Quote:
Originally Posted by grindy
I don't think it's that controversial to say that no country had more of a negative impact on the world than the United States in the last decades.
|
But that isn't what he said. It's likely factual if you're looking at the last few decades largely because since 1992 we've been the only global superpower. But this is to say we've had an impact. If anything, we're now seeing the effects of Pax Americana leaving the world stage. What's left out of the equation is the positive aspects of America on the world stage.
Ultimately, the problem with the "America bad" argument is it's a simpleton's idea of an intelligent thing to say. It's reductive, contains zero nuance, and the people spouting off about it frequently have little to say when pressed for details. It's very easy to point to big, vague things that American does and be "wrong" but solutions to resolve them, or unintended consequences generated from their removal...I never hear anything about them from the Chomsky Acolytes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OccultHawk
How many corny cliches can you fit in one post?
|
Nothing more cliche than an ad hominem attack. Again I say, change the subject of this thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anteater
The U.S. is everyone's favorite whipping boy because the complainers have no sense of global history. Worse nations have came before, worse will come after. Period. But the point is there's always someone.
In order for there to be something resembling global stability, somebody was going to be step up and dominate. The best part of living in this era is that there are actually places in the world I can live (such as, conveniently, the United States) without worrying that Germanic tribes are going to storm the borders tomorrow and put an axe into everyone's skull. That's progress.
|
I think this probably sums up my position as well. There will always be a global power, and who would be a better choice than America? This doesn't make us noble, but it does make us the smarter choice than any other nation you can name. To steal a line "Democracy is the worst form of government aside from all the other ones we've tried."
To expand a bit, America has settled the most refugees up until Trump. We have easier assimilation into our pluralistic culture than all other nations? We have a separation of powers, we regularly fund other nations for all manner of things, and we have generally kept the peace globally until 9/11. I've been against military adventurism since 2003 but it's a hard bell to unring. And we're getting there. Positive signs came from the JCPOA, from Obama staying out of Syria, and from what was the TPP which would have hemmed in China and their human rights abuses.