Of course it is, in more than one sense. The very genesis of the nation was in imperialism, for what else is colonialism within an occupied country? It's not like the European colonial powers came upon deserted lands and decided to establish colonies, right? The need for displacement was obvious ab initio. Then, within a newly independent U.S., within which many (most) citizens simply thought to maintain the original 13 colonies as a nation (or as a group of nation's, depending on individual perspective), old Tom Jefferson, he of the "equality of all (white) men" (massive hypocrite, was he), showed himself to be the most significant imperialist of American history, wanting to buy this and that territory from European colonial powers (he wanted to buy Cuba from Spain as well...thought it 'essential', and dreamed that the U.S. would stretch southward to the Tierra del Fuego!). Later, the "westward expansion" of an independent U.S. is filled with horrific stories of mass displacement and land appropriation, the general attitude seeming to have been: "those (so-called) 'Indians'? Fuck them..." It was a march across the continent in fulfillment of a geographically and idealistically based notion of "manifest destiny", with military power as the sole determinative.Given all these data points (additional are welcome), can we say unequivocally that the United States is an imperialist country? — Wheatley
Not that I'm complaining...I fuckin' love my fat, happy American life.... — Michael Zwingli
Fair reply, and I thank you for it. But what you serve out in a sense you serve yourself even as rumination. Brought up, rechewed and chewed again, and again,..., and swallowed for the next time. What's the point? Where's the nourishment? After enough repetition it becomes mere display, and thus in terms of content at best self-defeating. I assign you to write positive and constructive criticism, for a while anyway. Earn your write to bile!My ragging.... — StreetlightX
Not so sure, Tim, that I'd include Afghanistan on that list. The first six months of punitive measures against the Taliban are defensible, shootin' 'em up and makin' 'em pay for supporting Bin Laden, but the last 19.5 years seems not. What could our purpose have been but to try to instill democracy, women's rights, and alot more of our "cherished values" into a culture not amenable thereto? It seems a case study in the exercise of folly, and clearly culturally imperialistic in motivation, to my understanding.Korea, Gulf War 1, Afghanistan, these seem defensible, even if not all well-executed. And so forth. — tim wood
Geez, why fight the Nazis? Was that cultural imperialism? Besides, if it's cultural imperialism, we won that war long ago - Asia taking it back one job, one product, at a time. But point taken, with the observation that the objection goes to understanding and execution. Poster child for that the Viet Nam war. They who fought the Chinese almost continuously for most of two thousand years, and 'tween times themselves, the mountain folk against the lowland and coastal folk. And who apparently received envoys from Rome, back when. Had that history and historical depth been well-enough understood, I think the domino theory would have quickly deflated, that being merely a story we told ourselves. .It seems a case study in the exercise of folly, and clearly culturally imperialistic in motivation, to my understanding. — Michael Zwingli
I am assuming that you mean "militant Islam". In my opinion, not only "militant Islam" should diminish, but Islam in general, and Christianity as well..."theism" must be shown to be the delusion which it appears to be. We cannot, however, defeat Islam, militant or not, by force of arms, as we might defeat an opposing army, since it resides in the hearts (the affective minds) and minds (the intellectual minds) of people. The only way to eradicate these things, then, by force of arms would be to kill all theists, of course an absurd proposition. We must convict people of theistic falsehood by clearly describing why the acceptance of the various assertions about God are contraindicated on a rational basis, and at the same time provide an alternative. But, we don't even have a viable alternative ourselves, as yet...not even "out of the gate" with one.What exactly are the circumstances of the when, why, and how you can deal with that pest? — tim wood
No, we weren't trying to Americanize German culture, we were (since at the outset of U.S. involvement in the war, the fact and extent of the Holocaust were not yet known) trying to stop Germany from realizing it's own imperial aspirations...the Third Reich wanted, essentially, the bulk of Europe to be theirs territorially, and then, of course, in the fullness of time, culturally. That had to be stopped. But, the Afghanis, the Taliban, aren't trying to expropriate vast territories or alter foreign cultures. They're just power-loving theocratic meatheads who we should be trying to convince of a better worldview, within which they might retain their political and cultural power. We should be trying to convince them that they can lose all the "God nonsense" (particularly, in my view, by emphasizing it as "Arabic religion", and asking them if they want to remain as "the bitches of Arabs"), and yet retain both their power, and all the old, pre-Islamic elements of traditional Pashtun culture. Things impossible to achieve by force of arms. I mean, look where we are now...essentially right back where we began, twenty years and billions later.Geez, why fight the Nazis? Was that cultural imperialism? — tim wood
Never crossed my mind. I meant the beast in the woods, the idea being to establish the boundary for action, e.g., in your bed? bedroom? living room, kitchen? porch? backyard? nearby? within rifle range? Or enabling cause that would have you equip yourself to go out into the woods to find it and deal with it there instead of at home. And as most Americans are of German descent (or if not now then until recently), Americanization of Germany becomes a not-so-simple subject.I am assuming that you mean "militant Islam". — Michael Zwingli
Endless vitriolic criticism is negation — tim wood
America, for example, entered WWI not for reasons adduced 100 years after the fact, but for reasons in force at the time that compelled/impelled the entry. — tim wood
The whole mentality of the American public, with few exceptions, is stupped in self-serving mythology. What a way to dumb down a population. The Empire is dying!! — boagie
There's apparently a lot of people with an America complex in the world. — frank
Given all these data points (additional are welcome), can we say unequivocally that the United States is an imperialist country? — Wheatley
t isn't clear to me exactly what foreign policy objects were being pursued in many instances. For instance, what did we have to gain in Ghana, Oman, Albania, Angola, Congo, Somalia, or Uganda and Kenya? How much effort and material were involved? How much effect did our involvement have? — Bitter Crank
Given all these data points (additional are welcome), can we say unequivocally that the United States is an imperialist country? — Wheatley
As for why the imperialism of other countries than the US isn't centre stage in a thread on American imperialism hmm this is a big mystery no one will ever solve it how strange :chin: — StreetlightX
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.