Time for America to dominate the World

I know this post will probably provoke some heated reactions, but I am going to say what is really on my mind. I think it is time for America, or rather "the Ideals of America" to dominate the planet Earth.

This Nation was founded by immigrants/colonists that wanted to prosper and worship as they chose to, without interference from hereditary monarches in Europe. They tired of living a life where foreign Kings decided how they would worship God, major portions of their productivity were "taxed" by the landed Nobility, and their station in life was set by birth. All wanted to live in freedom and enjoy the fruit of their own labors.

The Founding Fathers stated this American theory of government in the following passage from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Then, after winning our independence on the battlefield (take THAT, ya peaceniks!) some stumbles and false starts (Articles of Confederation), the Constitution was established. It created the framework of a representative (republican) form of government, in which the People would elect their representatives to do governmental business. The reasons for and definition of governmental business are stated in the preable to the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The government's Powers were restricted and further defined in the Articles of the Constitution, and the first ten Amendments to the Constitution enumerated the specific rights of the People. The US Constitution established the means for a free people to live and worship as they saw fit. When asked what kind of government had been established, Ben Franklin replied, "A Republic, Sir, if you can keep it."

For 214 years, the People of the United States have kept it: by living, working, prospering, and yes, by sometimes fighting and dying for it.

OK. I can already hear the flamers - what about slavery, what about a women's right to vote, what about low wages, high crime, support for totalitarian regimes, etc, etc, ad nauseam. Hey! I'll be the first to say it: We are not perfect. We learn from our past and or sucesses and failures, correct our mistakes, and move on in life as we choose to. This has often caused desent, and has cost blood. We apologise for our errors and try to make amends. That is the American Way. Part of what urks our enemies the most is that we are so prosperous while adopting an open and tolerant attitude at peace and ferocious tenacity at war. You can do what you want until it affects me, then we have a problem. Attack us - you have made a serious mistake.

The ideals of America triumph over all others that have come against it. Western civilization IS better than Middle Ages fudalism. People the world over seek to come to America to live in freedom and prosperity, to be safe from constant threats, and to raise their children in peace. This is a fact and as an American Citizen, I for one am tired of apologising for it!

Sept. 11th, {my birthday 8^( } 2001, has made profound changes to American thinking and attitude. We are no longer talking about "lock boxes" and "prescription drugs" and "SocSecurity". We are now discussing freedom, safety, and the defeat of terrorism.

IMHO, I think Americans will be under constant attack from forces of evil unless we get with the program and eradicate these forces from the face of the earth. Terrorists, Leftists, non-constitutional monarchies, dictatorships, theocracies and oligarchies are all enemies to the American Way and should be eliminated by all the force we can muster. Diplomatic, economic, military and covert means should be used to destroy thes groups so that the world can finally live in peace and prosperity.

I say it is high time that we as Americans stop buddying up to tyrants and totalitarian regimes, and we toss them bodily into the dustheap of history. Countries like China and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are not our "friends", they are merely "trading partners" or in some cases just politically convenient to have around or leave alone. We should immediately revoke all support and trade with governments that are not democracies or free market economies, and deport their citizens living here. We will never again be safe until all the people of the world enjoy the benefits of democracy and a free market economy, and our duty as Americans is to help bring it to them any way we can while protecting ourselves from internal attack. I don't want to occupy the world - Imperialism and colonialism don't work either (Just ask the ancient Romans, and 15th to 19th century England, France, and Spain) - I just want it all to be made free; by force if necessary. Pax Americana should be the order of the day.

You are either with us, or you are against us. That should apply to our ideals as well.

Our moral superiority is worthless if we are destroyed in the process of maintaining it.

Agreed. However, we do not presently face anything remotely similar to the United States being "destroyed." Those who say we do are using hyperbole. Even if the terrorists get hold of a few (or a few dozen) nukes and actually use them (not a particularly likely scenario) it would not mean the destruction of America. 10,000 nukes launched by the old USSR, that would have been the destruction of America. The threat we face today, in comparison, is merely annoying.

So we return to the ancient argument about whether the end justifies the means.

