What has happened to America? This one is for butterfly
In the past there were two large themes
in modern political theory – individualism and
collectivism. Individualism is the idea that a man should
look after himself. “Justice” is done, according to this
view of things, when he isn’t improperly interfered with.
The world, then, takes whatever shape it takes, based
upon mankind’s aggregated individual results.
Collectivism, on the other hand, is that idea that the
political ‘collective’ – the state – should look out for
everyone. It implies that the shape of society – the
outcome – is not left to chance, but decided
collectively, or by the collective’s elite ministers.
‘Social Justice’ is what you get when the elite like
the results.
America, in theory as in actual fact, was a nation
founded on the rock of individualism. It didn’t matter
what the elite liked. But now its ‘conservative’
president proposes a concept of justice that Marx or
Lenin would have appreciated. Not only that, but he
spends the nation’s blood and treasure trying to make
governments half-way around the world more to his liking.
And he takes hundreds of billions of dollars from
individuals – many of them not even born yet – to reward
favoured groups with drugs, bread, circuses or
federal contracts.
Your author has lived overseas for more than 15 years.
Each place he has lived or visited has its quirks, but in
every one the individual seemed to enjoy about as much
liberty as he did in America. Everywhere, a person is
taxed, controlled, regulated, licensed, rewarded,
privileged and pampered – according to how the ruling
elite choose. What gives? What happened to
American individualism?
Our president is caught in the
same trap that bedeviled Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt . They
wanted to flex America’s new muscles. The US became the
largest economy in the world in the early 1900s. Now
that they had power, they wanted to engage in power
politics...to shove and scrap...to wear funny hats with
giant plumes on them...and to sit down at a bargaining
table with French, British and Russian ‘charge
d’affaires’ – oh, even the sound of it sent frissons down
their greasy backs – and carve up the globe...decide the
fates of nations...redraw the map of the world. Of
course, the whole spirit of it was contrary to the
American ideal, wherein a free people determine their own
fate and decide their own form of government.
And poor Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt were still working within
the old American system. The people back in Tennessee and
Georgia wanted no part of world domination. They still
had the U.S. Declaration of Independence on their walls.
They still heard Washington’s words – ‘Avoid foreign
entanglements’ – echoing in their ears. They still
thought only Congress had the power to declare war; the
bumpkins didn’t mind a fight, but they wanted a damned
good reason for it.
And so the old frauds had to dissemble...they had to talk
about ‘making the world safe for democracy’ and about
‘protecting American interests (of course, there were
none...but the rubes wouldn’t know)...about making the
whole planet more like America itself – freer, more
prosperous, and more democratic.
George W. Bush continues the humbug, but he has a much
easier time of it. Americans have generally forgotten
the idea of Individualism. They want public schools,
Social Security, and free drugs – just like the krauts
and the frogs. Bush II comes up with his preposterous
“War on Terrorism” and nobody laughs. Because Americans,
like almost everyone else in the world, have all become
collectivists. If a man’s town is flooded, he expects the
feds to come in with donuts and house-trailers. If a
man’s wife is sick, he expects the feds to offer medical
treatment...or at least to regulate the marketplace so it
is “affordable” for him. If his house is repossessed, he
turns his face to Chris Dodd in Washington...and the next
thing you know, the windbag senator is proposing to bail
him out! And if a handful of fanatics blow up a couple of
office buildings in New York City, he wants the Marine
Corps to kick butts all over the world – whether they had
anything to do with the crime barely matters to him; what
he wants is for his government to remake the face of the
entire world, if necessary, so it is a more agreeable
place for him.
The old pioneers...the settlers...the farmers...the
inventors...the robber barons – all the people who built
America – they were stupid, they were smart...they were
wicked and they were saints. But whatever they
were...they stood up straight. How is it possible that
these rugged, stalwart Americans evolved into a race of
such fear-driven, collectivist drips?
But I loved the article. Yes, very sarcastic. Good read, thanks :)
to know one.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
I can't believe Cutesrk just accused me of being overly critical of the West. LOL. This is the start of a good day on QL, I haven't laughed this hard all week.
I agree with you both Richard and qd06, I'm not looking forward to Castro dying, it will be the end of Cuba as I know it and love it. :(
Just to kind of expand on ooo's point and to point out some good things about the states. We complain about the situation in Iraq and such, but when you reverse the situation and turn it into a rescue mission such as Ethiopia, New Orleans, Rwanda and Somalia, the Americans come out in full force for those things too. And in those cases it isn't the government pushing them, it's the people of the US themselves. The everyday people of the US have good hearts and genuinely do care, which is why Bush had to talk about rape camps and torture and WMD's to convince the public that an invasion of Iraq was ok.
