“Difficult to plumb the depths of irony here: that many Americans, shielded by two oceans, weak and/or backward neighbors, and armed might, have become convinced they have “spent too much” after suffering only a tiny fraction of the loss and societal upset that afflicted so many other countries during the 20th century.”
Ah yes the irony, since so many countries were “afflicted” then it’s only fair that the USA inflict same damage unto itself; such National self-flagellation is the only path to prove our worth in this world and to our European superiors as they reap the benefits of our atonement.
“Hesitation to intervene in both World Wars can only be seen as morally puny.”
Straw-man arguments are the fallacious hobgoblins of lost arguments and intellectual subordinates.
“But the worst conceptual mistake Americans make is this: looking at less-than-perfectly-executed intervention in (for example) Southeast Asia, or Korea, or the earlier World Wars, and judging after the fact that involvement was not worth the effort, or a strategic error. The two aspects of the problem are not related.”
The worst conceptual mistake Americans make is this:
Our globalist politicians and their enablers really care about this country, it’s health, wealth and prosperity.
Since Trump has been elected it’s become self-evident to a critical mass of Americans, they don’t.
“Of course trade deficits are troubling. And allies do not behave exactly as we’d like them to. Could all of it have been done better? Quite likely. But none of that should furnish an excuse to withdraw. Unless we enjoy being intellectually dishonest.”
It’s the very definition of insanity to continue to behave in a certain manner and expect different results.
Furthermore to claim in one post that this country was founded on the idea of being a “trading nation” and then to ignore other founding ideas such as “avoid foreign entanglements” smacks of the double-standard typical in intellectual dishonesty.
Or just plain ignorance or facts.
Most likely both.
“...it’s only fair that the USA inflict same damage unto itself; … as they reap the benefits of our atonement. … fallacious hobgoblins of lost arguments and intellectual subordinates. … intellectual dishonesty.
Or just plain ignorance or facts.
Most likely both.” [JPJones, post 23]
Interesting words: I have to admit to curiosity as to just what an “intellectual subordinate” is.
Word choice aside, here’s a fact that JPJones and the other members of the forum may find unpalatable:
George Washington and the other Founders were moral, fallible persons, not Divinely inspired oracles. If we take every word they wrote, every phase they uttered to the bank, we are making big mistakes of our own.
What’s more, George Washington’s Presidential farewell address is not a “founding idea,” but an observation based on the President’s experience and judgment to that date (they could hardly be based on events that had not yet happened as he left office), of the practicalities - the ups and downs - of foreign affairs. Nothing then was what it is now, when it comes to the relative position of nations, in terms of power and foreign affairs. That includes our own United States. Falling on our faces in deference to “timeless truths” and “unchanging verities” takes us nowhere - though chanting those terms over and over can comfort children, the ignorant, and the lazy.
It’s another mistake to say that the USA inflicted damage on itself, by intervention in the World Wars and the Cold War. The damage was inflicted by adversaries: US personnel were killed in action by hostile personnel, not by our own people. To insist otherwise is not “America First,” it is “nothing exists but me” - a level of egotism approaching insanity.
I’m not often intrigued by another forum member’s screen name, but JPJones has chosen one that stirs the curiosity a little. If he can tell us why John Paul Jones wasn’t the foremost American naval hero of the American War of Independence, and how he came to be so regarded, I might consider taking those accusations about ignorance of facts more seriously. At least a little.