(May 12, 2016 at 3:34 am)Wyrd of Gawd Wrote:(May 3, 2016 at 10:22 am)KevinM1 Wrote: American exceptionalism is pretty stupid, and I say that as an American. "We're #1" largely because we were able to easily expand our borders due to a combination of a lot of things (being an ocean away from the rest of the civilized world, being able to subjugate the natives, etc.). We became a world power because our war machine economy was profitable and innovative, and because we didn't need to spend time/money/people trying to rebuild after a couple World Wars. We've maintained our dominance through alliances and military campaigns.Why didn't any of the South American countries ever achieve something comparable to what America achieved?
Indeed, if there's one thing this era of global terrorism is proving, it's that our way of maintaining power that worked from the 1950s through at least the 70s or 80s - allying with despots and warlords who are more than happy to take our money for their natural resources (Saudi Arabia), fighting proxy wars by training and supplying local populations (Afghanistan), and toppling governments who won't play ball and replacing them with puppets (Iran, much more recently Iraq) - no longer works. Pissed off people from around the globe can now reach us. And man, are they pissed.
According to this, mostly because of economic reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Amer...rld_War_II
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
