You are now preaching "manifest destiny?"
Our "civilization" is technologically more advanced than other great societies, but given the level of corruption in all of our institutions I would not rank our civilization among the most moral, and therefore not the greatest.
We have rules that are broken incessantly to advance our agenda, and as such that places the rule of "the end justifies the means" at the top of the list.
Who am I to criticize our society? A member who would like us to return to a less corrupt society.
You seem to think our society will survive due to our technological and military superiority.
Study history. The mantle of power that has moved across the globe, that currently resides in the U.S. will leave us soon if we don't have a foundation of purity, which we sorely lack. We espouse "Christian" values, while we as a society are fat, self centered, seeking the wealth of this world.
A "Christian" society without the present and living values of honesty, morality, and humility will absolutely fail.
On a purely political level, do some research on the theory of hegemony and see into our future as you look back to the past:
"The historical record shows that in the real world, hegemony never has been a winning grand strategy. The reason is simple: The primary aim of states in international politics is to survive and maintain their sovereignty. And when one state becomes too powerful - becomes a hegemon - the imbalance of power in its favor is a menace to the security of all other states. So throughout modern international political history, the rise of a would-be hegemon always has triggered the formation of counter-hegemonic alliances by other states."
As far a needing oil chew on this:
1. Since the oil embargo in the 70's, what exactly have we done as a society to make ourselves independent of Middle East oil.
2. Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden's homeland, cranks out most of the oil we use in the world.
Crude oil prices have risen since Bush came into power, nearly a 50% increase in value.
They are making billions and billions of dollars more each day than they made prior to Bush's coronation.
Who really is profiting from our imperialism?
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Aphie, I know you are young, and you are trying on differnet hats as you grow, but which hat do you really want to end up wearing?
One that makes you imperialistic by nature, or one that makes you more humane?
Quote from aphexcoil:
Don't hand me that shit, ART. The United States Constitution doesn't have to have a directive within it stating that we are allowed to pursue the principles of a manifest destiny. If you are so secure in your standing as a U.S. citizen, you realize that, by and far, we live in a very structured and organized society. We have problems such as crime, homelessness and occasional internal extremists who feel it their duty to blow shit up to make a point, but by and far the civilization we enjoy right now is practically unparalleled throughout history.
We have laws and rules of engagement that we follow. We do what needs to be done to get shit done -- that's what a powerful empire is supposed to do.
Who are you to sit around and conveniently enjoy the fruits of laboring from centuries of imperialism while spouting off some rhetoric about how we are wrong to keep our country secure and stabilized from aggressors and natural resource shortages? Like it or not, we need oil. It may not be the sole reason we are there, but a lot of this has to do with the fabric of the world economy.
You can bet that if we go, Europe won't be far behind and then the rest of the world will follow. The global economy is propped up and supported on the shoulders of the United States of America. If you take that pillar out, you'll start a cascading effect that will send much of the world back into barbarism. That's why it goes beyond national security -- this is world security and the only way we can achieve that goal is to inject our presence in "sensitive" areas throughout the world and make sure the world doesn't get f***ed by extreme select arab nations.
Letâs talk about early American foreign policy of non-intervention and isolationism. You know, American isolationism didnât work out too well when Hitler was hop-scotching around the whole of Europe in the late 30âs and early 40âs, starting with Poland. The pacifist government of 1941 didnât work out too well for a lot of people in Pearl Harbor when we got catapulted into a full-fledged global war.
Time and time again, when a potential global crisis erupted, the United States has been there to stabilize and regulate entire countries. We havenât always been the best of guys while doing so, but what needed to be done got done.
Your comments, ART?