Project for a New World Century

OK, so I'm at some big box office supply store--I'm like a kid in a candy store at these places--and I guy this huge laminated map of the world (actually it was two and there is one of the United States) to hang on the wall. Why? It's the Project for a New World Century. Let me explain.

In my experience many political discussions are very abstract. When I talk to people about our insane military spending the figures are so vast that they don't mean much. It's hard for me to coneive of 400 billion anything. So I wanted a way to make things a little more concrete for people.

So I got a map. I really didn't have a plan at first. Little by little it's starting to develop. As you'll see in the pictures it's a crude project. I've simply taken to writing in various things on the map to illustrate U.S. imperialism around the world. I started out just writing various things down, like the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile September 11, 1973. Then I put little red x everywhere we had troops and bases in the world--my hand got tired!

The idea is to just get the information onto the map, playing with different ideas of how to do it. It something pops into my head about Japan or something I'll just jot it down. Eventually I'll use this as a template and apply it to a new, more professional looking map.

I'm going to mention this idea to the folks at ANSWER and RAPJA and see what they think. I think a map like this would be an awesome prop at demos. It can also help those of us who work for peace by making these facts more accessable. When did we first invade Cuba?

It's an amazing way to get people to see just what we're talking about. I've seen it already with friends who stop and stare at it. When they realize the little red x's all over the map are U.S. troops it takes them back. When they literally see all the countries we've invaded and occupied, it makes them think. And when, for instance, you have U.S. intervention in Iraq going back to the 1950s, it helps them see the curent situation in context.

What do you think? Any ideas? For now I'm going to start rendering U.S. bases with a red star sticker and U.S. troops with a blue star sticker. I'd like to convey troop numbers but it changes so much that I don't think it would be worth the effort.

At any rate, wish me luck on my New American World Project. It's continues to be an interesting exercise.

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