If you say that a "good end" justifies any means, you essentially join the Commies, who believe that any crime, no matter how enormous, is justified if it advances the goal of Communism by the tiniest amount. In practice, of course, this means that any action whatsoever is justified.

Those who refuse to allow that certain unpleasant means are justified by certain noble ends fall into the pacifists trap, in which maintaining my own moral superiority far outweight all possible conseqnences, no matter how great.

I think most thinking people are left with the uncomfortable realization that certain greatly important ends justify almost any means, but also that the slippery slope inevitable in war tends to a constant reduction in exactly how important the end that justifies horrific means is.

we do not presently face anything remotely similar to the United States being "destroyed."

I believe our attackers are restrained from the physical destruction of our population at large only by their present capabilities, which will only grow unless we drastically change our course of action.

We recently saw our enemies' capabilities leap by several orders of magnitude, and it should be obvious that indiscriminate mass murder is their modus operandi. Another leap in capability will reasonably result in the death of millions and millions if you consider the biological technology sought, if not owned by our enemies, and the nuclear technology which is proliferating rapidly not just to terrorists but a number of states, including China who see the existence of America, as an ideology, anathema to their success.

The unfree world is dominated by tyrants who are unrestrained by moral ambivalence about mass murder. We stand as a beacon for democracy and as such are a threat to tyrants everywhere.

Believe me, if we only respond to this as a bombing, without looking at the long-term trends and implciations, we will see our destruction. If not by the physical death of millions of Americans, then by focring us to install tyranny here in order to save our own lives.

Women had very high status.

Aristocratic women had high status, although even they were theoretically under the life and death rule of the patria potestas. Their status came much more from being aristocrats than from being women.

One emperor, the Stoic Marcus Aurelius, was a virtual saint. He wrote admonitions to himself to avoid pride and live abstemiously. He practiced kindliness and generosity and was universally recognized as a uniquely moral and competent man.

Yet this kindly man was one of the emperors most active in persecuting Christians.

His son and successor was absolutely one of the worst Emperors, personally fighting hundreds of times in the arena, massacring Senators and maintaining a harem of hundreds of women and young boys. (Although there's no evidence he bumped off Dad, as in Gladiator.) This succession of perhaps the best Emperor by one of the very worst is a perfect example of the problem with hereditary monarchy.

I'm not disagreeing with your statements, just pointing out the difficulty of comparing one civilization to another.

Any civilization with a thousand-year+ history (2,000+ if you throw in the Byzantines) will have gone thru many phases. It is literally impossible to talk about "The Ancient Romans" with any accuracy unless a specific period is stated.

The truth is not arrogant. It is merely the Truth...

People who think they have the truth but do not have it, and who try to impose by force their "truth" on others, are by definition arrogant. A perfect example of arrogance is to impose by force on others, beliefs which one refuses to practice on one's self!

Arrogance is supporting a totalitarian regime whilst screeching about freedom.

Well, newsflash: that pretty much describes American foreign policy ever since we ceased being a republic and became an empire!

We ARE better. If you don't think so, don't let the door hit you..

What a nice example of arrogance. "We are better than you are. Do as we say or we'll bomb you (if you are foreigners) or strip you of your rights as an American, if you are an American". This is essentially what the jingoistic yahoo-cry "America, love it or leave it!" means.

You jingoists seem incapable of distinguishing between loyal Americans who criticize America out of love of what America is and once was, from those whose criticism is motivated purely out of hatred or indifference to what America is (or was). In your rush to out jingo each other, you give scant evidence that we really are better than foreign fanatics. Fortunately your types do not yet have an absolute grip on our foreign policy. You're just useful idiots for the globaloney neo-con warhawks who grow fat on Beltway foundation money.

Absolutely correct as to the first part. I disagree that their capabilities are only destined to grow. Their movement is essentially parasitic on Western civilization. They are unlikely to develop truly effective weaponry on their own, they can only steal or buy it from others. This is not a way to win a war in the long run.

We were sucker-punched on 9/11. They had been at war with us for over a decade. In our arrogance and complacence, we had simply ignored them (which must have really p*ssed them off!). Well, they aren't being ignored anymore. Things are changing.

another leap in capability will reasonably result in the death of millions and millions if you consider the biological technology sought, if not owned by our enemies

What capability is this? Three anthrax deaths in a month? They could go down to the local mall with a shotgun and do better than that. Biological weapons are militarily unreliable, although they might be great for causing fear, if your enemy's media cooperates, like the American media has.

