The decline of U.S. Imperialism.

[Deicide]

Part 1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...e-noam-chomsky

Part 2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...e-noam-chomsky

[Beavis]

Chomsky must be so sad. What will he have to write about when big bad America isn't able to go around subjugating all the unfortunate non-Americans anymore?

[jazen]

US still preeminent military power on the planet. It is also the largest economy. It has the worst government, except for all the rest. Choosing not to execise that power is less of a decline and more of a realization that times have changed and it is unacceptable on a global stage.

[belfpala]

Chomsky must be so sad. What will he have to write about when big bad America isn't able to go around subjugating all the unfortunate non-Americans anymore?

I don't know... maybe linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive science, as he has been for decades?

[GennGreymane]

i feel sad now

*walks to the nearest mcdonalds in another country*

[BLCalliente]

Chomsky must be so sad. What will he have to write about when big bad America isn't able to go around subjugating all the unfortunate non-Americans anymore?

I'm sad. He's not going to live forever.

[Beavis]

I don't know... maybe linguistics, philosophy, and cognitive science, as he has been for decades?

That's right! I forgot that his academic career and not his political writings are what made him one of the most prominent public intellectuals of the 20th century!

Don't get me wrong, the man is brilliant, but he wouldn't be a household name without his outspoken criticism of American foreign policy.

[belfpala]

Don't get me wrong, the man is brilliant, but he wouldn't be a household name without his outspoken criticism of American foreign policy.

I don't see much difference between Chomsky and, say, Ron Paul in their views on foreign policy. In short: hands off. Yet, in my experience at least, many who praise Paul simultaneously hate Chomsky (or vice versa, which is also interesting).

I'm not saying you're one of those at all. Just an observation.

[Beavis]

I don't see much difference between Chomsky and, say, Ron Paul in their views on foreign policy. In short: hands off. Yet, in my experience at least, many who praise Paul simultaneously hate Chomsky (or vice versa, which is also interesting).

I'm not saying you're one of those at all. Just an observation.

I don't care for either of their positions. Somebody is going to run the international system through economic and military preponderance, and it might as well be us. Could you imagine what the world would be like if the US had implemented a Chomsky or Paul foreign policy during the Cold War? We might make occasional missteps, like the Vietnam War, but we're generally a fairly benevolent force in the world. I don't think the same could be said about the USSR.

[Deicide]

I don't care for either of their positions. Somebody is going to run the international system through economic and military preponderance, and it might as well be us. Could you imagine what the world would be like if the US had implemented a Chomsky or Paul foreign policy during the Cold War? We might make occasional missteps, like the Vietnam War, but we're generally a fairly benevolent force in the world. I don't think the same could be said about the USSR.

Are you aware of how many brutal dictatorships the U.S. has placed into power or/and supported (and still supports) ?

Here's a short list. There's more.

Abacha, General Sani - Nigeria
Amin, Idi - Uganda
Banzer, Colonel Hugo - Bolivia
Batista, Fulgencio - Cuba
Bolkiah, Sir Hassanal - Brunei
Botha, P.W. - South Africa
Branco, General Humberto - Brazil
Cedras, Raoul - Haiti
Cerezo, Vinicio - Guatemala
Chiang Kai-Shek - Taiwan
Cordova, Roberto Suazo - Honduras
Christiani, Alfredo - El Salvador
Diem, Ngo Dihn - Vietnam
Doe, General Samuel - Liberia
Duvalier, Francois - Haiti
Duvalier, Jean Claude - Haiti
Fahd bin'Abdul-'Aziz, King - Saudi Arabia
Franco, General Francisco - Spain
Hitler, Adolf - Germany
Hassan II - Morocco
Marcos, Ferdinand - Philippines
Martinez, General Maximiliano - El Salvador
Mobutu Sese Seko - Zaire
Noriega, General Manuel - Panama
Ozal, Turgut - Turkey
Pahlevi, Shah Mohammed Reza - Iran
Papadopoulos, George - Greece
Park Chung Hee - South Korea
Pinochet, General Augusto - Chile
Pol Pot - Cambodia
Rabuka, General Sitiveni - Fiji
Montt, General Efrain Rios - Guatemala
Salassie, Halie - Ethiopia
Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira - Portugal
Somoza, Anastasio Jr. - Nicaragua
Somoza, Anastasio, Sr. - Nicaragua
Smith, Ian - Rhodesia
Stroessner, Alfredo - Paraguay
Suharto, General - Indonesia
Trujillo, Rafael Leonidas - Dominican Republic
Videla, General Jorge Rafael - Argentina

The U.S. financial and political elites love dictators for strategic reasons. I'm sure that doesn't register in your reality, as you clearly stated, the U.S. is a ''benevolent force'' who fights the ''bad guys''. If it does, well then, it's just an ''an occasional misstep''. Your view of the world is staggeringly simple minded and hence, incorrect.

[Rocketsurgeon]

US still preeminent military power on the planet. It is also the largest economy. It has the worst government, except for all the rest. Choosing not to execise that power is less of a decline and more of a realization that times have changed and it is unacceptable on a global stage.

Just like there are measures for military power and economies, there are measures for the behavior/reliability/corruption of governments. The US isn't usually the top of those lists.

[Deleted]

US still preeminent military power on the planet. It is also the largest economy. It has the worst government, except for all the rest. Choosing not to execise that power is less of a decline and more of a realization that times have changed and it is unacceptable on a global stage.

