Originally Posted by GySgt

But it's because we don't give a crap about anybody else that we are in the position that we are in today. We have been stumbling around for decades lost in a world that we inherited quite abruptly after WWII and only had the European model of organization to call on for guidance. We literally had no idea what to do. Given the magnitude of our burden, it's amazing we made so few mistakes. When people frown on the very few Pinochets there were during that period and declare us monsters, they are refusing to acknowledge the tremendous behaviors of imperialism that went on before us by our friends. However, we did begin propping up those dictators that would stand in our corner and deny the Soviets and we practiced a behavior that was beneath us.

- Conducting business with tyrants just to hold back the prospect of efficient war has not been in our best interests.

- Celebrating our basic human rights while those business partners abused and oppressed their populations has not been in our best interests.


Instead of dealing with our obvious problems, we have ignored them in a hopes that they will go away. Also, you have to appreciate what our role has been in the last 250 years. Do you realize that we have seen, destroyed or aided in destroying eleven different empires in every single culture on earth? We are the last empire standing; only ours is an empire of culture and economics. Since this culture is largely based on the basic human rights principles of freedom, it has "infected" those societies that either want nothing to do with it or struggle to keep their people from it. Also, remember all thos empires that have been crushed? That's means hundreds of millions of people around the globe that hate us for ruining their parties. Our celebration of capitalism has widened the gap between successful nations and failing nations and this is only going to get wider.

Consider this...Despite the horrible behaviors of the Soviets and Russians for centuries upon ethnic people, despite the overwhelming prosperous atmosphere our nation has brought to the world, and despite our thirst for knowledge and understanding in the general society,.....we are hated so? This makes no sense when one actually looks at what has occurred. The Soviets religiously oppressed hundreds of millions of Muslims, yet we are hated because we have a base in Saudi? We are criticized for our part in the Cold War that saw certain dictators celebrated, yet we are hated bexcause we took one of those mistakes out? The entire free world has us to thank daily for what we do everywhere, yet we are hated for staring down obvious enemies of humanity and civil rights in different regions? This all makes no sense to me.

I simply don't understand how people can praise "globalization," yet refuse to acknowledge that this means dealing with the tyrants one way or another. Our problem is that we can't seem to decide how to be consistant while continuing our lifestyles and securities.

We better start caring. We have little problems as compared to what is festering all around us and it is starting to infect us.