Posted on 06/06/2015 5:07:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
“Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Attendee: Brought peace?
Reg: Oh, peace - shut up!
Reg: There is not one of us who would not gladly suffer death to rid this country of the Romans once and for all.
Dissenter: Uh, well, one.
Reg: Oh, yeah, yeah, there's one. But otherwise, we're solid.” – The Life of Brian
That scene from The Life of Brian always reminds me of what America has to put up with. We do more for the world than any other 10 nations combined and then all we hear is endless complaining that we’re not saving the world the right way. Maybe instead of whining so much about how lousy America is, more people should appreciate everything we’ve done.
1) We saved the word from tyranny three times: Granted, we didn’t win WWI, WWII and the Cold War all by ourselves, but we were the biggest factor in all three wars. In WWI, the conflict had bogged down into a stalemate before the Germans stupidly got us involved by trying to get Mexico to attack us. In WWII, both the British and Russians played a crucial role, but neither could have fought back effectively or even held out against the Germans without our incredible industrial base supplying their armies. Oh, and the Cold War? Western Europe had no more chance against the Evil Empire without us than the Rebels did against the Empire without Luke Skywalker. We broke the Soviet Union and the world’s a better place for it. Speaking of which…
2) We’re first at spreading freedom and democracy and there is no second: People who hate America do all sorts of wacky backflips to deny the truth, but America is the world’s oldest continuous republic and we’ve been spreading the word about what a great system of government it is ever since. We haven’t just been talking either. Germany, Japan and South Korea are all free people today because of the United States. Breaking the Soviet Union freed tens of millions from tyranny. What did we do when we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan? We set up free republics. The number of people who’ve moved from tyranny to freedom because of the United States is in the hundreds of millions. That brings up another point…
3) We do more to prevent war and create world stability than anyone else: It’s often noted that America is willing and able to use its military power, but that’s because there are only about three “good-guy” nations that can fight and two of them, Britain and Israel, don’t have the strength to project force abroad without help. So, if the bad guys are on the move, who you gonna call? Belgium? Sweden? France? Ha, ha, ha! You could call Russia and China, but if there are bad guys making a move, at best they’re going to be neutral and at worst, they’re siding with them. Oh, and the United Nations? Please….all it does is ask if Britain and America are willing to do all the real fighting while other nations send token forces. Want to know why the Soviet Union didn’t invade Western Europe? It didn’t want to take on the U.S. Why didn’t Saddam Hussein end up keeping Kuwait and then start scarfing up other nations? We kicked his @ss. Know why there hasn’t been another war between North and South Korea since the fifties? America is on the scene. Do you wonder why there hasn’t been a war between China and either Taiwan and Japan in the last fifty years? America is the answer. We also rebuilt Western Europe with the Marshall Plan, we dish out more foreign aid than anyone and we send food all over the world. If you’re in trouble, you want America to show up, which brings up another interesting point….
4) We aren’t using our vast power for conquest: We have a nuclear arsenal, the best military in the world and we’re capable of projecting force anywhere on the planet in a very short period of time.Yet, as Colin Powell said,
"We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to live our own lives in peace."
Both Canada and Mexico share a border with the United States and yet neither of them has a serious military. If we wanted to say, invade Canada, what could it do about it? Throw hockey pucks at us? Yet, nobody is living in fear because that’s not what America does. Some ill-informed idiots claimed America was invading Iraq for the oil and Afghanistan for…what, I don’t know – rocks and sand? What else is there in that pesthole? Yet, we didn’t even take the money needed to cover our expenses from those nations. We didn’t invade Europe after WWII; we used the Marshall Plan to help it rebuild. Before the United States, great powers almost universally menaced their neighbors and took what they wanted from them by force. America hasn’t done that since Mexico made the terrible mistake of attacking us after Texas chose to join our nation. Ask yourself if China, Russia and the colonial powers in Europe would do the same if they had our military power today. Of course, we’re not just a great nation militarily, we are a great nation because…
5) Our economy, technological advantage and soft power are unsurpassed in human history: Wanting the same prosperity that the American people have helped turn the citizens of the Soviet Union against their government masters. That prosperity and a tradition of Christian giving has helped make the United States the world’s most generous nation.
