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Has the superpower status made the US too arrogant?

Has superpower status made the US too arrogant?

  • Yes

    Votes: 17 50.0%

  • No

    Votes: 17 50.0%
  • Total voters
    34
MildSteel

MildSteel

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There is a saying that pride proceeds the fall. It is one thing for a country to aggressively pursue it's self interests. However, it is another thing when it seeks to impose a set of decadent moral values on people who do not want to take part. That is symptom of an underlying arrogance. Has the power made the US too arrogant?
 
MildSteel said:
There is a saying that pride proceeds the fall. It is one thing for a country to aggressively pursue it's self interests. However, it is another thing when it seeks to impose a set of decadent moral values on people who do not want to take part. That is symptom of an underlying arrogance. Has the power made the US too arrogant?
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Yes, in the sense that we do not explain enough, why we do, what we do. That does not mean, what we have done was bad or wrong. But to realize that countries that have not carried responsibility for international security and are barely democratic the US is so far beyond, what their societies have dealt with mentally, that they take a lot of explaining and it is easier for their elites to demonize it, so they do not have to explain why they are free riding.
 
God, yes. In most developed nations, all this flag-waving and jingoism would only be acceptable at football games or Far-Right nationalist rallies.
 
Decadent moral values. That's rich. Death to consumer choice and all that BS!
 
No, we are appropriately arrogant, as befits the rulers of the world. :)



Ok seriously, yes we're a bit arrogant... but we have some reason to be. If it came to total war, no nation on the planet could hope to beat us... the best they could hope for is that we'd tire of stomping them and taking 1/1000th their casualties and decide to go home and call it a day. If it was really war-to-the-death, war until one side is utterly defeated, there is no nation with any serious hope of actually defeating us and forcing us to surrender in the same manner we did to the Axis powers in WW2.

Look to your sig line. The strong do what they can, while the weak suffer what they must.

The only reason we avoid direct conflict with the Russians and Chinese is because the price tag is higher than we're willing to pay, AT THIS TIME, as long as too much isn't at stake. If our national survival was at stake, that equation would change.



The clock turns and the pendulum swings and one day we will be a has-been power. Perhaps we're on the way down now, as some think... or perhaps we're just catching our breath and will remain on top for a long time coming. Hard to say... but one of the hallmarks of the foremost power in the world is in its arrogance, self-assurance and sense of its own rightness and exceptionalism.
 
joG said:
Yes, in the sense that we do not explain enough, why we do, what we do. That does not mean, what we have done was bad or wrong. But to realize that countries that have not carried responsibility for international security and are barely democratic the US is so far beyond, what their societies have dealt with mentally, that they take a lot of explaining and it is easier for their elites to demonize it, so they do not have to explain why they are free riding.
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The problem is that sometimes what we do is misguided, and when others try to tell us it is misguided, as in the case of the Iraq war, we do not listen.
 
Goshin said:
No, we are appropriately arrogant, as befits the rulers of the world. :)

Ok seriously, yes we're a bit arrogant... but we have some reason to be. If it came to total war, no nation on the planet could hope to beat us... the best they could hope for is that we'd tire of stomping them and taking 1/1000th their casualties and decide to go home and call it a day. If it was really war-to-the-death, war until one side is utterly defeated, there is no nation with any serious hope of actually defeating us and forcing us to surrender in the same manner we did to the Axis powers in WW2.

Look to your sig line. The strong do what they can, while the weak suffer what they must.

The only reason we avoid direct conflict with the Russians and Chinese is because the price tag is higher than we're willing to pay, AT THIS TIME, as long as too much isn't at stake. If our national survival was at stake, that equation would change.

The clock turns and the pendulum swings and one day we will be a has-been power. Perhaps we're on the way down now, as some think... or perhaps we're just catching our breath and will remain on top for a long time coming. Hard to say... but one of the hallmarks of the foremost power in the world is in its arrogance, self-assurance and sense of its own rightness and exceptionalism.
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Although I think you have posted a good, honest answer, I would take strong exception to one point. I disagree in strongest terms that we, or any other human has good reason to be arrogant. If one is wise, he will note that he is full in imperfection and is strongly constrained by so many factors. That is the truth. That being the case, there is no reason for any of us to be arrogant.
 
the superpower status is doing to us what it has done to every other empire in history. we need to take three or four decades and just concentrate on being a country.
 
MildSteel said:
There is a saying that pride proceeds the fall. It is one thing for a country to aggressively pursue it's self interests. However, it is another thing when it seeks to impose a set of decadent moral values on people who do not want to take part. That is symptom of an underlying arrogance. Has the power made the US too arrogant?
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We've always been interpreted as "ugly Americans" by other countries. What it is, is this "money means power" paradigm that we have. Other people don't care about how much money you control, they're only concerned with how you act.
 
jet57 said:
We've always been interpreted as "ugly Americans" by other countries. What it is, is this "money means power" paradigm that we have. Other people don't care about how much money you control, they're only concerned with how you act.
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I would not say it's exclusively the "money means power" paradigm that we have, but that has a lot to do with it. No doubt.
 
Helix said:
the superpower status is doing to us what it has done to every other empire in history. we need to take three or four decades and just concentrate on being a country.
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We need to keep the rich and super patriotic "ugly Americans" under control.
 
jet57 said:
We need to keep the rich and super patriotic "ugly Americans" under control.
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we need a new national mission statement that involves making nation building here a top priority, as well as a complete foreign policy redesign.
 
