If anyone has read Noam Chomsky, you may have unleashed the destruction of some of your foundational beliefs you may have had since kindergarten. Noam Chomsky is a very influential linguist and sociology professor at MIT, and is one of the most brilliant men of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I recently read a book of his interviews, essentially summing up his political science views.
The keys were simple: America is a menace on the world stage. We have been so powerful for so long that our audaciousness has reached such hypocritical levels that if we were to submit to the very international laws we pridefully support, we would be humbled to the point of nonexistence.
There are very clear international laws, made by the Geneva Conventions, the UN/NATO, and the WTO most significantly. The problem with these laws is that only the nations that aren't the most powerful nation are policed by them. The select few otherwise cannot be held accountable unless you go to war with them. In the case of going to war against the U.S., probably still the most powerful nation in the world, that's a most unhealthy proposition.
The overall effect of this is that the U.S. does whatever it wants, and the rest of the world be damned. We topple anti-US, completely democratic regimes... in the name of freedom, in order to install pro-US despots that massacre their own population, but smile at the US while they do it. This is the height of hypocrisy, a tragic happenstance of a country too big for it's britches.
Does our country promote freedom and democracy? Do you still believe that? Or are we merely the biggest bullies on the block, with so much power that our abilities have become such that we believe it is our national duty to abuse our powers. What are your thoughts? Agree, disagree? Do you remember events in your childhood where it occurred to you that you might be being more or less brainwashed?
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Well, I agree, obviously, these aren't really arguable facts. And I definitely felt that my history classes up until college were incredibly one sided and, like most history, used to build up nationalism. Nation-State Fables, as it's called.
As a kind of counter, something that wasn't really addressed because it wasn't part of the premise, but something I could see could be brought up is what it means to us as individuals.
I for one, do not feel ashamed to be American. I'm glad I was born here, I wouldn't want to come from anywhere else. I don't approve of a lot of things our country has done, and I know I'll be judged as a person based on where I claim as my homeland, but I'd argue a lot of places have done terrible things and still have citizens that are proud (/cough French).
The reason why the States are held to such a high standard is we have SO much, we should have a greater sense of responsibility. We've squandered so much that we went through the entire cycle that took Rome 1000 years in 200.
I'm not justifying or excusing the US' actions, simply saying that it's not enough to just look at the events themselves but note that: The reason this is so terrible is because of how much power we have and then abused and also that it is up to each of us to decide how we want to think about it and how much personal responsibility we want to take for it.
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
;)
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