Essay 3 Final

[Amer Lafi Taffy]

Shakespeare’s play, Timon of Athens, is
an emotionally charged metaphor to the modern history of the United
States and its relationships with the rest of the world. In the
Limits of Power, Andrew Bacevich implies that America is completely
naïve to the real world and will be awakened one day from its
illusions of luxury and goodwill. Much of the same can be
said of the life and late epiphanies of Timon of Athens in this
poetic
satire of American “power” and naiveté.
In the beginning of the play, Timon is America, at what appears to be
its finest of times; however at no time through out the play
is Timon not in debt. When all is disclosed, the
readers may not simply have been informed. One could argue this is
analogous to the current economic situation of the United States
today
and its citizen’s opinions of it. Bacevich implores that the United
States is a world superpower however the truth is more towards that
of an inflated ego so large we have ourselves fooled. The character
Timon of Athens, is not only the United States at the current time,
but the entire history of the United States
of America in its entirety from conception to reigning superpower to
foreshadowing the likely future of its inevitable demise. While the
latter has yet to happen, the US is a relatively very young country
and if this Shakespeare play is truly a metaphor for this
country, we had better get our affairs in domestically, and look for
opportunities abroad.
Only the eyes of a poet like Shakespeare could the reality of the
situation seem so bleak, morbid and unfortunately real. The United
States operates under the guise that it is here to defend freedom and
to be an example of liberty, and to set in place systems to protect
that liberty, all the while the truth is that her (USA)
allies are only standing on her side with smiles and open hands so
long as those hands are filled. Should those outstretched hands be
met by a handshake, it is likely they will not be returned with the
same firmness of grip. In other words, the United States enjoys this
idea of “Superpower” while frantically looking to find new ways in
which our debtors will need us. Should the world not need us
anymore,
our debts will be called in and this country would be unwilling to
pay.
Timon’s friends in Athens are analogous to all of the debtors of the
United States. In wartime and peacetime people and institutions
are only an ally when something is in it for them. Portrayed as the
insensitive evils of our society, Timon’s friends seek only to do
what’s in their own best interest, neglecting the sensitivities of
friendship and doing what is necessary for their own survival: not
indebting a man
who’s clearly not worth the bill he’s owed. Consider the United
States and its 11 trillion dollar debt. A day will come when the US
debts will come due and some type of political concessions will be
paid to our debtors or else an international conflict could quite
possibly ensue.The concept of such a number is staggering, in fact
it’s slightly
over 1/7th the size of the global economy. One nation of close to
two
hundred has nearly 15% of the global gross domestic product in debt!
As Timon’s is naïve, the government of the United States
insists on making the voting majority of its citizens as ignorant of
the real truth: that the US power and global dominance portrayed as
brick and mortar and “here to stay” is merely as stable as a house of
cards and in the fate of the winds.
With every new war we wage (repressed country we defend), with every
favor we extend, we are only opening ourselves up as a country. In a
world era dominated by militaristic power, we are opening ourselves up
to weakness, to all other countries in the
world and fanatic groups who would die to see us fail. Timon’s friends
earlier, should not be blamed for
not helping. Had Timon been more proactive in understanding the truth
of his situation, he may have seen the realities of the world he was
forced to face: When Timon’s friends needed money all were eagerly
accepting, when he offered gifts, no one denied them.however when he
needed help himself, not a genuine friend was no anywhere to be found
except in one honest man who clearly had not the means to help but
merely
abate slightly his own bleeding heart that filled with such detest
for
the civilians of Athens. An example of the fate in store for those
who dare try to look out for others without collateral (fame, money,
and need for the other) is that of Alcibiades. Alcibiades defended a
friend in need and was exiled from the city. However a look back at
the situation with Ventidius and Timon shows you that it was not his
position of liberty that freed Ventidius, it was purely Timon’s money
and yet even when he still did free Ventidius with money, this person
whom you would expect to be indebted to Timon, refuses to aid him in
his own time of need. When you look at areas in Los Angeles, such as
Beverly Hills and the Pacific Palisades, and areas in Orange County
like Laguna Beach and Carona Del Mar it is clear that anyone sheltered
by this environment (the young minds of today) are witness to a giant
illusion of luxury surrounded only by people who want those luxuries.
It is said by Bacevich that the United States is
a global superpower, and it has been the philosophy of the government
of the United States of America to instill the same “freedoms” and
luxuries (in the humble sense-full stomachs, safe residences) yet
within its own boarders are millions homeless and globally
approximately fifty percent (50%) of the worlds population makes less
than two dollars ($2.00) per day. Our government clearly had not
planned to be 11 trillion dollars in debt, however the fact remains
that that number is true and has risen every day since 2008 (approx.
1
trillion each year). With Obama’s budgeting plan, we are supposedly
going to cut that number by 3 trillion in then next 7 years, we may
not have so long to fix our problems should we be asked to answer
them
immediately at the price of war on our heads.
The time will come when the Western World will fall from its glorious
heights. American citizens would be best advised to be weary in
putting all their financial hopes in a country who owes the majority
of the world.
References:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
Andrew Bacevich, The Limits of Power