Quote:
Originally Posted by saden1
My problem is with making claims without doing the work required. if a Brit made the same claim I would have a problem with it too. I don't know how you can claim America made the biggest sociatal foodprint seeing how civil rights were assured for all Americans in the 60s.
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and maybe that's the difference, saden. I do respect your thoughts and opinions, but i think anyone who denies the rights and freedoms that the United States has brought about through out the world in such a short span of time as 200 years (even as we fought about it here at home), simply doesn't want to. (kinda like BHA and Campbell, or GTripp and DHall you just want to hate and no amount of discussion will change that)
Sure we struggle here as well but we have set ideals that are a pretty high bar, equality of man/woman white/black/hispanic, atheist/muslim/christian/jew, we strive towards the ideal that all are equal, and even as we strive, we acknowledge our flaws, we seek to re-define to allow for greater equality. And we take this throughout the world. and socially, women have greater say, blacks have greater say muslims have greater say, because we have said our ideals are that all are equal. I look at what America did after WWII and i say wow, show me a country that sacrificed it's empire for its ideal. Rome didn't, Russia certainly didn't - even Britain didn't. The caesar's ruled with their armies, Russia ruled with a secret police, britain used its navy. We do not rule with our military, although certainly it is a part of our political toolkit. Our army's might has been restrained by an ideal, that civil law overrules military might. Have oppressed Iraq, no. Did we oppress Europe after WWII no. Could we have, heck yes. America could impose far more military strength then we have ever shown. But we plead our case to the UN, we allow world leaders to have equal and independent thought, we restrain a force that could easily reduce our enemies because we show compassion for the innocent. Could we not carpet bomb afghanistan, and destroy iran's nuclear facilities? yes, but we restrain ourselves by civil laws and rules of war.
We have done the work, but that work is a forever evolving (hey i do believe in evolution -cool) landscape of cultural rules and societal ideals, that we as a nation have sought, imperfectly to uphold and promote. As no less a character than Superman would say:
TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY