Week Thirty-One: An Empire

It's hard to acknowledge when the truth smacks you upside the head. But occasionally, you have to realize something that disturbs you, especially given your knowledge of history.

Sometimes, you really don't want to know thing. No, this isn't going to be a ridiculously deep blog about something or another deep and challenging. Rather, this is going to be about empires.

To be perfectly clear, an empire is a large nation that has control over other former nations, often as colonies or territories. The British Empire would be the most familiar one to most Americans, but weren't the only empire in their time.

Now, there are fewer empires, and one in particular that hasn't learned the truth of empires yet. It is large, and unwieldy, and uncertain. A teenager in the realm of nations, it no longer manages to provide for itself, instead, trying to provide for everyone else.

Fairly nice for the teenager, except there are, of course, motives behind this seemingly kind act. The United States may be in more trouble that they think, if they keep it up.

Don't get me wrong. I am an American citizen, and proud of it, but I look at the empire I live in, and it is an empire, and I worry.

Why?

Take a look. What happened to the British empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire? They lost their empire status and shrank. Quickly. I don't think the spirit of the United States will ever completely fall, but considering the precarious situation we face economically? Well.

What's a solution? Well, while isolationism is impossible in today's world, a policy of interventionism needs to be halted. Temporarily, or permanently, we need to learn to say, I'm sorry, we can't help you. We need to focus on helping ourselves, for a little while.

Sounds selfish? It is. But I would rather my nation selfishly survive than participate in conflicts that have existed for centuries. But what about the poor, the suffering! Aren't they our responisibility?

They are our responsibility. And the responsibility of every other nation out there that can help, but we are a member of an organization devoted to these causes. Perhaps we, as the younguns on staff, should pause and consult them too. Besides, we need to examine why we are helping them. It isn't our responsibility as a government to alleviate the suffering of every person on earth, whether or not they are a citizen.

What else? Well, while I know it sounds a bit silly, and tired, but if we want to survive we need to raise, not lower, educational standards. Yes it will be hard, yes it will be difficult, but it's needed. Most eighth graders today could not pass an eighth grade final from a century ago. Perhaps a fourth grade. Maybe. Do you see the problem there? We need to raise standards, not let no child be left behind. It sounds harsh, but if it matters to them, they will work to improve. And if we expect more, they will, I promise, deliver.

I wont discuss specific economic policies here, but I will tell you we need some austerity measures of our own, at least until our deficit is less than ten percent of our GDP, bare minimum. There is a difference between a healthy deficit, and a deficit that ruins the value of our money, thus our purchasing power. This makes it harder for the average Joe to live.

It's only a few things, but, well. It's my empire too. And I worry. People say Occupy Wall St is about this, that and the other. When it comes down to it though, it is about fear, about anger. About changing policies that will destroy America the Empire.

Don't believe we're an Empire: Puerto Rico, the Native Americas, Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Marianna Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, various uninhabited islands in the pacific, in the carribean, need I go on?

There is, by the way, more, both historically, and current.

A nation is a single nation. An Empire is many ruled as one, or with one head over many governments.

One Final Bye: Fox News complained about 'brainwashing'. Laugh with me.