Maybe we should mind our own business, let the world's governments see to their own affairs seeking our counsel and wisdom when they see fit, and take that very substantial amount of money we throw at "geopolitical influence" and fulfill the promises that our government has made its citizens?
If we were Canada, your comment would have merit. Unfortunately the US has an empire to mind, and anyone who says we should shrink back and ignore everyone else in the world is going to get a very public drubbing.
The US was isolationist for a good part of its history. Sure, we had the Monroe Doctrine, but even that was just a reactionary response to European meddling in our hemisphere. We had Manifest Destiny to keep us occupied. Once we hit the other side of the continent, we fought amongst ourselves, industrialized a bit, and then chilled out, preferring our Gilded Age to the messiness of empire (you could make an argument for the abortive attempt at the turn of the 20th century with Cuba and the Philippines and the Spanish American War, but that didn't do much).
Then our commercial ships started getting sunk by Ze Germans, and then Ze Germans decided to get cheeky with the Mexicans with the Zimmerman Telegram.
After that, we came out fighting, kicked some ***, and went home, leave us alone, thanks.
Then the Japanese bombed our Navy, seemingly unprovoked.... and we went apeshit. And we never stopped going apeshit, because if we did, the entire economy would stop working. So, we steamrolled everyone economically in WW2, loaned money to Europe after that (and put them in our pockets for good measure), got involved in various regional conflicts, got frisky with the Soviets, and continued along empire building and hegemony during the cold war period.
Then the cold war ended, and.... well, we have to be doing SOMETHING with all this military equipment. So, we became the world's policeman, partially because we're damn good at it (our military, as far as damage potential, is in a class of its own), and partially because it's supremely good for business.
Then 9/11 happened as a result of our constant empire building and meddling, and, well.... gotta keep that military equipment busy somehow.
So now we're peering at Iran, peering at North Korea, peering at Pakistan, peering at Mexico.... gotta keep them in line, after all.
the entire existence of the US is based on corporate imperialism and empire building, and has been that way since, arguably, the end of world war 2.
We can argue whether any of that's good or bad, but it doesn't matter much; anyone espousing isolationism in a country geared for war and expansion isn't going to get anywhere.
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Topic: Ron Paul Supporters (Read 3718 times)
