I don't know what to think anymore. Dubya is visiting Canada officially, which I'm not too happy about. I suspect that the "commitment to work together for mutual economic benefit and security" will probably amount to the US government leaning on Canada to do whatever the US wants, as usual.
I went to a "Bush Go Home" rally a few hours ago. I don't really think rallies or protest marches change anything... but I went anyway (in part due to an invitation from a cute woman
). Nothing changed...
US foreign policy (which seems largely to amount to "do what we want or else") has to change, but I don't see how. The outcome of the election indicates substantial popular support for war, economic agression, US hegemony over the rest of the planet, and so on. Whether it's in the name of "homeland security" or "economic imperialism" (or "guaranteeing access to Mideast oil"), it seems like a bad idea to me. Empires never last, and when they go down, it's usually messy. The US has the potential to make a pretty big mess. Better to be quiet and friendly, and not need an empire to help you feel good about your country. But how to convince anybody of this, when they've been nurtured from birth on "patriotism" and "American Values" (whatever those are... can't quite make sense of it)?
I don't know... it doesn't look promising to me. I know not all Americans are like this, but it seems like most of the ones making influential decisions are. And it's just getting worse.
If US policy is to be the bully in the schoolyard (as it looks from here), then we need the teacher to come along and tell the US government to go stand in the corner until it learns to behave, and play nicely with the other countries. But there's no teacher, and no way out of the schoolyard.
I went to a "Bush Go Home" rally a few hours ago. I don't really think rallies or protest marches change anything... but I went anyway (in part due to an invitation from a cute woman
). Nothing changed...
US foreign policy (which seems largely to amount to "do what we want or else") has to change, but I don't see how. The outcome of the election indicates substantial popular support for war, economic agression, US hegemony over the rest of the planet, and so on. Whether it's in the name of "homeland security" or "economic imperialism" (or "guaranteeing access to Mideast oil"), it seems like a bad idea to me. Empires never last, and when they go down, it's usually messy. The US has the potential to make a pretty big mess. Better to be quiet and friendly, and not need an empire to help you feel good about your country. But how to convince anybody of this, when they've been nurtured from birth on "patriotism" and "American Values" (whatever those are... can't quite make sense of it)?
I don't know... it doesn't look promising to me. I know not all Americans are like this, but it seems like most of the ones making influential decisions are. And it's just getting worse.
If US policy is to be the bully in the schoolyard (as it looks from here), then we need the teacher to come along and tell the US government to go stand in the corner until it learns to behave, and play nicely with the other countries. But there's no teacher, and no way out of the schoolyard.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
And oh, certainly, I feel just as badly as you do. Except loads more embarassed.