Welcome To The World

I've spent the last few days listening to talking heads on the radio and TV, reading editorials and perusing several internet news and blog sites. In rare instances, I find someone from the political left who, although he differs with his conservative counterparts on a number of issues, agrees it's a brave new world out there and just about everyone is looking to take a shot at Number One (currently the U.S.).

The majority, however, from the lowly left-leaning blogger to the editorial columnist to the DNC Chair to members of Congress seem to want to live in the wonderful fantasy land that is the U.S in a bubble. Let's examine the cause and effect.

If you operate from the position that everything the U.S. does (especially on the international scene) is inherently bad or evil, you have to make several other assumptions. First, you have to assume that all other countries are just out there trying to survive amid U.S. global hegemony. You also have to assume that they somehow exist as restive provinces under the yoke of American military and economic might. This is the view of the average neo-Marxist these days. These countries, you see, can easily be forgiven their "hate America" or at least "hate conservative America" attitudes because of all the injustices America has leveled on them. Oppression flows from the United States and therefore the rest of the world is just a bunch of happy cultures trying to survive in its wake.

That is boilerplate philosophy for any Democratic Underground reader or most Kos diarists. It also exhibits a naivete about the world and its history. To accept much of this, you first have to believe that nothing happened in the world prior to the U.S. becoming a superpower. You also have to believe that all other superpowers, like the late U.S.S.R., were just responding and counter-moving to American moves. There is a complete breakdown in this logic when one realizes that all these regimes, especially the inherently fascist and communist regimes, have their own agendas and goals detrimental to their neighbors and even their own people. There is also a failure in that logic when one realizes that most of these same states view countries like the United States as the chief impediment to the implementation of their petty schemes.

Kim Jong Il, Fidel Castro, the Chinese politburo, Ahmadinejad, Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi, even the likes of Vladimir Putin all have aspirations that are independent of the fact that there is a United States of America in the world. If the U.S. didn't exist, something seemingly wished for by many on the Left, these countries would still pursue (perhaps more successfully) their agendas and still seek to do things detrimental to their neighbors and perhaps even their own people. Oppression, they say, starts at home.

Keep such things in mind as the talking heads discuss the big issues, like the North Korean nuclear test, this week. No matter what is said, North Korea didn't attempt a nuclear test because they felt threatened by the United States or because we didn't pay them enough from their attempted extortion. They attempted the test because they want a little independence from the only country they're really dependent on, China, and because they wish to bully and dominate the other Pacific Rim nations, most especially South Korea and Japan. A surging China and a nuclear-armed mini-me are enough to cause an arms race in East Asia with the United States supporting Japan and South Korea as China, North Korea and Russia make their plays for regional dominance in this new economic hot zone.

These are just thoughts to keep in mind as you're flipping between the networks, CNN, MSNBC and Fox. Just remember, it's a big world out there and the U.S. is only one player, not the sole player.