Go read this Newsweek essay, titled "the arrogant empire".
Apparently the world is justified in "ganging up" on the US because of this paragraph:
With 5 percent of the world�s population, this one country {the USofA, if you couldn't guess - ed} accounts for 43 percent of the world�s economic production, 40 percent of its high-technology production and 50 percent of its research and development. If you look at the indicators of future growth, all are favorable for America. It is more dynamic economically, more youthful demographically and more flexible culturally than any other part of the world. It is conceivable that America�s lead, especially over an aging and sclerotic Europe, will actually increase over the next two decades.
Given this situation, perhaps what is most surprising is that the world has not ganged up on America already.
But nnoooooo. Can't be proud to be an American - such a foolish and arrogant country, with a cowboy as President. Well, as my grandmother used to say - "bragging's ungentlemanly, but it ain't bragging if you done it".
Another fact from the article - our defense budget is greater than the resot of the worl's COMBINED (that is a staggering concept), but that level of funding is achieved using only 4% of the GDP - equally staggering.
Posted by nukevet at March 16, 2003 11:13 AM | TrackBackSo it starts again. The next big idea is that anti-Americanism is all George's fault. If he was just more like Bill, sigh....I get really tired of this stuff.
Plain speaking scares little children, east coast elites and the French. Oh well. America is strong, proud, and pissed off. So the miserable wanna be powers of the world will just have to adjust now won't they. We can't stop being what we are, just because others find our views and atitudes grating.
What I find amazing is that the same people bitching now had no trouble adapting to the Soviets who really did want to rule the world. Or to any number of regional tyrants happily murdering their people as well as their neigbors. Only when America reachs out to smack down our enemies do they recoil in horror. There is a lot of selective blindness going on here. They either sympathize with our enemies or they are afraid of speaking against them. Speaking out against America is a perfectly safe hobby, a subliminal admission that we are not the bad guys here. If we were, the din in parts of Europe and a few others would be greatly muted.
Posted by: puggs on March 17, 2003 10:13 AM