MildSteel said:
I would not say it's exclusively the "money means power" paradigm that we have, but that has a lot to do with it. No doubt.
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Oh, I would. It's all the power we really have. It started after our revolution when rich businessmen were traveling to the continent and creating political trouble that Jefferson for one had to deal with.
 
Helix said:
we need a new national mission statement that involves making nation building here a top priority, as well as a complete foreign policy redesign.
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Yeah; the trouble with mission statements though is that they hide motives... You are quite right however in that what we need is a new paradigm: Wall Street ain't workin' anymore. It's like ghost: you don't see it so much as you suffer the consequences of it.
 
jet57 said:
Oh, I would. It's all the power we really have. It started after our revolution when rich businessmen were traveling to the continent and creating political trouble that Jefferson for one had to deal with.
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I disagree because even if we had another paradigm and we had the type of power that we have, we would still be arrogant because humans are imperfect beings who are full of flaws, and those flaws include drawing inaccurate conclusions from sensory input, making mistakes, and cheating. Therefore a wise person, thus understanding his inherent flaws, makes the necessary adjustments to avoid those pitfalls.
 
jet57 said:
Yeah; the trouble with mission statements though is that they hide motives... You are quite right however in that what we need is a new paradigm: Wall Street ain't workin' anymore. It's like ghost: you don't see it so much as you suffer the consequences of it.
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while i still think that capitalism has more potential than any other system that man has devised, i am occasionally annoyed that the casino gambling of others could destroy my livelihood for years.
 
MildSteel said:
Although I think you have posted a good, honest answer, I would take strong exception to one point. I disagree in strongest terms that we, or any other human has good reason to be arrogant. If one is wise, he will note that he is full in imperfection and is strongly constrained by so many factors. That is the truth. That being the case, there is no reason for any of us to be arrogant.
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As an individual, I agree.


However, some things to note: I am a middle aged man. Experience has taught me that I am mortal, and that no man is invincible, and that even the greatest of warriors is only "the greatest" for a limited period of time.


A young man has not experienced these things yet. You can tell him... perhaps he will even acknowledge the intellectual truth of it... but the courage of his young heart trusts in the might and skill of his limbs, and in his gut he will not truly believe he can fall like any other man... until it happens.

I know this, because I was a young warrior once. :)



A nation in the midst of its strength is like a young man. Wisdom can whisper "you are mortal" in its ear, but it's heart hears only the thunderous glory of its own jets and tanks and guns.
 
Last edited:
Before answering a question, I must first ask a question, and I would LIKE at least an attempt at an honest answer...from anyone willing to try for it.


Imagine a world where there WAS no USA. Just an empty expanse of ocean between south america and canada.


Where, in such a world, would everyone be? Better off? Worse off? Think about it in historical context, and give it a serious go around in the old noodle.


And then answer THIS question...is it arrogance to simply acknowledge one's perception of the truth?
 
The opposite. We should be more confident with regards to our power and what we can and should do with it.
 
MildSteel said:
There is a saying that pride proceeds the fall. It is one thing for a country to aggressively pursue it's self interests. However, it is another thing when it seeks to impose a set of decadent moral values on people who do not want to take part. That is symptom of an underlying arrogance. Has the power made the US too arrogant?
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Yup, we need to be knocked down a notch or two.

We elected a leftist dumbass in 2008 and 2012 for that very purpose

How DARE we adhere to this exceptional mindset given our horrible, horrible , horrible , horrible past ...
 
God Yes. After 1945 it the US became a neo-imperialist power. Spreading "democracy and freedom" via far right wing dictatorships. Then once the 60's came around it seemed we becamse the policemen of the world. Having to stop popular left wing governments, and then the 80's and 90's came around with neoliberalism and globalization, then the war turned to "we need natural resources". Then the 2000's came around and yea now we are in a never ending "war on terror" while also being the policemen of the world deeming what civil wars are "popular revolutions" and which ones are "bad revolution" intervening where we want and watching bloodbaths where we ant. We are quite arrogant and the chickens always come home too roost. We have seen them come home to roost several times, dont know when the next time is, and its never good.
 
No. Astonishingly, it has made us weirdly timid.
 
Helix said:
we need a new national mission statement that involves making nation building here a top priority, as well as a complete foreign policy redesign.
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What the heck are you talking about?
 
TheDemSocialist said:
God Yes. After 1945 it the US became a neo-imperialist power. Spreading "democracy and freedom" via far right wing dictatorships. Then once the 60's came around it seemed we becamse the policemen of the world. Having to stop popular left wing governments, and then the 80's and 90's came around with neoliberalism and globalization, then the war turned to "we need natural resources". Then the 2000's came around and yea now we are in a never ending "war on terror" while also being the policemen of the world deeming what civil wars are "popular revolutions" and which ones are "bad revolution" intervening where we want and watching bloodbaths where we ant. We are quite arrogant and the chickens always come home too roost. We have seen them come home to roost several times, dont know when the next time is, and its never good.
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It's a wonder you can stand another minute here.
 
American said:
What the heck are you talking about?
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i'm talking about shifting our focus from being an empire to being a country. nation building in America instead of interventionism abroad.
 
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