Do you like the USA?
Do you like me? I could be referring to the people maintaining and writing posts in the Naive American site or to the individual writing this specific article. Lets analyze the subtle differences.
The single objective question one needs to ask to form an opinion is: “What are my likes and dislikes”? The content of this blog isn’t opinions but objective facts, which can be easily verified. The editor and moderator take care of this. You, the intelligent reader (a subjective assumption) must recognize that the contents are fine.
Some visitors may dislike the lack of clutter on the web site. Some readers favor flashy web sites (personal taste) with lots of interaction (personal taste) while others may dislike the web site background color (once again, personal taste); you get the point.
In most cases the individual (just human nature) includes in the list of likes and dislikes the tone in which information is presented, the looks of the presenter, the appearance of the presenter (this is the subjective fact presented in the previous paragraph). The list goes on and on.
So, do you like or dislike me? I am now switching to the USA. There are two (2) completely disjointed sets of audiences to whom this question may be posed. In one group you have the Naive American. In the second and largest group you have the rest of the people that live Outside the United States (OUS) (i.e., Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, etc).
I am not going to address the responses and opinions of the Naive American because this entry refers to foreign policy. That would be the subject of another blog.
When Naive Americans travel abroad we interact with foreigners in their countries. If we are loud and make inappropriate comments the people we interact with would most certainly take away a bad perception of us. I have had the opportunity to travel OUS a few times. Some have been for business while others for pleasure. In this particular occasion I was traveling for pleasure with my spouse. It was a lazy and warm summer evening. After a full day of touring the ruins of Pompeii, our tour bus had dropped us back at our hotel (just outside of Rome). We are sitting at our table sipping wine and enjoying sparkling water very common in the region (Pellegrino – arguably the pride and joy of Italy). At some point a group of Naive Americans got a table nearby. The waiter asks what would they like to drink. They all ask for water to start. As the waiter is leaving to fetch water, one of them in a low voice modifies his original request. He would like to have bottled water but “not that crappy gassy kind that you serve here”. What impression is the Naive American making? Probably “there goes another obnoxious American”. As we know bad news travels fast. It would probably take dozens of “better” experiences from different Americans to change the opinion of the people the remark made.
Educating the Naive American could easily change this type of opinion. This could be done via the Internet and television sponsored programs. Pamphlets could be handed to Americans when they leave the US. Our elected government officials would probably have to spend billions of dollars in such programs. Most importantly, the effects on foreign relations would (likely) be insignificant. I could go over much other American propaganda that may or may not portray the impression we wish of America. I am referring to movies, television programs and sports (in particular American football and baseball).
There is another aspect critical to poor American perception OUS. I am referring to international policies that American administrations have carried out since (at least) the early 1950′s. These lawmakers have led the Naive American to believe their foreign policies are vital to:
- National Security
- American Interests
- Our duty to promote democracy all over the world (who died and made us king?)
The Naive American needs to understand that career politicians work to change American perceptions because the politicians need to pay back their political contributors. These political contributors are REALLY the ones who have been running the USA since the 1950′s.
What Threatens Our National Security?
It used to be just countries that we have completely alienated. For example, the US bullied its way into the United Nations (UN) to take away land owned by other countries and assign it to Israel. By doing so the US created several enemies for life. The Naive American may believe that the issues in the Middle East could be fixed by talking and providing concessions (the political way), but the only way to solve the issue is for Israel to be returned to its previous owners. The Middle East is unstable and as the US weakens, leaders in the region are looking for political alliances with other countries (i.e., China, Russia, etc.).
I have no quarrels with Israel (growing up I read several novels from Leon Uris), in fact, my sister in law and her family currently live in Israel.
Middle Eastern countries could potentially become security issues in the future, but today – as we learned in the morning of September 11, 2001 – threats to national security are no longer coming from a country but organizations that spread all over a region (not necessarily a country). I have some military experience. The worst threat any formal army faces is guerrilla warfare. There is no way for a formal army to win that type of war. In guerrilla warfare you might win a few battles, but chances are, the invader (in this case the US) will never win the war. We have the American Revolution, Vietnam and now we are into Afghanistan. In a nutshell, the enemy has nothing to lose so they will fight until they are fully neutralized. The only way to win the war is to eliminate the reason why we have an enemy. This is easier said than done, but what the Naive American needs to do is understand its foreign policies and determine if the USA stands a chance. Throwing money at a problem (like we are used to doing) will not work. As we all know, the world is changing and the US no longer has the moneys to toss outside. We need to concentrate on America’s internal issues as we collapse.
American Interests
This is a common and popular phrase used by “career politicians”. The beauty is that it is completely subjective. What defines American Interests? I could list some of mine (e.g., energy independence, higher education, more manufacturing, universal healthcare, retirement security -not Social Security- to mention a few). You are free to come up with your own list. When you do so, please verify if most, if not all, of the items on my list are a subset of yours. My Naive American interests do not include foreign wars. They do not include stabilizing regions so my companies can create manufacturing facilities in order to increase profit margins (then lay off lots of Naive Americans).
Woooooopsssssss… I missed an important American interest: OIL. Automobile and oil companies need to get an ever-growing quantity of foreign oil (there is not much left in the US and for that matter OUS) to make huge profit margins every quarter (in the billions of US Dollars) and be able to manufacture huge and inefficient automobiles that are only sold in the US. I personally have no foreign interests and I am a Naive American.
Our Duty?
I never understood politicians when they say it is our “duty” to spread our way of life. Who told us that we are doing all the right things? Who told us what we do is the best? Who told us all the people in the world wish to live like we us? Once again we need to cut through the political smokescreen and revert to a logical, objective thinking process. Studies have been conducted (not by politicians, but by scientists) to determine who are the happiest people in the world. It is not possible to define happiness in a universal way, but some of the items used to determine the degree of happiness were answers to questions like: Do you feel safe at home? Do you feel safe outside your home? Do you enjoy your neighbors? Do you feel comfortable with your healthcare system? Do you feel secure in your job? Does your retirement concern you? Different studies contain hundreds of questions.
These studies have been conducted in many countries all over the world. The point of interest that affects the Naive American is that we (generally) are not happy with our lives. If this is the case then there is a dichotomy that we need to address. If we are not happy with ourselves then why do we bully our broken way of life on to others? Perhaps the Naive American needs to ask the question to our Vice President (Cheney) who is so involved with defense contracting companies or watch the documentary “Why We Fight” to get a clear idea if we fight for money or duty. We fight to fill the pockets of the few Americans who profit from war.
Fellow Naive Americans, we need to open our eyes to the issues by taking an objective approach. Politicians are a big part of the problem. We first need to make changes to our political system in order to have it work for the good of all Americans, not the few.
