And what a quite valuable lesson it is, would be, and will be (hopefully) for all, including "our own".
No arguments here. The most effective means for an independant nation to learn to the values of freedom and capitalism is to suffer under totalitarianism and economic slavery. See Iran's current situation.
It's high time for our nation to promote the virtues of freedom, honesty and good will to the people of the world.
But here you do a complete 180 turn and announce that only through EXTERNAL means, namely us, can such an event happen. Indeed the US even has a duty to spread our values, however optimal they are, onto other nations that might not have learned to appreciate their precise value? What if a population is too stupid and hate filled to "want" liberty? See the Palestinians. That said, where in the Constitution is it mentioned that we should democratize the rest of the world? Shouldn't we concentrate on what IS mentioned in that document?
It is clear that our past policy of keeping freedom to ourselves has been a disasterous failure.
How you can make that statement with regards to SARS is beyond me. The region in which the disease came from is notorious for breeding such vile things. What, its our fault that the people living in that region aren't interested in toilet paper, sanitation and 21st century habits of cleanliness? We need to send in the 4th Div? Besides our foreign policy over the past 50 years has done precisely what you claim it hasn't albeit for non-alturistic reasons. Our victory in the Cold War for one, the Afghan campaign for another and now Iraq.
Well, the process of "democratization" is certainly not going to happen, it seems, without any EXTERNAL influence, as I see it, as most folks just git along to get along.
Moreover, the socialist-based media doesn't help educate the people of any given nation about the importance of self-reliance and freedom.
My main point is that it's up to us to influence the people of other nations how to fight for freedom, because otherwise they will not know, unfortunately, how to go about it.
The genious of the advent of our nation was a kind of a coincidence of converging values and philosophies. You may disagree with what I say, but if you think that a representative republic will spontaneously appear on the globe as a result of previous tyrrany in the modern age, I think you are mistaken.
Keep in mind that when the Americans fought the Revolutionary war, they did not have complete support of the people.
To repeat my premise: The people of the world need our support to become and stay free.
Thanks for the reply.
Dec31,99