Technologically, not only is our military head and shoulders better than anyone else, we invented the Internet. If you need lifesaving surgery, we’re still the place you want to be (and we will continue to be long term if we get rid of Obamacare). If you want to say your nation is technologically superior to America, then go bring back the flag we left on the moon in 1969 first.
Our culture and products are omnipresent across the world as well. Right now, there’s probably some guy in a backward nation wearing a Yankees jersey and typing, “I hate America,” on his Microsoft browser before he goes to McDonald’s and then heads to the theater to watch the new Avengers movie.
Nations like Britain and Rome had a tremendous impact on the nations they conquered, but even without trying, America’s influence extends to the farthest reaches of the globe. The only people who care what’s happening in Switzerland tomorrow are the Swiss, but when America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold.
And the Uniparty is doing everything possible to correct that situation.
And there are people, Americans, who think America does not deserve it, who think America is fundamentally wrong, who gnash their teeth at the National Anthem.
We set up free republics in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The writer is delusional.
“We aren’t using our vast power for conquest”
Some of us know this.
at a dinner party some older neighbor, a business man was going on about how the US is questionable in morality in commerce. I suppose shady business guys have to rationalize.
AND in front of the kids. As usual none of the ‘men’ in the vicinity, a few of them military officers, would pipe up. I don’t know why - I miss my father.
I digress.
I said, ‘whoa. The US is not imperialist’.
He got so pissed - that’s how anti patriots argue.
“The US certainly is too imperialist. Of course they are”
This guy wants to argue with a mother in front of her kids over how bad the US is, and point out not only that the kids have a bad country but also a twit for a mother.
Where were the guys?
I asked him to explain his facts.
He said, ‘Oh we took over Guam’.
It was not enjoyable watching a guy deflate so quickly even the kids had to look down and slink out of the room.
But could more people just say to others, ‘just shut up about how bad the US is’?
Especially in front of the kids.
I NEVER heard such scandalous dialogue when I was growing up.
The men certainly would not allow it that’s for sure
And it shouldn’t end there.
America hasn’t done that since Mexico made the terrible mistake of attacking us after Texas chose to join our nation.
No question it was a terrible mistake. But it is at minimum highly debatable whether Mexico attacked us.
From another valid perspective, we intentionally marched troops into disputed territory and then claimed "American troops had been attacked on American soil." IOW, Polk staged the whole thing. I just listened to a book about Lincoln's term in Congress, and this issue dominated. Lincoln gained a (mostly unfavorable) national reputation by proposing a resolution requiring Polk to designate the "spot" on American soil where this blood was shed.
There is also the entire history of our expansion across the continent, merrily breaking solemn treaties as we went.
We also conquered the Philippines, though we didn't keep it long, and we acquired Hawaii by what can only be called dubious means. Not to mention the Panama Canal Zone.
All these and others have another side to the story, of course. I'm merely noting that our record is not as spotless as the writer seems to think.
The history of the expansion of the British and other empires is also not nearly as evil as the contrast he draws. Most of these empires, most of the time, did not have a consistent policy of expansion wherever possible. They expanded to preempt others or to stop border squabbles, which of course simply moved the border to a new location where they had to deal with new squabbles. Much expansion was done by the men on the spot, forcing reluctant home governments to accept a fait accompli.
In many cases the relationship -- at least at the leadership level -- is a very amicable one. This is one of the dirty little secrets we're learning about the whole Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation debacle. It's no coincidence that the U.S. has pissed away thousands of American lives and more than a trillion dollars in military campaigns in the Middle East for the benefit of governments and powerful people who are contributors to the Clinton Foundation and/or real estate partners with the Bush family.