All I am saying is that it would take thousands of nukes to destroy America in any meaningful sense, not a couple or a couple of dozen, which is the most any terrorist group is likely to come up with.

Could some enormous advance in biological or physical science make these statements of mine completely obsolete? Of course. However, militant Islamists are not a likely group to make such advances.

One suggestion to prevent them from doing so: Offer well-paying jobs here and future American citizenship to all Russian bio-weapon specialists. Many of them literally cannot feed their families and are thus tempted to work for whoever will pay them.

Their expertise could be put to use developing defenses for Americans and the rest of the non-terrorist world.

militant Islamists are not a likely group to make such advances

I sure hope you are correct. But our enemies are numerous, creative, emboldened and focused on our every move. I would be surprised if China is not a conspirator behind the scenes.

Stopping the possession of destructive technology is extremely difficult, and we can only hope to keep proliferation to a manageable level, by military and economic means.

The latest ecalation is just a point in a constellation of technological developments by Iraq, N. Korea, Pakistan, China and others. The middle east is an anomaly since the wealth and power and available technology of the tyrannies is amplified by oil money, but the trend is obvious.

I agree the anthrax stuff is not too fearsome, but I think it's more of a test of our civil defenses for something later than an all-out attack.

Perhaps the deaths of millions is not a present danger. The possibility of tyranny at home, led by our radical leftists, in the wake of more attacks, is also worrisome.

To dictatorships and Islamic tyrannies, allowing people the freedom to choose what to buy and not to buy will always be anathema.

The culture that is exported like a virus inside hollywood movies is not compatable with traditional cultures. Consider the impact of consumer culture and ideology in the poor neighborhoods of Cairo. These are some of the most densely packed urban zones in the world. The Islamic culture is what keeps it livable for these people. Theft is practically non-existent, daughters are safe, sons respect their fathers. Sons have fathers.

These social groupings stretch back countless generations. You are suggesting that hollywood movies, abortion on demand, divorce on demand, smut, suggestive skimpy clothing, rap music, the general grasping, impatient, superficial and selfish mindset that is imprinted on consumer culture is going to benefit poor people in the villages and ghettoes of places like Egypt? No.

In any event, the mullahs are not going down without a fight. They are good nationalists and they will fight to preserve their culture. And I agree with their point of view. Not, of course, the bombing of the WTC, but with their general program of fighting to preserve their culture.

Look what has happened to the West? The Englishmen is practically a minority in London. Anyone who complains is a racist. We are being mixed so severely in America with the world's peoples that we will eventually all become mestizos. I happen to think European culture, the old one, is worth preserving. I find that I have something in common with traditional nationalists the world over.

OK. Word games. I like those.

People who think they have the truth but do not have it, and who try to impose by force their "truth" on others, are by definition arrogant.

Lets define the terminology, shall we. Definitions courtesy of the American Heritage Dictionary via Yahoo.com

I would post the definition of "truth" but I really don't want to debate what the menaing of "is" is.

arrogant
ADJECTIVE: 1. Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance.
2. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority toward others: an arrogant contempt for the weak. See synonyms at proud.

arrogance
NOUN: The state or quality of being arrogant; overbearing pride.

According to this definition, I would have to plead justifiable arrogance. American ideals (freedom, justice, equality) are superior to what passes for civilization in most of the world. I will not bend to the multicultural/PC/moral equivalence theories, and I will NOT apologise for my belief that America and Americans are the best that the world has produced. You say arrogant; I say proud.

proud
ADJECTIVE:
1. Feeling pleasurable satisfaction over an act, possession, quality, or relationship by which one measures one's stature or self-worth: proud of one's child; proud to serve one's country.
2. Occasioning or being a reason for pride: “On January 1, 1900, Americans and Europeans greeted the twentieth century in the proud and certain belief that the next hundred years would make all things possible” (W. Bruce Lincoln).
3. Feeling or showing justifiable self-respect.
4. Filled with or showing excessive self-esteem.
5. Of great dignity; honored: a proud name.
6. Majestic; magnificent: proud alpine peaks.
7. Spirited. Used of an animal: proud steeds.