Someday (fingers crossed) the US will throw of the shackles of the rich white boy patriarchy that is running the country and then people will see what the US really has to offer.
Americans in my opinion are still very much individualistic, specially if compared to people in Europe (or I should better say in my home country).
The big "help" available to some nowadays comes from the power of the media and how it is used/misused … of course we have become too lazy to bother filtering and investigating for ourselves and that makes the whole brainwashing process much, much easier, whatever reason may be behind it!
The guy is a confused moron... Whether he is based in London or wrks in the US he has lost his top container....
And gypsy stop being overcritical... Your opinion is always biased against the US.
The Live and Let live mantra wont work everywhere..
Gypsy,
I guess that is why Iran has become a stronger nation. Isolation makes you have to be resilient and depend on your own resources.
Gypsy the country is probably so beautiful. I don't think it has anything to do with communism though Richard. I still think it has more to do with Castro. You see how quickly the tone on Cuba changed when Castro got sick.
Act your age not your shoe size
Very bad I know, since we are not allowed to travel there. I loved the people and I think the sanctions are very very wrong. They achieve nothing other than depriving Cubans of medical supplies and other necessary goods. Enough I say. If Cuba wants to be communist, let it.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
"Democracy doesn't work for every nation."
That is the most important point for Bush and Co to learn IMO...They never will, but you cannot expect one system of government to work for all nations on earth.
QD06, I was thinking specifically of the Puritans when I wrote that, though there are others. But you are right, many also left their countries to escape abject poverty.
I know you didn't ask me about sanctions on Cuba but if I might put in my two cents. Well I believe the sanctions are stupid and useless I'm torn on whether they should be removed. If you've visited Cuba, especially in the last 2 decades, they have managed to stand up quite well (compared to other Caribbean and South American nations). In fact a great source of their pride and strength comes from this defiance of America and their ability to live without American products.
Their economy is growing, life is the best it's been in recent history. If you remove the sanctions you will have what you had before Castro, a land of a few wealthy and a lot of poor, casinos, gangsters and exploitation, not to mention Disney land Havana or some such nonsense.
So well the sanctions are stupid, I don't want to see them gone. And I'm willing to bet neither do a lot of Cubans. Democracy doesn't work for every nation.
:-) wow. I thought I was the only one who felt this way. I like the way he tied the Roosevelt and Wilson eras into it. I guess you can see how many people were sleeping during American and World History classes. Its like Deja Vu. What was the reason for the Spanish-American war again? We don't colonize we just annex or have territories, Phillipines, Guam, Cuba( I guess that's why we are still mad at Castro. Do you actually think America is safer with military bases all over the world while we are closing them at home?
I would like to know Richard, what do you think about us still having sanctions placed on Cuba? I think they were unnecessary when they placed them and I think they are now. Sanctions on a country are horrible because they don't affect the people in power only the citizens. How would Americans feel if the rest of the world placed sanctions on it?It is called to punish a few you make many suffer this is called collective punishment.
Gypsy the funny thing though is that a lot of the ones who ran away and immigrated was not because of persecution but for the money and lifestyle. They are even more vocal at times that the native America in support of the madness. It kind of spoils their American Dream.
Act your age not your shoe size
is a wanna be cowboy. Sort of supports your point.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
Well it's very ironic that most of the original Americans ran away from their birth countries to escape just the kind of despotism Bush is trying to impose.
I genuinely believe that most Americans are good hearted people but misguided. They're still being taught the American cowboy ideal and the you can do anything or be anything ideal, but no longer living in that world.
The mind control on the populace by the elite in the States is very strong, especially because it isn't obvious like Soviet Russia, China, or even here in the Middle East, where any one with half a brain can see the propaganda and hypocrisy. But propaganda is propaganda and every government in the world thrives on it.
I don't think most Americans are bullies and most believe in live and let live. The point he is making is that Americans of old were people who took risks to make it in a new and dangerous country and had to be self reliant. Most came to escape poverty and oppression and now people like Bush have forgotten this and want to impose their "new American values" on the rest of the world. Instead he is creating oppression, bloodshed and is making the rest of the world hate us.Most Americans have little knowledge of the rest of the world outside North America and have no desire to invade it or impose their values on it.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
Yes very tongue in cheek. I like it. His point seems to me to be that while the rest of America is now thinking collectively, Bush is still acting like an individual, getting himself invloved in conflicts and making decisions without asking anyone else.
What do you think?
an American called Bill Bonner. He is a well respected author and financial expert who is now based in London. Some of it is intentionally tongue in cheek but I think he has a point. He is a great believer in the lessons of history that no one seems to learn.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
Can I ask who wrote this Richard?
All I can do is laugh. No further comment necessary.
"Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood."
Freeman Teague Jr.