Largest military; yes. Largest economy? No. 4th largest. Richest however? Not a chance, 15th.

[Beavis]

Are you aware of how many brutal dictatorships the U.S. has placed into power or/and supported?

Here's a short list.

Abacha, General Sani - Nigeria
Amin, Idi - Uganda
Banzer, Colonel Hugo - Bolivia
Batista, Fulgencio - Cuba
Bolkiah, Sir Hassanal - Brunei
Botha, P.W. - South Africa
Branco, General Humberto - Brazil
Cedras, Raoul - Haiti
Cerezo, Vinicio - Guatemala
Chiang Kai-Shek - Taiwan
Cordova, Roberto Suazo - Honduras
Christiani, Alfredo - El Salvador
Diem, Ngo Dihn - Vietnam
Doe, General Samuel - Liberia
Duvalier, Francois - Haiti
Duvalier, Jean Claude - Haiti
Fahd bin'Abdul-'Aziz, King - Saudi Arabia
Franco, General Francisco - Spain
Hitler, Adolf - Germany
Hassan II - Morocco
Marcos, Ferdinand - Philippines
Martinez, General Maximiliano - El Salvador
Mobutu Sese Seko - Zaire
Noriega, General Manuel - Panama
Ozal, Turgut - Turkey
Pahlevi, Shah Mohammed Reza - Iran
Papadopoulos, George - Greece
Park Chung Hee - South Korea
Pinochet, General Augusto - Chile
Pol Pot - Cambodia
Rabuka, General Sitiveni - Fiji
Montt, General Efrain Rios - Guatemala
Salassie, Halie - Ethiopia
Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira - Portugal
Somoza, Anastasio Jr. - Nicaragua
Somoza, Anastasio, Sr. - Nicaragua
Smith, Ian - Rhodesia
Stroessner, Alfredo - Paraguay
Suharto, General - Indonesia
Trujillo, Rafael Leonidas - Dominican Republic
Videla, General Jorge Rafael - Argentina


The U.S. financial and political elites love dictators for strategic reasons. I'm sure that doesn't register in your reality, as you clearly stated, the U.S. is a ''benevolent force'' who fights the ''bad guys''. If it does, well then, it's just an ''an occasional misstep''. Your view of the world is staggeringly simple minded and hence, incorrect.

I don't feel like wading through your ridiculous list but the fact that you put Haile Selassie on it means you're either a communist, a moron, or both. I don't have time to talk to people whose ideas have already been cast on the ash heap of history.

<Infracted> Post respectfully.

[silentk59]

US still preeminent military power on the planet. It is also the largest economy. It has the worst government, except for all the rest. Choosing not to execise that power is less of a decline and more of a realization that times have changed and it is unacceptable on a global stage.

OMG I love you! And thank you!

I tell all my dumbass friends this and they think Iam stupid. We are the national currency, we are the only worlds superpower. Out import/export system smashes any countries in the world. It wont be just a change in the US. it will be a huge change in the whole world that every country will have to work out. Not to mention there are a few countries out there way worse off then us. Like Greece.

[belfpala]

Are you aware of how many brutal dictatorships the U.S. has placed into power or/and supported (and still support) ?

There you go. I would have stopped at Pol Pot, Marcos, and Pinochet. And I don't think your list is even exhaustive. We were selling weapons to Iran and helicopters to Iraq when they were fighting in the 80's.

[Bakis]

I don't feel like wading through your ridiculous list but the fact that you put Haile Selassie on it means you're either a communist, a moron, or both. I don't have time to talk to people whose ideas have already been cast on the ash heap of history.

Dissregard his list all you like. US has a huge list of toppling democratically elected governments worldwide cos they either were too leftwing or were not optimal for US corporations.
Read up a bit on modern history in South America for a starter

[Illuwin]

Largest military; yes. Largest economy? No. 4th largest. Richest however? Not a chance, 15th.

So not really trying to spread a US-centric viewpoint here but the US GDP absolutely dwarfs even the closest competitor, which is China.

[Deleted]

OMG I love you! And thank you!

I tell all my dumbass friends this and they think Iam stupid. We are the national currency, we are the only worlds superpower. Out import/export system smashes any countries in the world. It wont be just a change in the US. it will be a huge change in the whole world that every country will have to work out. Not to mention there are a few countries out there way worse off then us. Like Greece.

I'd agree with your friends. You massively over-estimate America's importance. Your economy is only the 4th largest in the world, your GDP per head is 15th; you suffer from much larger amounts of poverty compared to other countries, you're in masses of debt. If America does go down however, it wont' be because of the loss of a trade partner, it'll be because you owed us all so much money that we'll lose with America defaulting; it'll be the Great Depression of 1929 all over again.

So not really trying to spread a US-centric viewpoint here but the US GDP absolutely dwarfs even the closest competitor, which is China.

GDP per head per capita. 15th. You do have the largest GDP, but don't rely on that alone as evidence.

[Acewipe]

Largest military; yes. Largest economy? No. 4th largest. Richest however? Not a chance, 15th.

Oh really? Who are the 1st three largest economies? As for richest it all depends on how that is calculated. If you go off of sheer number of rich people the US is hands down the richest- but by per capita, not so much.

[Reeve]

Largest military; yes. Largest economy? No. 4th largest. Richest however? Not a chance, 15th.

Wait, what? How is the US economy the 4th largest?