In 2001 came the main event, an open-ended global war on terror, soon known in some quarters as the “Long War.” By and large, Americans were slow to grasp the implications of a global war with no exits and no deadlines. Seeing themselves as a peaceful people, Americans remain wedded to the conviction that the conflicts in which they find themselves embroiled are not of their own making.

In the aftermath of the September 11, Washington’s resolve that nothing interfere with the individual American’s pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness only hardened. People weren’t flocking to Disney World, and airlines seemed to be sliding into bankruptcy. This sudden reticence threatened to bring the empire of consumption crashing down. Hence the urgency of the president’s charge to “Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.”

With Americans, even in wartime, refusing to curb their appetites, the Long War aggravates the economic contradictions that continue to produce debt and dependency. Meanwhile, a stubborn insistence on staying the course militarily ends up jeopardizing freedom at home.

Americans now confront a looming military crisis to go along with the economic and political crises that they have labored so earnestly to ignore. The day of reckoning approaches. Expending the lives of more American soldiers in hopes of deferring that day is profoundly wrong. History will not judge kindly a people who find nothing amiss in the prospect of endless armed conflicts so long as they themselves are spared the effects.