I am Proud to be an American. For all our faults, we are the most free, most productive, and most compassionate, and most just people on the planet. We feed the world, engineer new technologies to increase the standard of living, donate huge sums to economic and humanitarian causes. OK, so in some ways we may be a little overbearing.

Overbearing
ADJECTIVE:
1. Domineering in manner; arrogant: an overbearing person. See synonyms at dictatorial.
2. Overwhelming in power or significance; predominant.

I case you haven't noticed, the USA is Overwhelming in power or significance; and we ARE the predominant. power on the globe. Whether you like it or not.

>>Arrogance is supporting a totalitarian regime whilst screeching about freedom.<<
Well, newsflash: that pretty much describes American foreign policy ever since we ceased being a republic and became an empire!

Newsflash: America is not an Empire and it never will be. I will admit that America has made some terrible foreign policy mistakes in the name of expediency, but we are the major supporter of free societies around the world.

"We are better than you are. Do as we say or we'll bomb you (if you are foreigners) or strip you of your rights as an American, if you are an American". This is essentially what the jingoistic yahoo-cry "America, love it or leave it!" means.

jingoism
NOUN: Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism.

I say - If you are a free market, democratic society, you are our friend. If you are not, then you aren't and will have to make your way without ANY help from us. If you attack us, you are dead meat! What is so belligerent about that? It is certainly a long way from bombing all disagreeing foreigners, and striping Citizens rights. BTW, and FYI, I would die for YOUR freedom to express your thoughts and beliefs. I seriously doubt you'd be willing to die for my similar rights. I would also give my life protecting my country from all enemies, foreign and domestic - would you?

I think you are due for your next prozac pill.

The half-literate and spelling thing thing was uncalled for. My apologies to you. Accepted, Fuggetaboutit.

I called you neither a Nazi or a fascist. Sorry for my misunderstanding.

Nationalists assured that Nazis and fascists came to power by fostering a sense of entitlement in themselves for just BEING Italian or German I don't have a sense of entitlement because I'm an American, I have a sense of pride for what America stands for: Life, Liberty, Justice and Equality.

We are blessed, by God, to be Americans That is almost entirely my point. We are blessed to be here, prospering under our system. Our way of government and economy should be encouraged throughout the world because it works best for the most people.

...But the most powerful nation in the world reveling and glorying in a war against a nation that has people in it that don't know what year it is, much less why we're bombing them...that ain't right. There is NO glory in war! There is ONLY glory in Peace. The problem is that peace will not come until those that perpetuate evil are totally defeated.

I apologise for the DU'er remark. It was uncalled for...

BTW relative dates on screen names is really irrelevent. I was a lurker for years under another screen name.

You are suggesting that hollywood movies, abortion on demand, divorce on demand, smut, suggestive skimpy clothing, rap music, the general grasping, impatient, superficial and selfish mindset that is imprinted on consumer culture is going to benefit poor people in the villages and ghettoes of places like Egypt?

Kudos for a well-thought out response. Not everything that comes out of America is good, or right, or something we should be proud of. The idea that something is good because it is American is too idiotic to even argue against.

The things you mention, and many others, I would argue are a perversion of what American culture stands for. I contend we are just in the first phases of a reaction that will put much of this filth behind us.

Is what America stands for the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, or is it Snoop Dogg's latest album? Obviously, at present we are both. People will fight and die to defend the ideals of the first category, but I doubt many will do so for the perversion of American culture found in the second.

In essence, I expect the next few years to see us redefining what American culture is. I hope it winds up as something I can be proud of carrying into battle against what our enemies believe. I'd hate to die fighting for Larry Flynt as the symbol of what America means. I think a lot of American feel the same way, but this is a huge ship and it takes a long time to get turned around. Much of the filth we've been immersed in has been the luxury of a free, prosperous and peaceful society.

I hope we'll remain free. Prosperity will eventually return. Peace seems unlikely in the near future. I am (cautiously) optimistic.

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