America In The World
(Note: This was written in the spring of 2008 so some of my views on it may be a bit changed or out of date at current.)
I cannot say how or when the American experiment of democracy will come to an end but I am almost one-hundred percent sure when I say we will do it to ourselves. At our current rate one can only assume the date will be very soon, though again the how is quite impossible to tell. We are faced with many ways of ushering ourselves out the door and we seem to enjoy all the choices laying before us.
There are of course the obvious reason for our undoing and that is war. As we seem to pride ourselves on war in this country, and why not we’re getting rather good at it. Though as our armed forces diminish and the rest of the world continues to improve their technology and tactics our edge there is hardly the great power it once was. As we continue to over extend ourselves abroad we only further our weakness at home.
The other result of our shoot first, ask questions later policy is even more simple, the more people you bomb, kill or render homeless or worse country-less, the more people you give a reason to hate you. We have been doing this for just over fifty years now, and we have multiple regions of the globe that know what we have done and they do not appreciate it. Our desire to mingle in the affairs of foreign countries has not impressed those who inhabit those countries.
Of course there is the most troublesome way of ending these American states, at least for Americans themselves. The chances of electing a leader who would use lies and deception to destroy all that is American. An administration that would begin to remove rights from its citizens, black out lines in the Constitution, and flex its muscle. We have seen shades of this today, we have seen it in the past, and we will continue to see it in the future, but it becomes more dangerous every day. In this modern day America where it is better to follow than think and form opinions, this method of destruction becomes all the more likely.
There are also the factors that we continue to ignore regarding our environment and this becomes just as dangerous as any threat we face. Neglecting to right our wrongs done to this planet will send shock waves beyond our borders as it already has. Reaching a point in which the planet is no longer able to support America, reaches a point in which the planet is no longer able to support many countries. When that time comes it does not matter if you’re American, English, French, Russian, Israeli, Saudi or South African. It will not matter then who you pray to, or what color your skin is, nothing will matter at that point.
All that matters, is as an American one takes responsibility, learns about the world in which we live as it is ever getting smaller in this modern era and that one is prepared to face the challenges of the present and future. That is the only way that this country can continue to move forward in the world, and most importantly with the world.
