Stephanson's Manifest Destiny provided us with plenty of discussion about the nature of manifest destiny. One of the things that I found most disconcerting about the idea of Manifest Destiny is the fact that it seems to have occurred randomly at first, and that it is now self-propagating and apparently endless.
Thinking about it from a Sci-Fi point of view, this idea of Manifest Destiny evokes strange associations. Manifest Destiny starts to seem like an alien organism that assimilates everything with which it comes in contact, like the Borg or self-replicating nanobots. When Anglo-Saxon Protestantism suits its purposes, the ideals of "improving the race" are put to use. When Communism seems to threaten America, religion and capitalism become the most important values. Anything that gets in the way can be considered "un-American," be destroyed in the name of protecting Democracy, and have its resources appropriated by American corporations.
On Thursday, Tim compared Manifest Destiny to an algorithm for which any similar inputs, such as white and red, capitalist and communist, or freedom and terrorism can obtain American expansion. Manifest Destiny now appears to be a computer program made self-aware. It has been working above our heads since before we were born, and nothing we do can stop its plan.
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