“We ... have no qualms about toppling them through subversion or military force”
This is a lie
“It’s no coincidence that the U.S. has pissed away thousands of American lives and more than a trillion dollars in military campaigns in the Middle East for the benefit of governments and powerful people who are contributors to the Clinton Foundation and/or real estate partners with the Bush family. “
That is not the US. That is a couple of self appointed royal families who have no adherence to the Constitution.
Our Military, each member, takes an oath to defend the Constitution. They certainly do have qualms about running around being told what to do by people who are elected by uneducated people who also have no acquaintanceship with the Constitution. They trust the US voters to take care of its military by electing people with respect for their own oath.
Our military is what? the largest for questionable reasons?
That is a scandalous implication. You liberals who want a small military as if it is a sign of virtue do not care any more than Carter did, that we were not respected around the world, to detrimental effects.
Reagan built up the military primarily to get the USSR off our backs.
Get over it.
I know a guy who was a champion boxer at the military academy he attended. He is trained in hand to hand combat. is a marksman with a gun collection.
I’ve known him for 30 years.
No one bothers him. And he does not physically impose his will on anyone
I’m going to go watch Saturday cartoons.
This forum is nuts this morning.
D Day of all Days.
No. I’m going to put on ‘Band of Brothers’
imperialism
noun
1. the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
Accepting a true definition of imperialism, there is no reasonable debate. If we truly “toppled them by force” in order to “impose our will,” why don’t these damn countries do what we want? Why am I still 7500 miles from my home?
Redefinition is the raison d’etre of Leftism. Calling good evil and evil good is the heart of the left.
Thanks. I’m glad there are some sane people left at FR.
Sigh. With that I will take my leave to American cultural Saturday morning entertainment.
Was.
Was the greatest nation in history.
This Canadian agrees wholeheartedly. Thank God for the USA and its fine people. Without you, there’d be no free world.
Now, to buy a few hundred rounds of hockey pucks, just in case. :-)
Cheers,
Jim
1. the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
2. advocacy of imperial or sovereign interests over the interests of the dependent states.
Or we could look to Merriam-Webster since, as you pointed out, words have a precise meaning.
: a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world
: the effect that a powerful country or group of countries has in changing or influencing the way people live in other, poorer countries
Imperialism was used correctly in this case.
While everyone joins the military for different reasons, as a veteran, I know patriotism is always high on that list. Unfortunately very little of what our military has done in recent decades has anything to do with “support and defend the constitution”. While the goal is not conquest it is certainly imperial. I have very strong feelings for the many 19 and 20 year old children who believed in that oath only to be completely exploited as pawns and fodder for the purpose of installing puppet dictators. While this may benefit some well-connected individuals it is corruption and war profiteering. Is there a worse crime one could engage in? Along this line we should also consider that our government is the largest exporter of arms in the world (whose beneficiaries include “moderate Muslims” and numerous human rights abusing dictators). Yes, there are plenty of people who have reasons to hate us which are not based on our freedoms.
I’m simply trying to point out that when one considers exceptionalism it should not be used to excuse our sins or denigrate the person questioning the actions or motives of government.
Furthermore I am strongly convinced that this same reasoning applied to politics has severely damaged our political process. We choose a candidate and support them by demonstrating their superiority to the opposition, often by calling attention to the opposition’s errors. This makes us reluctant to call out problems or question the voting record of our preferred candidate. In the end we compromise our views and allow politicians to run amok.
And the author of this article actually believes that the U.S. has any interest in promoting "freedom" and "democracy" around the world? LMAO.
The intent was not imperialistic, ‘dude’
Is it just a coincidence that all of these "nations" we build over there now conduct business in U.S. dollars even though they are falling apart just a few years after we leave? Do you really think any of that would have happened if there was tomato sauce under the ground over there in the Middle East instead of oil and gas?
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