We Don't Need Any Empire
Empires have come and gone throughout history. Every empire that arose also fell. Most of the time empires fall for the same reasons: the expense of controlling distant lands, and at home the growing accumulation of wealth among a few off the backs of first the poor, and then the middle class. For most of history an empire was maintained by imposing rule by occupying armies. The occupying army either directly controlled the occupied country or set up a token figurehead native government.
Americans, for the most part, don't consider ourselves empire builders, but rather peace builders, freedom fighters, Christina soldiers, good neighbors, good samaritans, always the good guys. Many, if not most Americans root for America in the same fashion they root for their favorite sport team---almost blind allegiance. Other citizens of other countries do the same. Most of us inherit our religions and politics and most of us change hardly at all, especially in our religious beliefs.
The acquisition of foreign lands is a natural outgrowth of military and economic power. In the early days of America our empire expanded simply by going further west. Jefferson expressed the opinion that our country was so vast that it would be a rural country for thousands of years and our natural resources inexhaustible for thousands of years. He was off a tad. When the frontier closed Americans had to look elsewhere for acquisitions----not so much for settling there as to gain guaranteed markets for our products. We rapidly rose to become the largest exporter in the world, the largest creditor in the world, and the largest military force in the world. The actual acquisition of foreign lands didn't last all that long---Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Philippines, Guam, etc. We realized that people hated us when we literally occupied their country---of course for the purpose of helping them become as affluent as ourselves. What third world country have we turned around? With the advances in communication and transportation, what Americans realized was that the important thing to us was the ACQUISITION OF WEALTH, NOT THE ACQUISITION OF LAND per se. We were always more than willing to exploit natural resources across the globe for a hefty profit.
Over time we didn't fool too many countries into any belief we were controlling their economic situation for altruistic reasons. When our economic interests were threatened by political events in another weak country, we simply invaded until they got their politics right. We did this more than 50 times in the last 100 years. Unfortunately, time is now running out and increasingly everyone everywhere is beginning to end up in the same boat. As human overpopulation hits the earth with all it's consequences, everything is going topsy turvy. We are no longer the greatest exporter on earth; instead we are the greatest importers on earth, gobbling up goods made by slave wages across the globe. It is a rare American, or rare any nationality, who can turn down a bargain. Buy American is about as effective as Just Say No to drugs. We're almost all guilty.
In those times past when the poor could always live off the land, poor but with enough to eat, the acquisition of wealth by another country from your own natural or labor resources was noted, but not the kind of thing you revolted over. And it was not too long ago when communication was such that you hardly knew much about how foreigners lived. It is all changing so rapidly now that beleaguered has become pretty much a global mind set. Growth and the acquisition of THINGS became the real American religion, not Christianity. Christ himself was not much of a THING person. The most contented people I know personally are not much of THING persons either. It became a cultural tradition for Americians to be first and foremost a THINGSTERITE, myself included.
Such observations as above are considered in many circles to be an attitude of un-patriotism. But it is precisely because one loves his/her country that one has a duty to criticize when its' politics/behavior are wrong. Our country needs to go back to leading by example, not using military might to engage in endless wars.
We don't need an empire; we need to take care of our own less fortunate. We don't need to keep buying products made by slave labor; we need universal minimum wages in a global economy. We don't need to reproduce as mindlessly as rabbits; we need responsible reproduction. We don't need blind allegiance to an inherited religion or blind patriotism; we need allegiance to the universal ethical principle of the Golden Rule. We don't need unlimited and unregulated capitalism; we need competitive capitalism with limits and fair guidelines. We don't need to permit any sectarian religious beliefs to become the law of the land; we need the freedom for everyone to practice their own religious beliefs as long as they meet the guidelines of the Golden Rule. We don't need unrestrained greed which puts our natural resources at risk; we need instead to protect and respect our environment, another gift from God's created evolutionary process. We need a lot these days for all that we treasure in life not to implode.
