Call him crazy or call him brilliant, Chalmers Johnson is prolific. His book Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of America's Empire is the first in a lengthy series of political discourse. In Blowback he lays ground for the rest of the series, tracing a line through historical events in order to make sense of the present and even predict the future.
Many have dismissed Johnson's writings as paranoid conspiracy theories, but others have embraced his work based on the author's ethos and the logos within his books. Johnson has concluded that America is a villain, destined to fall like Rome. And he argues that the people remain dumb because they are being intentionally lied to by the government. Without the proper knowledge of America's foreign affairs, no one could be expected to know the lengths to which the government has gone to assert itself around the world, much to the harm of other peoples. Sadly this means that some other countries have nearly infinitely more understanding of the U.S. government than its own people.
"Blowback" is Johnson's main idea for the book. He defines it by demonstrating its effects throughout history. It's more than retaliation, more like an inevitable natural consequence. Overall, Johnson's conclusions in this book are sound, but so are arguments to the opposite because evidence can be interpreted multiple ways. Regardless of its validity, Johnson's theory is worth considering because if he is correct, Americans should be alarmed and do their best to correct their course.
