"VindicatorOnlyofHerOwn" 205ordertowintheirsupportfortheirlobbies-noexpense,nocraft,istoO
muchwhenitcomestoinfluencingthepolicyofa hegemonicpower.
Moreover,thecapitalofa hegemonisinvariablya placeofsecrets,
manyofthemdirty.Therearesecretagreementswithallies,thesecretsof
militaryplanning,thesecretsofa vastandactiveintelligencecommu-
nityanda webofagents.Manyofthehegemon'salliesarenotparticu-
larlynice.Inmostofthissadworld'sbloodystruggles,bothsidesare
crooked,bothdrenchedinblood,andneitherattachedtothecauseoflib-
erty,virtue,oranythingelsethatgoesbeyondpersonalandclanambi-
tion.Inevitablythehegemonentersintoarrangementswithmurderers
andthugs;inevitablythehegemonseekstomakeitsalliesmoreeffec-
tiveatmurderandthuggerythantheiropponents.Hegemonicagents
andofficialsfirstwinkat,thenconniveat,thenfomentandencourage
murder.
ThisisnoJerusalem,no"CityuponaHill."ThisisBabylon;itis
Nineveh.ItistheAugeanstables,notanhonestrepublic.Jeffersonians
sawnothingattractiveintheprospectoftheUnitedStatesreplacing
GreatBritainastheworld'shegemonicpower.
Jeffersoniansthereforespentmuchofthefirsthalfofthetwentieth
centurylookingforwaystoavoidthiscrownofthorns.Jeffersonianswere
thelastofthemajorschoolstoacceptthenecessityofAmericanpar-
ticipationinthetwoworldwarsandtheColdWar;duringtheCold
Wartheyweretheleastconvincedofthenecessityortheutilityofthe
struggle.
Jeffersoniansinthetwentiethcenturyhadmixedpoliticalfortunes.
IntheshorttermtheaftermathofWorldWarI resultedina groundswell
ofsupportforJeffersonianideas.OpponentsofAmericanparticipationin
thewarhadconsistentlypointedtothedubiousroleplayedbyWall
StreetandNewYorkbanksinthegradualmovementtowardwar."We
haveloanedmanyhundredsofmillionsofdollarstotheallies inthis
controversy,"SenatorNorristoldtheSenatein1917,adaptingtonew
conditionsthe oldarguments thatJeffersonians hadusedagainstthe
Hamiltonianmerchantswho wantedan alliancewithBritaininthe
NapoleonicWars.Citingthebanksandthemunitionscontractors"who
wouldexpecttomakemillionsmoreifourcountrycanbedrawnintothe
catastrophe,"NorrisfranklyblamedWallStreetforbribingnewspapers
and waginga sophisticatedand well-financedcampaigntodragthe
UnitedStatesintoa horrible,pointless,immoralwar.
"Theirobjectinhavingwarandpreparingforwaristomakemoney.