This argument is very common. Let's take a look at it. I would earthily rephrase it as "what we do may be wicked, but foreigners are even more wicked so it is the lesser evil." I say that this doesn't withstand even a cursory analysis. Since World War II who has inflicted the greatest evil upon the world? The USA, hands down. Just look at El Salvador or Gaza. Barf out.
Don't believe me? How about this :
"If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances." -- Senator Harry Truman, June 24th, 1941.
The US gvt found this "kill as many as possible" (how evil can you get?) plan so appealing they made Harry President. Today we see this exact same strategy playing out in Ukraine. Nothing has changed. I don't see any other country doing such evil things. They are instead building towards prosperity. I say that that is the better choice.
OK, let's try that again. How about "evil is going to rule the world. Better it be us on top than pushed around by wicked foreigners." That makes sense. It's essentially what John Mearsheimer calls his "realism." Using this theory John is very good at predicting what nations will do, so I think he is correct in believing this is what is really going on. What I don't like about it is that it's a self-fulfilling belief. If you believe it inevitable that wickedness rule the world, then rule the world it shall. Forever. This seems to me like a bad plan. Instead I suggest giving peace a chance. If it doesn't work out you can always revert to the war thang, so what have you got to lose?
Today the USA's plan seems to be "we're getting beat in our own game so let's kick over the chessboard and have da boys take care of dose upstarts in da alley." We're losing a fair fight so let's screw up the world and hope that it works to our advantage. Well maybe that will work but I think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Very bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan.
The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. That's what they really care about. So war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic politics becomes closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.
think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan. The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a quite large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. In most districts voting for a pay cut would cost you your job. That's what our “leaders” really care about. Such massive wasteful spending while standards of living decline is unpopular so war is need to justify such policy. Therefore war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic practice grows ever closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.
"the alternatives are arguably even worse"
This argument is very common. Let's take a look at it. I would earthily rephrase it as "what we do may be wicked, but foreigners are even more wicked so it is the lesser evil." I say that this doesn't withstand even a cursory analysis. Since World War II who has inflicted the greatest evil upon the world? The USA, hands down. Just look at El Salvador or Gaza. Barf out.
Don't believe me? How about this :
"If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances." -- Senator Harry Truman, June 24th, 1941.
The US gvt found this "kill as many as possible" (how evil can you get?) plan so appealing they made Harry President. Today we see this exact same strategy playing out in Ukraine. Nothing has changed. I don't see any other country doing such evil things. They are instead building towards prosperity. I say that that is the better choice.
OK, let's try that again. How about "evil is going to rule the world. Better it be us on top than pushed around by wicked foreigners." That makes sense. It's essentially what John Mearsheimer calls his "realism." Using this theory John is very good at predicting what nations will do, so I think he is correct in believing this is what is really going on. What I don't like about it is that it's a self-fulfilling belief. If you believe it inevitable that wickedness rule the world, then rule the world it shall. Forever. This seems to me like a bad plan. Instead I suggest giving peace a chance. If it doesn't work out you can always revert to the war thang, so what have you got to lose?
Today the USA's plan seems to be "we're getting beat in our own game so let's kick over the chessboard and have da boys take care of dose upstarts in da alley." We're losing a fair fight so let's screw up the world and hope that it works to our advantage. Well maybe that will work but I think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Very bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan.
The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. That's what they really care about. So war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic politics becomes closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.
think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan. The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a quite large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. In most districts voting for a pay cut would cost you your job. That's what our “leaders” really care about. Such massive wasteful spending while standards of living decline is unpopular so war is need to justify such policy. Therefore war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic practice grows ever closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.