"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." -- Alexis de Tocqueville
"I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime." -- Albert Einstein
Are we truly a great country any more? Are we doing good? Are these the hallmarks of a great country:
- Encouraging freedom internationally (Iraq) while suppressing it at home (Patriot Act)
- Deposing a leader because he used torture ... then advocating it for our own use
- Citing that same leader's use of chemical weapons as another reason for going to war ... while not being forthright about our use of phosphorus as an incendiary weapon
When did we stop being good? Has it been a steady decline over decades or a recent development?
Did it start with Reagan and the encouragement of the "ownership society"? Gordon Gekko's character in Wall Street that said, "Greed is good". But it was actually famous insider trader Ivan Boesky that inspired the quote with his own, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." It's the trickle down that never actually trickles down.
Making the most money should not be the pinnacle of human achievement. Making sure that everyone can share in the prosperity should be. Call it socialist if you want. That word doesn't scare me. The perfect society is a mixture of styles.
8 comments:
Has america ever been really good except in our own imaginations?
Look what we did to native americans, we built this country on slave labor, even at our self described moral peak (WWII) we imprisoned people because of their race, and were the only country in the history of the world to use nuclear weapons. And we used them against civilian targets.
Which is not to say that americans are evil. A general characteristic of the american psyche is a desire towards good. We have an impressive capacity to look objectivly at our failings and a geniune desire to correct them. We have worked hard to create a balance between complete government indifference to how people live their lives and a comprehensive social welfare program (schools, medicade, social security, welfare) while creating a society where anyone can live in peace and prosperity.
Americas leadership is bad right now, but they came to power by the thinnest of margins bucked up by one of worst tragedies in our history. And after a few years of watching them barely a third of americans support them.
Americans are refusing to follow their leaders over the cliff. We'll turn it around and be fine.
Funny thing is there was plenty of evidence we were using napalm in Fallujah, I blogged about it shortly after we over ran the place. There was a lot of stuff on about it on blondesense and iddybud. So where was the msm all this time?
Josh,
I'm sure you are right. As you say, "We have an impressive capacity to look objectively at our failings and genuine desire to correct them". That's exactly why we all need to talk about it now. We're smack dab in the middle of a pretty good group of falings.
GWB,
I'll have to check out your post on napalm. I'd definitely be interested in reading that.
*** Update *** Never mind. After searching on your blog, I remembered that you accidentally nuked your blog and lost your old posts. Bummer.
Found a post on Daily Kos that talks about the napalm use in Fallujah:
Napalm by any other Name
I think America being good is a myth. Just like the "Good old days" the christian right wants to go back to...
America was built on the backs of the slaves and the poor immigrants. The only way America does anything "good" or Righteous is when it is also in the interests of the government and the coroporations that own it.
Freedom is the illusion that keeps us in line, just like the illusion that if you just work hard enough, you can be as successful as John Rockefeller or Bill Gates **
**Blacks, the poor, women, and anyone non-white, non christian need not apply.
I am afraid I am becoming cynical enough to agree with Laura
GWB and Laura,
I don't blame you guys. I want so badly to be a glass-half-fuller, but it's hard to be when you wake up every day and read about something new.
There is, of course, a basic problem with the idea of the USA being 'The Good Guys' - it's that firstly they can do no wrong (and therefore whatever is good for America is - by definition 'Good' for everyone) and second that if you disagree or oppose American policy then you automatically become one of the 'Bad Guys'. Basically such an idea inevitably leads to the "With us or Against us" ideology presently being put forward by George W. Difficult as it is to judge ANY nation, that judgement should be made by its actions & its inactions. Is America doing Good in the World today? Some people seem to think so. I, however, must disagree - at least ATM. There is plenty of room for improvement. Plenty......
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