Posted on 09/06/2006 10:05:28 AM PDT by IrishMike
According to ABC News, 2008 presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., may have recently called his moderate-right credentials into question. "McCain has tapped a controversial academic to be a member of his virtual 'kitchen cabinet,'" ABCNews.com noted. That academic – Niall Ferguson of Harvard University – is, according to David Weigel of Reason magazine, a "foaming-at-the-mouth 'national greatness conservative.'" This academic has presented, according to Priyamvada Gopal of Cambridge University in Britain, an "aggressive rewriting of history, driven by the messianic fantasies of the American right."
Who is this dastardly intellectual twisting the liberal media's beloved "Maverick" McCain into a burgeoning Caesar? Ferguson is a prominent historian who believes that the British Empire brought a great deal of good to the world through its colonialism. ....................
Liberalism is an offshoot of European leftism, and European leftism is a 20th-century reaction to European hegemony over the past five centuries. European leftism sprung from the embers of a dying empire; Britain's self-loathing and breast-beating over its colonialist history only became an issue after British power had dissipated. Self-flagellation is a luxury only empires of the past can afford; it is also a useful tactic for past empires now fearing retaliation. More than anything, however, the Europeans rely on the strength of America to protect them against their past discretions. They can apologize for their ideals without consequence, since America will shield them from their Third World-assisted suicide. .........................
America is not an empire of the past. It is today's empire, and it is far stronger than any empire in modern history. America cannot rely on any other empire to protect it; it must protect itself. And America cannot maintain its global status if the American left insists on viewing America as just another country, no better and sometimes worse than any other.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Because it did. Failed nations today however blame "the legacy of colonialism" to cover up their failures.
Yep. Look at all the former British colonies in Africa. Most of them are nightmares.
*Bump*
Africa is a prime example. Mostly failed socialist and tribal goverments. The UN ranks these nations at the bottom of their liveability chart. You also have to remember that the US, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, and a whole host of other sucessful nations were once colonies too.
I have read some Niall Ferguson, and he is not "foaming at the mouth." He is an academic who takes a balanced look at the age of empire, and concludes that Britain was not quite the devil incarnate. This, to liberals, makes him a "foaming at the mouth" national greatness conservative. Give me a break.
Strangest example of an "empire" history has ever seen.
Funny, but when I look at a map the borders of the US look pretty much the same as they did 150 years ago.
"America is not an empire of the past. It is today's empire, and it is far stronger than any empire in modern history"
American Empire? What a joke! I only wish America was an empire....we would not have an Iran, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela to contend with. I wish we owned these countries...their citizens would be far far better off with us than with their present tyrannical rulers and the world would be safer place too.
Meaning that we will continue to exist through at least the middle of this century?
Unlike Europe.
The Founders would repeatedly refer to our nation as an "empire;" from Washington to Hamilton and Jefferson. What's the big deal? So what if we are?
The real failure of empire was in the wholesale abandonment of it following WW2.
Even the worst colonial powers would have taken Zimbabwe, either Congo, and Ivory Coast etc. to a far better level than today.
Wondering how Vietnam might have turned out had the French been willing to stay and gotten some early help from their allies?
The word empire does not fit here, at all. Americans are leading a progressive march toward a global community of democratic nations and this behavior is extremely anti-empire. Americans do not rule over anyone. They challenge arbitrary and illegitimate tyrants whenever the opportunity arises. I don’t think they do it out of a sense of social justice… They do it because of who they are. American ideology is so deeply entrenched in the American psyche – we are a different breed of intellect. It effects everything we do. The American environment establishes the free exchange of ideas and is so successful - it's contagious. American ideology is affecting everyone, just as everyone can affect American ideology. That's not empire at all.
EMPIRE
Humint says, "The word empire does not fit here, at all."
America is an empire, my friend. I'm 100% conservative, but we've got to face the facts. I don't have any problem with it being an empire either. Let's look at what the founders said about America and Empire.
Washington's letters are peppered with references to the US as a "rising empire."
In the first letter of the Federalist Papers, Hamilton says he will discuss, "the fate of an empire..."
Jefferson wrote to Madison that, "we should have suh an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation."
The question is how "empire" is understood. If we wish to speak in terms of territory, it's quite clear that we are an empire. Certainly the founders would agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.