They are forcing countries to extradite accused citizens while refusing to do the same. They have gitmo. They're asking companies like MSFT to collect data that even MSFT is not legally allowed to do. So, yeah, they're more 'covert' than others, but not necessarily more benevolent.
As I said, I'd like you to live in a world without US humanitarian and foreign aid for awhile. A world where the USGOV doesn't project its power in all the places that offend you. I give it four to six weeks before the world devolves into a nasty, brutish chaos.
> A world where the USGOV doesn't project its power in all the places that offend you. I give it four to six weeks before the world devolves into a nasty, brutish chaos.
Once upon a time, the British Empire took it upon itself to civilize the uncivilized world, bringing heavy-handed order in many faraway 'nasty, brutish' places for queen and country. The sun has since set on the British Empire, and yet the world is doing just fine. Empires rise and they fall all the time.
>Dude, without the USA, the world will do just fine. Sure, there will still be wars, but when are men not fighting over one thing or the other?
Bullshit defense. There has never been a period in history with fewer wars and proportionally lower fatality rates due to violence. The existence of war at all does not somehow invalidate the value of American hegemony.
> There has never been a period in history with fewer wars and proportionally lower fatality rates due to violence.
How long is your time frame? Many more people have died after Sep. 2001 than in the decades prior.
> The existence of war at all does not somehow invalidate the value of American hegemony.
What you seem to forget or don't realize is that the wars of the last decade are a direct result of what we're doing to maintain that American hegemony. So while it's been good for you because you're watching the wars on TV and reading it on the Internet, it's been very bad for those on whose land the wars are being fought.
As an American, I fantasize about the day when our 325 million no longer try to manage the other 7 billion. But, yet I worry that when that day comes, the ideas of American liberalism will be long gone.
The US has big issues and internal ideological conflicts and many inconsistencies, for sure. But, if you randomly sample the population you'll find that most of us want peace, freedom, success and happiness for everyone.
The American government gets its powers from its citizens, so yes, actually, American citizens == American government. Americans are responsible for the acts of their government: Period. Whether you like it or not.
