Politcs are Timeless

11/13/2004 | hleewilder

[hleewilder]

“You..., it is certain, are very wrong to disturb the peace of other states rather than to rest content with the most splendid state... which you already possess. If you knew how you are universally hated, your hair would stand on end... Do you believe that these powers... now in league together, are truly friends among themselves? Of course they are not; it is only necessity, and the fear which they feel for you and your power, that has bound them in this way... You are alone, with all the world against you... Know then that your enemies do not sleep. Take good counsel, for, by God, you need it...”

Sound familiar, or archaic language aside, rather contemporary to the familiar, ad nauseum, indictment against these United States?

Well, actually, these words were spoken by Galeazzo Sforza, the Duke of Milan in 1467 to Monsignor Giovanni Gonnella, the Secretary to the Venetian Republic, and I'm quoting it here from John Julius Norwich's excellent “A History of Venice”. (Well, I'm from Missouri, just like Jane Smiley's kin, and on my way to the outhouse, I needed, but couldn't find, any 2-ply, had a little time on my hands, and bingo, I ended up with a some eddication.)

Anyway, the point Lord Norwich wanted to make was that the while the Venetian's were fairly well disliked by the rest of the Northern Italian city-states, “..another emotion, more reprehensible than fear, but equally easy to understood, informed their anti-Venetian policies: that of envy.”

The Republic of Venice was safely isolated and, until the advent of long range artillery and advanced (for the time) sailing vessels armed with cannon, her geographic position formidable navy and not least, the strong sense of civic duty and the pride everyone felt for being born Venetian, rendered the islands impregnable.

Compare that to the United States, whose geography protected our country until the development of super long range bombers, and then ICBMs. During WWII, German POWs, as well as our British allies, were astonished that all the American cities were lit up as if there wasn't a war going on at all.

How many European countries do you think might feel a twinge of envy when that particular fact is thrown about?

In Venice, the palaces and churches were beautiful, light and airy. On the mainland of Italy, buildings with similar functions were built like fortresses, thick, heavy and forbidding, because they had to be: there was always the danger of attack.

Finally, at the heart of the Venice-envy (sorry), was the strength and resilience of Venice's political system, which was predicated on the Republic's sense of security and, wait for it, it's cultural values, which included, as I mentioned, a sense of civic duty and pride, yes pride, that they were born Citizens of the Republic.

If John Kerry had stood up, looked straight into a camera and said “You know, we may have our differences, but, by God, the United States of America is the greatest country on this earth, and each and every one of us should be proud to be an American citizen”, he might well have ended up with a different place in history (and mailing address) than the one he's going to end up with. I mean, he could've followed it up with some critiques (not criticism) of some of our policies, but at least he would've had every thinking American's ear.

Don't hold your breath for any of the current office holding Democrats to every say anything like that, though. I think that they would disown their own children before anything like that crossed their lips, and that's the common perception that most middle of the road American's have of the Left.

We live in a country that, when a President was assassinated in 1963 and another forced to resign eleven years later, there was no bloody coup with a military junta taking over. There wasn't even marshal law. Come on, what other country can say that, outside of a few other Western countries with a strong Judeo-Christian legal basis to their governments?

I'm happy that people of strong Christian beliefs had their voices heard in this last election. However, I don't believe the so-called “Moral Values” factor decided who who will lead our country for the next four years.

I believe that what we all saw on 2 November was a majority of Americans (the only people, after all, eligible to vote in our country's elections) decided to vote according to our Cultural Values, fortified by our willingness to fight for our security, our way of life and a strong, indomitable sense of civic pride.

We're just going to have to accept that there are a lot of people who envy, fear and ultimately hate us for those very reasons, just as the Venetian Republic was.

Thanks again, as always for slogging through.

Also, I don't know if Lord Norwich is still alive, and if he is, whether he would agree with the analogy I've laid out here. Venice was his favorite city; as an English aristocrat, he might not be that fond of America, but what do I know?

[kenavi]

I don't recall if Machiavelli was from Venice, but he had it right. When you're rich and powerful, you can't be loved, so you'd better be respected. The rest of the world needs the cowboy and the gringo.

[El Oviedo]

We are the only world power - that's why their leaders don't like us. Some of their people don't like us because that's what their leaders say and the newspapers that follow their leader's desires - also say so.

But the people whose countries do not like us - continue to visit our country or illegally come and live here or wished that they are Americans.

Isn't that a bit ironic? In my book that's what I call insane jealousy.

Their leaders ala Chirac is powerless to give his people the "way of life" American way.

The "losers" who are supposed to go to Canada are still here.

We have newspaper editors and ingenious movie makers and other socialists that do not like our system of government but they refuse to leave.

[kenavi]

You articulated the other side of my argument: the people of the world are much more favorable towards the U.S. than their leaders. It is their leaders who suffer from "insane jealousy".
Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. or returning to Mexico from the U.S., for example, probably have played a major role in the decline of the PRI's leftist political monopoly in Mexico. To parody the WWI ditty: "How you gonna keep 'em docile and dumb, once they have lived real free."
It is precisely that we are a nation of immigrants and that we remain open to immigrants who share our values of freedom, that will rein in the natural arrogance of power.