ChadWooters Wrote:Simple question for the OP. Has the existence of the United States and its role in shaping the modern world been a positive influence on the rest of the world?
Wow.
I'm trying to think of a more vague, over-broad, and open-ended question than that one, but I can't.
Overall? In the 18th century? In the 19th? In the 20th? Which half of the 20th century, pre- or post-WW2 America?
And boy, if we get into whether our influence is "positive" or not, what factors must we consider, and what values must we assign to each boon or sin? Our invention of a persistent form of Constitutional Republic democracy in the 18th century? Reaching the moon? Developing the internet? Being not only one of the last western nations to let go of slavery but actually fighting a war to try to preserve it? Sponsoring and training death squads and supporting dictators and military juntas in Central/South American nations if they'd back our corporate interests in fighting communism? Becoming the Arsenal of Democracy for the 2nd World War and bailing out the Allies? Putting those allies into massive economic debt to us in order to gain hegemony via the Petrodollar system over the oil resources of the globe? Developing the rapid genome testing methods? Being the only nation to have used nuclear weapons against another nation? Genocide against our indigenous peoples? Incarcerating seven times more of our people per capita than any other first world nation? Widest gap in economic disparity?
I mean, geez, I could go on like this for pages! (And I'm not even trying to assign weight-values to each as I go.)
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
