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Zonie63 -> RE: Anarchy & Hegemony: A defense of American Imperialism (5/1/2013 5:15:44 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: YN
quote:
ORIGINAL: Politesub53
You just dont want to face facts. You accuse all Europeans and Americans from benefitting from colonialism, yet absolve your own ancestry. That seems hypocritical.
Your political stance blinkers your viewpoint. Its a case of, what did the Romans ever do for us.
I have no problems with you being a hypocrite but dont expect me to stop pointing it out any time soon.
So you think the people of Latin American only reject United States and Western European imperialism because they are some part European and feel guilt over European and United States ancestry; and five century spell of slavery, genocide, colonization, mining harbors, regime changes, invasions, assassinations, CIA sponsored death squads, corporate exploitation at gunpoint, etc. have nothing to do with it?
Amazing.
I think what they're referring to are those within Latin American countries who clearly benefited from "Yankee imperialism." The wealthiest man in the world happens to be Mexican (i.e. "Latin American"), not Anglo-American or European. What does that tell you?
The perception is that the elite ruling class in Latin American countries are using America and Europe as a scapegoat to misdirect their peasants so that their peasants will be mad at America, while the elite within Latin American countries are let off the hook. They can have their cake and eat it, too. That's what it looks like.
Moreover, when the peasants of Latin America vent their wrath against the peasants of Anglo-America and Europe, it seems that they're even letting the elite of our country off the hook as well. I see this happen over and over whenever someone from another country starts ragging on America. They vent against America as a whole, without being very specific about directing their wrath at the right people.
"Yankee go home." What is that actually supposed to mean anyway? There are over 300 million "Yankees" in the United States today. Does that mean all of us? Should we recall our diplomatic personnel and forbid any U.S. citizen from ever visiting or doing business with your country? By the same token, should the U.S. deport all citizens from your country currently residing in the United States? Is that really what the people of Latin America want? And if it isn't, why do they say these things in the first place?
I don't know if you personally are part of the elite in your country. By your eloquent writing skills, you come across as someone who is better educated than the average person. This may have led to a few faulty assumptions by others which may not necessarily be true.
The bottom line is, Latin America has had plenty of people who have aided and abetted "Yankee imperialism." We couldn't have done it without help. Of course, it doesn't justify what was done, and I don't think you'll find anyone here trying to justify or defend slavery, genocide, invasions, assassinations, CIA-sponsored death squads, or any of that. The fact that we know about these things and can address them in public discourse should demonstrate that we know that these things are wrong and should be stopped (if they haven't been stopped already).
As for mining the harbors, I remember getting into an argument with a staunch Reaganite over this issue back in the 1980s. He was fully in favor of mining Nicaraguan harbors and supported the Contras wholeheartedly. I was obviously against the whole thing, but trying to reason with these people is like talking to a brick wall. I found shades of that view within the article cited by Vincent in his OP to this thread.
I remember seeing a speech by G. Gordon Liddy (before he ended up in talk radio), and his perception was that (as he put it) the world was not like Palm Springs or Beverly Hills, but more like the South Bronx (back in the 80s when the South Bronx was considered one of the most crime-ridden areas in the country). The general idea is that the U.S. was dealing with evil, dangerous, psychotic, criminal mentalities who can only be dealt with by force, as it's the only language they understand.
Most Americans are not wealthy and don't actually see this corporate exploitation nor do they get any benefit out of it. All they see is a bunch of rage-filled crazy people yelling "Yankee go home," and they think that they're hated just because of who they are or where they were born. This plays right into the hands of folks like Bush Jr. who say things like "They hate us for our freedom."
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