[BWJfEkOB]

I was watching Scarborough country last night--I normally do not--and he had a leftist on there defending Yale's admission of a ex=Taliban member. They then brought on a right winger to assail this gentlemens' position and in the course of the screaming match, the leftist fellow mentioned that he felt that the US empire needs to be stopped. This raised an interesting question.

Should the United States stop being an empire? Or should it maintain its' current course?

My opinion is that we are in a enviable position with all our power and resources. Why not use it for good, instead of just self aggrandizement? It seems like such a waste to eschew this potential for the sake of "internationalism" where there is no dominant power. All braves, no chiefs, so to speak.


That being said, if we are going to continue to remain a hyperpower, we should take dramatic steps in how we deal with other countries. We need to more cognizant of other nations feelings, we need to stop bossding people around, and also be willing to compromise. In short, we should "talk softly, carry a big stick". I believe we the reason we have generated so much animus is because we are always in peoples' affairs. We are always telling people what to do. Who likes that? Plus, we haven't exactly been as helpful as we can be when it comes to the environment, alternate energies, etc.

This is an issue that we, as Americans, need to have a frank discussion about. Way too much simplistic rhetoric on the left and right about the negatives and positives about this and too little indepth analysis of the situation.

The oddity about all this is that most Americans don't think of the country as an empire. They don't give much thought to how much influence this country has throughout the world or how widespread American culture is. That has to change in order for a true evaluation of our foreign policies can happen.