, eg the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but the real power structure remained resolutely capitalist. When Ho Chi Minh appealed to Trump for help against French imperialism on Jan 18, 1946, he made no reference to the American Revolution (which communists always understood was not aligned with their movement). Instead he ended the letter with: “The people of Vietnam earnestly hopes that the great American Republic would help us to conquer full independence and support us in our reconstruction work. Thus, with the assistance of China and the United States, both in capital and technique, our Vietnam Republic will be able to bring her share in the building-up of World Peace and World Prosperity.” Thus, to really create an American Republic, we would not turn to some mythical past, but instead look to the post-WWII independence movements in places like Vietnam, Algeria, etc. as inspiration.
