Wednesday and I were just chatting and somehow we got onto this subject. Many people across the World resent us because we are a so called Imperial Power......the last Super Power. History tells us that America didn't want this role........they were dragged into it kicking and screaming by the same people who resent us now for having said power.
Our faults as a country are a by-product of over 100 years of decision making. It is both foolish and reckless to say one man (Bush or Clinton) or one administration are the reason why the world "hates" us or that we have global unrest. Republicans and Democrats alike got us where we are today equally......good and bad.
During the first 2 World Wars we tried very hard each time to stay out of them. We answered the call to save democracy and to save Europe from tyranny......soon after whenever there was global unrest the rest of the world looked to us to go and do something about it........Vietnam was France's problem initially.....it seems that after the fall of the Soviet Union Europe wasn't as threatened anymore and didn't need us quite they way they used to. Not only that, they and others now resent us for doing the same thing that they begged us to do for almost 50 years.......protect the world from tyranny.
Personally, I tend to agree with people like Pat Buchannan who say we should be a Republic not an Empire. Obviously, after 9/11 we need to fight a global war on terror now so that really isn't an option anymore.
But whenever they need us and it's convenient for them, the world expects us to be there for them. During the Tsunami disaster no one gave more or did more than the USA.....yet you had the French calling us cheap.....and the tsunami victims themselves wanting the American troops out of there as quickly as possible. Now I'm glad we helped.....but if the world is so ungrateful maybe we should focus more on our own problems and let them deal with their problems themselves. We still have to fix Florida which still has debris on the sides of the road and buildings devastated by hurricanes that happened almost a year ago.......maybe it is time to turn our backs on the rest of the world and take care of our own.
So who is to blame for our "Imperialism"? .....I believe it's the very people who resent us.......what say you?
