The American Empire

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It can be very hard trying to talk with someone interested only in throwing a tantrum. It can be just as hard, when you are addressing someone who thinks they can successfully lie to you, and while you know they are lying, you must still make the attempt to remain civil.

The United States, and in particular the Administration of George W. Bush, has faced and continues to face just such obstacles. This not only happens in confronting a biased media, but also the puerile tactics of the Democratic Party, first in their own minds but in chronic decline in every national venue. And then there’s France.

It’s not just France of course, but Paris comes to represent the friction against the American-led initiative. One could understand this, if any of the major claims made by the Left were true. Yet it has been conclusively shown that this war was never about controlling the price of flow of oil, never about using the war for political leverage (indeed, most polls have concluded repeatedly, that President Bush could have won re-election easily without the Iraq War, but risked his second term to pursue the course he believed was necessary), never about forcing nations to become American vassals or satellites. These were never anything but canards, false claims made to screen attention away from the truth continental Europe feared most of all; only the United States is truly relevant on the global stage.

In my last post, I noted that the People’s Republic of China, while noisome, is in no position to challenge the United States, militarily or economically or in terms of influence. This is in part to a key attribute to America, one which other countries could adopt but most will not; assimilation of immigrants. For all the chatter, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of immigrants entering the United States want to be Americans, and the United States government has a genuine stake in observing the rights and interests of immigrants. As a consequence, the USA ends up effectively inoculated against internal revolt, as it is in everyone’s best interest to work within the system and for the system to be responsive. No, it’s not perfect but it’s functional, a thing beyond the claims of many Old World governments.

The United States annoys its rivals, because they sense an empire but cannot determine its place or nature. So, the French and Russians and Germans all fall back on false claims, because they do not understand the source of our ubiquitous accomplishments. It is this; the American Empire is not what it was in the days of Robber Barons, but has become the empire of ideals and hopes. Anyone can succeed in America, and rise in power and success to match anyone else. Anyone can come here, still hold their culture, yet still fully belong to the American Identity. Our Constitution still works for the most part, and the government even pays some attention to the people they work for. We can be bureaucratic, but we do not have Ministries of State. We have elitist mandarins, but the people at the top work to help common people. We admit our errors and repair them, and them we move ahead. There is not one country on the planet superior in concept or performance of morals and hope. That is also why we are copied, and our Constitution as well. The citizens understand that, even if the French never will.