"What if" the US behaved differently politically, instead of interventions, we tried to REALLY be
the "good guys" in an open and verifiable way.
I would like to invite people to look at the long list of interventions by the US post WWII-
One list- one place a list can be found is in the TOC of William Blum's book "Killing Hope" .
http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope (This book is really a unique and terrifying work- All Americans should read it.)
To be balanced we should also look at the aftermath of some of those interventions (as well as the lost opportunities to help resolve problems which were not listed)
Reactions to right wing dictatorships invariably created - when one had not existed before- an extreme left (which has also been disastrous in some cases )
(Extremism is not natural and only occurs when its created by intentional destruction by manipulative political opportunists- destruction of any common sense middle ground.)
We should also look at the truly horrible betrayal of Eastern Europe (and by extension a bunch of other countries that were also stupidly partitioned between US and then-USSR spheres of influence with disastrous effect. Yes, the partition of Europe was intentional, as detailed by Churchill in his memoirs, an account also verified by others. Europe was partitioned on a cocktail napkin at Yalta)
Looking at all those things a pattern of a vicious circle between polar extremes, as well as a cynical elitism that ignores the effects on real people of wars, can be discerned and really, it represents a pattern we all need to move away from in the present and future.
Many of those countries also represents a lost or missed opportunity to have done positive things which we ignored in our rush to support right wing dictatorships.
Neither "right wing" or "left wing" dictatorships are acceptable to a countries people. Nor would either be acceptable here.
Can we see that following this pattern does nothing but create strife where there should have been peace and prosperity?
We would be wise to move away from the interventionist, militaristic model and replace it with some other form of competitive behavior - something that indisputably does good.
The interventions by the HRC-run State Department in Haiti and Honduras do not bode well for her candidacy. I think she should return to civilian life or run for Senate or Congress or whatever.
We need to make positive steps to reduce our level of militarism - Are people aware that we are now spending more than the entire rest of the world combined on our military?
That needs to be re-examined and reduced in sensible ways. Sometimes having less money forces more creative ways of doing things. And by things I think the primary function of our military should shift to defense and crisis - meaning natural crisis- intervention. Rescue operations in extreme weather and earthquake aftermaths, and so on. That is appropriate for the 21st century. An era where our interconnectedness will be more important than our disconnectedness. This should not be negotiable.
We have to stop or it will likely lead to a third world war which the human race might not survive.
Nobody is suggesting we eliminate or cripple the military, I just think it should not be so military- and also should not be a black hole money is poured into as it seems to be today.
We need to make a decisive change the whole country can support and not a divisive change few support.
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